Carousel / 1973 All American Racers Sugar Ripe Prune Eagle #2- Bill Vukovich / Discontinued / 1:18th Scale

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          Bill Vukovich, Jr. was the son of 1953 and 1954 Indy winner Bill Vukovich, Sr. For the 1973 Indianapolis 500â , Bill Vukovich, Jr. entered his fourth Indy 500â with car owner Jerry O'Connell and Chief Mechanic Jud Phillips. Vukovich qualified on the first day of qualifying with a speed of 191.103 mph, which placed him on the inside of the fifth row in the starting lineup. A first-lap mishap involving several cars, followed by heavy rain, caused a postponement until the following day. On the second day, rain began during the pace lap, and the race was red-flagged then postponed, without a green flag being shown. When the race finally got under way on the third day, Vukovich began moving up from his 16^th starting spot to 10^th position at the end of 10 laps, and by the end of 30 laps was running 5^th. An accident on Lap 58 stopped the race for more than an hour. After the restart Al Unser led, with Gordon Johncock and Vukovich following. Al Unser soon broke a piston, leaving Johncock in the lead and Vukovich in second place. Vukovich closed to within 6 seconds of Johncock, but was struggling with a poor handling car and a drop in the boost pressure of his turbocharger, which reduced his power and caused him to fall further behind. Rain brought out a yellow flag on Lap 129, and four laps later the race was called. At the finish, Vukovich was the only driver on the lead lap with Johncock. A check of Vukovich's Eagle after the race revealed a cracked intake manifold, which would have worsened had the race continued. Gordon Johncock was declared the winner of the 1973 Indy 500â with a speed of 159.036 mph. At the time, Bill Vukovich, Jr.'s 2^nd place finish was the best ever for a son of an Indy winner, twenty years after his father had won in 1953.

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