It was great to see the rookie American take this one. This race demonstrated the usual factor that part of the secret of winning is simply having the good fortune and skill to stay out of trouble when other drivers hit the wall.
Yup,
Stay outta trouble,
A little luck.
A family named Bettenhausen focused on Indy for Years and the track destroyed them.
Personally,
I beat that Damn Track!
Absolutely; luck is a big part of winning a 500-mile race. They interviewed A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears in the pre-race show (all are four-time winners) and all of them said as much. A.J. also added that he won a couple he should have lost and lost two or three he was sure he would win.