Immediately after the checkered flag was waved for Johnny Rutherford, a multitude of fans streamed onto the active track in turn 3. This forced the race steward to immediately halt the race, rather than give lapped drivers five extra minutes to complete the race distance as had been the custom since 1964 (before 1964, the time allowed was even longer). The fan incursion caused the Indianapolis 500 race rules to be changed for 1975 and beyond, so that the winner crossing the line ends the race, and all competitors behind the race winner are allowed only to finish their current running lap under green.