The 63rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 1979. Second-year driver Rick Mears took the lead for the final time with 18 laps to go, and won his first of four Indy 500 races. Brothers Al and Bobby Unser combined to lead 174 laps, but Al dropped out, and Bobby slipped to 5th place at the finish nursing mechanical issues.

The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was part of the 1979 USAC National Championship. However, many of the participants entered the race only as a one-off, and instead broke off and took part in the inaugural 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series. It was the beginning of the first open-wheel "split."

The month of May 1979 was filled with controversy on and off the track. A court injunction was issued after USAC initially denied entries by some teams that were part of the CART series. During time trials, several cars were disqualified due to illegal wastegate exhaust pipes. Qualifying closed with the traditional 33 cars in the field. However, the day before the race a special qualifying session was held to allow certain entries a last chance to qualify. Two additional cars were added to the field, for a total of 35 cars (the most since 1933).

The high tensions and numerous technical squabbles during the month attracted considerable negative criticism from sports writers and media. The race itself, however, was competitive and entertaining, and completed without major incident or controversy.

Among those in attendance was former president Gerald Ford. Ford also served as the grand marshal of the 500 Festival Parade. The 1979 race is also notable in that it was the first to utilize the pace car during caution periods.

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Wikipedia