1994 Indianapolis 500

The 78th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 1994. The race was sanctioned by United States Auto Club (USAC), and was included as race number 4 of 16 of the 1994 PPG IndyCar World Series. For the second year in a row, weather was not a factor during the month. Only one practice day was lost to rain, and pole day was only partially halted due to scattered showers. Warm, sunny skies greeted race day. Al Unser Jr. won the race from the pole position, his second of two Indy 500 victories (1992, 1994).

Much to the surprise of competitors, media, and fans, Marlboro Team Penske arrived at the Speedway with a brand new, secretly-built 209 in (3.42 L) displacementIlmorMercedes-Benzpushrod engine, which was capable of nearly 1,000 horsepower (750 kW). Despite reliability issues with the engine and handling difficulties with the chassis, the three-car Penske team (Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy) dominated most of the month, and practically the entire race. It marked the second of two Indy 500 victories (as of 2024) by a car powered by a Mercedes-Benz engine.

Though Al Unser Jr. won the pole position, two-time former winner (1989, 1993) Emerson Fittipaldi dominated most of the race. Fittipaldi led 145 laps (of 200), and at one point, had lapped the entire field. Fittipaldi was seeking his third Indy win and was also attempting to become the first back-to-back winner at Indy since Al Unser Sr. in 1970–1971. On lap 185, Fittipaldi was leading the race, and was jockeying with teammate Al Unser Jr. (who was running second). Fittipaldi was trying to put Unser a lap down before he headed to the pits for a last-minute splash of fuel. Fittipaldi tagged the wall in turn 4, which handed the lead to Unser with 15 laps to go. Unser was able to stretch his fuel and cruise to victory over rookie Jacques Villeneuve. Al Unser Jr. joined his father Al Sr. and uncle Bobby as winners of multiple 500s at Indianapolis.

The race marked the final Indy 500 for both Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti (who retired at the end of the 1994 season). Fittipaldi would fail to qualify for the 1995 race, then was part of CART's boycott of the 1996 race. Two months later, he suffered career-ending injuries in a crash at Michigan, and subsequently retired. In addition, Indy veterans Al Unser Sr. and Johnny Rutherford both announced their retirements in the days leading up to the race. John Andretti, who had left CART and moved to the NASCARWinston Cup Series, became the first driver to race in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, an effort that has become known as "Double Duty". This was also the second and final Indy 500 for Nigel Mansell, who was knocked out of the race in a bizarre crash with Dennis Vitolo.