1993 Indianapolis 500

Results of the 1993 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 30, 1993.

NOTE: Effective with the 1993 Indianapolis 500, a driver is no longer "Flagged" if he is a lapped car, and crosses the checkered flag.

Recap

1993 saw big changes at Indy, the 'apron' at the bottom of the track was gone. Instead a warm up lane was installed, along with a grass verge around the track, and rumble strips to narrow the race track and encourage slower speeds into the corners, thus changing the corners from effectively 3 lanes to 2 lanes which made passing more difficult.

There was also a Huge media frenzy at the track as Englishman Nigel Mansell, reigning Formula 1 world champion was competing in his first Oval Race in the US, and also his first race exceeding 200 miles race distance. Earlier in the month of May, A.J Foyt officially retired from Indycar racing, and drove a farewell lap in his famed #14 Copenhagen Lola. Another Indy legend, 4 time winner Rick Mears, announced his retirement in late 1992, so with Foyt and Mears not participating in the '93 500, the only 4 time winner of the Indy 500 running that years race was Al Unser.

Dutchman Arie Luyendyk sat on the pole in his #10 Target Lola, Mario Andretti in the center of the front row, and Raul Boesel driving for Dick Simon started on the outside of the front row in his #9 Durcaell Lola Ford Special. Mario Andretti, in his Texaco/Havoline #6 Lola Ford dominated much of the race, except for a late race pit stop that dropped him down to 5th place at the end of the race.

Defending PPG Cup champion and 1986 Indy 500 Winner Bobby Rahal in his ex Truesports chassis failed to qualify for the 500, resulting in Rahal buying 1993 Lolas to use for the remainder of the year. Reigning Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell, leading his first-ever oval-track race & 500 Mile race, was too hesitant on a lap 184 restart and both Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk moved past the Indy 500 rookie, demoting Mansell to 3rd place. Later in a post race interview with ABC, Mansell had claimed he was following the rules and started to accelerate at the wave of the green flag, where apparently Fittipaldi and Luyendyk started accelerating in the short shoot between turns 3 & 4, getting a jump on the Englishman due to their faster momentum. The ABC commentators Sam Posey, Paul Page and Bobby Unser claimed that Mansell lost the race due to a 'rookie mistake'.

Mansell tapped the outside wall on lap 190 whilst in 3rd position in pursuit of Luyendyk & Fittipaldi, aided when his shunt triggered another caution. At the end of the Race, Emerson Fittipaldi emerged victorious to win his 2nd Indianapolis 500, leading only the last 16 laps of the race. Fittipaldi ignited a minor controversy in victory lane when he refused the traditional sip of milk, opting instead for orange juice that he had produced in his native Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Results

(W) - Winner, (R) - Rookie

*C Chassis: G=Galmer, L=Lola, P=Penske

*E Engine: B=Buick, C=Ilmor-Chevrolet, F=Cosworth-Ford, M=Menard (Buick)

All cars in the 1993 Indianapolis 500 competed on Goodyear tires.

Failed to Qualify: Scott Pruett (#45), Bobby Rahal (#1), Eric Bachelart (#32), Mark Smith (#25), Olivier Grouillard (#29), Rocky Moran (#43), Buddy Lazier (#20), John Paul Jr. (#93)

Indy 500 Walker
Previous_race = 1992
Previous_winner = Al Unser Jr.
This_race = 1993
This_winner = Emerson Fittipaldi
Next_race = 1994
Next_winner = Al Unser Jr.