Indianapolis 500 Evolution

Did You Know?

• The game includes 21 missions that reward the player credits for use in career mode.
• Photos and movies of the Indy 500 between 1961 and 1971 are included.

Indy 500 events from 1961 to 1971

The 1961 race featured new Pennock Grandstands and Jack Brabham’s Cooper-Climax, which placed ninth, while rookies like Roger McCluskey, Bobby Marshman, and Parnelli Jones debuted. In 1962, the final bricks remained only on the start-finish line, a 150 mph qualifying speed was reached, and Mickey Thompson’s rear-engined Buick, driven by rookie Dan Gurney, appeared. The rear-engine revolution and Team Lotus arrived in 1963, with Jim Hurtubise in a Novi-powered car and Jim Clark and Dan Gurney driving Lotuses. By 1964, the front-engine roadsters that had ruled since 1911 began fading as Halibrand, Huffaker, and Brabham cars emerged. After the 1964 race’s tragic deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald, the fuel switched from gasoline to methanol in 1965, with smaller, fire-protective side tanks and two mandatory pit stops; only a few front-engine roadsters remained as rear-engine cars dominated. This fuel change was not repeated until 2005, when ethanol became the fuel still used today. In 1966, Bobby Grim was among the last front-engine roadster drivers, while European Formula One drivers like Jim Clark, Sir Jackie Stewart, and Graham Hill joined the rear-engine field, marking the 50th Indy 500. Andy Granatelli’s STP-Paxton Turbocar nearly won the 1967 race but broke down eight miles from the finish due to a transmission bearing; it crashed during qualifying in 1968 and is now a museum piece. The 1968 race also saw Lotus’s turbine-powered Lotus 56, while turbocharged Offenhauser engines remained common, and Jim Hurtubise qualified a front-engine roadster for the final time in Indy history.