1981 Norton Michigan 500

Race 5 of 11

Michigan
250 laps
Time of race: 3:45:45
Average speed of winner: 132.890 mph
Margin of victory: 2.0 sec.
Lead changes: 15 among 8 drivers
Cautions: 12 for 72 laps
Lap leaders: Sneva 1-4, Rutherford 5-9, Sneva 10-37, Mosley 38, Rutherford 39-40, Mosley 41-54, Mears 55-56, Mosley 57-75, Bettenhausen, Jr. 76-80, Rutherford 81-111, A. Unser 112-142, Carter 143-178, A. Unser 179-181, Alsup 182-183, A. Unser 184-195, Carter 196-250

Race notes: Only win for Pancho Carter. First pole for Tom Sneva. Finale for Larry Cannon and Salt Walther. Only start for Harry MacDonald. Pancho Carter took the points lead from Johnny Rutherford.

Video links: Highlights (Part 1), Highlights (Part 2)

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Owner	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Points
1	4	Pancho Carter	5	Alex Foods	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Morales	199.285	250	2	91	flagged	105
2	20	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	16	Provimi Veal	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	H and R	190.501	250	1	5	flagged	80
3	3	Rick Mears	6	Gould Charge	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	200.183	248	1	2	flagged	70
4	7	Bill Alsup	7	ABDick	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	197.346	247	1	2	flagged	60
5	21	Tom Bigelow	56	Genesee Beer	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Gohr	189.668	247	0	0	flagged	50
6	18	Gary Bettenhausen	12	Rhoades Racing	Wildcat	Cosworth	Goodyear	Rhoades	191.174	247	0	0	flagged	40
7	31	Scott Brayton	37	Forsythe Industries	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Brayton	184.948	238	0	0	flagged	30
8	37	Phil Caliva	47	Polaroid Time Zero	McLaren	Chevrolet	Goodyear	CHC-Intersec		235	0	0	flagged	25
9	24	Larry Dickson	31	Machinist Union	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Machinists Union	187.003	227	0	0	flagged	20
10	17	Bob Lazier	35	Montgomery Ward	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Fletcher	191.402	225	0	0	engine	15
11	10	Al Unser	8	Longhorn Racing	Longhorn	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hillin	194.195	196	3	46	engine	10
12	16	Larry Cannon	99	Kraco Car Stereo	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Kraco	191.525	190	0	0	accident	5
13	32	Roger Rager	66	Seymour Enterprises	Wildcat	Chevrolet	Goodyear	Seymour	183.453	185	0	0	flagged	5
14	22	Jerry Karl	38	Tonco Trailer	Karl	Chevrolet	Goodyear	Karl	188.614	178	0	0	clutch	5
15	26	Bill Vukovich, Jr.	42	Steve Vukovich Racing	Watson	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Vukovich	183.987	175	0	0	engine	5
16	9	Bobby Unser	3	Norton Spirit	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	194.731	162	0	0	engine	5
17	5	Steve Krisiloff	40	STP Oil Treatment	Wildcat	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	198.533	153	0	0	overheating	5
18	12	Mike Mosley	48	Pepsi Challenger	Eagle	Chevrolet	Goodyear	AAR	192.729	144	3	34	engine	5
19	19	Josele Garza	55	Psachie/Garza	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Garza	190.758	141	0	0	engine	5
20	34	Steve Chassey	64	Jet Engineering	Eagle	Chevrolet	Goodyear		180.401	131	0	0	engine	5
21	36	Harry MacDonald	45	Armstrong Mold	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	Armstrong		120	0	0	engine	0
22	2	Johnny Rutherford	1	Pennzoil	Chaparral	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hall	200.892	112	3	38	spun out	0
23	1	Tom Sneva	2	Blue Poly	March	Cosworth	Goodyear	Bignotti	201.359	107	2	32	transmission	5
24	25	Vern Schuppan	33	Red Roof Inns	McLaren	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Theodore	186.557	95	0	0	engine	0
25	33	Cliff Hucul	57	Metro Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	Metro	180.995	89	0	0	engine	0
26	6	A.J. Foyt	14	Gilmore Racing	Coyote	Cosworth	Goodyear	Foyt	198.216	80	0	0	accident	0
27	14	Mike Chandler	72	National Engineering	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hodgdon	192.307	79	0	0	halfshaft	0
28	11	Kevin Cogan	32	O'Connell Racing	Phoenix	Cosworth	Goodyear	O Connell	192.915	70	0	0	engine	0
29	29	Chip Mead	49	Space Racing	Eagle	Cosworth	Goodyear	Space	187.734	70	0	0	engine	0
30	27	Dick Ferguson	96	Kraco Car Stereo	Wildcat	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Kraco	182.172	64	0	0	engine	0
31	30	Dick Simon	22	Vermont American	Watson	Cosworth	Goodyear	Leader Card	186.320	63	0	0	oil pressure	0
32	28	Salt Walther	21	Bignotti-Cotter	Phoenix	Cosworth	Goodyear	Bignotti	183.876	53	0	0	engine	0
33	23	Herm Johnson	28	Menard Cashway Lumber	Lightning	Chevrolet	Goodyear	Menard	187.646	26	0	0	fire	0
34	35	Bill Tempero	15	O'Hanlon	McLaren	Chevrolet	Goodyear		179.973	23	0	0	engine	0
35	15	Billy Engelhart	29	Beaudoin Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	Beaudoin	192.030	18	0	0	valve	0
36	13	Gordon Johncock	20	STP/Patrick Petroleum	Wildcat	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	192.657	4	0	0	accident	0
37	8	Bill Whittington	94	Whittington Racing	March	Cosworth	Goodyear	Whittington	196.286	4	0	0	accident	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Podiums
1	Pancho Carter	132	5	0	1	1
2	Rick Mears	123	4	0	2	3
3	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	89	4	0	0	1
4	Bill Alsup	80	4	0	0	0
5	Johnny Rutherford	61	5	1	1	3
6	Tom Bigelow	54	2	0	0	0
7	Mario Andretti	46	4	0	0	3
8	Gary Bettenhausen	40	1	0	0	0
9	Scott Brayton	40	5	0	0	0
10	Al Unser	35	5	0	0	0
11	Gordon Johncock	34	5	1	0	0
12	Bobby Unser	31	5	1	0	1
13	Tom Sneva	31	3	1	0	1
14	Phil Caliva	27	3	0	0	0
15	Larry Dickson	27	4	0	0	0
16	Mike Mosley	26	2	0	1	1
17	Bob Lazier	22	5	0	0	0
18	Kevin Cogan	17	3	0	0	1
19	Jerry Karl	10	5	0	0	0
20	Larry Cannon	10	5	0	0	0
21	Dick Simon	9	3	0	0	0
22	Josele Garza	8	5	0	0	0
23	Billy Engelhart	5	2	0	0	0
24	Roger Rager	5	1	0	0	0
25	Bill Vukovich, Jr.	5	1	0	0	0