1980 Indianapolis 500 1980 Indianapolis 500 The 64th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 25, 1980. Johnny Rutherford won the pole position, led 118 laps, and won the race by a commanding 29.92 second margin. After failing to finish the race the year before (with Al Unser behind the wheel), Jim Hall's radical new Chaparral 2K ground effects chassis was a heavy favorite entering the month, and drove a flawless race. Rutherford, the winner in 1974 and 1976, became the sixth driver to win the Indy 500 three times. Tom Sneva broke
Indianapolis 500 and engines were European, with the only American-based chassis to win during the CART era being the Wildcat and Galmer (which was actually built in Bicester, England) in 1982 and 1992, respectively. Ford and Chevrolet engines were built in the UK by Cosworth and Ilmor, respectively. Fernando Alonso was the most recent active Formula One driver to race at the Indy 500-mile race, in 2017. Prior to that, no active F1 driver had competed in the Indy 500 since 1984. After foreign cars became the norm, foreign drivers began competing in the Indianapolis 500 on a regular basis, choosing the