1993 Indianapolis 500

77th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1993 CART season 1992–93 Gold Crown
Date	May 30, 1993
Winner	Emerson Fittipaldi
Winning team	Penske Racing
Average speed	157.207 mph (253.000 km/h)
Pole position	Arie Luyendyk
Pole speed	223.967 mph (360.440 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Arie Luyendyk
Rookie of the Year	Nigel Mansell
Most laps led	Mario Andretti (73)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Florence Henderson
"Back Home Again in Indiana"	Jim Nabors
Starting command	Mary F. Hulman
Pace car	Chevrolet Camaro Z-28
Pace car driver	Jim Perkins
Starter	Duane Sweeney[1]
Honorary starter	Nick Fornoro
Estimated attendance	400,000[2]
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Host/Lap-by-lap: Paul Page Color Analyst: Sam Posey Color Analyst/Turn 2: Bobby Unser
Nielsen ratings	9.3 / 30
Chronology
Previous Next 1992 1994

The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory. The race was sanctioned by USAC and was part of the 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series. Several sidebar stories during the month complemented one of the most competitive Indy 500 races in recent years.

Much of the pre-race attention for the month focused heavily on rookie Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion, who joined the CART Indy car series during the offseason. A large international media contingent arrived at the track creating a huge frenzy surrounding the Englishman. Mansell was competitive all afternoon, and was leading the race on lap 184 as the field was coming to a restart. His inexperience on oval circuits, however, led to him misjudging the restart speed and he was quickly passed down the main stretch by Fittipaldi, which proved to be the winning move.

The top three finishers consisted of the Brazilian Fittipaldi, Dutchman Arie Luyendyk, and the English Mansell, the first time since 1915 that all of the top three finishers were from countries other than the United States. Additionally, the fourth- and fifth-place finishers were Brazilian Raul Boesel and Italian-born American Mario Andretti.

After hinting about retirement in 1991 (and later retracting retirement plans in 1992), four-time Indy 500 winner A. J. Foyt entered the 1993 race and participated in the first week of practice. On the morning of pole day qualifying, rookie Robby Gordon, driving a Foyt team car, crashed during a practice session. The incident led to Foyt deciding to retire from Indy car racing after a 35-year career.

The 1993 race would be the final competitive drives at Indy for both Mario Andretti and Al Unser Sr. Andretti led the most laps, and finished in fifth place. Unser also led laps during the race, en route to a 12th-place finish. Andretti would drop out of the 1994 race, and retired after the 1994 season. Unser abruptly retired during practice for the 1994 race. Also grabbing headlines during qualifying was the plight of defending CART champion and 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal. After struggling to get his car up to speed, Rahal was bumped from the field on the final day of time trials.

Raul Boesel led 18 laps for owner Dick Simon, the first time a Simon-owned car ever led the Indy 500. Boesel took the lead at the start and had one of the fastest cars during the race. His chances for victory, however, were foiled due to two pit stop penalties, which dropped him to the back of the pack. He worked his way back up to a remarkable 4th-place finish, but in post race interviews, felt the race had been stolen from him, saying "in my mind, this race is mine."^[3]