Al Unser Sr. dominated the second half, and held a large lead late in the race.

Later in the 1978 season, Unser would go on to win the Pocono 500 and the California 500 again, sweeping the "triple crown" of Indy car racing for 1978.

Second year driver Janet Guthrie finished ninth, and it was later revealed she drove with a fractured wrist.

During time trials, Tom Sneva, who had broken the 200 mph (320 km/h) barrier a year earlier, bettered his own record.

This time he managed to complete all four qualifying laps over 200 mph (320 km/h), setting once again new one-lap and four-lap track records.

His widow Mary F. Hulman was named the chairperson of the board of the Speedway, and for the first time she delivered the famous starting command.

Along with the death of Tony Hulman, the race was held just five weeks after eight USAC officials were killed in a plane crash.

On Friday May 12, the final day of practice before pole qualifying was scheduled to be held, Mario Andretti shattered the unofficial track record, turning a lap of 203.482 mph (327.473 km/h).

With no track activity possible at Indy for Sunday, A. J. Foyt flew to Talladega and finished third in the NASCAR Winston 500.

After practicing over 200 mph (320 km/h), A. J. Foyt was forced to wave off his run, and missed his chance at qualifying during the pole round.

However, on race day, Andretti would get back in the car, and he would be forced to line up in the 33rd starting position due to the driver switch.

The trip through the original qualifying line exhausted at 5 p.m., and Tom Sneva officially secured the pole position.

Several drivers including Bobby Unser, A. J. Foyt, and Pancho Carter, were unable to qualify during the pole round.

At 5 p.m., the "third day" of time trials officially commenced, and those drivers would line up behind the cars from the pole round.

Jim Hurtubise, who had once again entered his now-infamous Mallard/Offy front-engined car, had been denied the permission to qualify, due to lack of speed.

USAC had decided to set a 180 mph (290 km/h) minimum speed in order to pass "final" inspection, receive the appropriate sticker, and be allowed to make a qualifying attempt.

[5] Hurtubise considered the ruling a personal harassment, lies, and an effort by USAC, Goodyear, and the Speedway to single him out and keep him from qualifying.

[6] After being a popular fixture amongst the fans for many years, several episodes of antics had caused some to begin to view Hurtubise unfavorably.

[7] Hurtubise got into a heated exchange with chief steward Tom Binford, then proceeded to climb into Harkey's car, shouting "If I can't qualify, no one can!

While Harkey was on the backstretch of his warm-up lap,[6] Hurtubise jumped over the pit wall and ran out on the race track in order to disrupt and halt the qualifying attempt.

[5][7] By this time, the crowd's opinion had changed, and they began booing and jeering Hurtubise for going too far by disrupting qualifying.

At the green flag, Danny Ongais darted into the lead, with Tom Sneva falling in line behind him in second.

Salt Walther dropped out with a bad clutch, and proceeded to rant his frustration of his chief mechanic Tommy Smith during a heated television interview.

The team reported that Ongais had lost his two-way radio, and was forced to communicate only by sign boards for the rest of the race.

A. J. Foyt, who had charged near the front early on, started to fade, and after long pit stops, was laps down to the leaders.

Unser continued to hold a small lead over Ongais, with his crew's efficient and quick pit stops increasing the margin.

Unser overshot his pit box by a few feet, and hit a spare tire with his front wing.

George Bignotti announced his intentions to protest Johncock's penalty, claiming that officials overlooked Unser running over his air hose, and did not treat both drivers equally.

However, post-race footage showed that Unser, although coming very close, did not run over his air hose, and the team declined to protest.

Billed as an "ABC Sports Exclusive," the race was introduced with the 1977 song African Symphony, written by Van McCoy, and performed by Saint Tropez.