1970: Following the 1969 victory, a feud erupted inside the team. For 1970 the team was sold outright to Andy Granatelli. Mario's chief mechanic, veteran Clint Brawner was promptly fired. Andretti and the younger, up-and-coming mechanic Jim McGee stayed on with Granatelli. It has been suggested that this ugly divorce within the team was the impetus of the curse, as allegedly, Brawner's wife Kay subsequently put a hex on Andretti. During a practice run on May 11, Mario Andretti crashed coming out of turn four. A universal joint yoke failed on his McNamara, and he hit the inside wall down the mainstretch. The car was badly damaged, but Andretti was unhurt. He would be forced to qualify in a back-up car. On pole day, gusty winds kept his speeds down, and with only 35 laps of practice in the car, he qualified for the dreaded "8-ball spot." (8th starting position was considered bad luck at the time; no driver had ever won the race from that grid position, and would not do so until 1985, see below). It was Andretti's worst qualifying result to-date. On race day, Andretti was attempting to become the first back-to-back winner since Bill Vukovich in 1953-1954. On about lap 31, Mario was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop due to loose bodywork. He rejoined the race, but lost many positions. Later on, he experienced handing problems with the right rear suspension, and had to make another unscheduled pit stop to change the right rear tire. It was not until lap 172 that his handling issues went away, but by then he was already a lap down and out of contention for the win. He led no laps, and finished in 6th place.