Sunday 26th May 1974

In the midst of an energy crisis, and as an infield of hippies stormed the track, Johnny Rutherford came from the 25th starting position, deepest in the field since 1933, to record his first victory in the Indianapolis 500. During the month, as a gesture to the energy crisis, time trials were trimmed from four days down to two, and several days of practice were either reduced by several hours or eliminated outright. The race was also scheduled on Sunday for the first time, thereby ending the “never-on-a-Sunday” policy that had dated to 1911. The reduced practice time was well-received and noticeably adequate, and thus became a permanent change. But four-day time trial sessions was restored for 1975.