1999 Indianapolis 500

83rd running of the Indianapolis 500

The 83rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 30, 1999. The race was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was part of the 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season. Defending IRL champion Kenny Bräck started 8th and became the first Swedish driver to win the Indy 500. Indy car veteran Robby Gordon, driving for Team Menard, pitted during a caution on lap 164, looking to stretch his fuel over the final 36 laps. Gordon shuffled to front on lap 174, and pulled out to a comfortable lead. In the waning laps however, Gordon's lead began to dwindle, as he was forced to save fuel. With two laps to go, he led second place Kenny Bräck by just under two seconds. Coming out of turn four to receive the white flag (the signal for one lap to go), Gordon's car sputtered and he ran out fuel. Kenny Bräck took the lead with just over one lap to go and won for car owner A. J. Foyt. The race victory represented the long awaited "fifth" Indy 500 win for A. J. Foyt, who had previously won a record four times as a driver (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977). It was also one of the most successful races for A. J. Foyt Enterprises, with Bräck the winner, and team cars Billy Boat third, and Robbie Buhl sixth. Popular veteran and two time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk announced his plans to retire at the end of the event. He won the pole position and was a factor most of the first half. After leading 63 laps, however, he crashed while leading after he tangled with a backmarker. Luyendyk would later retract his retirement plans, and made a brief return to Indy from 2001–2003. As of 2023, this stands as the 29th and final Indy victory for Goodyear tires and stands as the oldest Indianapolis 500 with all 33 starters still living.

The ongoing IRL/CART split continued into its fourth year. For the third year in a row, no major teams from the CART series entered at Indianapolis. The CART series raced on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend at the Motorola 300 at Gateway near St. Louis. However, the 1999 race would end up being the final year that the CART teams stayed away. In 2000, Ganassi would return, and in subsequent years other would as well. Two regular CART drivers attempted to race at both Gateway and Indy in the same weekend. Robby Gordon, who was running his own team full time in CART, entered in both the Saturday CART event at Gateway and at Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Gordon's association to full time IRL team John Menard was a critical piece in having a competitive Indy 500 attempt. Also attempting the open wheel "double duty" was veteran Roberto Moreno. Moreno had been racing regularly in CART since 1996, and had competed at Indy previously in 1986. After missing the IRL opener at Walt Disney World, Moreno ran IRL races in 1999 at Phoenix, Charlotte (canceled), and the Indy 500 with Truscelli Racing. At the same time, Moreno was picked up in early May by PacWest Racing in CART to fill in for the injured Mark Blundell and raced for them for eight rounds. As such, Moreno became slated for an unexpected double duty weekend. Then Moreno was hired for the next six CART races at Newman Haas racing to fill in for the injured Christian Fittipaldi. Neither driver raced again in the IRL during the 1999 season.

For the third time, a driver attempted the Indy/Charlotte "Double Duty". Tony Stewart, who switched full time to NASCAR for 1999, also entered a car at Indy. With backing from his regular sponsor The Home Depot and support from his car owner Joe Gibbs, Stewart was attempting to become the first driver to complete the entire 1,100 in one day. Previous attempts by John Andretti (1994) and Robby Gordon (1997) did not see either driver complete the full distance. He succeeded in completing both races, finishing ninth in this race and fourth at Charlotte.

Team Menard saw the biggest offseason changes, with 1997 season champion Tony Stewart departing for NASCAR. Greg Ray was hired to fill the vacancy. Robbie Buhl also left Menard and joined Foyt Racing for Indy. At Treadway Racing, Arie Luyendyk returned for what was planned to be his final race.

Chassis and engine rules remained the same from 1998. All entries utilized 4.0 L normally aspirated engines, with a rev limit of 10,300 rpm. This was the last year for use of the first generation IRL chassis, which were introduced in 1997. For 1999, the pit road speed limit was reduced to 80 mph. From 1992 to 1998, the speed limit had been 100 mph. Wheel tethers were required in time for the race to prevent tires from flying off cars during crashes and potentially injuring spectators and drivers. and eight others (two of whom were children) were injured when a piece of debris went into the grandstands. On the 61st lap, Stan Wattles crashed in turn four, shearing off both right side wheels. The car of John Paul Jr. struck one of the wheels, propelling it into the stands. A witness claimed a wheel with suspension pieces flew into the seats. The incident occurred two weeks before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was scheduled to open for practice. In the May 10, 1999, edition of Sports Illustrated, Ed Hinton penned an article reporting the tragedy, and discussed the general topic of safety in motorsports. The magazine's editors in New York

In the week following the magazine's release, IMS/IRL president Tony George issued a letter stating his extreme displeasure with the article and the photo, describing that it was insensitive and inappropriate, and declared that Hinton was to be denied credentials to the 1999 Indianapolis 500 and future events at the track. Three episodes of COPS were filmed in the city of Indianapolis during race weekend of 1999. Footage of the 500 Festival Parade was shown, as well as police action outside the track the days leading up to the race. During the offseason, the steel and glass Master Control Tower, which had stood along the mainstretch since 1957, had been partially dismantled in order to make way for construction of the new Pagoda. The timing and scoring floor from the old tower was left intact to house the race officials, but the upper floors were already demolished. The framework and elevator shafts for the new Pagoda had been erected, but it would not be completed until 2000. The Tower Terrace grandstands south of the Pagoda side had also been demolished, in order to clear the area for the new Formula One garages. Temporary bleachers were installed in that location, and the garages would be complete in time for the 2000 race.