Jerry Grant rejoined his old friend Dan Gurney for the 1972 Indianapolis 500â . Grant did not run a lap in practice until the Friday before the second qualifying weekend. He qualified in 15^th spot, with a speed of 189.294 mph, the fourth fastest time in the field. When the race began, Bobby Unser took a commanding lead in his Olsonite Eagle, and Grant began moving rapidly up through the field. When Bobby Unser fell out on Lap 31, Grant moved up to 3^rd, behind Gary Bettenhausen and Mike Mosley. Mosley had an accident on Lap 56 shortly after taking the lead. Bettenhausen then dominated more than half the race, with Grant the only driver who could keep in touch with him. When Bettenhausen's engine faltered on Lap 182 after a return of green flag racing, Grant swept into the lead well ahead of Mark Donohue, then in second. Although Donohue picked up his pace, the race appeared to belong to Grant. But a cut tire brought Grant in to pit on Lap 187, and during his stop the refueling nozzle from team mate Bobby Unser's car was connected to Grant's car. Grant finished the race believing that he'd won, but the scorers had Donohue in first place, with Grant in second. Grant's bad luck was not over, for a competitor protested Grant for illegally accepting fuel from a team mate's fuel supply. The protest was upheld, and Grant was stripped of all laps run after his final pit stop, dropping him to 12^th place in the final reckoning. Mark Donohue won the 1972 Indianapolis 500â at a speed of 163.465 mph.