1997 Indianapolis 500
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1997 Indianapolis 500
The 81st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana over three days, May 25–27, 1997. It was originally scheduled for Sunday May 25, however, rain washed out all activities for the day. The race was started on Monday May 26, but rain halted the race after only 15 laps had been completed. On Tuesday May 27, the race was resumed, and was run to completion. The rain delay, as well as two controversies (one during time trials, and one during the race), put a damper on the month. Arie Luyendyk won the race from the pole position, his second Indy victory. Treadway Racing, in only their second season of competition, finished 1st-2nd with Luyendyk and teammate Scott Goodyear. The team became the first to sweep the top two finishing position at Indianapolis since Leader Cards in 1962. It was the second Indianapolis 500 held as part of the USAC-sanctioned Indy Racing League, and was part of the 1996-97 Indy Racing League season. It marked the int ...
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United States Auto Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sport governing body, sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones (racing driver), Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director. History When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at 1955 Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential success ...
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Danny Sullivan
Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Championship, and placed third in points in 1986. Sullivan also scored a victory in IROC. He competed in the 1983 Formula One season with Tyrrell, scoring 2 championship points. Before racing Sullivan was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a building contractor father. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and then the Jim Russell Racing School. He had several odd jobs before his racing career, including lumberjack, and most famously, New York City cab driver. Formula One Sullivan was given a 21st birthday present of a course at the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School at the Snetterton circuit in England. He competed in Formula Ford, Formula Three and Formula Two before returning to race in the United States. In 1980–81, he drove for Garvin ...
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1933 Indianapolis 500
The 21st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1933. Louis Meyer defeated Wilbur Shaw by a time of 401.89 seconds (6.69 minutes). The average speed of the race was while Bill Cummings achieved the pole position with a speed of . The race was part of the 1933 AAA Championship Car season. Meyer was accompanied by riding mechanic Lawson Harris. The 1933 month of May at Indianapolis was the deadliest running of the 500. Five participants were fatally injured. During practice, Bill Denver and his riding mechanic Bob Hurst were killed in a crash. On race day, Mark Billman was killed in a crash on lap 79 while Lester Spangler and his riding mechanic G.L. "Monk" Jordan were killed in a crash on lap 132. It was the fifth straight year at least one competitor died in a crash during the month. Time trials Ten-lap (25 mile) qualifying runs were utilized. 42 cars averaged faster than the designated 100mph mark, making fo ...
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1979 Indianapolis 500
The 63rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 1979. Second-year driver Rick Mears took the lead for the final time with 18 laps to go, and won his first of four Indianapolis 500 races. It was also Mears' first of a record six Indy 500 pole positions. Brothers Al and Bobby Unser combined to lead 174 of the 200 laps, but Al dropped out around the midpoint, and Bobby slipped to 5th place at the finish nursing mechanical issues. It was also Roger Penske's second Indy 500 victory as a car owner. The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was part of the 1979 USAC National Championship. However, many of the participants entered the race only as a one-off, and instead broke off and took part in the inaugural 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series. It was the beginning of the first open-wheel "split". The month of May 1979 was filled with controversy on and off the track. A court injunction was issued after USAC initi ...
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Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1920 after two initial attempts in 1905 and 1916. The series is self-sanctioned by its parent company, INDYCAR, LLC., which began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with CART's successor, the Champ Car World Series and the history and statistics of both series, as well as those from its predecessors, were unified. The series' premier event is the Indianapolis 500, which was first held in 1911. Overview Series name For 1996–1997, the series was simply referred to as the ''Indy Racing League.'' For 1998–1999, the series garnered its firs ...
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United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director. History When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. It became the arbiter of rules, car design, and other matters for what it te ...
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Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series, the top level of American open-wheel car racing, a formula colloquially known as "Indy car racing". The track itself is nicknamed the "Brickyard", as the racing surface was paved in brick in the fall of 1909. One yard of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. The event, billed as ''The Greatest Spectacle in Racing'', is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, with which it typically shares a date. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards ...
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1962 Indianapolis 500
The 46th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Wednesday, May 30, 1962. A historic pole day saw Parnelli Jones break the barrier in qualifying. Rodger Ward and Len Sutton finished 1st-2nd for Leader Cards Racing. The 1962 Indy 500 marked the final 500 wherein the entire 33-car field consisted of U.S.-born participants. It was also the first race held with the track surface paved entirely in asphalt, with just the ceremonial single yard of bricks exposed at the start/finish line. Race schedule For 1962, the Opening Day of practice was shifted back to Saturday April 28. Time trials were held on the second and third weekends of May, allowing the 500 Festival Open Invitation golf tournament the entire fourth weekend of May. Bump Day was held May 20, ten days prior to the race. Carburetion Day, the final day of practice was held Monday May 28, along with the 500 Festival Parade later that evening. Time trials Time tr ...
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Scott Goodyear
Scott Goodyear (born December 20, 1959) is a Canadian former race car driver. He ran the Indy Racing League and Champ Car series during his career from 1987, winning the Michigan 500 in 1992 and 1994. Goodyear qualified for eleven runnings of the Indy 500 races from 1990 to 2001, missing only the 1996 race which he did not enter. After starting last (33rd position) in the 1992 race, he finished second to Al Unser Jr. by 0.043 seconds. Goodyear could have won the 1995 race, driving with Tasman Motorsports. But after leading 42 laps, he mistakenly passed the pace car on a late, very slow restart. He was penalized to fourteenth place after ignoring the black flags. That race was given to Jacques Villaneuve. Goodyear again finished second in the 1997 race after being passed by Arie Luyendyk on the backstraightaway at lap 194. He might have won if not for a controversial restart on the last lap, when the green and white flag waved despite the on-track lights still signaling yellow ...
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Treadway Racing
Treadway Racing is a former auto racing team that competed in the early seasons of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. The team was owned by Indianapolis business man Fred Treadway. Prior to the IRL's inaugural season in 1996, Treadway was able to sign former Indianapolis 500 Champion Arie Luyendyk to drive for his freshman team. Additionally, two long time backers of IndyCar teams, Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems and Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria, were secured as sponsors. 1996 racing season Luyendyk brought home the team's first win in their second race together, winning the Dura-Lube 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. Later that season Luyendyk would set two qualifying records at the Indianapolis 500. Luyendyk would run over the four lap run, during this run he also set the one-lap record of 237.498-mph. This run would not put Luyendyk on the pole position however, as the run was on the second day of time trials. Luyendyk's attempt on the first day of qualifications was d ...
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Speedway, Indiana
Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,812 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. History Speedway was laid out in 1912 as a residential suburb. It took its name from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is an early example of a residential community planned for the industrial plants located nearby. Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, Frank Wheeler, and Arthur Newby, founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, planned the suburb of Speedway west of the track. Fisher and Allison owned plants that needed workers, the Prest-O-Lite factory and Allison Engine Company. The investors' goal was to create a city without horses, where residents would drive automobiles, as well as participate in creating mechanical parts for new modes of transportation. The Speedway Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Geo ...
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