Bobby Unser returned with Dan Gurney, crew chief Wayne Leary, and All American Racers for the 1972 Indianapolis 500â . Bobby Unser's Olsonite Eagle was considered the favorite for the pole. The first two scheduled days of qualifying were disrupted by rain, and Bobby Unser had to wait until Sunday afternoon to post a four-lap qualifying speed of 195.940 mph. The only other drivers to exceed 190 mph were front row contenders Peter Revson and Mark Donohue. Bobby Unser's 1972 pole speed was 17.244 mph faster than the 1971 pole, the largest one year speed increase in Indy history, and still a record thirty years later. At the start of the 1972 "500", Bobby Unser took the lead over Peter Revson's McLaren and began pulling away. After a few laps Bobby Unser began lapping the back of the field. Revson trailed without challenging for the lead until his gearbox broke on Lap 23. This gave Bobby Unser a tremendous lead over second-place Gary Bettenhausen with only an eighth of the race gone. But on Lap 31 Bobby Unser's engine failed in Turn Three, and he coasted to his pits. The AAR crew determined that the distributor rotor had broken, and began to change it. This was difficult on a hot engine, and required so much time that the team withdrew the car. Mark Donohue won the 1972 Indianapolis 500® at an average speed of 162.962 mph. Bobby Unser and the Olsonite Eagle were the fastest qualifier in all nine USAC races they started in 1972, and won four events: Phoenix in March, Milwaukee in June, Trenton in September, and Phoenix again in November.

started 1^st
finished 30^th

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