Race Recap
Robby Gordon and Team Menard take a major gamble late in the race, and try to stretch their fuel for the win. Gordon had last pit on lap 164, and attempted to run the final 36 laps on one tank. As the rest of the leaders pit under caution on laps 169-171, Gordon shuffled to the lead at the restart.
Charging in the last 20 laps, Kenny Bräck passes Jeff Ward for second place on lap 188, and sets his sights on Gordon. Bräck begins narrowing the deficit. With 2 laps to go, Gordon led by only 1.5 seconds.
On the 199th lap, Gordon led Bräck in turn three, but the car ran out of fuel as he exited turn four. Gordon veered into the pit area, and Bräck took the lead on the mainstrech. He took the white flag as the leader, and completed the final lap to win for car owner A.J. Foyt.
Brack's victory marked the fifth overall Indy 500 victory for A.J. Foyt. Four as a driver (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977) and one as an owner (1999). Brack led the final two laps, which equalled the official record at the time for the latest lead change. However, unofficially, it was in fact the latest lead change in Indy history (until 2006), with Brack assuming the lead approximately 2.8 miles to the stripe.
Robby McGehee's crew chief, Steve Fried, was seriously injured in an accident on pit road. He was in a coma for several weeks.
The Chilean driver Eliseo Salazar was awarded with the Scott Brayton's trophy
Read more about this topic: 1999 Indianapolis 500
Famous quotes containing the word race:
“Nobody is glad in the gladness of another, and our system is one of war, of an injurious superiority. Every child of the Saxon race is educated to wish to be first. It is our system; and a man comes to measure his greatness by the regrets, envies, and hatreds of his competitors.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)