The pace car exited, the green flag was waved and 33 cars roared down the front straight. Rutherford had a great start and took a commanding lead. Foyt ran into trouble and his car skidded losing speed, but he held it on the track. Johncock and Unser followed close behind rutherford. Wally Dallenbach (#40 Wildcat) charged from the 7th spot in the third row to 5th place passing Sneva. Sneva’s car was running below peak performance.
Andretti and B. Unser made little progress and were trapped in traffic for most of the race.
Sheldon Kinser’s #97 Dragon was the first car to drop out of the race with a failed clutch. Opper (#8 Eagle), Bigelow (#24 Eagle), and Bettenhausen (#45 Eagle) were all black flagged for leading oil. Johncock was in 2nd place when his engine exploded knocking him out of the race. Scott (#28 Eagle) also ended his day early with a blown engine.
Rutherford pulled away from the field and made his mandatory pit stop before completing the second lap. It was a good stop, he only lost 2 turns in the pits and he was out before anyone could catch him. Al Unser was in second place and pitted after Rfutherford, but his fuel line needed repair and was forced to spend 6 turns in the pits. Sneva’s gears jammed and he spent 7 turns in the pits. On the other hand, Steve Krisiloff (#92 Eagle) had the best pit stop and only spent 1 turn in the pits enabling him to pass most of the field.
Rain began and the race was called. Cars that had completed the mandatory pit stop were counted in order before those that had not. Johnny Ruthorford was the winner followed by Krisiloff, and Mosley (#12 Eagle). Dallenbach placed 4th.
Ray’s top drivers finished 1st and 4th. Steve’s drivers earned 2nd and 3rd place on the podium.