1993 Indianapolis 500

1993 Indianapolis 500

The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory. The race was sanctioned by USAC and was part of the 1993 PPG IndyCar World Series.

The pre-race attention for the month focused heavily on rookie Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion, who switched to the CART Indycar series during the offseason. A large international media contingent arrived at the track creating a huge frenzy surrounding the Englishman. Mansell was leading the race on lap 184 as the field was coming to a restart. His inexperience on oval circuits, however, caused him to misjudge the restart speed, and he was quickly passed down the mainstretch by Fittipaldi, which proved to be the winning move.

Fittipaldi, Arie Luyendyk and Mansell finished 1-2-3, the first time foreign-born drivers swept the top three finishing positions since 1915.

Four-time Indy 500 winner A. J. Foyt entered the race and participated in the first week of practice. On the morning of pole day qualifying, however, rookie Robby Gordon, driving a Foyt team car crashed during a practice session. The incident led to Foyt deciding to retire from Indycar racing after a 35-year career.

The 1993 race would be the final competitive drives at Indy for both Mario Andretti and Al Unser, Sr. Andretti led the most laps, but faded at the end to a 6th place finish. Unser also led laps during the race, en route to a 12th-place finish. Andretti retired after the 1994 season, and Unser abruptly retired during practice for the 1994 race.

Raul Boesel led 18 laps for owner Dick Simon, the first time a Simon-entered car ever led the Indy 500. Boesel took the lead at the start and had one of the fastest cars during the race. His chances for victory, however, were foiled due to two pit stop penalties, which dropped him to the back of the pack. He worked his way back up to a remarkable 4th place finish, but in post race interviews, felt the race had been stolen from him, saying "in my mind, this race is mine."