It's the Month of May!

That means the Indianapolis 500 is just around the corner! Every day this month I'll be posting one of the top race moments in the last 35 years when my family has attended the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. I will keep updating this post, so keep it bookmarked! What year will come out on top?

#11: 2009 was a difficult year for Helio Castroneves. In October of 2008, Castroneves was charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion. He missed numerous races during the impending trial and his racing career was certainly in jeopardy. On April 17, 2009, a jury acquitted Castroneves on all six counts of tax evasion. This kick-started an absolutely perfect month of may for the Brazilian:

• On May 7th he's back running laps (2nd fastest lap of the day) at the Brickyard;
• On May 9th, Pole Day, Castroneves qualifies for his third pole position with a four-lap average of 224.864 (0.781 mph faster than 2nd place Ryan Briscoe);
• On May 22nd, Carb Day, Castroneves and his team absolutely dominate the Pit-Stop Challenge, defeating Marco Andretti in the finals with a 7.96 second pit stop;
• On May 24th, Race Day, the perfect month is completed as Castroneves leads 66 laps on the way to his third trip to the infield fence at the Brickyard!

#12: Al Unser, Jr. gets his second victory at the Brickyard in 1994. In 2nd place with 15 laps to go and battling his teammate Emerson Fittipaldi (who needs to make a splash and go) about to lap him, Little Al gets some Indy luck. Emo gets loose in turn 4 and hits the wall. Fittipaldi doesn't get his third victory, and instead Unser, Jr. gets his second.

#13: A "green-white-checkered" finish in 1986 turned the Indianapolis 500 into the "Indianapolis 5" in 1986. On the restart, leader Kevin Cogan doesn't get a good jump, and Bobby Rahal takes full advantage, making the pass well before the entrance to turn 1. Rahal pulls away in the fastest Indy 500 to date and wins by 1.441 seconds.

#14: One of the greatest "feel-good" moments of the Indy 500 was in 1996. Buddy Lazier, months after fracturing his back in an accident, makes an absolutely amazing pass on the outside of turn 3 with 9 laps to go. After a crash, the field will go back to green with the white flag waving as well. Lazier holds off Davy Jones by 0.695 seconds, the third closest finish in history at that time. As Lazier and Jones cross the finish line, a huge crash occurs in turn 4 as Roberto Guerrero spins and collects Alessandro Zampedri and Eliseo Salizar on his way to the wall. Zampedri's car airborne is saved by the catch fence, and he sustains heavy injuries to his legs. Lazier drinks the milk, barely able to climb out of his car after 500 miles of back pain.

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The field goes back to green with one lap left at 3:50! Enjoy the finish and the crash replays!

#15: One of the most controversial endings in Indy 500 history came in 2002. First, a unique situation where twice in the race (first Tony Kanaan, then Tomas Scheckter) crash while in the lead! The controversial ending was a battle between defending champion Helio Castroneves (who gambled on fuel after Schecketer's crash on lap 173) and Paul Tracy. Castroneves slows down dramatically on the last couple of laps, and Tracy is right on his tail with two laps left. In turn 3, Castroneves slows down even more, appearing out of fuel, and Tracy makes the pass on the outside. As he does, the yellow flag comes out for a crash in turn 2.  Race officials rule that the pass came AFTER the caution had come out. Helio coasts his way around to the checkered flag, and then stops his car on the start/finish line to climb the fence after his victory lap. He's asked to drive his car to Victory Lane, but says he can't because there's no fuel in it! His race strategist Tim Cindric says later that their gauges read 0.4 gallons remaining, which is good for "under green, maybe a half a lap" according to Cindric. Would Helio have made it? Did the pass happen in time? Who knows. What is certain, however, is that to this day, Paul Tracy considers himself the true winner of the 2002 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

#16: Mr. 2nd Place Tom Sneva finally finds victory lane in 1983! With the laps winding down, Al Unser leads, and his son Al Unser, Jr. is five laps back but essentially "blocking" for his father so Sneva can't attack the leader. With 10 laps left, "Big Al" runs into more lapped traffic, allowing Sneva to get around "Little Al" on the frontstretch and then half of a lap later to get around "Big Al" on the backstretch. Sneva would pull away and go on to victory at the Brickyard, finally giving a much deserved appearance in Victory Lane for a man who always seemed to come up one position short.

#17: Scott Goodyear's issues at the finish of an Indy 500 continue in the 1997 race. After being delayed until Tuesday due to rain, the 81st Indianapolis 500 has Goodyear in the lead with teammate Arie Luyendyk in second as they took the green flag with six laps to go. Both drivers need to save fuel to make the finish, but Goodyear saves too much as Luyendyk makes the pass in turn 3. A caution for debris follows, and the green flag comes back out with three laps to go. Luyendyk holds off Goodyear for that lap, but a few cars back Tony Stewart hits the turn 4 wall and brings out the yellow. Luyendyk looks to coast around for the win. But, unexpectedly, as the field slowly crosses the start/finish line again, the white flag flies AND THE GREEN FLIES TOO! All of the racers hesitate, but Luyendyk hesitates the least. Coming out of turn 2, Luyendyk calls on the radio "There's yellow [lights flashing] out there...what the **** are they doing!?" which showed that even the on track officials weren't sure what was happening. More controversy for Goodyear, who was warming his tires up when the green flag flied. He would finish in second place behind his teammate Luyendyk, who won his second Indy 500.

#18: It was a tornado of activity both on and off the track at the 2004 Indy 500. Literally. After nearly four hours of delays both before and during the race due to rain, even more weather is imminent. Around lap 150, cars jockey for position on the track knowing there's only a few more laps left to run. Soon drivers need to pit, and strategy begins. Do we take just fuel to stay up front? Do we stay out and hope for rain? Do we make our car as good as it can be? Adrian Fernandez stays out as long as he can, until lap 171. Light rain had begun to fall on the track, but not significant enough to stop the race, so he has to pit for a splash of fuel. After the huge flurry of pit stops, Buddy Rice retakes the lead. On lap 173 the yellow flag flies, and Rice wins the rain-shortened "500."

The chaos that followed for spectators is one that can only be appreciated by those who were at the speedway that day. As the rain begins to strengthen and the race is declared official, we get a call from a family friend who is a track spotter at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "Get out of the stands. Tornado Warning."  The only information the speedway passed on was a radar picture (which showed red all over the Indianapolis and Speedway areas) on the jumbotrons as Rice took the checkered flag. Taking our friend's advice, we then began to make our way back (rather quickly) to our car with 300,000+ other spectators, many of which I'm sure had no idea of the severity of the weather around the speedway. It would later be confirmed that an F2 tornado touched down within six miles of the track. The insane activity on the track and the chaos of the weather after the race made the 2004 races one of the most memorable for me especially. 

This image just shows the mixture of emotions and the importance of the Indy 500. "Congratulations to the Indy 500 champ...oh by the way, tornadoes are in the area so you should probably take shelter!"

#19: The Unser Brothers, Al and Bobby, dominate the 1979 Indianapolis 500, leading 89 and 85 laps respectively. Al's car is dominant over the first half of the race, but the transmission failed and on lap 102 Al is out of the race. Bobby takes over the lead and stays there until he mysteriously slows in turn 4. He ends up finishing a lap back. The one who benefits? Rick Mears, who wins his first of four Indy 500s.

#20: The 2003 Indy 500 had many interesting moments. First, rookie Dan Wheldon has one of the most spectacular and memorable crashes in Indy 500 history as he loses control in turn 3, hits the wall, flips, and stops on his head. (I love how within 60 seconds of hitting the wall, the safety crew has flipped his car back right-side-up. You have to appreciate the amazing safety crew at the Brickyard!)  The end of the race, though featuring no passes, is history-making as Gil de Ferran holds off teammate Helio Castroneves (to give Roger Penske his second 1-2 finish in three years) and fellow countryman Tony Kanaan (by one second) in the closest 1-2-3 finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

(Start at 6:20 to see Dan Wheldon's spectacular crash. Amazing sight to witness, especially in person. I sit in turn 4 and Wheldon's car came to rest literally right in front of us. I still cannot believe how quickly the safety crew righted his car. Another great moment for the Brickyard!)

#21: One of the most heartbreaking finishes at Indianapolis happened in 1999. Robby Gordon is leading the race and is told by his crew that he has plenty of fuel to make it to the finish. Gordon sounds very unsure going around the speedway as the laps tick away. With three laps left he radios to his team that they're going to run out of fuel, to which his team responds again that they're fine on fuel. Gordon runs out of fuel coming out of turn 4 with the white flag flying, and Kenny Brack makes the pass to take the lead. With all of the confusion, Brack doesn't know if he's still racing! He thought the checkered flag had waved! He makes it around one more time and gets the REAL checkered flag and gives A.J. Foyt his first victory as an owner!

#22: Rick Mears makes our list again, this time for his performance in the 1991 race. A back and forth battle over the last 20 laps between Mears and Michael Andretti features an outside pass in turn one for both drivers. But in the end, Mears begins to pull away and wins his 4th Indianapolis 500. Andretti dominates the day, but never bet against Mears, and the Andretti streak of bad luck at the Brickyard continues. Mears joins Al Unser and A.J. Foyt as the only racers to drink the milk four times!

#23: Bobby Unser's 1981 Indy 500 Victory isn't official until October 9th. The day after the race, USAC race officials announce that Unser passed cars when exiting the pits and declared 2nd place Mario Andretti the winner. After a lengthy legal process, the penalty was rescinded and Unser could finally be considered the official "500" champion.

#24: The 1984 race started out exciting as former winners Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Tom Sneva battle for the lead and dominate the race. But when Andretti and Sneva both have to retire with less than 50 laps left, Mears can run relatively relaxed to the finish, winning by over two laps ahead of the rest of the field, in one of the dominating performances in Indy history. Mears led 117 laps on his way to Victory Lane.

#25: Al Unser nearly misses first lap incident in the 1987 race, but he races like a former champion should. He patiently moves up the field as the laps trickle away and finds himself in 2nd place. With 24 laps to go, Unser is lapped by Roberto Guerrero, who needs to pit.  After putting Unser a lap down, Guerrero ends up stalling in the pits and surrenders the lead to Unser! Unser even puts Guererro a lap down! Guererro is much faster, but cannot get back to the lead. "Big Al" hangs on to win his fourth Indy 500!

 

#26: Tony Stewart is the big favorite in the 1998 Indy 500, but one lap after taking the lead, his engine blows. Stewart would blow onto NASCAR soon after. Eddie Cheever spins in the first corner at the start of the race, but doesn't hit anything. He falls to the back of the pack and fights back to make it to Victory Lane!