1994 Indianapolis 500
Results of the 1994 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1994.
Recap
After leading 145 laps in the 1000 hp (750 kW), 250 mph (400 km/h), pushrod engined Penske-Mercedes, defending winner Emerson Fittipaldi attempted to put second-placed teammate Al Unser, Jr. a lap down on lap 185 but caught the turbulence off Al Unser Jr.'s car in turn 4 and smacked the wall. Unser led the last 15 laps for his second career win.
Results
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Qual | Rank | C | E | Laps | Led | Status | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 31 |  Al Unser, Jr. (W)
|
228.011 | 1 | P | MB | 200 | 48 | Running | Team Penske |
| 2 | 4 | 12 |  Jacques Villeneuve (R)
|
226.259 | 4 | R | F | 200 | 7 | Running | Forsythe/Green Racing |
| 3 | 28 | 4 | Bobby Rahal (W)
|
224.094 | 7 | P | I | 199 | 0 | Running | Rahal/Hogan Racing |
| 4 | 16 | 18 | Jimmy Vasser
|
222.262 | 24 | R | F | 199 | 0 | Running | Hayhoe Racing |
| 5 | 19 | 9 | Robby Gordon
|
221.293 | 29 | L | F | 199 | 0 | Running | Walker Racing |
| 6 | 5 | 8 | Michael Andretti
|
226.205 | 5 | R | F | 198 | 0 | Running | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 7 | 24 | 11 |  Teo Fabi
|
223.394 | 13 | R | I | 198 | 0 | Running | Jim Hall Racing |
| 8 | 11 | 27 | Eddie Cheever
|
223.163 | 15 | L | M | 197 | 0 | Running | Team Menard |
| 9 | 22 | 14 | Bryan Herta (R)
|
220.992 | 33 | L | F | 197 | 0 | Running | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 10 | 10 | 33 | John Andretti
|
223.263 | 14 | L | F | 196 | 0 | Running | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 11 | 29 | 88 |  Mauricio Gugelmin (R)
|
223.104 | 16 | R | F | 196 | 0 | Running | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 12 | 21 | 19 | Brian Till (R)
|
221.107 | 32 | L | F | 194 | 0 | Running | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 13 | 13 | 91 | Stan Fox
|
222.867 | 18 | R | F | 193 | 0 | Crash T1 | Hemelgarn Racing |
| 14 | 18 | 22 |  Hiro Matsushita
|
221.382 | 27 | L | F | 193 | 0 | Running | Dick Simon Racing |
| 15 | 27 | 16 |  Stefan Johansson
|
221.518 | 26 | P | I | 192 | 0 | Running | Bettenhausen Racing |
| 16 | 17 | 71 | Scott Sharp (R)
|
222.091 | 25 | L | F | 186 | 0 | Running | PacWest Racing |
| 17 | 3 | 2 | Emerson Fittipaldi (W)
|
227.303 | 3 | P | MB | 184 | 145 | Crash T4 | Team Penske |
| 18 | 8 | 28 |  Arie Luyendyk (W)
|
223.673 | 10 | L | I | 179 | 0 | Engine | Indy Regency Racing |
| 19 | 6 | 90 | Lyn St. James
|
224.154 | 6 | L | F | 170 | 0 | Running | Dick Simon Racing |
| 20 | 23 | 59 | Scott Brayton
|
223.652 | 11 | L | M | 116 | 0 | Engine | Team Menard |
| 21 | 2 | 5 | Raul Boesel
|
227.618 | 2 | L | F | 100 | 0 | Water Pump | Dick Simon Racing |
| 22 | 7 | 1 |  Nigel Mansell
|
224.041 | 8 | L | F | 92 | 0 | Accident T3 | Newman/Haas Racing |
| 23 | 25 | 3 | Paul Tracy
|
222.710 | 19 | P | MB | 92 | 0 | Turbo | Team Penske |
| 24 | 14 | 99 | Hideshi Matsuda (R)
|
222.545 | 21 | L | F | 90 | 0 | Accident T1 | Beck Motorsports |
| 25 | 30 | 45 | John Paul, Jr.
|
222.500 | 22 | L | F | 89 | 0 | Accident T3 | ProFormance Racing |
| 26 | 15 | 79 | Dennis Vitolo (R)
|
222.439 | 23 | L | F | 89 | 0 | Accident T3 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 27 | 32 | 25 | Marco Greco (R)
|
221.216 | 31 | L | F | 53 | 0 | Electrical | Arciero Racing |
| 28 | 26 | 7 |  Adrian Fernández (R)
|
222.657 | 20 | R | I | 30 | 0 | Suspension | Galles Racing |
| 29 | 12 | 17 | Dominic Dobson
|
222.970 | 17 | L | F | 29 | 0 | Accident T1 | PacWest Racing |
| 30 | 33 | 40 | Scott Goodyear
|
223.817 | 9 | L | F | 29 | 0 | Suspension | King Racing |
| 31 | 31 | 10 | Mike Groff
|
221.355 | 28 | P | I | 28 | 0 | Accident T1 | Rahal/Letterman Racing |
| 32 | 9 | 6 | Mario Andretti (W)
|
223.503 | 12 | L | F | 23 | 0 | Fuel System | Newman/Haas Racing |
| 33 | 20 | 21 |  Roberto Guerrero
|
221.278 | 30 | L | B | 20 | 0 | Accident T1 | Pagan Racing |
(W)=Winner, (R)=Rookie
*C Chassis: L=Lola, P=Penske, R=Reynard
*E Engine: B=Buick, F=Cosworth-Ford, I=Ilmor, M=Menard (Buick), MB=Ilmor Mercedes-Benz
All cars in the 1994 Indianapolis 500 competed on Goodyear tires.
Failed to qualify: Jeff Andretti (#94), Ross Bentley (#39), Gary Bettenhausen (#61), Geoff Brabham (#59), Pancho Carter (#30), Jim Crawford (#74), Fredrik Ekblom (#35), Michael Greenfield (#42), Stephan Gregoire (#30), Davy Jones (#40), Buddy Lazier (#23, #94), Roberto Moreno (#44), Tero Palmroth (#44, #79), Johnny Parsons (#42), Willy T. Ribbs (#9, #24), Mark Smith (#15),
Trivia
- This was the last Indianapolis 500 for Mario Andretti, who retired after the 1994 season. On May 17, 1994 Al Unser Sr. withdrew from his Arizona Motorsports team during practice after the ride proved uncompetetive, and announced his retirement. Johnny Rutherford, who had not qualified for the Indy 500 since 1988, failed to qualify yet again, and officially retired shortly thereafter.
- Emerson Fittipaldi garnered a large lead over the rest of the field -- he led 145 of the 200 laps in the race -- but he crashed into the wall in the closing laps while leading and ended up not finishing. (See below).
- Mercedes-Benz used the Indianapolis 500 to debut their Mercedes 209 engine (the 209 stands for the size of the engine in cubic inches). The Penske cars were dominant for the entire month.
- Al Unser Jr.'s margin of victory was 8.6 seconds.
Quotes
"[We've] Got [it]...Emerson Fittipaldi has hit the wall on the inside coming through four..."
"Unbelievable, the car comes to a stop just a few feet short of the start-finish line; Emmo raising his hands as if to say, 'I can't believe what has happened'"
- - Bob Jenkins, as both described the incredible scene of Emerson Fittipaldi's crash on lap 184, while leading by almost a full lap, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
"The Checkered flag waves, and Al Unser Jr. has won the 78th running of the Indianapolis 500"
- - Bob Jenkins describing the finish on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network