1991 INDIANAPOLIS 500

The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. During time trials, Mears also established an Indy record by winning his sixth career pole position. The month of May for Mears was tumultuous, as he suffered his first ever crash at Indy since arriving as a rookie in 1977. The wreck during a practice run totaled his primary car, and injured his right foot. Mears later admitted that pain he was experiencing during the race was so bad, he had to cross his legs in the car and push the accelerator pedal down with his left foot.^[1]
The race was noteworthy in that it featured the first African American driver to qualify for the Indy 500, Willy T. Ribbs. It also saw its first Japanese driver, Hiro Matsushita. The pre-race attention going into the month focused on A. J. Foyt, who was expected to retire from driving after the event. During time trials, Foyt qualified on the front row, his record 34th consecutive Indy appearance. On race day, however, he dropped out early due to suspension damage. He eventually retracted his retirement plans, and returned one final time in 1992.
For the first time in Indy history, four members of the same family qualified for the same race. Mario, Michael, Jeff, and John Andretti competed together. Michael, Mario and John all finished in the top ten, while Jeff was named the Rookie of the Year.
The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Morning rain delayed the start of the race by about an hour. The rain stopped, the track was dried, and the race was run to its full scheduled completion. Later in the year, Rick Mears would also win the Michigan 500, sweeping both 500-mile races for the season, the final two victories of his racing career. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Indianapolis_500

Starting Lineup:

Row	Inside	Middle	Outside
1	Rick Mears (W)	A.J. Foyt (W)	Mario Andretti (W)
2	Bobby Rahal (W)	Michael Andretti	Al Unser, Jr.
3	John Andretti	Jim Crawford	Danny Sullivan (W)
4	Eddie Cheever	Jeff Andretti (R)	Scott Goodyear
5	Gary Bettenhausen	Arie Luyendyk (W)	Emerson Fittipaldi (W)
6	Kevin Cogan	Stan Fox	Mike Groff (R)
7	Scott Brayton	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	Bernard Jourdain
8	Geoff Brabham	Buddy Lazier (R)	Hiro Matsushita (R)
9	John Paul, Jr.	Tero Palmroth	Scott Pruett
10	Roberto Guerrero	Willy T. Ribbs (R)	Dominic Dobson
11	Randy Lewis	Pancho Carter	Gordon Johncock (W)

Other Drivers on Entry List:

Davey Hamilton

Dean Hall

Didier Theys

Guido Daccò

Jeff Wood

Johnny Parsons

Mark Dismore

Michael Greenfield

Paul Tracy

Phil Krueger

Salt Walther

Ted Prappas

Tom Sneva

Vinicio Salmi

Lap-By-Lap Summery:

Caution #1 Car #51 Gary Bettenhausen Spun in Turn 1; Car #71 Buddy Lazier Crashed trying to avoid him. Rick Mears Leads Lap 1

Lap 3: Green Flag 

Lap 12: Mario Andretti Took the lead

Lap 20: Caution #2 Car #8 Eddie Cheever Tow-In

Lap 23: Green Flag 

Lap 25: Caution #3 Car #9 Kevin Cogan and Car #40 Roberto Guerrero Crashed in Turn 1. Car #14 A.J. Foyt Hit Debris from the crash and dropped out as a result.

Lap 33: Green Flag 

Lap 34: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 55: Al Unser Jr. Took the lead

Lap 56: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 80: Al Unser Jr. Took the lead

Lap 83: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 84: Caution #4 Car #23 Tero Palmroth Tow-In

Lap 89: Green Flag 

Lap 109: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 113: Bobby Rahal Took the lead

Lap 114: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 139: Rick Mears Took the lead

Lap 141: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 148: Caution #5 Car #22 Scott Brayton, and Car #48 Bernard Jourdain Tow-In's 

Lap 153: Green Flag 

Lap 154: Michael Andretti Took the lead 

Lap 166: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 170: Rick Mears Took the lead

Lap 171: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 184: Caution #6 Car #20 Danny Sullivan Blew an Engine; Rick Mears Took the lead

Lap 186: Green Flag 

Lap 187: Michael Andretti Took the lead with an outside pass on Rick Mears in Turn 1

Lap 188: Rick Mears Took the lead with an outside pass on Michael Andretti in Turn 1         

Lap 191: Caution #7 Car #6 Mario Andretti Tow-In

Lap 194: Green Flag 

Lap 200: Checkered Flag: Rick Mears Wins his fourth Indy 500. As of today this is the last four time winner of the race.

Race Results: 

Finish	Driver	Laps	Status	Prize Money
1	Rick Mears	200	176.457	$1,219,704
2	Michael Andretti	200	176.402	$607,753
3	Arie Luyendyk	199	Running	$317,053
4	Al Unser Jr.	198	Running	$223,916
5	John Andretti	197	Running	$205,153
6	Gordon Johncock	188	Running	$275,690
7	Mario Andretti	187	Engine	$203,478
8	Stan Fox	185	Running	$201,090
9	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	180	Running	$170,016
10	Danny Sullivan	173	Engine	$194,403
11	Emerson Fittipaldi	171	Gearbox	$183,728
12	Scott Pruett	166	Engine	$159,191
13	Dominic Dobson	164	Running	$159,190
14	Randy Lewis	159	Running	$150,490
15	Jeff Andretti	150	Engine	$167,490
16	Hiro Matsushita	149	Running	$145,891
17	Scott Brayton	146	Engine	$172,191
18	Bernard Jourdain	141	Gearbox	$140,190
19	Bobby Rahal	130	Engine	$153,741
20	Geoff Brabham	109	Electrical	$136,491
21	Pancho Carter	94	Engine	$139,703
22	Gary Bettenhausen	89	Radiator	$177,890
23	Tero Palmroth	77	Engine	$131,990
24	Mike Groff	68	Water leak	$133,290
25	John Paul Jr.	53	Oil leak	$130,690
26	Jim Crawford	40	Engine	$133,690
27	Scott Goodyear	38	Engine	$127,791
28	A.J. Foyt	25	Suspension	$153,591
29	Kevin Cogan	24	Accident	$127,391
30	Roberto Guerrero	23	Accident	$125,203
31	Eddie Cheever Jr.	17	Electrical	$125,591
32	Willy T. Ribbs	5	Engine	$147,791
33	Buddy Lazier	1	Accident	$162,690