Tuesday, May 3, 2016

1990 INDIANAPOLIS 500

The 74th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 27, 1990. Dutchman Arie Luyendyk took the lead with 32 laps to go, and earned his first-ever victory in championship-level competition. It was the second consecutive year the Indy 500 was won by a foreign-born competitor, the first time that had occurred since 1965–1966. Luyendyk completed the 500 miles at an average speed of 185.981 mph (299.307 km/h), a record that stood for 23 years until 2013.[1] In reference to the long-standing speed record, the 1990 race had often been referred to as "The Fastest 500."
Defending champion and race pole-sitter Emerson Fittipaldi dominated the first half of the race, looking to become the first back-to-back winner in 20 years. In the second half of the race, however, he fell victim to blistering tires, lost a lap, and wound up finishing third. Bobby Rahal, the 1986 winner, was in position to win his second Indy 500, but he too suffered handling problems, which dropped him to second at the finish.
A. J. Foyt, making his 33rd consecutive Indy start, finished in sixth place. Rookie Jeff Andretti attempted to become the unprecedented fourth member of the Andretti family to qualify for the same race, but was bumped on the final day of time trials.
Rain hampered much of the month, washing out nearly the entire first weekend of time trials as well as two practice days. The 1990 race was also the first Indy 500 presided over by Tony George, who was named president of the Speedway in January.
The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Indianapolis_500

Starting Lineup:
Row Inside Middle Outside
1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi (W) United States Rick Mears (W) Netherlands Arie Luyendyk
2 United States Bobby Rahal (W) United States Michael Andretti United States Mario Andretti (W)
3 United States Al Unser, Jr. United States A.J. Foyt (W) United States Danny Sullivan (W)
4 United States John Andretti United States Dominic Dobson Canada Randy Lewis
5 United States Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. United States Eddie Cheever (R) United States Kevin Cogan
6 Finland Tero Palmroth Brazil Raul Boesel United States Gary Bettenhausen
7 Australia Geoff Brabham Belgium Didier Theys Canada Scott Goodyear (R)
8 United States Pancho Carter Italy Teo Fabi United States Dean Hall (R)
9 United States Tom Sneva (W) United States Scott Brayton United States Stan Fox
10 Colombia Roberto Guerrero United Kingdom Jim Crawford United States Al Unser (W)
11 United States Bill Vukovich III United States John Paul, Jr. United States Rocky Moran

Other Drivers on Entry List:

Bernard Jourdain
Buddy Lazier
George Snider
Guido Daccò
Hiro Matsushita
Jeff Andretti
Jeff Wood
Johnny Rutherford
Kenji Momota
Mike Groff
Rich Vogler
Salt Walther
Steve Barclay
Steve Chassey

Lap-By-Lap Summery:

Green Flag: Emerson Fittipaldi Leads Lap 1

Lap 20: Caution #1 Car #7 Danny Sullivan Crashed in between Turns 1 and 2

Lap 25: Green Flag 

Lap 43: Caution #2 Car #16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Tow-In

Lap 51: Green Flag 

Lap 63: Caution #3 Car #19 Raul Boesel Tow-In; and Car #29 Pancho Carter Crashed in Turn 4

Lap 69: Green Flag 

Lap 93: Arie Luyendyk Took the lead

Lap 95: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 118: Bobby Rahal Took the lead

Lap 123: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 136: Bobby Rahal Took the lead

Lap 141: Caution #4 Car #41 John Andretti Crashed in Turn 1

Lap 146: Green Flag 

Lap 168: Arie Luyendyk Took the lead

Lap 200: Checkered Flag: Arie Luyendyk Wins his first Indy 500.     

Race Results: 


Finish Driver Laps Status Prize Money
1 Arie Luyendyk 200 185.981 $1,090,940
2 Bobby Rahal 200 185.772 $488,566
3 Emerson Fittipaldi 200 185.183 $592,874
4 Al Unser Jr. 199 Running $227,691
5 Rick Mears 198 Running $201,610
6 A.J. Foyt 194 Running $184,804
7 Scott Brayton 194 Running $201,448
8 Eddie Cheever Jr. 193 Running $172,786
9 Kevin Cogan 191 Running $150,472
10 Scott Goodyear 191 Running $146,970
11 Didier Theys 190 Running $142,384
12 Tero Palmroth 188 Running $138,756
13 Al Unser 186 Running $136,387
14 Randy Lewis 186 Running $134,275
15 Jim Crawford 183 Running $130,022
16 John Paul Jr. 176 Radiator $150,276
17 Dean Hall 165 Suspension $134,306
18 Teo Fabi 162 Transmission $156,060
19 Geoff Brabham 161 Running $131,688
20 Michael Andretti 146 Vibration $130,942
21 John Andretti 136 Accident $118,320
22 Dominic Dobson 129 Engine $116,823
23 Roberto Guerrero 118 Suspension $115,129
24 Bill Vukovich III 102 Engine $119,503
25 Rocky Moran 88 Engine $124,580
26 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 76 Engine $112,083
27 Mario Andretti 60 Engine $111,209
28 Raul Boesel 60 Engine $110,461
29 Pancho Carter 59 Accident $110,837
30 Tom Sneva 48 CV joint $110,338
31 Gary Bettenhausen 39 Wheel bearing $109,464
32 Danny Sullivan 19 Accident $109,778
33 Stan Fox 10 Gearbox $108,021

Monday, May 2, 2016

1989 INDIANAPOLIS 500

The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Two-time World Drivers' Champion Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil became the first foreign winner of the race since 1966. Though Fittipaldi dominated most of the race, he dropped to second in the waning laps. On the 199th lap, Al Unser Jr. was leading Fittipaldi down the backstretch. The two cars weaved through lap traffic, and Fittipaldi dove underneath in turn three. The two cars touched wheels, and Unser spun out, crashing into the outside wall. Fittipaldi circulated the final lap under caution behind the pace car to score his first Indy 500 victory.
Race winner Emerson Fittipaldi set a new record and reached a significant milestone, becoming the first Indy 500 winner to earn a one million dollar single-race prize money purse.[1] His prize money officially totaled $1,001,600.
After dominating the 1988 month of May, all three cars of the Penske Team failed to finish the race in 1989. Danny Sullivan suffered a broken arm in a practice crash, and mechanical failures sidelined all three cars on race day. It was the only year in the decade of the 1980s, and the first time since 1976, that the Penske team failed to score a top five finish. Ironically, race winner Emerson Fittipaldi (driving for rival Patrick Racing) was fielding a Penske PC-18 chassis, acquired from Penske in a special arrangement between the two teams.
The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1989 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. By season's end, Fittipaldi became the fourth driver since 1979 to win the Indy 500 and CART championship in the same season. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Indianapolis_500

Starting Lineup:
Row Inside Middle Outside
1 United States Rick Mears (W) United States Al Unser (W) Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi
2 United States Jim Crawford United States Mario Andretti (W) United States Scott Brayton
3 United States Bobby Rahal (W) United States Al Unser, Jr. Brazil Raul Boesel
4 United States A.J. Foyt (W) United States Randy Lewis United States John Andretti
5 Italy Teo Fabi United States Gary Bettenhausen Netherlands Arie Luyendyk
6 Finland Tero Palmroth United States Scott Pruett (R) Canada Ludwig Heimrath
7 Belgium Didier Theys (R) Mexico Bernard Jourdain (R) United States Michael Andretti
8 United States Tom Sneva (W) United States Gordon Johncock (W) Republic of Ireland Derek Daly
9 Canada John Jones (R) United States Danny Sullivan (W) United States Kevin Cogan
10 United States Rocky Moran United States Dominic Dobson United States Bill Vukovich III
11 United States Davy Jones United States Pancho Carter United States Rich Vogler

Other Drivers on Entry List:

Andy Hillenburg
Bobby Olivero
Buddy Lazier
Dale Coyne
Dick Ferguson
Geoff Brabham
Guido Daccò
Jean-Pierre Frey
John Paul, Jr.
Johnny Parsons
Johnny Rutherford
Kevin Whitesides
Michael Greenfield
Phil Krueger
Roberto Guerrero
Scott Harrington
Stan Fox
Steve Butler
Steve Chassey
Steve Saleen
Tom Bigelow
Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.

Lap-By-Lap Summery:

Green Flag: Emerson Fittipaldi Leads Lap 1

Lap 5: Caution #1 Car #11 Kevin Cogan Crashed HARD in Turn 4, ended up on his side in Pit-Road

Lap 14: Green Flag 

Lap 35: Mario Andretti Took the lead

Lap 36: Raul Boesel Took the lead

Lap 37: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 61: Caution #2 Car #18 Bobby Rahal Tow-In

Lap 65: Green Flag 

Lap 88: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 93: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 113: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 124: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 128: Caution #3 Car #9 Arie Luyendyk Blew An Engine

Lap 130: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 131: Green Flag 

Lap 139: Caution #4 Car #15 Jim Crawford Blew An Engine

Lap 140: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 149: Green Flag 

Lap 154: Michael Andretti Took the lead

Lap 162: Caution #5 Car #6 Michael Andretti Blew An Engine while leading

Lap 163: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 164: Al Unser Jr. Took the lead

Lap 166: Green Flag: Emerson Fittipaldi Took the lead

Lap 181: Caution #6 Car #56 Tero Palmroth Lost a Wheel

Lap 186: Green Flag 

Lap 196: Al Unser Jr. Took the lead

Lap 199: Caution #7 Car #2 Al Unser Jr. Wrecked by Emerson Fittipaldi in Turn 3 while racing for the lead

Lap 200: Checkered Flag: Emerson Fittipaldi Wins his First Indy 500 under Caution.     

Race Results: 

Finish Driver Laps Status Prize Money
1 Emerson Fittipaldi 200 167.581 $1,001,604
2 Al Unser Jr. 198 Accident $390,453
3 Raul Boesel 194 Running $306,603
4 Mario Andretti 193 Running $193,853
5 A.J. Foyt 193 Running $177,403
6 Scott Brayton 193 Running $190,903
7 Davy Jones 192 Running $151,328
8 Rich Vogler 192 Running $153,203
9 Bernard Jourdain 191 Running $150,153
10 Scott Pruett 190 Running $141,053
11 John Jones 189 Running $134,103
12 Bill Vukovich III 186 Running $147,203
13 Ludwig Heimrath, Jr. 185 Running $123,803
14 Rocky Moran 181 Running $122,503
15 Derek Daly 167 Running $125,103
16 Tero Palmroth 165 Spindle $122,803
17 Michael Andretti 163 Engine $164,353
18 Dominic Dobson 161 Drive train $113,003
19 Jim Crawford 135 Drive train $119,403
20 Didier Theys 131 Engine $111,503
21 Arie Luyendyk 123 Engine $110,203
22 Pancho Carter 121 Electrical $108,503
23 Rick Mears 113 Engine $267,903
24 Al Unser 68 Clutch $132,903
25 John Andretti 61 Engine $104,503
26 Bobby Rahal 58 Valve $103,703
27 Tom Sneva 55 Pit fire $106,003
28 Danny Sullivan 41 Clutch $125,903
29 Randy Lewis 24 Wheel bearing $101,903
30 Teo Fabi 23 Ignition $113,753
31 Gordon Johncock 19 Engine $103,703
32 Kevin Cogan 2 Accident $102,503
33 Gary Bettenhausen 0 Bent valve $101,903