The 1982 indianapolis 500 was one for the ages. Rick Mears shattered the track record en-route to the pole position. Team mate Kevin Cogan and AJ Foyt - in his 25th Indianapolis 500 - rounded out the front row. Behind them sat the STP Patrick Racing Wildcats driven by Mario Andretti and Gordon Johncock.

For Andretti, the race was over before it started, as Kevin Cogan crashed into AJ Foyt and then careened into the path of Andretti as they approached the start finish line.

During the race, Johncock took the lead on lap 160 and for the last 100 miles Johncock and Mears battled nose to tail until the final pit stops which saw Johncock come out with a 12 second lead with 12 laps to go. But Mears was gaining over one second per lap! As they took the white flag Mears pulled even, but Johncock re-asserted his lead going into turn one and held on for what was then the closest finish in Indy History.

Johncock would go on to win the next race at Milwaukee and double up his Indy 500 win by winning the Michigan 500, with team mate Andretti close behind in second place.