1977 Indianapolis 500 Bill Flemming spoke with A.J. Foyt prior to Lou Palmer. The broadcast has re-aired in partiality on ESPN Classic since May 2011. 1977 Indianapolis 500 The 61st International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 1977. Considered one of the most historically significant editions of the Indianapolis 500, several sidebar stories complemented the unprecedented accomplishment of race winner A. J. Foyt. Foyt became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. As of 2017, Foyt's record has been tied by Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears, but still
Indianapolis 500 Chip Ganassi became the first car owner to win the Daytona and Indianapolis 500s in the same year, with Jamie McMurray winning the Daytona 500 and Dario Franchitti winning the Indianapolis 500. In 2010, Bruton Smith (owner of Speedway Motorsports, Inc.), offered $20,000,000 to any driver, IndyCar or NASCAR, who can win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day starting in 2011—a feat that has never been done before. For 2011, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway moved the start time of the Indy 500 back to 12:15 PM EDT (prior to 2005, the engines started at