The Indianapolis 500 is traditionally run on Memorial Day weekend. It’s an appropriate time for a race that has seen its share of tragedy. Forty drivers have been killed in accidents at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 15 during the race and 25 during qualifying and practice runs since 1911. The last occurred two years ago, when 37-year-old Scott Brayton died during a practice run after a rear tire rapidly deflated and sent him crashing into the outside wall at more than 200 mph.
The following year officials made rule changes that they hoped would prevent violent car explosions. They decreased the amount of fuel the cars could hold and switched the cars’ tanks to the left side–away from the outside walls.
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title: “Indianapolis 500” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-27” author: “Kyle Lamey”
Last year’s 81st Indianapolis 500 was delayed twice by rain before Luyendyk captured his second Borg-Warner Trophy. Luyendyk outgunned Scott Goodyear in a one-lap dash to the finish by 0.57 seconds–the third-closest finish in 81 years of racing at The Brickyard. But missing from the race the last two years were some of the sport’s big names, causing critics to label the Indy 500 field as second-class. Withdrawn from the competition are those drivers who decided not to join the Indy Racing League (IRL) when it split from Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), under the guidance of IMS president Tony George. Former Indy 500 winners Emerson Fittipaldi, Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal no longer race at Indianapolis. And the only men to win the race four times, Al Unser Sr., Rick Mears and A.J. Foyt, are now distant memories. With Mears’s election in January, all three have their cars permanently pitted at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. So it’s up to the new stars to establish themselves this Sunday. See our favorite picks for Sunday’s race.
