Sometimes in motor racing a car, driver and sponsorship combination can become so iconic it comes to be known by a simple moniker by both fans and the media alike, and in the world of the Indianapolis 500 there are few paint schemes that would come to be more beloved then that of Johnny Rutherford’s Chaparral 2k in 1980, better known by the Indycar community as the Yellow Submarine.

The story of the Submarine can be traced back to 1957, when oil tycoon turned sports car racer Jim Hall purchased a front engine Chaparral 1 race-car from the Californian based design team of Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes, best known at the time for their work on the Scarab Formula One car of the early 1960s. After making extensive modifications to his machine, Hall began to pursue the idea of building his own chassis based off the 1 series, and in 1963 agreed a deal with the Californian duo allowing him to continue using the Chaparral name (the name itself being a breed of ground cuckoo better known as a road-runner).

During his time as a constructor Hall became one of the most innovative designers in sports car racing, with advancements in aerodynamics and ground effects well ahead of anything seen in motor racing at the time. During the 1960s Hall introduced the concept of wings on the car designed to generate down-force, whilst his infamous 2J machine featured two suction fans positioned at the rear of the car designed to push the car to the ground, in the process pre-empting a similar scheme used by the Brabham Formula One Team by nearly a decade.

After nine years away from motorsport Hall turned his attention to Indycar Racing, entering a Lola for Al Unser Sr. for the 1978 Indycar season, the team achieved immediate success, with Unser picking up his third Indy 500 title on his way to finishing second to Tom Sneva in the championship standings. For 1979 however Hall would introduce a new in-house chassis designed to replace the aging Lola. Designed by Briton John Barnard, the Chaparral 2K exploited ground affect technology similar to that which had been perfected by the Lotus Formula One team, with sliding skirts on the underside of the car designed to push it onto the road and increase grip at high speeds. The season also saw Hall sign oil company Pennzoil as the primary sponsor for the team seeing Hall’s traditional all-white scheme give way to the company’s corporate colours of yellow and black.

After overcoming early teething troubles with the new machine, Hall entered the 1980 Indycar season high on confidence. New driver Johnny Rutherford had dominated the opening round of the season at Ontario, and Hall was hopeful that the speed shown at the Californian circuit would translate into a strong showing at the Brickyard. His expectations were to be proven right, as Rutherford set the fastest time during time trials to claim pole position with a four lap average of 192.256mph. In the race itself Rutherford led the early stages of the race, just ahead of the duo of Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti, whilst the hard charging Tom Sneva had charged from last place on the grid to move himself into contention for the win going into the race’s middle stages. After Unser and Andretti were both forced to drop out with turbo and engine issues respectively, the race moved into a straight fight between Rutherford and Sneva for the win, but despite the best efforts of The Gas Man to close the gap to the #4 machine Rutherford began to pull away, leading 118 laps on his way to a dominant 500 win. The win was Rutherford’s third 500 win in seven years, and the ease at which he was able to dominate the race’s later stages soon led to the Yellow Submarine moniker to be applied to his machine.

Rutherford would spend two further years with Chaparral, but by 1982 the 2K chassis had begun to show its age, leading to Hall making the decision to close the outfit at the end of the 1982 championship. Pennzoil meanwhile would begin a healthy alliance with Indycar racing, sponsoring the likes of Rick Mears, John Andretti, Gil De Ferran and Sam Hornish Jr. in a relationship which would claim two 500 victories as well as two Indy Racing League championships. In February of this year it was announced that Pennzoil would return to Indianapolis, sponsoring Helio Castroneves’s #3 Penske for the 100th running of the legendary race, and raising the prospect of once again seeing the Yellow submarine return to victory lane at the Brickyard.

In today’s video a highlights package of the 1980 500, with Johnny Rutherford easing to a third Indy 500 victory.

In tomorrow’s update we look at one of the most bizarre accidents in the history of the 500, one which saw a journeyman rookie thrust firmly into the racing limelight.