1988 Indianapolis 500

72nd running of the Indianapolis 500

The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 29, 1988. Team Penske dominated the month, sweeping the top three starting positions with Rick Mears winning the pole position, Danny Sullivan at the center of the front row, and Al Unser, Sr. on the outside. Mears set a new track record, becoming the first driver to break the 220 mph barrier in time trials. On race day, the Penske teammates proceeded to lead 192 of the 200 laps, with Rick Mears taking the checkered flag, his third career Indy 500 victory. The race represented the milestone 50th victory in Championship car racing for owner Roger Penske and Penske Racing. The victory was the first of six consecutive Indy 500 wins by the Chevy Indy V 8 engine, and seven consecutive overall by Ilmor constructed powerplants. The victory also marked a triumphant return of success for the Penske chassis (in this case the PC 17), after dismal results in 1987 (PC 16), and sparse use in the previous four seasons. The race was the third round of the 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, and was sanctioned by USAC.

Defending champion Al Unser Sr. returned to Penske to join a three car effort with full time drivers Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan. After a dismal go around with the PC 16 in 1987, Penske introduced the brand new PC 17 ('88), with promise. Mears and Sullivan, respectively, won the pole positions for the first two races of the CART season. For the third year, Penske was fielding the Chevy Ilmor Indy V 8 engine. Back to back defending CART champion, and 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal returned for what would be his last season at Truesports. The team dropped the Cosworth DFX and they took up the development of the Judd AV engine. The engine was known to be down on horsepower, but excelled in fuel mileage and reliability, particularly in the 500 mile races. Among the other changes included Al Unser Jr., who left Shierson after a winless 1987 campaign and re joined Galles. Galles was now running the Ilmor Chevy engine, after running the Brabham Honda and Buick in previous years. Raul Boesel took Unser's place in the #30 Domino's Pizza entry. During a tire test session at the Speedway in September 1987, Roberto Guerrero had a crash, and suffered a serious head injury that put him in a coma for seventeen days. After a lengthy recovery, Guerrero was back in the cockpit for 1988. Jim Crawford, who suffered serious leg injuries during time trials in 1987, also returned, signing with King Racing. Billy Vukovich III, son of Bill Vukovich II, and grandson of two time winner Bill Vukovich, would become the first third generation driver in Indy history. Many of the cars in the field were sporting new style wheels with flush discs, giving the 1988 month of May a unique visual appearance. After becoming famous for being "first in line" at the Indy 500 from 1950 to 1987, longtime fan Larry Bisceglia of Chicago, and later from Phoenix, fell ill and missed the 1988 race. With failing health, he died December 7, 1988.

Starting in 1988, teams were allowed to have six crew members over the wall during a pit stop. The crews would consist of four tire changers, a fueler, and a fuel vent/airhose man. Previously they were only allowed five (i. e., three tire changers). This was due in part to the fact that after the series changed from bias ply tires to radials, the left front tire (which at the time was seldom changed) would now be changed much more frequently. For 1988, turbocharger "boost" pressure was reduced from 47 to 45 inHG. Stock block engines were permitted 55 inHG.

Six drivers took part in rookie orientation. John Andretti led the group, putting in 220 laps with a top speed of 201.974 mph. After being denied entry five years ago, Harry Sauce returned to attempt the program once again.

Opening day saw Raul Boesel first out on the track for Shierson. Dick Simon (211.665 mph) posted the best lap of the day, with less than 15 minutes to go in the session.

The track closed about two hours early due to rain. Mario Andretti set the best lap of the day (210.970 mph), but did not eclipse Simon's speed from Saturday.

Rick Mears turned the fastest lap of the month thus far at 213.118 mph. Two cars, Teo Fabi in the Porsche entry, and Ludwig Heimrath suffered mechanical/engine related problems.

Rick Mears turned the fastest unofficial practice lap in Indy history, breaking the 220 mph for the first time. His lap of 220.048 mph was just a tick faster than Mario Andretti's lap of 219.995 mph. Roberto Guerrero was involved in the first crash of the week. He spun in turn one and tapped the outside wall. His car suffered damage to the rear wing. He was not injured.

After two days of Mears topping the speed chart, Mario Andretti moved back into the top spot. His lap of 221.565 mph broke the day old unofficial track record at 5:45 p. m.

Ludwig Heimrath went high in turn 2 and brushed the outside wall, the second crash of the month. His car whipped around, and hit the wall again. He was not injured, and car had light damage. Mario Andretti (219.084 mph) led the speed chart, with Scott Brayton second.

The final day of practice was anticipated to be a duel between Rick Mears and Mario Andretti, the two drivers who had distanced themselves from the rest of the field. Mears and Andretti finished the day with identical laps at 221.465 mph to tie at the top of the speed chart. Danny Sullivan came in third best with a lap of 218.446 mph. Andretti finished the week of practice with the fastest over speed, set on Wednesday. Mears was second, and the pair went into time trials as the favorites for the pole position.

On pole day morning, Rick Mears blistered the track with a lap of 222.827 mph during the morning practice session. It was a new all time unofficial track record. Mario Andretti (220.372 mph) was close behind with the second fastest. Raul Boesel and Tom Bigelow suffered single car crashes during the session. Mario Andretti drew the coveted first qualifying attempt. After leading the speed charts in practice much of the week, his qualifying speed was inconsistent and disappointingly slow. His first lap of 217.014 mph was his fastest, but 4 mph slower than he practiced a day earlier. His final lap of 212.761 mph pulled his four lap average down to 214.692 mph. He claims to have hit a patch of oil dry in turn four, which was laid down earlier that morning due to Boesel's crash. About one hour into the session, Al Unser Sr. completed his attempt at 215.270 mph, good enough to take over the provisional pole position, and secure a spot on the front row. Derek Daly and Scott Brayton completed runs over 212 mph, and by 1 p. m., the field was filled to ten cars. At 1:21 p. m., Danny Sullivan took to the track and on his second lap, he set a new one lap track record of 217.749 mph. His four lap average fell short of a record, but his speed of 216.214 mph took over the pole position for the moment. Not to be upstaged, Rick Mears took to the track at 2 p. m. His first lap of 220.453 mph was an all time official track record, and he became the first driver to break the 220 mph barrier at Indy. His four lap average of 219.198 mph secured him the coveted pole position. It was his then record fourth Indy 500 pole. With Penske cars Mears, Sullivan, and Unser, ranked 1st 2nd 3rd, the team had the opportunity to become the first team ever to sweep all three spots on the front row of the starting grid. After Mears' run, the track stayed mostly quiet due to the hot conditions. Several teams pulled out of line and elected to wait until the final hour. With better conditions at 5 p. m., Arie Luyendyk put his car in the field at just over 213 mph. Al Unser Jr. was the last car with a realistic shot at the front row. Unser Jr. fell short, with a speed of 214.186 mph, good enough for 5th position. At the end of the day, Bobby Rahal was among those not yet in the field. His first presentation to the line was aborted when the car would not crank. He waved off two attempts, the second attempt was averaging 212.8 mph after three laps. A. J. Foyt went out early, but debris on the track forced him to pull off. His second attempt was too slow, and he waved off. At the end of the day, the field was filled to 19 cars.

At hot 88 degree day kept cars off the track most of the afternoon. At about 5:30 p. m., Jim Crawford put his car in the field at 210.564 mph. Bobby Rahal was the only other qualifier, with a speed of 208.526 mph, slower than his speeds from Saturday. At the close of the first weekend of time trials, there were 21 cars in the field. Among those not in the field yet were A. J. Foyt, Raul Boesel, Johnny Rutherford, and rookie John Andretti.

Rookie Harry Sauce spun in turn one during the final phase of his rookie test. The car was not damaged. Mario Andretti (216.398 mph) was the fastest of the day.

Gordon Johncock took to the track for his first shakedown laps of the month. Rookie Dominic Dobson completed his refresher test. Danny Sullivan (214.183 mph), was the fastest of the day.

Spike Gehlhausen wrecked hard in turn 1, and was taken to the hospital. X rays were negative, however, but he was out for the rest of the month. After struggling getting up to speed, Harry Sauce withdrew. Rookie Dale Coyne also announced he would not attempt to qualify. Pancho Carter (208.574 mph) was the fastest non qualified driver, while Al Unser, Sr. (210.280 mph) was the fastest overall.

Raul Boesel (213.270 mph) topped the speed chart for the day. Rookie Scott Atchison wrecked in turn 4. he spent the night in the hospital, but was cleared to drive.

The final full day of practice saw Pancho Carter (213.878 mph) and Raul Boesel (213.068 mph) lead the non qualified drivers. Mario Andretti drove a back up car to 212.314 mph.

Nine cars completed qualifying runs, filling the field to 30 cars. Raul Boesel (211.058 mph) was the fastest of the day, with Dominic Dobson (210.096 mph) second fastest, and the fastest rookie. A. J. Foyt secured a starting position in his record 31st consecutive Indy 500. Pancho Carter crashed twice during the day. On his final qualifying lap, he brushed the wall in the final turn, and slid and spun down the mainstretch. Later in the day, he wrecked his backup car in turn 2 during a practice run. He was uninjured. Billy Vukovich III, grandson of two time winner Bill Vukovich, and son of race veteran Bill Vukovich II qualified with a solid run in the final hour. He became the first third generation driver in Indy 500 history. As time expired, Steve Chassey made his third and final attempt, which was good enough to make the field.

The final day of time trials opened with three positions left unfilled. Johnny Rutherford was the first car to make an attempt, and qualified comfortably at 208.442 mph. Later, Howdy Holmes and Stan Fox (driving Foyt backup car) filled the field to 33 cars. Scott Atchison (205.142 mph) was the first car on the bubble. Atchison survived three attempts, but Ludwig Heimrath finally bumped him out at 3:45 p. m. The move put Rich Vogler (206.463 mph) on the bubble. Ed Pimm made an attempt but wrecked, and Gordon Johncock waved off after a lap of only 206.049 mph. Vogler waited, and the team wheeled out a back up car just in case. After crashing twice on Saturday, Pancho Carter's team purchased a back up car from Hemelgarn Racing, but with practice time running out, they were having difficulty getting the car up to speed. Meanwhile, A. J. Foyt rolled another backup car out of the garage area. George Snider decided he did not want to qualify the car, and Foyt quickly consummated a deal with Johnny Parsons. Foyt shook the car down, and Parsons took it out for a practice run. At 5:29 p. m., he went high and smacked the wall in the northchute, ending his chances to qualify. At 5:43 p. m., Gordon Johncock made his third and final attempt, this time bumping Vogler. However, Johncock himself was now on the bubble (206.693 mph) with less than ten minutes renaming. Rich Vogler quickly climbed into his backup car, and as time expired, bumped his way back into the field with a speed of 207.126 mph. Johncock was out, and Pancho Carter was left waiting in line.

A total of 31 of the 33 qualified cars took to the track on the final practice session. Two of the alternates took laps, for a total of 33 cars on the track. A few cars experienced minor mechanical problems, but there were no accidents. Mario Andretti (215.105 mph) was the fastest car of the day. Penske teammates Danny Sullivan and pole sitter Rick Mears were second and third. Penske Racing, with driver Danny Sullivan, won the Miller Pit Stop Contest. The day before the race, Al Unser Jr. reportedly came down with a stomach flu or possibly food poisoning. However, he rested and planned to drive on race day.

RowInsideMiddleOutside15 Rick Mears Pennzoil Z 7Penske RacingPenske PC 17, Chevrolet 2659 Danny Sullivan Miller High LifePenske RacingPenske PC 17, Chevrolet 2651 Al Unser HertzPenske RacingPenske PC 17, Chevrolet 26526 Mario Andretti Amoco/KmartNewman/Haas RacingLola T8800, Chevrolet 2653 Al Unser Jr. Valvoline/Stroh'sGalles RacingMarch 88C, Chevrolet 2657 Arie LuyendykProvimi VealDick Simon RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX391 Scott BraytonAmway ProductsHemelgarn RacingLola T8800, Buick V 620 Emerson FittipaldiMarlboroPatrick RacingMarch 88C, Chevrolet 26510 Derek DalyRaynor Garage DoorRaynor RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX418 Michael AndrettiKraco StereoKraco RacingMarch 88C, Cosworth DFX24 Randy LewisToshiba/OracleLeader Card RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX2 Roberto GuerreroSTP/DianeticsVince Granatelli RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX511 Kevin CoganSchaefer/Playboy FashonMachinists Union RacingMarch 88C, Cosworth DFX81 Tom Sneva Pizza Hut/WRTV 6Hemelgarn RacingLola T8800, Judd9 Phil KruegarCNC SystemsGohr RacingMarch 86C, Cosworth DFX622 Dick SimonUniden/SoundesignDick Simon RacingLola T88000, Chevrolet 2658 Teo FabiQuaker StatePorscheMarch 88C, Porsche North America15 Jim CrawfordMac ToolsBernstein RacingLola T8700, Buick V 674 Bobby Rahal BudweiserTruesportsLola T8800, Judd30 Raul BoeselDomino's PizzaDoug Shierson RacingMarch 88C, Cosworth DFX92 Dominic Dobson Moore IndustriesDobson MotorsportsLola T8700, Cosworth DFX814 A. J. Foyt Copenhagen/GilmoreA. J. Foyt EnterprisesLola T8800, Cosworth DFX56 Bill Vukovich III Genesee Beer WagonGohr RacingMarch 88C, Cosworth DFX16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Scot Lad FoodsBettenhausen MotorsportsLola T8700, Cosworth DFX923 Tero Palmroth Neste/EditorDick Simon RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX35 Steve ChasseyGary Trout MotorsportsGary Trout MotorsportsMarch 87C, Cosworth DFX98 John Andretti Skoal BanditCurb RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX1048 Rocky Moran GreerA. J. Foyt EnterprisesMarch 86C, Chevy V6 84 Stan FoxCalumet FarmsA. J. Foyt EnterprisesMarch 86C, Chevy V617 Johnny Rutherford Mac ToolsBernstein RacingLola T8700, Buick V 61171 Ludwig Heimrath Jr,Mackenzie FinancialHemelgarn RacingLola T8800, Cosworth DFX29 Rich VoglerByrd/Pepsi/Bryant HeatingMachinists Union RacingMarch 87C, Cosworth DFX33 Howdy HolmesJiffy MixAlex Morales MotorsportsMarch 88C, Cosworth DFX

Danny Sullivan darted into the lead at the green flag, with Rick Mears in second. In turn two, Scott Brayton spun, collecting Roberto Guerrero, and both cars crashed into the outside wall. Tony Bettenhausen Jr., behind the incident, also crashed. On lap 6, the green flag came back out. Danny Sullivan got the jump on the start, and pulled out to a comfortable lead. The top five would be Sullivan, Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr., Al Unser Jr., and Mario Andretti.

During the first sequence of pit stops, Tom Sneva crashed coming out of turn four on lap 34. Under the yellow, Teo Fabi, using the Porsche engine, pulled out of his pit stall with one of the rear wheels not secured. The wheel came off, and the car bottomed out, creating a terminal oil leak. Danny Sullivan continued to dominate in the lead, with Rick Mears falling to 10th place with handling problems. Al Unser Sr. and Al Unser Jr. continued to hold on to the top five, with Arie Luyendyk also lurking. Jim Crawford also began working his way into the top ten. Three additional single car crashes occurred prior to the halfway point. A. J. Foyt wrecked coming out of turn two on lap 58, due to handling problems and slick conditions. On the ensuing restart on lap 64, Arie Luyendyk tagged Ludwig Heimrath Jr., sending Heimrath spinning and crashing out of turn four. Steve Chassey crashed in turn 4 on lap 81, suffering a concussion. Both Mario Andretti (gearbox) and Al Unser Jr. (CV joint) came to the pits for long repairs. Both cars re entered the race several laps down. After suffering early handling issues, Rick Mears radioed his crew and requested that they switch to the old style wheels. The car was not handling well with the new style flush disc wheels. The crew had to scramble back to the transporter to collect sets of older style wheels, and have all the tires re mounted back in the garage area. On lap 93, the caution came out for debris on the track. Rick Mears had just un lapped himself, and got back on to the lead lap. Leader Danny Sullivan pitted, giving the lead for the first time to Jim Crawford in the Buick powered machine. Crawford blistered the track for the next several laps, with a noticeably drastic racing line, dipping deep below the white line, and aggressive dicing through traffic.

At lap 100, Jim Crawford led, with Rick Mears finally back up to second, Al Unser Sr. third, and now Danny Sullivan back to fourth. On lap 102, Sullivan's front wing adjusters broke, sending his car up into the outside wall in turn 1. After leading 92 laps, Sullivan was out, but Penske teammates Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. were now in control. After a caution for debris (Unser ran over a rabbit), Rick Mears took the lead on lap 113. Johnny Rutherford crashed in turn 1, similar to Sullivan's crash. It would be Rutherford's final lap of Indy 500 competition (he would fail to qualify in subsequent years and officially retired in 1994). After trading positions, Rick Mears took over the lead for good on lap 129. With Mears pulling away, the rest of the top three was being battled out amongst Al Unser Sr. and Jim Crawford. Emerson Fittipaldi worked his way up to the top five, as did Bobby Rahal in the Judd. After several long pit stops to repair gearbox problems, an oil leak, and electrical gremlins, Mario Andretti finally called it quits. With the leaders nearing lap 170, Mario was about 50 laps down with a dead engine. Mario was credited with 118 laps in 20th place.

Lap LeadersLapsLeader 1–30 Danny Sullivan 31–33 Al Unser Sr. 34–94 Danny Sullivan 95–101 Jim Crawford 102–103 Rick Mears 104 Jim Crawford 105–112 Al Unser Sr. 113–121 Rick Mears 122 Al Unser Sr. 123–200 Rick Mears

Total Laps LedDriverLaps Danny Sullivan 91 Rick Mears 89 Al Unser Sr. 12 Jim Crawford 8

Cautions: 14 for 68 lapsLapsReason 1–5 Brayton, Guerrero, Bettenhausen crash in turn 2 34–39 Tom Sneva crash in turn 4 58–63 A. J. Foyt crash in turn 2 64–70 Ludwig Heimrath crash in turn 4 82–88 Steve Chassey crash in turn 4 93–95 Debris 102–106 Danny Sullivan crash in turn 1 109–111 Debris; Al Unser Sr. hit rabbit 117–120 Johnny Rutherford crash in turn 1 140–145 Mario Andretti stalled on track 160–163 Tero Palmroth stalled on track 167–170 Rocky Moran blown engine 175–179 Rich Vogler crash in turn 3 198–200 Debris; Michael Andretti lost bodywork

The 1987–88 USAC Gold Crown Championship season consisted of one sanctioned race. The schedule was based on a split calendar, beginning in June 1987 and running through May 1988. Starting in 1981, USAC scaled back their participation in top level Indy car racing, and ultimately ceased sanctioning races outside of the Indianapolis 500 following their 1983–84 season. Subsequently the Gold Crown Championship would consist of only one event annually; the winner of the Indianapolis 500 would be the de facto Gold Crown champion, as it was their lone points paying event. The preeminent national championship season was instead sanctioned by CART, and the Indy 500 paid championship points separately (on a different scale) toward the CART championship as well. Rick Mears, by virtue of winning the 1988 Indianapolis 500, also won the 1987–88 USAC Championship.