Indianapolis 500
Race Results for the 1979 Indianapolis 500
| Finish | Start | Car Num. | Driver | Car Name/Entrant* | Make/Model | Status | Laps | Led | Prize Money |
| 1 | 1 | 9 | Rick Mears | The Gould Charge | Penske/Cosworth | 158.899 | 200 | 25 | $270,401 |
| 2 | 6 | 14 | A.J. Foyt (W) | Gilmore Racing Team | Parnelli/Cosworth | 158.260 | 200 | 1 | $107,291 |
| 3 | 12 | 36 | Mike Mosley | Theodore Racing | Eagle/Cosworth | 158.228 | 200 | 0 | $65,031 |
| 4 | 27 | 25 | Danny Ongais | Interscope Racing | Penske/Cosworth | Running | 199 | 0 | $41,197 |
| 5 | 4 | 12 | Bobby Unser (W) | Norton Spirit | Penske/Cosworth | Running | 199 | 89 | $62,319 |
| 6 | 5 | 3 | Gordon Johncock (W) | North American Van Lines | Penske/Cosworth | Running | 197 | 0 | $34,815 |
| 7 | 13 | 46 | Howdy Holmes (R) | Armstrong Mould/Jiffy Mix | Wildcat/Cosworth | Running | 195 | 0 | $38,503 |
| 8 | 34 | 22 | Bill Vukovich II | Hubler/WNDE/Thermo-King | Watson/Offy | Running | 194 | 0 | $31,305 |
| 9 | 15 | 11 | Tom Bagley | Dairy Queen/Kent Oil | Penske/Cosworth | Running | 193 | 0 | $26,927 |
| 10 | 31 | 19 | Spike Gehlhausen | Sta-On Car Glaze/WIRE | Wildcat/Cosworth | Running | 192 | 0 | $26,366 |
| 11 | 28 | 7 | Steve Krisiloff | Frosty Acres/Winton Sales | Lightning/Offy | Running | 192 | 0 | $25,713 |
| 12 | 16 | 77 | Salt Walther | Dayton-Walther | Penske/Cosworth | Running | 191 | 0 | $24,739 |
| 13 | 25 | 72 | Roger McCluskey | National Engineering Co. | McLaren/Cosworth | Running | 191 | 0 | $26,392 |
| 14 | 30 | 44 | Tom Bigelow | Armstrong Mould | Lola/Cosworth | Running | 190 | 0 | $25,817 |
| 15 | 2 | 1 | Tom Sneva | Sugaripe Prune | McLaren/Cosworth | Accident | 188 | 0 | $30,578 |
| 16 | 26 | 69 | Joe Saldana | KBHL/Spirit of Nebraska | Eagle/Offy | Running | 186 | 0 | $24,467 |
| 17 | 29 | 97 | Phil Threshie | Guiffre Brothers Crane | King/Chevrolet | Running | 172 | 0 | $24,634 |
| 18 | 8 | 4 | Johnny Rutherford (W) | Budweiser | McLaren/Cosworth | Running | 168 | 0 | $30,729 |
| 19 | 23 | 31 | Larry Rice | S&M Electric | Lightning/Offy | Accident | 142 | 0 | $21,053 |
| 20 | 17 | 10 | Pancho Carter | Alex XLNT Foods | Lightning/Offy | Wheel bearing | 129 | 0 | $21,656 |
| 21 | 22 | 34 | Vern Schuppan | Wysard Motor Co. | Wildcat/DGS | Transmission | 111 | 0 | $20,537 |
| 22 | 3 | 2 | Al Unser (W) | Pennzoil | Chaparral/Cosworth | Transmission | 104 | 85 | $39,646 |
| 23 | 33 | 50 | Eldon Rasmussen | Vans by Bivouac/WFMS | Antares/Offy | Header pipe | 89 | 0 | $19,433 |
| 24 | 24 | 80 | Larry Dickson | Russ Polak | Penske/Cosworth | Fuel pump | 86 | 0 | $19,149 |
| 25 | 32 | 92 | John Mahler | Intercomp/Sports Magazine | Eagle/Offy | Fuel pump | 66 | 0 | $18,894 |
| 26 | 20 | 17 | Dick Simon | Sanyo | Vollstedt/Offy | Clutch | 57 | 0 | $19,267 |
| 27 | 7 | 6 | Wally Dallenbach | Foreman Industries | Penske/Cosworth | Lost wheel | 43 | 0 | $19,768 |
| 28 | 10 | 24 | Sheldon Kinser | Genesee Beer | Watson/Offy | Piston | 40 | 0 | $18,297 |
| 29 | 18 | 29 | Cliff Hucul | Hucul Racing | McLaren/Offy | Rod | 22 | 0 | $21,605 |
| 30 | 11 | 89 | Lee Kunzman | Vetter Windjammer | Parnelli/Cosworth | Scavenger pump | 18 | 0 | $18,042 |
| 31 | 21 | 73 | Jerry Sneva | National Engineering Co. | Spirit/AMC | Piston | 16 | 0 | $18,357 |
| 32 | 9 | 15 | Johnny Parsons | Hopkins | Lightning/Offy | Piston | 16 | 0 | $18,900 |
| 33 | 35 | 59 | George Snider | KBHL/Spirit of Nebraska | Lightning/Offy | Fuel pump | 7 | 0 | $18,921 |
| 34 | 14 | 45 | Janet Guthrie | Texaco Star | Lola/Cosworth | Piston | 3 | 0 | $18,121 |
| 35 | 19 | 23 | Jim McElreath | Amax Coal | Penske/Cosworth | Valves | 0 | 0 | $18,671 |
- * complete car name/entrant data not available for all entries
- (R) - Indicates Rookie
- (W) - Indicates Past Winner