What year was the Indy qualifying track record broken by the most mph?

[preacher]

What year was the Indy qualifying track record broken by the most mph?

Was it 1972? Seems to me that several broke it before Unser set it.

Guess it depends if one is asking about the four lap record or the one lap record...

[Sybil D. Sobydianz]

Basically, the Pole Records skipped the 180 mph range

1971 178.696 mph Peter Revson
1972 195.940 mph Bobby Unser

[Norman J Crump]

The one lap record biggest improvements in mph were

1 Bobby Unser 1972
2 Bill Vukovich 1972
3 Rene Thomas 1914
4 Rodger Ward 1964
5 Jimmy Snyder 1937

[preacher]

thanks for the responses. Those 72 wings blew the records away.

[Belanger99]

I guess as a pain in the a$$ racing statistician and historian I should point out a technical inaccuracy in this thread.

While 1972 is correct, the speed differential depends on what point of reference you use.

Because, Peter Revson on his qualification run in 1971 ran 179.354 as his quick lap
The FIRST driver to break the track record in 1972 was Billy Vukovich who ran 185.797, a difference of just over 6MPH
After that, Joe Leonard, Mario and Gary B each broke the one lap record.
Bobby Unser then ran a fast lap of 196.678 compared to Gary B's 189.474, just over 7MPH faster than Bettenhausens existing track record.

For four laps, Revson ran 178.696.
Leonard was the first over that with a 185.223, followed by Mario and Gary B.
Unser broke Bettenhausen's 188.877 with a 195.940, just over 7MPH faster.

In 1923 Tommy Milton broke Ralph Depalma's 1921 10 lap record by 7.42 MPH if I have calculated it correctly.

[preacher]

So, I'm guessing that 1972 was the day that the track record was broken the most number of times in a single day. If my memory serves me right, it was a Sunday, not a Saturday.

[MS]

Basically, the Pole Records skipped the 180 mph range

1971 178.696 mph Peter Revson
1972 195.940 mph Bobby Unser

That had to be one of the most amazing Pole Days ever. Tom Carnegie must have had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.

What a jump in speed. It would be like the pole speed this year being 254 miles an hour!!!!!!

[Frank Capua]

Tom always had the crowd eating out of his hand even on rain out days...

[cheeseczar]

My favorite Canegie-ism was "oh no...you won't believe it!".

*sigh*