1999 Indianapolis 500

83rd Indianapolis 500

Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Date	May 30, 1999
Winner	Kenny Bräck
Average speed	153.176 mph (247 km/h)
Pole position	Arie Luyendyk
Pole speed	225.179 mph (362 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Luyendyk
Rookie of the Year	Robby McGehee
Most laps led	Arie Luyendyk (63)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	CeCe Winans
Back Home Again in Indiana	Jim Nabors
Starting command	Mari Hulman George
Pace car	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Pace car driver	Jay Leno
Honorary starter	Jim Postl (Pennzoil)
Attendance	250,000
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	(ABC announcers): Bob Jenkins, Tom Sneva
Nielsen Ratings	5.5
Market share	18
Chronology
Previous	Next
1998	2000

The 83rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1999. The race was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was part of the 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season.

In the closing laps, Robby Gordon ran out of fuel in sight of the white flag. Kenny Bräck took the lead with just over one lap to and won for car owner A. J. Foyt. The race victory represented the long-awaited "fifth" Indy 500 win for A. J. Foyt, who had previously won a record four times as a driver (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977).

Popular veteran and two-time winner Arie Luyendyk entered the race planning to retire at the end of the event. He won the pole position and was a factor most of the first half. After leading 63 laps, however, he crashed while leading after he tangled with a backmarker. Luyendyk would eventually return to Indy in 2001.

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 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

Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	C	E	T	Laps	Led	Status	Entrant
1	8	14	Kenny Brack	222.659	8	D	O	G	200	66	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
2	14	21	Jeff Ward	221.363	14	D	O	G	200	3	Running	Pagan Racing
3	3	11	Billy Boat	223.469	3	D	O	G	200	0	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
4	4	32	Robby Gordon	223.066	4	G	O	F	200	28	Running	Team Menard
5	27	55	Robby McGehee (R)	220.139	29	D	O	F	199	0	Running	Conti Racing
6	32	84	Robbie Buhl	220.115	30	D	O	G	199	0	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
7	22	91	Buddy Lazier (W)	220.721	23	D	O	G	198	0	Running	Hemelgarn Racing
8	17	81	Robby Unser	221.304	17	D	O	F	197	0	Running	Team Pelfrey
9	24	22	Tony Stewart	220.653	25	D	O	G	196	0	Running	Tri-Star Motorsports
10	10	54	Hideshi Matsuda	222.064	10	D	O	F	196	0	Running	Beck Motorsports
11	11	9	Davey Hamilton	221.866	11	D	O	G	196	0	Running	Galles Racing
12	33	3	Raul Boesel	220.101	31	R	O	G	195	0	Running	Brant Racing
13	12	42	John Hollansworth, Jr. (R)	221.698	12	D	O	F	192	0	Running	TeamXtreme
14	15	20	Tyce Carlson	221.322	15	D	O	F	190	0	Running	Blueprint/Immke Racing
15	21	96	Jeret Schroeder (R)	220.747	22	D	I	F	175	0	Engine	Cobb Racing
16	5	28	Mark Dismore	222.962	5	D	O	G	168	0	Accident T2	Kelley Racing
17	20	19	Stan Wattles	220.833	21	D	O	G	147	0	Running	Metro Racing
18	16	51	Eddie Cheever (W)	221.315	D	I	G	16	139	4	Engine	Team Cheever
19	26	12	Buzz Calkins	220.297	27	G	O	F	133	0	Running	Bradley Motorsports
20	23	33	Roberto Moreno	220.705	24	G	O	G	122	0	Transmission	Truscelli Team Racing
21	2	2	Greg Ray	225.073	2	D	O	F	120	32	Accident Pits	Team Menard
22	1	5	Arie Luyendyk (W)	225.179	1	G	O	F	117	63	Accident T3	Treadway Racing
23	29	52	Wim Eyckmans (R)	220.092	33	D	O	G	113	0	Timing Chain	Team Cheever
24	28	30	Jimmy Kite	220.097	32	G	O	F	110	0	Engine	McCormack Motorsports
25	25	50	Roberto Guerrero	220.479	26	G	I	F	105	0	Engine	Cobb Racing
26	13	35	Steve Knapp	221.502	13	G	O	G	104	0	Handling	ISM Racing
27	9	4	Scott Goodyear	222.387	9	G	O	G	101	0	Engine	Panther Racing
28	6	8	Scott Sharp	222.771	6	D	O	G	83	0	Transmission	Kelley Racing
29	19	98	Donnie Beechler	221.228	19	D	O	F	74	0	Engine	Cahill Racing
30	7	99	Sam Schmidt	222.734	7	G	O	F	62	4	Accident T1	Treadway Racing
31	31	17	Dr. Jack Miller	220.277	28	D	O	G	29	0	Clutch	Tri-Star Motorsports
32	30	92	Johnny Unser	221.197	20	D	O	G	10	0	Brakes	Hemelgarn Racing
33	18	6	Eliseo Salazar	221.265	18	G	O	F	7	0	Accident T2	Nienhouse Motorsports

(W) = former Indianapolis 500 winner; (R) = Indianapolis 500 rookie

*C Chassis: D=Dallara, G=G-Force, R=Riley & Scott

*E Engine: I=Infiniti, O=Oldsmobile

*T Tire: F=Firestone, G=Goodyear

Failed to Qualify:
#15 Jaques Lazier
#90 Lyn St. James
#46 Mike Groff
#07 Stephan Gregoire
#66 Scott Harrington
#31 Nick Firestone
#10 Andy Michner

Sports Illustrated controversy

On May 1, 1999 at the VisionAire 500K at Lowe's Motor Speedway three spectators were killed, and eight others (two of whom were children) were injured when a piece of debris went into the grandstands. On the 61st lap, Stan Wattles crashed in turn four, shearing off both right-side wheels. The car of John Paul, Jr. struck one of the wheels, propelling it into the stands. A witness claimed a wheel with suspension pieces flew into the seats. The incident occurred two weeks before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was scheduled to open for practice.

In the May 10, 1999 edition of Sports Illustrated, Ed Hinton penned an article reporting the tragedy, and discussed the general topic of safety in motorsports. The magazine's editors in New York published the article accompanied by an AP photograph taken at the scene. The photo featured a security guard standing next to two dead bodies in the grandstands covered with bloody sheets, and blood covering the steps.

In the week following the magazine's release, IMS/IRL president Tony George issued a letter stating his extreme displeasure with the article and the photo, describing that it was insensitive and inappropriate, and declared that Hinton would be denied credentials to the 1999 Indianapolis 500 and future events at the track. Immediately after word of the ban spread, press and media response was very negative. The Chicago Tribune, The Detroit News, Los Angeles Times, and several other newspapers announced they were all boycotting the event, citing censorship. In addition, they came to the defense of Hinton, because he himself wrote only the text in the article, and did not know about the photograph until after the edition was published.

A few days later, the controversy reached a boiling point, and Tony George backed down and retracted the ban. He issued Hinton his credentials, and most of the reporters (some reluctantly) returned to cover the race. However, the Hinton/censorship incident stayed in the news for a long time, and caused friction between the media and the still-fledgeling league.

Sources

• 1999 Indianapolis 500 - Daily Trackside Report