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, a record that stood for 23 years until 2013. In reference to the long-standing speed record, for many years the 1990 race was often referred to as "The Fastest 500".
Defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi started on the pole position and dominated the first half of the race. Setting a new track record in qualifying, Fittipaldi became the first driver to break the 225 mph barrier in time trials. Fittipaldi took the lead at the start, and led the first 92 laps, a new race record. He was looking to become the first back-to-back winner in nineteen years. In the second half of the race, however, he fell victim to blistering tires, fell a lap down, 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. Luyendyk, driving for Doug Shierson Racing, did not experience the handling issues that befell the other competitors, and won the race by a margin of 11.878 seconds.
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. Jim Crawford survived a spectacular airborne crash during practice, and for the second year in a row, three-time winner Johnny Rutherford struggled to get his car up to speed, and failed to qualify.
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.
Background
Rule changes
Controversy hovered over the month, regarding new aerodynamic rules. All teams utilizing 1989 model year chassis were required to affix a "diffuser" to the underbody ground effects tunnels, to reduce their depth by 2 inches – a rule intended to reduce downforce and curtail speeds. Teams that had the means to do so could also refabricate the entire undertray to conform to the new specifications. Competitors complained that the diffusers made their cars unstable and unbalanced, and were responsible for the increased number of practice crashes involving the older cars. Despite voiced complaints and meetings with officials, no changes were made to the rules. Ultimately, no major crashes occurred amongst the older cars during the race itself.The Porsche Indycar team, led by Derrick Walker, was fresh off their first victory at Mid-Ohio in September 1989 with driver Teo Fabi. They planned to roll out a new March chassis for 1990, the first all-carbon fiber monocoque Indy car. Rules were evolving by the CART series to eventually allow for all-carbon fiber chassis. Porsche interpreted the rules as permitting the car for 1990, provided they were granted a waiver, and embarked on the project. However, in January, the board of directors voted to disallow the chassis for competition in 1990. The Porsche team was forced to utilize a March chassis that was constructed with a then-standard aluminum bottom to adhere to the rules. All-carbon fiber monocoques would be delayed until 1991.
With the Pocono 500 disbanded after 1989, the 1990 Indy car season and beyond would no longer feature a "Triple crown" of 500-mile races. The triple crown would not return until 2013.
Team and driver changes
Team and driver changes for 1990 were highlighted by defending CART champion and defending Indy winner Emerson Fittipaldi departing Patrick Racing and joining Penske Racing. The Penske team would be a three-car effort in 1990 with Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, and Danny Sullivan.Meanwhile, Chip Ganassi took over the assets of the former Patrick Racing, and it became Chip Ganassi Racing. Eddie Cheever, who had spent the past decade in Formula One, and was the United States' lone F1 participant, switched to the CART series for 1990 and took the seat. Target was brought in as the new sponsor for the budding team, beginning one of the longest tenures for an Indy car sponsor in the history of the sport.
KRACO Racing owned by Maurice Kraines, merged with the Rick Galles team. They became a two-car effort known as Galles-KRACO Racing. Al Unser Jr. returned in the Valvoline-sponsored entry, and Rahal got the use of the Chevy Ilmor V-8 engine for the first time.
Arie Luyendyk left Dick Simon Racing, and joined Doug Shierson Racing to drive the #30 Domino's Pizza "Hot One" Chevrolet entry. After the previous two years utilizing Judd power, Shierson also was granted a lease for the Chevy Ilmor engine.
Truesports driver Scott Pruett, who won the rookie of the year award in 1989, had a serious crash at West Palm Beach during preseason testing. He suffered serious leg injuries, and was forced to sit out the season for rehabilitation. Raul Boesel was hired to drive as a substitute. The Truesports team was already in development of their in-house "All American" chassis, which was scheduled to debut in 1991. For the 1990 season, the team utilized 1989 Lola/Judd machines to save cost. However, they re-fabricated the underbody of the cars in order to adhere to the new rules specifications, and avoided the need to use the aforementioned "diffusers".
The Alfa Romeo Indy car effort, formerly headed up by Alex Morales Motorsports, was taken over in 1990 by a re-booted Patrick Racing. The Alfa Romeo engine had not been ready in time to race at the 1989 Indy 500, therefore 1990 would its first appearance at Indy. Roberto Guerrero, who drove for Morales in 1989, was kept on as the driver for 1990 at Patrick. Al Unser Sr., released by Penske, was brought in to enter a second team car at Indy and the other 500-miler at Michigan. Patrick Racing assumed the sponsorship of Miller, previously associated with Penske. It was another "trade" between the two organizations.
Construction
During the offseason, the Tower Terrace Extension grandstand was razed at the north end of the pit area. In its place, a new 900-foot long, 17,000-seat permanent double-decker grandstand was constructed. It featured aluminum chair-back bench seating, as well as modern restroom facilities and storefront space on the lower level. On the upper deck, 38 luxury suites were built, each with seats for 80 people.In the south short-chute, near the museum, the first dedicated Wheelchair Accessible grandstand was constructed. With seating for 302 persons,, the Speedway introduced its first ADA-compliant grandstand.
Across the street from turn one, a famous Speedway landmark, the brick smokestack of the former Prest-O-Lite company was demolished. For decades, the smokestack was said to be used by drivers to see clues about wind speed and direction. It was taken down by wrecking ball just two months after the 1990 race.
Schedule
Practice (first week)
During rookie orientation, driver Steve Barclay was injured in a crash, and was forced to sit out practice.Opening day – Saturday May 5
of Dick Simon Racing earned the honor of first car out on the track on opening day.The first day of practice saw moderate activity, with Tom Sneva in a Buick-powered entry setting the fastest lap.
Several drivers were not present for opening day due to their participation in the first round of IROC XIV at Talladega. Unser Jr., who finished second in that race, along with Rahal, did make it to Indianapolis in time to take a few practice laps.
Sunday May 6
History was made at Indy when four members of the same family practiced on the track at the same time. Mario, Michael, John, and Jeff Andretti all were on the track together for a brief time at 3:35 p.m.Jim Crawford crashed in turn one 20 minutes before the track closed for the day.
Emerson Fittipaldi, taking his first laps of the month, topped the speed chart with a lap of 222.607 mph.
Monday May 7
Three crashes occurred on Monday. Johnny Rutherford, rookie Buddy Lazier, and Bill Vukovich III all suffered wall contact. Lazier hit the outside wall at the exit of turn four. Rutherford went high exiting turn two, and brushed the wall. Vukovich was the most serious, crashing hard in turn one, suffering a concussion.Rick Mears set the fastest lap, with Arie Luyendyk second and Emerson Fittipaldi third.
Tuesday May 8
Emerson Fittipaldi was the fastest of the day. Steve Chassey crashed in turn three.Wednesday May 9
Johnny Rutherford had his second crash of the month. He spun in turn three, and crashed hard into the outside wall, suffering a concussion and knee injury.Al Unser Jr. was the fastest of the day. Arie Luyendyk was second-fastest once again.
Thursday May 10
A cold, windy afternoon kept most cars off the track. Jim Crawford, driving his back-up car, was the fastest of the day at only 208.686 mph. Only two cars turned laps over 200 mph, and of the 12 drivers that completed laps, few took any laps at speed.The track was closed 51 minutes early due to weather conditions. Only 74 laps were turned all day.
Friday May 11
On the final day of practice before time trials, the speeds climbed, and activity was heavy. At least 40 drivers took to the track, completing 1,517 laps.Two minor crashes occurred early in the afternoon. Rookies Jeff Wood and Jeff Andretti both suffered accidents. Wood hit the outside wall exiting turn one, then brushed it three more times as the car came to a stop. He was uninjured. Andretti spun in turn four, hitting the outside wall. The car was heavily damaged, but Andretti suffered only a bruised knee.
Shortly after 4 p.m., Emerson Fittipaldi rans laps of 227.101 mph and 227.181 mph. They were the fastest unofficial laps in Indy history. Not to be upstaged, at 5:09 p.m., Al Unser Jr. blistered the track with a lap of 228.502 mph, the fastest practice lap ever run at Indy.
At 5:24 p.m., Jim Crawford suffered his second crash of the week. This accident, which occurred in the south short chute, was spectacular. He spun in turn one, hit the outside wall, then as the car came off wall, debris lifted the chassis airborne. It flew approximately 15–20 feet off the ground for as much as 280 feet, then came to the ground, upright. It continued to slide for another 360 feet and came to rest along the inside wall. Crawford was not seriously injured.
The first week of practice ended with Unser Jr., Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, and Mario Andretti topping the speed chart. All four had run laps over 225 mph.