1986 Indianapolis 500

70th running of the Indianapolis 500

The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend. Bobby Rahal was the winner, becoming the first driver in Indy history to complete the 500 mile (805 km) in less than three hours. At an average speed of , it was the fastest 500 mile Indy car race to that point. Nearly the entire race unfolded as a three way battle between polesitter Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, and Kevin Cogan. Cogan, who was a key fixture in the controversial crash on the opening lap of the 1982 race, took the lead in dramatic fashion with 13 laps to go. Cogan, driving for Patrick Racing, appeared to be on his way to victory, and career redemption. But on lap 194, his lead evaporated when a spin by Arie Luyendyk brought out the caution flag. After a quick cleanup, the green flag came back out with two laps to go. Second place Bobby Rahal got the jump on the restart and grabbed the lead. Rahal pulled away and won the race, with car owner Jim Trueman, stricken with cancer, cheering him on in the pit area. Trueman died eleven days after the victory. At the time, it was the closest three car finish in Indy history. The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. For the first time, ABC Sports televised the race live "flag to flag" on network television in the United States. The race celebrated the 75th anniversary of the first 500, but there was very little fanfare of the milestone outside of the cover art of the official program.

The highlight of offseason improvements at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the construction of a new, state of the art garage area. Just days after the 1985 race, the old Gasoline Alley garage area, most of which had stood since the 1940s, was dismantled and demolished. Official groundbreaking for the new facility occurred on August 26, 1985. The new concrete garages increased to 96 units (up from 88), and each stall provided approximately 30% more working room than their predecessors. The green and white wooden barn doors were replaced with overhead steel garage doors, and the layout was changed from east–west to north–south. The access lanes were widened substantially, improving ingress and egress, improving drainage, and various vendor and support units were also part of the new complex. Lastly, a refueling complex was constructed in the southeast corner, including two underground tanks, one each for methanol and gasoline fuels. The plain precast concrete walls resembled the cookie cutter stadiums of the era that were largely criticized in baseball and football. The design was a sharp and striking contrast to the previous garage complex, which led some to call them overtly plain or "antiseptic." Changing the layout to north–south based was also a thinly veiled attempt by the management to further scale back the oft rowdy "Snakepit" area formerly located inside the turn one infield. The interiors were spacious and without walls (except those adjacent to the middle corridors), allowing teams the flexibility to erect partitions as they saw fit, as well as layout their work area however they desired. Lastly, the new complex greatly improved safety. The old wooden buildings were criticized as potential "fire traps," and management did not want a repeat of the devastating 1941 fire. The concrete construction was more fire resistant, water spigots were provided in every stall, and the wider lanes provided easier fire escape.

A new victory lane area was constructed for the 1986 race. From 1971 to 1985, the winner drove up the checkerboard ramps into the "horseshoe" area below the Master Control Tower. A hydraulic platform was now used, which was located in the actual pit area, in line with the pit stalls. The car would drive onto the platform, and it would raise into the air, and then slowly spin 360° for the fans to see the winner. This victory lane was popular, but could only a hold a small number of people when raised. It would be used through 1993.

On August 19, 1985, after 15 years of being shown tape delayed, ABC Sports signed an initial three year deal to cover the Indianapolis 500 live flag to flag starting in 1986. Longtime anchor Jim McKay was moved to the host position, and play by play would be handled by Jim Lampley and Sam Posey. The Daytona 500 had been shown live flag to flag on CBS since 1979, and ABC officials had wanted to do the same for Indianapolis for several years. ABC's landmark telecast was scheduled to feature 32 cameras, three RaceCams, and an hour long live pre race.

Defending Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan returned to Penske Racing, however, the rest of the team saw a shake up from the previous year. Rick Mears returned to full time driving. After his serious crash at Sanair in 1984, Mears only drove a partial schedule (ovals only) in 1985. Al Unser, Sr., who drove full time for Penske in 1985, and won the 1985 CART championship, dropped to part time. Unser would race only the three 500 milers (Indy, Michigan, and Pocono), along with Phoenix and Tamiami. Unser was assigned the duty of being the first driver to roll out the brand new PC 15/Ilmor Chevy Indy V 8 265A. Kevin Cogan moved over from the Kraco Team to Patrick Racing. Cogan joined Emerson Fittipaldi to make the team a two car effort. Fittipaldi's new livery for 1986 featured a new sponsor to the sport, Marlboro, which would become a big part of the sport for over two decades. Bobby Rahal won three of the last six races of 1985, and finished third in the points. Despite a heavy crash at Michigan in August, and a testing crash in the fall at Indy, Rahal was hot off the finish of the 1985 season, returning with Truesports, and a favorite entering the season.

For the month of May 1986, the Borg Warner Trophy celebrated its 50th anniversary sporting a new look, featuring a brand new three row base. The likeness of the 1986 race winner was going to fill the body of the trophy, and the new base was constructed in order to accommodate winners through 2003. On the base, the first square was filled with a gold likeness of the late Speedway president Tony Hulman. The base increased the height of the trophy to 55 inches, and the weight to about 95 pounds.

Practice started on Opening Day, Saturday, May 3. Chip Ganassi earned the honor of first car on the track. Michael and Mario Andretti led the speed chart for the day, both over race morning saw overcast skies and steady rain. Track drying efforts began around 10:45 a. m. ABC television was scheduled to cover the race live for the first time, but did not commit to live coverage on Tuesday. Track officials were faced with the possibility of running the race on Tuesday in front of empty grandstands, and without live TV coverage. Weather forecasts for Tuesday and Wednesday were not promising, scheduled to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana", had departed and was replaced by John S. Davies, the artist in residence at the Indianapolis Opera. A smaller balloon spectacle was also hastily arranged, after all of the original balloons had lost their helium by Monday afternoon. An army band from Fort Benjamin Harrison was brought in to accompany the performances, and to perform "Taps." Mary F. Hulman gave the starting command just minutes before 11 a. m., and the field pulled away for the parade and pace laps. On the final pace lap, Tom Sneva veered off course at the exit of turn 2. Further down the backstretch, a massive smoke bomb was set off by some unruly spectators. The yellow flag was displayed, and the start was waved off. The next time by, the field was red flagged, and halted on the frontstretch. Sneva's crash was cleaned up, but it was determined that the field had burned an unnecessary four laps of fuel. A decision was made to replenish each of the 32 remaining cars' pitside fuel tanks with 3 gallons of methanol. The red flag wound up delaying the start by over a half hour. At 11:34 a. m., Tony George gave the command to restart the engines, and the field assembled for two pace laps. The field was straggling through the fourth turn to take the green, and Michael Andretti jumped into the lead from the outside of the front row. He set a new all time record for the first lap at , the first time the opening lap was run over After a postponement of six days, and after another half hour delay due to the Sneva crash, the race was finally underway.

After charging from the 30th starting position, Mario Andretti's day was short lived. On the 15th lap, he brought out the yellow when he stalled in turn three with an ignition problem. Michael Andretti set the early pace, leading the first 42 laps. Mario later returned to the track, but his car lasted only four additional laps, and he finished 32nd. The first half of the race saw record average speed, with only two yellows for 10 laps, and no major incidents. The second yellow on lap 52 came out for debris when Michael Andretti lost a mirror. Rick Mears came to the lead by lap 49, and held it until the next round of pit stops. On lap 83, Bobby Rahal took the lead for 19 laps, and led at the halfway point.

Johnny Parsons spun out of turn two on lap 102, and came to a stop along the inside wall. The car suffered minor damage, and Parsons was uninjured. After another long stretch of green, Rich Vogler crashed in turn three on lap 135. On the 135th lap, Rahal (1st) and Cogan (2nd) pitted under caution. Rahal's crew nearly made a critical error, and did not change the left front tire (it had not been changed yet in the race). Rahal had to pit once again the next time around to correct the oversight. Since the field was under caution, the consequences were not quite as serious, but he still fell from 1st to 4th. On the restart, Rick Mears resumed as the leader. Short pitting due to poor handling, 4th place Michael Andretti was the first of the leaders to pit again (on lap 163). Mears led all the way until his final scheduled pit stop on lap 165. Moments later Roberto Moreno brought out the caution by stalling in turn four. After Rahal and Cogan cycled through their final planned stops on lap 166, Mears again found himself up front. Michael Andretti (at the tail end of the lead lap in 4th place) actually led the field behind the pace car as the field went back to green with 31 laps to go. Observers noted that the three leaders would have to complete the final 34 laps on one tank of fuel. Without another caution, it was feared that they might need a splash and go stop for fuel in order to make it to the finish.

With 14 laps to go, Rick Mears led Bobby Rahal and Kevin Cogan. Fourth place Michael Andretti was still clinging on to the tail end of the lead lap, running just ahead of Mears. The leaders approached a string of slower cars, and Mears was experiencing handling difficulties in traffic. Mears got caught up behind a slower car, and Rahal pounced. Down the backstretch, Rahal got by Mears to take the lead and raced towards turn 3. Cogan made a daring pass around the outside of Mears in turn four to take place. Down the frontstretch, Rahal now found himself caught behind the slower car of Randy Lanier. Cogan diced back and forth, and slipped by Rahal going into turn one. With less than 13 laps to go, Cogan was now in front. He opened up a three second lead. Cogan's car was visibly loose in the turns, and on several occasions nearly clipped the outside wall in turn 2. Rahal was having trouble keeping up with the hard charging Cogan, while Mears had slipped to third and appeared to be having some handling difficulties. With 7 laps to go, fourth place Michael Andretti ducked into the pit area for a splash of fuel. Suddenly on lap 194, Arie Luyendyk who was running 11th, spun exiting turn four. His car whipped around and lightly tagged the inside wall near the entrance of the pits. The yellow flag came out, and the field was bunched up behind the pace car. Cogan's lead was erased. There was some conjecture that the race could finish under yellow, with Cogan the certain winner. With the help of the yellow, the fuel concerns were now lessened. Safety crews were able to clear the incident quickly. Cogan led, with Rahal second, and Mears third, nose to tail on the track. With 21/2 laps to go, the lights on the pace car were turned off, signifying that the field was ready to go back to green. Cogan, Rahal, and Mears picked up the pace in the north chute, and came out of turn four for a restart with two laps to go. Rahal got the jump on Cogan out of turn four, and took the lead mid way down the frontstretch. Rahal led at the line, and dove in front of Cogan going into turn one. Down the backstretch, Rahal pulled out to a 1 second lead. Mears set up to pass Cogan in turn three, but Cogan held off the challenge. Rahal took the white flag; his speed on the 199th lap was a noteworthy Rahal pulled out to a 1.4 second advantage, and won his first Indianapolis 500. Cogan and Mears finished second and third, in what was the closest three car finish at the time. Rahal's final lap was an all time record , the fastest race lap to date in Indy 500 competition. Rahal completed the 500 mile (805 km) in 2 hours, 55 minutes, 43.470 seconds; becoming the first driver to complete the Indianapolis 500 in less than three hours. His average speed of 170.722 broke Rick Mears' 1984 record. Rahal later claimed that his fuel light had come on during the final lap, and a post race inspection showed that only two gallons of methanol fuel remained in his tank.

The race celebration was emotional for the Truesports team, in that owner Jim Trueman was stricken with cancer. Visibly frail and lacking strength, he managed to arrive in victory lane to celebrate with his driver Bobby Rahal. Trueman was interviewed in victory lane by ABC TV reporter Jack Arute, and took a swig of the traditional milk. According to Arute, Trueman was clinging to his shoulder, as he barely possessed the strength to stand on his own. After the cameras were turned off, he whispered to Arute "I can go now". Due to the rain delay, the traditional victory banquet was canceled. A makeshift victory luncheon was held in its place on Sunday June 1 at the Speedway Motel. The top three finishers were invited to the private reception. Later, Rahal's crew celebrated with a lunch at the nearby Red Lobster. The city of Columbus held a victory celebration downtown on June 5. Over 300 Red Roof Inn employees took part in a parade down Broad Street. Trueman was too sick to attend. On June 11, Trueman succumbed to his illness, at the age of 51. Rahal and the Truesports team rode the wave of success to five additional wins during the CART season, and clinched the 1986 CART championship. The team made it back to back titles by winning the 1987 CART championship as well. Kevin Cogan suffered through his second major disappointment at Indy, following the misfortunes of 1982. Despite winning the season opener at Phoenix, he faded as a contender during the season. He also was asked several times, during the month of May, about his accident in 1982 with Andretti and Foyt, leading Cogan to reportedly exit a press conference early. Race winner Rahal, on Cogan's redemption story, remarked afterwards, "1982 was a bum rap. The drivers treated him unfairly. He suffered through some rough times . I can't imagine what it must have been like to go to a race and have people boo you. "(28)

The 1985–86 USAC Gold Crown Championship season consisted of one sanctioned race. The schedule was based on a split calendar, beginning in June 1985 and running through May 1986. 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. Bobby Rahal, by virtue of winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500, also won the 1985–86 USAC Championship.