The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. During time trials, Mears also established an Indy record by winning his sixth career pole position. The month of May for Mears was tumultuous, as he suffered his first ever crash at Indy since arriving as a rookie in 1977. The wreck during a practice run totaled his primary car, and broke a bone in his right foot. Mears kept the injury mostly secret, and later admitted that the pain he experienced during the race was so bad, he had to cross his legs in the car and push the accelerator pedal down with his left foot.
The race was noteworthy in that it featured the first African American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, Willy T. Ribbs. It also saw its first Japanese driver, Hiro Matsushita. The pre-race attention going into the month focused on A. J. Foyt, who announced that he would retire from driving after the end of the 1991 season. During time trials, Foyt qualified on the front row, his record 34th consecutive Indy 500 appearance. On race day, however, Foyt dropped out early due to suspension damage. He eventually retracted his retirement plans, and returned one final time in 1992.
During time trials, a sudden rain shower halted pole qualifying, unexpectedly shutting out several contenders from a chance at the front row. A number of top drivers were forced to qualify on the second day of time trials. Gary Bettenhausen in a Buick-powered machine was the surprise fastest qualifier, albeit he was ineligible for the pole position. For the first time in Indy history, four members of the same family qualified for the same race. Mario, Michael, Jeff, and John Andretti competed together. Michael, Mario, and John all finished in the top ten, while Jeff was named the Rookie of the Year. Michael Andretti led the most laps during the race and battled Rick Mears for the win in the closing stages. Andretti executed a daring pass for the lead on the outside of turn one on lap 187. Mears, however, made a similar pass one lap later to re-take the lead, and drove to victory. Michael's second-place finish would ultimately be his career best finish at Indy.
The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Morning rain delayed the start of the race by about 55 minutes. The rain stopped, the track was dried, and the race was run to completion without interruption. Later in the year, Rick Mears would also win the Michigan 500, sweeping both 500-mile races for the season, the final two victories of his racing career.
Background Pre May News
A. J. Foyt suffered a crash at Road America in September 1990, which seriously injured both his feet and legs. Foyt underwent rehabilitation during the offseason, supervised by Steve Watterson, the strength and rehabilitation coach for the Houston Oilers. Foyt announced in November 1990 that he would retire at the end of the 1991 season. Foyt was planning a part-time Indy car schedule for 1991, racing at some ovals and a few road courses, and the 1991 Indianapolis 500 would be his last start at Indy. Still unable to drive due to his recuperation, Foyt skipped the Daytona 500 in February, the first time that he missed that race since 1968. Foyt initially planned to race at Phoenix on April 21, but nevertheless took a very cautious approach to his return. He scheduled a private test at Indy on April 4–6, but had to cut the test short due to pain and other factors, and doctors refused to clear him to race. Al Unser filled in for Foyt at Phoenix. Bernard Jourdain and Mike Groff filled for Foyt at the other CART series races, with Jourdain running a second car at Indy. Foyt's comeback was finally complete when he took his first practice laps on Monday May 6.
Only a few team/driver changes occurred during the offseason, while most of the key fixtures from 1990 remained on the same respective teams. Among the handful of changes, Penske Racing reduced from a three-car team down to two cars. Danny Sullivan departed Penske, and joined the Pat Patrick Alfa Romeo effort. Rick Mears' familiar Pennzoil Z-7 Special livery was gone for 1991, as Marlboro sponsored both Penske team cars (Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi).
Doug Shierson Racing, who won the 1990 race with driver Arie Luyendyk, was sold to businessman Bob Tezak. The team was re-organized in a joint effort with Vince Granatelli, and re-booted as UNO/Granatelli Racing. The car's former sponsor Domino's Pizza left the sport, and the livery was changed to the classic day-glow orange utilized by Granatelli entries over the years. Luyendyk's services were retained for 1991 (he won earlier in the season at Phoenix), but the entry suffered from a lack of sponsorship. During most of the season, the car had blank sidepods, but RCA sponsored the entry at Indy.
John Andretti joined the newly rebooted Hall-VDS team, taking over the Pennzoil sponsorship. Andretti kicked off the season by winning his first (and only) career CART race at the season opener, the Gold Coast Grand Prix at Surfers Paradise.
Al Unser Jr. and Bobby Rahal returned together at Galles/KRACO Racing. Unser, the 1990 CART champion, won at Long Beach. Rahal started off the season finishing second at all three of the races prior to Indianapolis.
After sitting out the 1990 season due to injury, Scott Pruett was back behind the wheel at Truesports. The team introduced its brand new "All-American" Truesports 91C chassis, powered by Judd. For the second year in a row, veteran Geoff Brabham was entered at Indy only for a second team car.
Derrick Walker, formerly associated with the Penske and Porsche teams, entered rookie Willy T. Ribbs at Walker Racing. On a shoestring budget, the team was considered a long-shot to make the field.
Pace car controversy
The pace car for the 1991 Indy 500 was initially chosen to be the Dodge Stealth. However, the UAW, along with fans and traditionalists, protested since the Stealth was a captive import built by Mitsubishi Motors in Japan."A Pace Car Made (Quickly) in U.S.", Doron P Levin, The New York Times, February 26, 1991 Traditionally, the make of the pace car has always been a domestic American brand. In late February, the Stealth was downgraded to be the "festival" (driven by the event's dignitaries for promotional purposes) and backup pace car. The pre-production Dodge Viper RT/10 replaced the Stealth as the official pace car when the track opened in May. Carroll Shelby served as the driver, thought to be the first person to drive the pace car after having a heart transplant. It was Shelby's second appearance at Indy. He had also driven the pace car in 1987, the last time the pace car was a Chrysler Corporation product. As the Viper did not begin production until later that year, the race winner would win the Stealth instead of the Viper, and dealers sold pace car replica editions of the Stealth.
Rule changes Chief steward Tom Binford announced at the drivers meeting that cars were not permitted to run below the yellow line in turn four. In 1989–1990, officials threatened penalties for drivers going below the white line (which designated the apron) in all four turns. But that rule was abandoned once and for all in 1991 after it had proved to be impossible to enforce. Binford instead emphasized the single yellow line in turn four, which was meant to denote the bottom of the apron in that area of the course. Penalties might include a stop-and-go or a 1-lap penalty for "flagrant violation[s]" after warning.
Race schedule Race schedule — April/May 1991SunMonTueWedThuFriSat21 22 23 34 25 26ROP27ROP28ROP29 30 1 2 3 4Practice 5Practice 6Practice 7Practice 8Practice 9Practice10Practice11Pole Day12Time Trials13Practice14Practice15Practice16Practice17Practice18Time Trials19Bump Day20 21 22 23Carb Day24Mini-Marathon25Parade26Indy 50027Memorial Day28 29 30 31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain
ROP — denotes RookieOrientation Program
Practice - week 1
The first two days of practice (May 4 & May 5) were rained out. The only on-track activity was brief. A limited number of cars took "shake down" laps, but no laps were run at speed.
Monday May 6 The first hot laps were run on Monday May 6. Penske teammates Emerson Fittipaldi (223.981 mph) and Rick Mears (223.430 mph) led the speed chart.
Tuesday May 7 Rick Mears ran the fastest lap thus far at 226.569 mph. Gary Bettenhausen also gained attention with a lap of 224.888 mph in the stock block Buick V-6.
Wednesday May 8 Jim Crawford hit 225.643 mph in a Buick on Wednesday May 8, and Bobby Rahal became the second driver over 226 mph, with a lap of 226.080 to lead the speed chart for the day.
Thursday May 9 The speed of the stock block Buicks continued to impress as Kevin Cogan turned a lap of 226.677 mph on Thursday May 9.
Friday May 10 - "Fast Friday" On "Fast Friday," the final day of practice before time trials, Rick Mears shocked the establishment, suffering his first-ever crash at Indy since arriving as a rookie in 1977. During a practice run at 2:06 p.m., the locking pin on the right rear wheel sheared off, and his car was sent spinning into the turn one wall. Mears suffered an injured right foot, but was cleared to drive. Emerson Fittipaldi set the fastest lap of the month at 226.705 mph, and became the favorite for the pole. Mears returned to the track in the final hour in his back-up car. His lap of 226.557 mph was second-best for the day, and close to his personal best lap of the month.
At 5:09 p.m., rookie Mark Dismore suffered a terrible crash in turn four. Dismore grazed the outside wall at the exit of turn 4, which broke a right rear wishbone suspension piece. The car pivoted hard to the inside, cutting across the track. The car hit the inside wall with the back of the engine/transmission near the entrance to the pits, punching a 6-foot hole in the concrete barrier, and erupting a brief fireflash. The car then hit the end of the pit wall which separates the track from the pits. The car broke into two pieces, both tumbled down the pit lane. Dismore suffered multiple injuries to his arms, legs, feet, and a fractured neck. Dismore was sidelined for several weeks, but would recover. He attempted a return to Indy the following year, but failed to qualify. He eventually made seven starts at Indy between 1996 and 2002.
The area near the entrance to the pits was littered with debris, the inside wall was damaged, and the attenuator at the end of the pit wall was damaged. Due to lengthy cleanup, the track was closed for the day. As a result of Dismore's crash, officials made a quick change in the pits in the interest of safety for the crews. The two northernmost pit stalls were removed, and replaced instead at the south end of the pit lane. The move added about 80 feet of buffer from the track surface to the first pit box.
Time Trials - First weekend
Pole Day - Saturday May 11 Pole day was held on Saturday May 11, and conditions were hot and humid. A. J. Foyt drew #1 in the qualifying order, and was the first car out on the track. Foyt put himself on the provisional pole position, with a four-lap run of 222.443 mph. The second car out to qualify was Randy Lewis, who wrecked in turn one on his first lap.
About an hour into the session, Mario Andretti completed a run of 221.818 mph, which put him tentatively on the front row. Several cars waved off their runs, and others simply pulled out of line, preferring to wait until later in the day, anticipating better conditions. Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, and his brother rookie Jeff Andretti completed runs. By 12:45 p.m., there were only eight cars in the field.