I get teary eyed every time Jr. says you don't know what Indy means. That feeling of Indy is still alive but you have to be at the track to truly understand Jr's words.
In the intro for this very race, in his own words: "There comes a time where money doesn't matter, living doesn't matter, winning is the only thing that matters."
Mike Hergenroether I don’t think it will ever get that cold again . It seems to get hot when the INDY 500 comes around. I can’t believe that Tony George would ruin the relationship with CART and run away all the CART stars in the 90s. Greg Moore never ran at Indy and should have won as well but 1996 killed a lot of the momentum and national attention CART had up that point. There could have been better races and an Andretti win in the late 90s if CART was still at the INDY 500.
Still the grandest finish of all, in the world's greatest sporting event. And now as the first season of a unified body comes to an end in the closing days, and the centennial of the speedway approaches, one cannot help but wonder what the future holds for the Indianapolis 500. One thing is for certain, this century at speed has passed by like it was standing still.
why the hell did they cut away from the finish to show the flag stand? they didn't even show the finish, just a guy waving a flag, they did this at the 2001 Daytona 500 finish, but then it didn't really matter since it was a clear victory, but still, why cut away from the finish?
+jaked812812 Because sports directors are idiots and know nothing about the sports they direct. Surely he saw other races do this..which is SORT OF acceptable (not really, but slightly more) when the winner is 20 car lengths ahead and the winner is not in doubt. And since the director doesn't actually understand racing, he just followed the rules which is "Show the checkered flag no matter what." It is just like pretty much EVERY basketball game on TV these days. You ever go to a basketball game in person? If so, have you ever looked around at other people in the stands? During the last minute of a close game, what is EVERYBODY staring intently at? The COURT, right? Do you ever see ANYONE in the stands looking around at OTHER people in the stands to see how they are reacting? Of course not. Because no basketball fan would be that stupid. Yet TV viewers are routinely subjected to endless crowd shots while the game is going on! Often causing the viewer to miss fast breaks down at the other end. On some occasions, forcing the viewer to miss a specular game winning last second shot! The #1 question at any interview for a sports director should be "Have you ever watched a this sport in person in your life?" And #2 would be "Do you plan on showing ANYTHING that you didn't look at while you were watching the game in person?" And if they answer no for the first one, or yes for the second, they should be shown the door immediately.
IIRC This was the last year of the greatness of the Indy 500. After that they had those horrific track modifications and then the IRL/CART split and the Indy 500 has never been what it once was. I am glad to have actually been there for the greatness that we will never see again.
For this reason that Indy 500 is the greatest race of the world. This battle between Al Jr and Goodyear was one of the most incredible Indy finish. There is no race like this,Bobby Unser comments the racing is another high point of the broadcast. Almost 30 years after,the emotion continues on.
Man... these Indycars sound awesome. I was at the Houston Grand Prix two weeks ago,, and back in Detroit in 07 when they still had the V8's, I felt the v8's had a little more to them. Not that the V6s sounded bad. But I can't imagine how magical these 92 Indycars sounded like in person.
At abour 4:36, Al Jr said he got loose, and had to back off in turn four. You can see his resulting low exit out of four. Goodyear saw it right away, and that's why he was able to pull up so close on the mainstrech. The USAC timing said a margin of 0.043 seconds, but it was revised to 0.0331 due to the location of the timing transponder in Unser's Galmer chassis
I was there watching from inside Turn 4 going into the main straightaway. I remember a lot about those last laps, but more than anything I remember the crowd noise.
mears, big al, little al, fitipaldi, rahal, foyt, sullivan, the andretti's, luyendyk, cheever, goodyear, this was one hell of a line up, i was a huge fan of CART and F1 during this era ('89-'94), now i dont care much for the racing. i really miss the good old days.
I always wanted to see little Al’s in car on the final front stretch. That would’ve been wild to be able to see Goodyear trying to pass from the in car.
+RTBaLLa Or people who hate HORRIBLE sports directing. EVERYBODY should have the fact that viewers were not able to see the finish of a photo finish because the fucking asshole director thought we needed to see an ld man waving a checkered flag instead of the ACTUAL FUCKING FINISH!
@johnnystir I agree, if I remember correctly 33 cars started and only 13 finished. I too agree if not for fuel pump failure Michael would have gotten the win easily.
the past Indycar have what it takes to be a motorsports the got something you cannot make it I mean the feeling,the sound that makes you miss the past of motorsports in 90's
Jesus fucking Christ...Sports directors across the board clearly know NOTHING about het sports that they cover...but this is perhaps the WORST instance ever. Tell me something...how many of the roughly 300,000 people that attend the Indy 500 do you think looked AWAY from the cars just as they were coming to the finish line to look at the fucking guy waving the checkered flag? My guess is ZERO. But that is what the director FORCED the millions of viewers to do...actually MISSING the end of the race! This is ever worse than the basketball director (pretty much ALL of them, these days) that cuts to a crowd reaction shot after a team scores to go up by 1 with 20 seconds to go, and misses a fast break by the other team
It's not as bad as the ABC broadcast showing Dina Mears in 1982. With the white flag waving, Rick Mears was right up along side Johncock's car, and somehow Johncock was able to slam the door shut on him on the turn. They do have video of the actual moment where he did it because watching the ABC broadcast, you had no fucking clue as to what happened. It looked like Mears was about to blow past him. He actually pulled ahead for a second and they cut to Penske's and Mears' wives waiving their arms and jumping up and down. Unbelievable. I understand they wanted to show the reactions of their loved ones, but god damn; not at the most crucial point in one of the greatest races in history. This is pretty bad though.
I was Born in 1987 (I'm 25 yrs old) and started going ~1991(when I actually got my OWN ticket...can't remember before then). I will NEVER miss the INDIANAPOLIS 500.....So help me god.
It would be nice to see Rick Gallas come back to IndyCar now that the merger is over. Speaking of which, Coca Cola was inked today for a longterm sponsor with IndyCar. That signing is only the first of many to realize taht IndyCar is where everybody is going to want to be in 10 years, just as they way it should be.
Scoot Goodyear, the Rocky of the Indy 500, u may have finished 2nd but you won the hearts of many. You represent the countless people who strive/drive for something great, and it's in the pursuit of it where you are a true champion, regardless of the end result.
@infantryofficer Yeah that 'warmup lane' is a joke. It was done in the name of safety but during the 1984-1992 that I watched without the indy 500 there was never a wreck involving a car getting up to speed in the 'suicide lane'. The numbers don't lie - if it aint broke dont fix it.
However there also was Tony Hulman Jr. at the helm to run things which is a huge difference than the current management. Can it be pulled out of the current situation? Only time will tell.
Al Jr said he took too much wing out on the final pit stop, and made the car very loose. You can see how poorly the car was handling here...he was exiting the turns very low, he was afraid he'd tag the wall. On the final lap in turn 3, he said he got loose, and had to back off in turn 4, which allowed Goodyear to pull up right behind him. But he still held on.
Well, even if I do not like Tony George... It is not only George fault. USAC got his fault and SCCA also. In 79, CART emerge split from USAC. Then Cart receive twice some help from SCCA (organization in 79, and the drop off of the Can-am) and later IMSA (they screw their GT)... But USAC did continue with their Gold Crown with the Indy 500. IRL his just a relance of the USAC champ in some way. Result of all this crazy play: sport proto is in war (rolex vs Le Mans) and single seater been in war.
At equivalent speeds, the safety features on an open-wheel car blows the safety on the "stock" cows to the weeds...and for machines as light as open-wheelers admittedly are, it is nothing less than incredible. And for someone who said they'd break if they hit a leaf, maybe they should go and look at the Tom Pryce crash, at what the knife-shaped cars are horrifyingly capable of.
I don't know... TG offered them CCWS owners recently but suddenly TG turned down the offer days later. KK and GF made some sort of excuse and wasted TG's time? I feel that Tony George should try again and attempt another offer because once CCWS is dead. What's left for the IRL = Not Much. They can't expect many CCWS fans to watch the IRL sport. They need to merge, and merge now!!!! This is pissing off the OW fans everyday with egos still running amuck.
They ran on the apron there for years until the next year when they reconfigured the track and added rumble strips and access lanes. I think it has really hurt the racing because the racing groove is so much more narrow. In 1992 the leaders were running flat out on that final run but in 1993 they had to really let off in the corners. They just can't pass in the corners anymore like they did before 1993.
They make the turn for home now! On the mainstretch, Scott Goodyear closes in...he looks for a place to come by! Scott Goodyear tries him...but no!" "I believe that's the closest finish in Indy history, closer than the race ten years ago when Gordon Johncock beat Rick Mears!" "Ten years ago, when Little Al was new to this track...And now, Al Unser, Jr. is a winner at the Indianapolis 500..." - Paul Page and Sam Posey, calling the final straightaway of the race, and immediately after.
That was the one of the worst Indy 500 ever! It was cold, everybody crashed and got hurt, and the field spent nearly half the day behind the pace car. It was a fantastic finsh and a very special victory lane I will give you that, but I don't know if it beats '82. It was really something to see Mears chase down Gordy like he did.
I agree with you 805Wally, and the side of the driver was always cooler than being on top of the driver. And also, the Indycars in the video looked smaller, simple, nicer. No-offense, In a champcar including the CCWS-07champcar looks big and clumsy. IRL-2006 was not at all my favorite, (particualarly not the glorious as the classics).
@agabbahey It seems most of Indianapolis agrees with you. 500 ticket sales were up yet again, and the Allstate Crap at the Brickyard (the moment they whored out to a sponsor name, I peg them with it forever) was down again, from being WAY down already last year.
If you're going top speed in a stock car OR an F1, and you hit the wall, you're out of the race... so I don't see how that's relevant... What IS badass is the fact that some of these guys crash at 230+ mph and LIVE. The frame is a hell of a lot stronger than anything in YOUR car.
If you love racing, you shouldn't have to engage in this open wheel vs. stock car "war." Most of the old guys ran both. AJ won at Indy, Le Mans and Daytona. I will say this, though: Indy is the greatest event in American racing. No single weekend in NASCAR can beat it.
I thought Goodyear had him too & it didn't help that ABC cut to that shot of Duane Sweeney waving the checkered flags at the precise moment that the cars flashed across the stripe. I didn't know who had won until ABC showed Al's crew celebrating on pit road. The cars were on the short chute by then!
Push? Nope... Just bad luck, an Andretti is always unlucky for not winning Indy, just watch the 85, 87,89,93 and 95 and 2006 Indy races. Also in 1992 has a more powerful engine than LittleAl and Scotty. Ford XB engines in 1992 and 1993 rules.
@cpress75 Funny. Part of the whole original idea of IRL was supposedly to make it American-driver dominant, rather than the real rules of Indy: May The Best Win...whomever they may be, wherever they may be from.
Exactly! That's exactly why the track's corners needs to widen a bit so that passing at Indy is a lot easier. Plus today's indycars needs more horsepower and a new look (probably go back to where CART was)...
Scott Goodyear, in the Sports Illustrated article about the race: "I don't call that blocking," said Goodyear afterward. "I call that using a lot of racetrack. And I'd have been doing the same thing in Al's position."
Unser Jr. ran in an average of 134.477 MPH and Goodyear 134.476 MPH... In KPH Lil Al with 216.371 and Goodyear 216.379 Goodyear tuvo muy mala suerte en este final y en el ultimo reinicio en 1995
The Indy 500 is still the 500 and im a huge race fan i watch all racing from NASCAR to NHRA but the day there is no Indy 500 i will turn that tv off and never watch another race period.
Will there ever be a better Indy 500 than this one was from start to finish? Other than the pole sitter "Roberto Guerrero" crashing on the parade lap...this was the best I'd ever seen.
I'll be applying for the job as mangager, easiest job in the world: "Come on Lad! Drive Fast and Turn Left! Remember; LEFT! Under no circumstance turn right" LoL@thissillysport
Not only do they need Turbos for the future, but drop those damn Dallara crapwagons and bring back the beautiful classic Lola/Reynard/Penske chassis designs but with new safety packages.
805Wally shoulda seen this years 500.. :) That is why I'm turning around on Oval racing. I haven't had a history of liking oval racing, but watching IRL the last couple years, I like it..
I was at this race but was this the year it was really cold out? I can't remember. I know it was (either in the late 80's to early 90's) it was super cold out
@champcar4ever The current situation...isn't, anymore. Not sure if anyone will believe me, but the moment they hired Randy Bernard, everything changed.
I was at this race. Cold 🥶 as hell! 37 degrees at race time. Had on most of the clothes I had with me. Ironically, I had a #3 Valvoline T-shirt under it all.
Paul Paige was good this was probably his most famous one 1992 Indy 500 closets Indy 500's in history the unsers are the only racing family to win the Indy 500.
+Jason White Unfortunately, you DIDN'T watch this finish live. No one was able to watch it live on TV. You, like everyone else, saw the cars approaching the finish, and then the director decided that it was more important to see the fucking guy waving the checkered flag than the photo finish.
i remember getting up early to watch the end of this when i was 11 here in australia. i don't know of a finish in any race i've seen thats been as intense as this, great stuff, i love it .
That boneheaded director tried to be dramatic by switching cameras at the finish, but all he managed to do was ruin the moment. He should have used the camera that the replay showed. Great finish, though. Goodyear nearly won this one and had the '95 race won until he passed the pacecar.
