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Created by Gulf Oil, "One Heartbeat Away" looks at the Gulf McClaren team in the 1973 Indianapolis 500 Race. The film starts with a look at the car driven by Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 - March 22, 1974). He was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500, who was tragically killed in an accident at the South African Grand Prix. Johnny Rutherford his teammate watches Revson on the track and then qualifies himself (3:08). The film also shows Gasoline Alley / maintenance of cars (5:30), practice laps / carburetor tests (7:16) and the race itself starting at (10:37). At 10:45 a major accident takes place involving 11 cars. Al Unser takes the lead. At 12:28 Revson's shattered car is shown, after he hit the wall on the third lap. At 14.36, a terrible accident occurs with David "Swede" Savage's car; Savage is killed. Also dead in the same lap was crew member Armando Teran. At 14:50 Al Unser's car is shown on fire, but the fire is quickly extinguished. At 15:30 Rutherford is shown in the top ten while Unser leaves the race due to a blown engine. After 133 laps (332​1⁄2 miles), rain halted the race, and Gordon Johncock was declared the winner. It was the first of two Indy triumphs for Johncock (1973, 1982).
The 57th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Wednesday, May 30, 1973. The race was held over three days due to rain and suffered two major accidents. Going into the month, the mood was bright and excitement was high for record speeds. Competitors, media, and fans were eagerly anticipating the possibility of breaking the elusive and daunting 200 mph barrier during time trials. The month took a turn, however, when driver Art Pollard was killed in a crash during a practice session on May 12. Later that same day, Johnny Rutherford set a new track record during time trials. His best lap at 199.071 mph fell just short of breaking the highly sought-after speed barrier. Despite Rutherford's headlines on pole day, the mood meanwhile around the garage area was becoming anxious and uncertain. Fears were growing about rising speeds and safety. Inclement weather was also interfering.
The race was scheduled for Monday May 28, but was aborted due to a major accident at the start. Driver David "Salt" Walther was critically injured and numerous spectators required hospitalization. Rain washed out the rest of the afternoon, and washed out any chance to hold the race on Tuesday May 29 as well. Only a fraction of the typical Indy crowd arrived to watch the race by the time it was run on Wednesday May 30. The Wednesday race suffered two separate fatal accidents. The first involved driver David "Swede" Savage; the second, pit crew member Armando Teran. Both occurred at lap 59 of the race. Due to the tragic circumstances, relentless weather problems, rain-shortened finish, and overall glum mood during the month, the 1973 race is widely considered the worst year for the running of the Indianapolis 500. In contemporary accounts, the race had been called "jinxed" by Dan Gurney, Chris Economaki and Jim McKay. Statistically it would go down as the track's deadliest month of May since 1937.
National media opinions, as well as those from team owners and crew, were highly critical in the aftermath of the race, focusing namely on inadequate safety measures.The circumstances led to sweeping rule changes by USAC, some made effective for the Pocono 500 four weeks later. Numerous safety improvements were made to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track itself which would be completed for 1974.
John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. He is one of ten drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 at least three times, winning in 1974, 1976, and 1980.
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