Indianapolis turned 150 years old in 1971.
The motto for that year was "We celebrate our city," and there was even a special commemorative coin to prove it.
The pit badges for the 55th Indianapolis 500 marked the occasion as well.
And for the first time, management allowed women in the pits on a regular basis.
The track brought back 1925 500 champ Pete DePaolo to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana." and everything appeared to be on track for a great start and then, disaster.
The 1971 Dodge Challenger Pace Car driven by Eldon Palmer veered out of control and slammed into the base of the photographers' stand.
Everyone survived, although some were seriously hurt.
The race carried on, and so did the live broadcast.
The pace car crash was only the first in a series of devastating crashes.
In one of them, after more than 160 laps, Bobby Unser and Mike Mosely crashed into two disabled cars.
Bobby's brother, Al, remained in the lead throughout and took the checkered flag on his 32nd birthday.
Back-to-back wins for only the fourth time in race history.
MORE ON THE ROAD TO 100
1970 | 1969|1968| 1967 | 1966 | 1965 | 1964 | 1963 | 1962 | 1961 | 1960 | 1959 | 1958 | 1957 | 1956 | 1955 | 1954 | 1953 | 1952 | 1951 | 1950 | 1949 |1948 | 1947 | 1946 | 1941 | 1940 | 1939 | 1938 | 1937 | 1936 | 1935 | 1934 | 1933 | 1932 | 1931 | 1930 | 1929 | 1928 | 1927 | 1926 | 1925 | 1924 | 1923 | 1922 | 1921 | 1920 | 1919 | 1916 | 1915 | 1914 | 1913 | 1912 | 1911 | Special Section: Road to 100 | Enter to win tickets to the Indy 500 | Start your engines: 100 stories in 100 days
Tune in to RTV6 News at 6 p.m. every night for our Road to 100, where we take a look back at each of the races leading up to the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Want tickets to this year's race? Tune in to RTV6 News at 6 p.m. and watch for the daily trivia question and answer, then click here to enter the answer to be entered daily for your chance to win tickets to the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29.
-----------
Sign up to have the latest news headlines delivered straight to your email inbox
