The 1992 Indianapolis 500 (officially known as the 76th Annual Indianapolis 500-Mile Race) was a United States Auto Club (USAC) open-wheel race that was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 24, 1992, before 400,000 spectators. It was the 76th running of the Indianapolis 500 and the 35th under USAC sanctioning. It counted as the fourth race of IndyCar's 1992 PPG Indy Car World Series and the sole race of USAC's 1991–92 USAC Gold Crown Championship.
The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser Jr. held off second place Scott Goodyear for the victory by 0.043 seconds, the second-closest finish in Indy history. Unser Jr. became the first second-generation driver to win the Indy 500, following in the footsteps of his father Al Unser Sr. He also became the third member of the famous Unser family to win the race. A race-record ten former winners were in the starting lineup, and with Unser a first time winner, by day's end the field totaled eleven. Lyn St. James became the second female driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 (after Janet Guthrie). She finished 11th, the only rookie running at the finish, and was voted Rookie of the Year.
Cold temperatures and high winds turned the race into a crash-filled, marathon day. The tone for the race was set early when pole position winner Roberto Guerrero spun out and crashed on the parade lap. The race was dominated by Michael Andretti in the debut of the Ford-Cosworth XB engine. Andretti grabbed the lead at the start from 6th starting position on the grid. He led 160 of the first 189 laps and was 30 seconds out in front when his fuel pump suddenly failed with eleven laps to go. Andretti's car coasted to a stop and he placed 13th.
Thirteen cars were eliminated in crashes during the race, and several other serious wrecks occurred during practice. Former Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet suffered serious leg injuries in a crash on May 7. Pancho Carter and Hiro Matsushita suffered broken bones in separate crashes, and rookie Jovy Marcelo was fatally injured in a practice crash on May 15. Defending winner Rick Mears crashed during practice and during the race, while Jeff Andretti experienced the worst crash during the race itself, suffering serious injuries to his legs and feet.
Following the race, sweeping changes came about at the track, largely in the interest of safety. In addition, a noticeable "changing of the guard" followed, as the 1992 race signaled the final race for several Indy legends, including A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Tom Sneva, and Gordon Johncock.
The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1992 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Unser's victory was considered by some an "upset," as his somewhat inauspicious Galmer chassis was not expected to excel on ovals, and its first generation "Chevy-A" engine was starting to become a lame duck powerplant in the series. It was a long-awaited victory for Unser, who was making his tenth Indy 500 attempt. Unser, the 1990 CART champion, had recently confided with Paul Page that he was afraid he may never win the 500.1992 Indianapolis 500 - ABC-TV broadcast (quote by Paul Page during the post-race coverage)
Offseason A busy offseason began at the conclusion of the 1991 season. The biggest announcement was the return of Ford to Indy car competition. The Ford Cosworth XB engine was introduced to replace the aging DFX and the lesser-used DFS. It quickly became an engine of choice, and for 1992, was the powerplant for Newman/Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. For the 1992 season, Ilmor introduced an updated motor (the 265-B), badged and commonly known as the "Chevy-B". This new engine was fielded singly by Penske Racing (Rick Mears & Emerson Fittipaldi). The rest of the Ilmor-Chevrolet teams utilized the existing 265-A, now being referred to as the "Chevy-A".
Galles-Kraco Racing unveiled their new Galmer chassis for 1992. It met with instant success as Al Unser Jr. won the pole position for the season opener at Surfers Paradise and finished 4th. Teammate Danny Sullivan won a few weeks later at Long Beach, with Unser Jr. 4th in that same race. The chassis was expected to excel on street and road courses, but there were some doubts about its oval track capabilities. Unser Jr. managed a 4th place at Phoenix, but both drivers entered the month of May at Indy with mixed expectations. Truesports fielded their own in-house "All American" chassis for the second year in a row, this time designated the Truesports 92C, and powered by the Chevy-A. Previously Truesports had been utilizing the Judd engine.
Team and driver switches for 1992 included most notably Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan, who essentially swapped rides with one other at Galles-Kraco Racing and Patrick Racing, respectively. In December 1991, however, Pat Patrick sold the assets of Patrick Racing to Rahal and his partner Carl Hogan. The team became known as Rahal-Hogan Racing. Right off the bat, Rahal scored a victory for the re-organized team. He won the second race of the season at Phoenix, leading wire-to-wire.
Rookie driver Paul Tracy continued into his second year with Penske, and was offered his first attempt at Indy with the team. Arie Luyendyk, out of a ride after the shuttering of the UNO Granatelli team (and the former Doug Shierson Racing), landed a part-time ride with Ganassi for Indy and Michigan. After much fanfare of a pending retirement in 1991, A. J. Foyt brushed off the idea, and returned to the cockpit. He raced in the 1992 Daytona 500, and entered as a driver for Indianapolis. It would be his record 35th consecutive Indy 500 start. A crash earlier in the season at Phoenix left him with a fractured shoulder, but it would be only a minor setback.
Testing During testing in March and April, King Racing set the early pace. On March 28, Roberto Guerrero became the first driver to run a test lap over 230 mph. Teammate Jim Crawford also ran a 230 mph lap. The Indy car testing was accompanied by a concurrent IROC feasibility test. Track management was at the time exploring the possibility of holding a stock car or IROC event at the circuit.
Goodyear arrived at the Speedway sporting a slightly new look. The logos on the tires were painted in yellow. This coincided with a change in signage for Goodyear in American auto racing, as the company brought back their classic blue and yellow logo scheme for motorsports.
Rule changes For 1992, new pit rules were implemented by USAC. At the onset of a caution flag, the pit road was immediately closed, and cars were required to pack up behind the pace car first. The next time around, if officials deemed the field was properly bunched up, the pits would open for all competitors. In addition, a 100 mph speed limit was applied to the pits during caution periods. These rules reflected regulations that NASCAR had experimented with in 1991, and were in the interest of safety for drivers and crew members.
Race schedule Race schedule — April/May 1992SunMonTueWedThuFriSat19 20 21 22 23 24ROP25ROP26ROP27 28 29 30 1 2Practice 3Practice 4Practice 5Practice 6Practice 7Practice 8Practice 9Pole Day10Time Trials11Practice12Practice13Practice14Practice15Practice16Time Trials17Bump Day18 19 20 21Carb Day22Mini-Marathon23Parade24Indy 50025Memorial Day26 27 28 29 30 31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain
ROP — denotes RookieOrientation Program
Practice – week 1
Saturday May 2 King Racing teammates Jim Crawford and Roberto Guerrero quickly established themselves as the cars to beat during the first week of practice. The two drivers fielded a pair of Lola V-6 Buicks, an engine that many thought was finally beginning to show its potential after years of development. On opening day, Crawford broke the unofficial track record with a lap of 229.609 mph. Several rookies finished their rookie tests, including Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Lyn St. James, and the most noteworthy of the rookies, former Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet.
Sunday May 3 Fabrizio Barbazza crashed in turn 1 midway through the day during a refresher test. He was not injured. Late in the day, Al Unser Jr., driving the new Galmer chassis, blew a motor. Michael Andretti led the speed chart for the afternoon at 226.187 mph.
Monday May 4 Roberto Guerrero upped the speed for the month, becoming the first driver to practice over 230 mph at the Speedway. His lap of 230.432 mph early in the session, however, lasted only a couple hours. Teammate Jim Crawford upped the speed, and by the end of the day, posted a 233.433 mph lap. Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet was comfortably getting up to speed, running a top lap of 226.809 mph.
Tuesday May 5 Several incidents occurred on Tuesday, during a cool, windy day. Scott Brayton, Buddy Lazier, and Paul Tracy each suffered separate spins/crashes. Rookie Lyn St. James was finding speed difficult, running a 217.097 mph, her fastest lap of the month, nowhere near the top of the charts. Guerrero continued King Racing's dominance, turning in another 230 mph practice lap.
Wednesday May 6 Crawford and Guerrero led the speed chart once again, with Crawford over 233 mph for the second time. The biggest story of the day, however, was the massive crash by Rick Mears. Late in the afternoon, Mears entered turn two, and a fluid leak sprayed water over the back wheels. The car broke out into a spin, and he crashed hard into the wall in turn two. The car flipped over and remained upside down while sliding down the backstretch. Mears suffered a minor foot fracture and an injury to his wrist.
Thursday May 7 The second major crash in two days occurred, this time involving Nelson Piquet. In turn four, Piquet's car did a reverse spin, and hit the wall head-on with the nose. Piquet suffered serious injuries to both legs, and was immediately admitted to the hospital for surgery. Piquet withdrew and would require nearly a year of rehabilitation. Piquet had been acclimating himself quite well to the Speedway, but was reportedly frustrated with the frequency of caution lights during the practice sessions. A metal piece of debris was reported on the backstretch, prompting USAC to turn on the yellow. Piquet, in the middle of a "hot lap", momentarily ignored the yellow light, and raced through turn three and the north chute. In turn four, he lifted off the throttle quickly to enter the pits, at which time the car snapped out of control.
Roberto Guerrero was back at the top of the speed chart, running his fastest lap of the month, 232.624 mph.
"Fast" Friday May 8 The final day of practice before the run for the pole position saw four drivers over 231 mph. Mario Andretti led the chart for the day, at 233.202 mph. Arie Luyendyk was second, while Crawford and Guerrero were close behind. Al Unser Sr. was named as a replacement for Nelson Piquet's entry, and Gary Bettenhausen suffered damage when his engine blew, causing a lazy spin in turn 1. This would cause the team to take the car originally meant for Unser Sr & instead use it for Gary, meaning Unser would have to qualify during the second weekend of time trials.
Time trials – weekend 1
Pole Day – Saturday May 9 Rain kept the cars off the track until noon, and persistent "weepers" plagued the rest of the afternoon. During the first practice session, Jim Crawford's hopes for a pole position suffered a setback when he blew an engine and spun. Several yellows for moisture and debris dragged out the mandatory 60-minute practice session until 3:15 p.m. Roberto Guerrero (232.090 mph) set the fastest practice lap of the day.