INDY DIARIES: Bobby versus the turbines

Over 99 runnings, the Indianapolis 500 has become the most famous event in motorsport. That iconic status is built on a bedrock of hundreds of small stories, and to celebrate the centennial race, RACER.com has asked some of the people who are part of Indy's fabric to share a few of those stories with us. Check back every day between now and race day for a new 'Indy Diary' entry.

In 1968, Bobby Unser was the fastest driver powered by an Offenhauser engine and riding on Goodyear tires, but he was the prohibitive underdog to Andy Granatelli's Firestone-shod turbine cars.

"I really figured they were going to annihilate us," reflected Unser of the three-pronged STP armada of Joe Leonard, Graham Hill and Art Pollard. "They had more power and four-wheel drive."

But, early on, the man that started on the outside of Row 1 realized he and his Rislone Eagle/Offy had a fighting chance.

"I followed Joe for a while and then saw I was running faster, so I waited and then smoked him on the front straightaway so Andy could see it," he says with a laugh. "I figured that would wake him up and he'd come right back by me, but it didn't happen."

What did happen is Unser's transmission got stuck in fourth gear, which made leaving the pits after a stop agonizingly slow. Despite leading 127 laps, Unser found himself trailing Leonard on a restart with nine laps to go before the turbine broke down.

"I was still going to catch him and win the race," declares Unser. "I cheated a little bit on the restart and got a good run so I figured I would have caught him on the white flag lap.

"Don't get me wrong, I was happy Joe dropped out, but I was still going to win that race."