Speedway officials still did not utilize the pace car during cautions, and this enforcement tool would be used at Indy for seven years, albeit not without controversy in subsequent races.

* Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain In 1972, for the first time, USAC allowed bolt-on wings to be affixed the cars.

The track opened for practice promptly at 9 a.m. At 10:21 a.m., Jim Malloy slid high exiting turn 3, and hit the outside wall in the north short chute.

After the Malloy crash, rain closed the track until 2:30 p.m. Bill Vukovich II was the first driver to make a qualifying attempt.

Mario Andretti (187.617 mph) was the next car out, and he took over the top spot temporarily, also breaking the track record in the process.

He set new all-time one and four-lap qualifying records, becoming the first driver to officially break the 190 mph barrier at Indianapolis.

As the attention on the track was focusing on Cale Yarborough, Jim Hurtubise wheeled his Gohr Distributing-sponsored Mallard roadster in the qualifying line shortly before the closing deadline of 6 p.m. Gohr Distributing was a Buffalo-area beer distributor for various brands of beer, and they promoted the Miller High Life brand on the car.

Hurtubise had become known for last-minute (unsuccessful) qualifying efforts in his obsolete front-engined roadster, usually to the delight of fans, but sometimes drawing the ire of others.

[10][11] Instead it had a plastic-lined trough filled with ice and a number of chilled bottles of his sponsor's product, which he shared with the other pit crews and race officials.

Some were even becoming skeptical before he opened the cover, as already melting ice was leaving a trail of water visible on the pit lane beneath the car.

[13] The final practice session was scheduled for Wednesday May 24 from 1-4 p.m. Gordon Johncock (186.4 mph) was the fastest car of the day.

Drivers were instructed to hold their position under yellow, and each message board around the track would display a number from 1 to 9, illustrating the gap between themselves and the car in front of him.

Nabors asked the band leader what key they were going to play, and it was not until that moment that he was informed he was going to be singing "Back Home Again in Indiana".

A surprised Nabors quickly jotted the lyrics down on a sheet of paper, climbed up on a ladder, and performed the song unrehearsed.

Tony Hulman gave the command to start engines, and the field began to pull away for two pace laps.

The passengers in the Hurst/Olds pace car included Tony Hulman, astronaut Pete Conrad, Chris Schenkel of ABC Sports, Bob Draper (Hurst), and Dolly Cole (wife of GM executive Ed Cole), believed to be the first woman ever to ride in the pace car.

The starter waved the pace car off the track and abruptly dropped the green flag, catching many drivers in the wrong gear to go racing and making for a ragged start.

Grant himself later theorized that, because he was running a high line to improve his Eagle-Offy's handling, he might have picked up debris that caused a puncture of his right-front tire.

Slowly losing water, the engine temperature stayed in a mostly safe range while at racing speed, but during the yellow caution period, it overheated.

Jerry Grant blasted by to take the lead, and Bettenhausen's Penske teammate Mark Donohue was now promoted to second place.

Per the rules of the time, the remainder of the field was permitted to continue racing for about five minutes after Donohue took the checkered flag.

In the immediate aftermath of the finish, USAC official Frank Delroy announced there would be no penalty for Grant pitting in the wrong stall.

The morning after the race, USAC officials penalized Jerry Grant for taking fuel from Bobby Unser's pit tank.

[24] Several possible theories emerged, with one prevailing opinion suggesting that Grant's car was out of fuel, and his pit-side tank was also empty, due to him running high turbocharger boost during the race.

Grant supposedly needed a splash of fuel to make it to the finish, and since Bobby Unser dropped out early, his pit-side tank was still mostly full.

Vanguard Racing (of which Leonard W. Miller was involved), became the first African American-owned team to enter a car in the Indy 500.

The Pace Car was a 1972 Hurst/Olds convertible with a Hurst Performance modified 455 cubic inch W-30 engine built to pre-smog high compression 1970 specs.

All were painted Cameo white and carried unique 3M Firefrost Gold reflective fade out(pin dotted) laser stripes.

Howdy Bell's vantage point in turn two (an observation spot against the outside of the retaining wall), would be the final time reporting from that location.

Keith Jackson and Stu Nahan hosted a separate 30-minute trackside report before the ABC telecast that was available to some viewers on the west coast.