Granatelli's cars became a significant presence at the Indianapolis 500. While he first gained notoriety by re-introducing the Novi engine, his best known entries were his turbine-powered cars in 1967 and 1968. In both years, he saw probable race-winners fail near the end; Joe Leonard's breakdown in the Lotus 56 with 10 laps remaining in 1968 had been topped the previous year when Parnelli Jones, leading comfortably with just three laps to go, suffered the failure of a six dollar transmission bearing in the STP-Paxton Turbocar and retired, handing a sure victory to A. J. Foyt.