5 wild and wacky moments from the Indianapolis 500
As we count down to Sunday’s 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest memories from the historic race.
Friday we looked at the closest finishes. Thursday’s edition featured five drivers who dominated the Indianapolis 500 and won. It was a happy change from our five disappointments on Wednesday.
For our final pre-race post we look at some of the wildest moments in the race’s history. This list is by no means complete and also dominated by recent events. The Indy 500 has always been an unpredictable and dangerous race. Here’s hoping for a safe but thrilling one on Sunday.
Danny Sullivan spins and wins, 1985: A driver doesn’t often get a chance to make another pass for the lead after spinning out while trying one previously.
Sullivan spun on lap 120 while he was attempting to pass Mario Andretti for the lead. In one of the most iconic moments in IndyCar history, Sullivan kept his car from hitting anything and ultimately ended up pointed in the right direction.
He recovered from the spin and got a chance to pass Andretti for the win on lap 40 in nearly the same spot. He completed the pass that time and led the rest of the way.
Fan killed by flying tire, 1987: This is one of the reasons IndyCars now have tire tethers.
A fan sitting in the top row of the grandstands in turns 3 and 4 was killed when he was hit in the head by a tire from Tony Bettenhausen’s car. The wheel came off Bettenhausen’s car and was hit by the car of Roberto Guerrero. The impact sent the wheel flying into the air and over the catchfence.
The man, Lyle Kurtenbach, was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Three fans were killed in 1998 at the CART U.S. 500 in Michigan when a wheel flew off Adrian Fernandez’s car when he hit the wall. The wheel ended up in the stands.
Tethers were introduced in 1999 following the death of a fan at an IndyCar race in Charlotte.
Team Penske cars fail to qualify, 1995: Can you imagine what it would be like if any of Team Penske’s cars missed Sunday’s race?
OK, it wasn’t possible with 33 cars attempting to qualify for 33 spots, but if there were more cars than spots available, it’d still be a massive, massive upset, just like it was in 1995 when Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi failed to make the race.
The year before, Fittipaldi dominated before crashing out. Unser Jr. inherited the lead and he went on to win the race. And that dominance might have helped lead to how the Penske cars failed to qualify.
The engines the team had for 1994 were insanely better than anyone else’s. The chassis on the 1995 car was the same as it was in 1994, but engine changes for the 1995 race disabled the advantage. Did a great engine mask chassis issues?
Paul Tracy passes Helio Castroneves under yellow, 2002: Castroneves’ second win in the Indy 500 is also an Indy 500 Tracy thinks he won.
Tracy was pulling out to pass Castroneves for the lead with two laps to go as a crash happened behind them. The caution for the two-car incident came out as Tracy was passing Castroneves and Castroneves slowed down, saying he did so for the caution light.
Tracy zoomed ahead, thinking he had won the race. IndyCar officials ruled that Castroneves was still ahead at the time of the incident and said he was the race leader. Compounding matters, Tracy and another car sped away at the completion of the final lap because the pace car didn’t gather the field.
Just watch the video for yourself. We can’t do justice explaining it in a few short graphs.
Mari Hulman George’s ownership of the command, 2015: OK, so this one pales in comparison to a lot of crazy things that have happened during the first 99 Indy 500s. But the moment still makes us laugh every time.
Mari Hulman George, the chairperson of IMS, gave the command before last year’s race. Her daughter tried to jump in and help and Hulman George wanted none of it.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
