SWEDE'S
STATS
PRE-1970
CAR LIFE
Magazine Article
February 1970
1970
BOBBY BALL
150
AUTO RACING
Magazine
March 1971
David Earl
'SWEDE'
Savage Jr
Stats & Facts 1973
The 1st race of the 1973 season. A new year and a new car, Swede drives the #42 Eagle (above) for owner Pat Patrick at Texas World Speedway. Swede started 25th and finished 13th with a broken suspension.
Swede starts 6th and finishes 5th in the 1st heat race at Trenton, NJ in the unsponsored the #42 Eagle for owner Pat Patrick.
April 15, 1973 - Swede starts 5th and finishes 4th in the 2nd heat race at Trenton, NJ.
May 2, 1973 - Patrick Racing has picked up a sponsor with STP and Swede's car number is changed to #40 to coincide with STP legendary numbers. On Swede's first day on the track he became a member of the 190 Club turning a lap with the speed of 191.815 mph.
On May 3rd Swede made his presence known at the Speedway as he was fastest of the day with a lap speed of 191.734 mph. As of May 4th, Swede was clocked as the third fastest man in practice for the month with his lap of 191.815. STP teammate Johncock was on top of the chart with a speed of 194.636 mph.
Johncock's seat on top of the speed chart did not last long. On May 5th (Art Pollard's birthday), Swede took his place on top of the fastest of the month with a lap time within five-hundreths of a second of the magic 200 mph speed with a pair of laps over 197 mph. With just ten minutes remaining in the days practice session, Savage ripped one lap at 197.802 and followed it with a lap at 197.282 in the #40 STP Oil Treatment Special.
On May 8th, Swede took the #0 STP Eagle out for some shake down laps and ran the days fouth-fastest lap at 190.161 mph. The car was bearing the #0 until a driver and a number were assigned. The following day, Swede took the #0 Eagle to a speed of 192.500 mph. Swede was still atop the speed charts of the month with his earlier 197 mph run in the #40 car.
Photo courtesy of the Speed Merchants Collection
Swede blisters the 2 1/2 mile oval with a record setting time of 45.5 seconds and a speed of 197.802. one half second shy of being the first racer to turn a 200 mph lap at the hallowed track.
Photo courtesy of Russ Thompson
May 12, 1973 - Less than two hours after his fellow competitor Art Pollard passed away from injuries suffered in a turn one practice crash that morning, Swede circled the Brickyard 4 times in 3:13:13 to become the fastest man in history at the famed oval. Unfortunately, by the time Swede had changed into his street clothes, he was no longer on the pole. Swede did have the pole at Indy in 1973 for just about 70 minutes.
- Swede's Record Setting Qualification Run
- Lap 1 - 197.152 mph. (New Track Record)
Lap 2 - 196.464 mph.
Lap 3 - 196.335 mph.
Lap 4 - 196.378 mph.
Total - 196.582 mph. (New 4 lap track record eclipsing Bobby Unser's record from 1972)
May 24, 1973 - Carburation Day - Swede Savage was the 3rd fastest car of the day with a lap speed of 190.618 mph.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Chiszar
May 30, 1973 - In what is sadly Swede's final race, he starts 4th and is credited with 22nd after crashing on lap 57 after relinquishing the lead to pit for fuel and a right rear tire.
Photo from June 23, 1973 issue of Autoweek
July 1, 1973 - New rules are put into place at the Pocono 500 which reduce the amount of fuel from 75 to 40 gallons which is housed on the left side only at the time. Wing size, turbo boost pop off valves, lighter cars, plus a drastic face lift to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, all in the name of safety improvements, evolved from those dark days in May of 1973. Although Swede wasn't victorious in the Indy 500, he was definitely victorious in the decreasing number of injuries and possibly deaths which may have occurred in both the Indy 500 and Indy car racing in general. The greatest examples I can recall was Tom Sneva in 1975 (I believe) when he hung the car in the turn two fence with a little more than a flash, and any other driver that went off course inside of turn four.
July 2, 1973 - 9:40 am. Swede left us with a safer place for both competitors and and fans to enjoy the sport of automobile racing.
Swede Savage held the fastest official practice speed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the year of 1973 at a speed of 197.802. A record which stood for 4 years mainly due to an effort to slow cars down after that terrible race.
Postcard courtesy of Jerry Hart
Swede Savage led a total of 12 laps in the 1973 Indy 500. The only year he led any laps in his 2 starts. This places him higher than many other big name drivers some with many more starts. Some drivers Swede is ahead of on the laps led list include:
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Dan Gurney - 9 Indy Starts
Graham Hill - 1966 Indy winner
Roger McCluskey - 18 Indy Starts and the 1972 USAC Champion
Bobby Allison
Tim Richmond
Pancho Carter
Scott Pruett
Eddie Rickenbacker
Billy Vuckovich III
Louis Chevrolet
Jim Crawford
John Andretti
Fred Agabashian
Scott Brayton
Stefan Gregorie
Robby McGehee
Wally Dallenbach Sr. took over Swede's car after the tragedy at the INDY 500 and won the California 500 and one of the qualifying heats for the race. While I sat and watched those races at OMS in 1973, I thought sadly to myself..."If only....".
Wally went on to finish 2nd in points behind Roger McCluskey in 1973. STP made headlines with every team they had entered in the 1973 Indy 500 and the Patrick team with the STP cars #20 and #40 went on to be very successful for the next decade. In 1982, Swede's teammate Gordon Johncock finally got the REAL Indy 500 victory he so much deserved with a historic victory over Rick Mears.
June 15, 2001 - This website hit the world wide web as a tribute to Swede.
Page from Vortex Comic Book #4 on Bobby Allison
