1996 U.S. 500

The 1996 U.S. 500 was a CART race at the Michigan International Speedway on May 26, 1996. It was the sixth round of the 1996 IndyCar season, and ran on the same day as the 1996 Indianapolis 500, which was the premier event on the 1996 Indy Racing League calendar.

1996 U.S. 500
Race details
Race 6 of 16 in the 1996 IndyCar season
DateMay 26, 1996
Official nameU.S. 500
LocationMichigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan, United States
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.000 mi / 3.219 km
Distance250 laps
500.000 mi / 804.672 km
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 63 °F (17 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)[1]
Pole position
DriverJimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time31.031
Fastest lap
DriverAlex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time30.836 (on lap of 250)
Podium
FirstJimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing)
SecondMaurício Gugelmin (PacWest Racing)
ThirdRoberto Moreno (Payton/Coyne Racing)

On December 18, 1995,[2] CART teams, convinced that they were being deliberately locked out from the 1996 Indy 500, and the victims of a "power grab" by Tony George,[3] announced their intentions to boycott the event. They jointly announced plans for a new race, the Inaugural U.S. 500, to be held at Michigan International Speedway the same day.[3]

The official reaction from IMS/IRL was one of disappointment and dismay, suggesting that CART was preparing to do considerable damage to Indy car racing.[2] CART participants were convinced of the opposite.

Qualifying

Jimmy Vasser had a time of 31.031 seconds and the pole. Adrian Fernandez and Bryan Herta started alongside him at the first row.

Race

Before the start

At turn 4, a major crash happened, as Jimmy Vasser started a major pileup after colliding with Fernandez and Herta. Other drivers like Eddie Lawson, André Ribeiro, Gil de Ferran, Maurício Gugelmin, Parker Johnstone and Fredrik Ekblom were involved. The red flag was out, all the drivers who were involved, except Fernandez, took their spare cars. The Mexican driver did not restart.

Second start – Lap 67

After a delay of 1 hour and 1 minute,[4] the race started again. At the second start, Bryan Herta was slow and Jimmy Vasser had a huge lead at the time of the 2nd start. At the 2nd lap, 2nd caution came out, as Scott Pruett had a blown engine. He retired. At lap 4, the top 6 was: Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy. Restart came out at the 8th lap. But 3 laps later, another caution was out after Fredrik Ekblom had engine problems. He retired. At lap 15, restart came out. Zanardi was the new leader at lap 18. Another caution came out, as some debris were on the track, at the 23rd lap. The top 6 was: Zanardi, Vasser, Andretti, Robby Gordon, Maurício Gugelmin and André Ribeiro. Restart came out at lap 28, with Gugelmin leading the field. At lap 67, Andretti was out after mechanical problems. Caution came out once again. But the restart came just a few lap later.

Lap 84 – Lap 168

Another caution happened as Gary Bettenhausen crashed at turn 4 at lap 84. He retired. Restart came out at lap 97. At lap 109, after 3 pitstops in just a few laps, Robby Gordon retired. At lap 125, halfway through, Alex Zanardi was the race leader. 6th caution came out at lap 128, as Team Rahal driver-owner Bobby Rahal crashed at turn 2. He retired because his right-front suspension was very damaged. Restart happened at lap 132, with Zanardi leading the rest of the field, but the restart did not happen, as André Ribeiro was relocated to the lead lap, and Eddie Lawson lost one lap. Restart happened again at lap 139. The 8th caution of the day came out at lap 145 as Jeff Krosnoff retired after having an engine problems. Restart came out at lap 168, with Parker Johnstone leading the field.

Closing stages: last 75 laps

With 75 laps to go, Alex Zanardi retired after a blown engine. With this retirement came the 9th caution of the day. With 73 laps to go, top 6 were: Parker Johnstone, Jimmy Vasser, André Ribeiro, Mark Blundell, Bryan Herta and Greg Moore. Restart came out with 66 laps to go. With 37 laps to go, Johnstone was out of fuel and retired. 10th caution. 9 laps later, restart came out, with André Ribeiro leading the field after pitstops. With 26 laps to go, Greg Moore had a blown engine and retired. He was in 2nd place. Five laps later, restart was out. With 10 laps to go, Ribeiro had a mechanical problem and lost his lead to Jimmy Vasser, who won the race.

Results

Race results
Finish Start No Name C E T Laps Status Points Entrant
1 1 12 Jimmy Vasser R H F 250 156.403 mph 21 Chip Ganassi Racing
2 14 17 Maurício Gugelmin R F G 250 +10.995 seconds 16 PacWest Racing
3 20 34 Roberto Moreno L F G 249 +1 lap 14 Payton/Coyne Racing
4 6 31 André Ribeiro L H F 249 +1 lap 12 Tasman Motorsports
5 19 21 Mark Blundell (R) R F G 249 +1 lap 10 PacWest Racing
6 18 10 Eddie Lawson (R) L MB G 249 +1 lap 8 Galles Racing
7 7 3 Paul Tracy P MB G 248 +2 laps 6 Team Penske
8 5 2 Al Unser, Jr. P MB G 246 +4 laps 4 Team Penske
9 13 8 Gil de Ferran R H G 245 +5 laps 2 Jim Hall Racing
10 8 9 Emerson Fittipaldi P MB G 241 +9 laps 1 Hogan Penske Racing
11 16 49 Parker Johnstone R H F 236 Gearbox Comptech Racing
12 12 11 Christian Fittipaldi L F G 232 Engine Newman/Haas Racing
13 17 99 Greg Moore (R) R MB F 225 Engine Forsythe Racing
14 25 19 Hiro Matsushita L F F 217 +33 laps Payton/Coyne Racing
15 3 28 Bryan Herta R MB G 216 Engine Team Rahal
16 22 16 Stefan Johansson R MB G 195 Engine Bettenhausen Racing
17 4 4 Alex Zanardi (R) R H F 175 Engine 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
18 24 25 Jeff Krosnoff (R) R T F 143 Engine Arciero-Wells Racing
19 15 18 Bobby Rahal R MB G 130 Accident T2 Team Rahal
20 21 5 Robby Gordon R F G 94 Engine Walker Racing
21 27 26 Gary Bettenhausen P MB G 79 Accident T4 Bettenhausen Racing
22 26 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II E T G 69 Engine All American Racers
23 11 6 Michael Andretti L F G 67 Mechanical Newman/Haas Racing
24 10 1 Raul Boesel R F G 54 Electrical Team Green
25 23 15 Fredrik Ekblom (R) R F G 11 Engine Walker Racing
26 9 20 Scott Pruett L F F 3 Engine Patrick Racing
27 2 32 Adrián Fernández L H F 0 Accident Tasman Motorsports

Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Jimmy Vasser 94
2 Al Unser, Jr. 58
3 Scott Pruett 49
4 André Ribeiro 40
5 Gil de Ferran 37
6 Greg Moore 36
7 Christian Fittipaldi 33
8 Michael Andretti 31
9 Paul Tracy 31
10 Maurício Gugelmin 28
11 Bobby Rahal 26
12 Roberto Moreno 22

References
  1. "1996 U.S. 500 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  2. "IRL press release 95-12-19". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Motorsport.com. 1995-12-19. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  3. Siano, Joseph (1995-12-19). "Team Owners Plan a Race To Challenge The Indy 500". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  4. "The 1996 U.S. 500 did little to harm the Indy 500's rep". Vault. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
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