1996 Indianapolis 500

IRL/CART split

See also 1996 Indy Racing League season

The seeds of the IRL/CART "split" were planted in the early 1990s, when newly named Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George began exploring options of changes in the sport of Indy cars. Sharply rising costs, the lack of many ovals on the schedule, and the dwindling number of American participants were among his stated concerns. As early as May 1991, George announced intentions to change the engine formula to 3.5L normally aspirated powerplants (essentially the same engines used in Formula One at the time), a plan that never got past the planning stages. George joined the CART board of directors from 1992-1994 as a non-voting member. He resigned after the brief tenure, disagreeing with the direction of the series.

In the summer of 1994, George announced he was going to start a new series, the Indy Racing League, with the Indianapolis 500 as its centerpiece. CART had sanctioned the sport of Indy car racing since 1979, with the sole exception of the Indianapolis 500 itself, which was sanctioned singly by USAC. However, an arrangement had been in place since the early 1980s to recognize the Indy 500 on the CART schedule, and the points would be awarded towards the CART championship.

George blueprinted the IRL as a lower-cost alternative to CART, with an emphasis on attracting American drivers, an all-oval schedule, and new cars with normally-aspirated, "production-based" engines. As a result, the Indy 500 would no longer be recognized on the CART calendar, and the machines currently used in the CART series would no longer be allowed at the Speedway starting in 1997.

Almost immediately, a turbulent political controversy erupted, with participants, media, fans, manufacturers, and sponsors all apprehensive of the sport's direction and pending shakeup. The prevailing opinion around the CART paddock was largely negative regarding the formation of the IRL. The 1995 season and 1995 Indy 500 were held as normal, but under a growing cloud of uncertainty about the future of the sport. During the summer of 1995, and into the offseason, the two factions of CART and the IRL were unable to reconcile on much of anything, and the "split" began to take shape. The biggest salvo was made on July 3, 1995, when IRL officials announced that the top 25 drivers in IRL points would be guaranteed starting positions in the 1996 Indy 500.

Boycott by CART teams

On November 18, 1995^[5] CART teams, convinced they were being deliberately locked out from the 1996 Indy 500, and the victims of a "power grab" by Tony George,^[6] 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.^[6]

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.^[5] CART participants were convinced of the opposite. The only CART teams that entered were Galles and Walker, but neither fielded their regular full-time CART drivers. Galles fielded an Ilmor Mercedes (the only Mercedes entered) in a one-off entry for Davy Jones, while Walker entered a car in the race for Mike Groff.

Defending Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve switched to Formula One and signed with the Williams team during the offseason, and irrespective of the "split," would not return to Indy for 1996. It marked the second year in a row the defending champion would not race in the 500. A year earlier, 1994 winner Al Unser Jr. failed to qualify. With the recent retirements of several Indy legends, as well as active drivers Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi and Unser Jr. who were at the CART race at Michigan, the only former Indy winner entered as a driver would be Arie Luyendyk. Additionally, the U.S. 500 field represented 109 Indy 500 starts and 5 wins, compared to just 75 previous 500 starts for the 1996 Indy 500 lineup; the lowest since 1932. The U.S. 500 competitors also accounted for 127 CART and USAC-sanctioned IndyCar wins and 7 National Championships, while the Indy 500 drivers had only 14 wins and no National Championships among the 33 starters.

Rules for 1996

For the 1996 IRL season, USAC implemented a rules freeze, and announced a rules package largely identical to the one used for the 1995 race, with only a few minor technical revisions. The move made it such that the race would be contested with 1992-1995 model year, CART-based chassis (namely Lola and Reynard). The 1996 model-year chassis being used in CART were not approved, further splintering the rift between the two camps. Apropos to the situation, many IRL teams actually purchased used 1994 and 1995 model-year chassis from rival CART teams.

As had been allowed for several years, the "stock block" production-based engines (e.g. Buick & Menard) would be allowed 55 inHG, and the OHC 2.65L V-8 engines (Ford Cosworth-XB and Ilmor "D") would stay at 45 inches. While they were not even used in 1995, the 209 cid purpose-built pushrod engines (e.g., the Mercedes-Benz 500I) were formally banned for 1996.

The two-year-old Indy car "tire war" was embraced by the IRL. Both Goodyear and Firestone provided tires.

The minimum age rule for drivers in 1996 was changed from 21 to 18, a ruling that allowed Michel Jourdain Jr., aged 19, to compete in the race.

25/8 Rule and locked-in entries

For the 1996 Indy 500, the "25/8 Rule" was adopted, where 25 starting grid positions were set aside for the top 25 cars in 1996 season IRL points standings, and the remaining 8 spots in the grid were open for the remaining entries.^[7] The arrangement was a controversial rule, and was a key issue that led the CART teams to boycott the race. The 25/8 was the form of provisional rule chosen by the IRL similar to provisional rules that was common place at the time in series which had more entries than starting position. Most series at the time had provisions in place in case a star or high up in the points system has issued in qualifying and did not run fast enough to qualify. IE: Daytona 500 qualifying which at the time locked in front row and then top 15 cars from each qualifying race. Then rest of field filled by provisional.^[8]

The format (similar in practice to NASCAR's Top 35 rule introduced years later) provided that the top 25 entries (not drivers) in owner points were guaranteed a "locked-in" starting position, and could not be bumped,^[7] provided they completed a four-lap qualifying run over a minimum prescribed speed. Officials set 220 mph as the minimum.^[9] The grid would still be arranged by speed rank.^[7][10] The pole position would still be the fastest car on the first day of qualifying (or first trip through the qualifying order), regardless of "locked-in" status.^[9][10] The remaining eight positions would be filled by non-top 25 "at-large" entries, and bumping could only occur amongst those participants.

Since three of the "locked-in" entries made no attempt to qualify, only 22 of the positions were initially "locked-in."^[9] After Brayton's forfeit of the #2 car, only 21 of the 33 starting positions were locked-in. The field included 12 at-large entries. The 1996 U.S. 500 had 27 starting drivers.

Locked-in entries No. Team Driver Owner points 12 Bradley Motorsports Buzz Calkins  R  128 11 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Scott Sharp 124 33 Team Scandia Michele Alboreto  R  116 75 Cunningham Racing Johnny O'Connell  R  116 20 Team Menard Tony Stewart  R  114 5 Byrd/Treadway Racing Arie Luyendyk  W  112 41 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Marco Greco 112 21 Pagan Racing Roberto Guerrero 98 4 Della Penna Motorsports Richie Hearn  R  94 9 Hemelgarn Racing Stéphan Grégoire 94 18 PDM Racing John Paul Jr. 94 14 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Davey Hamilton  R  82 90 Team Scandia Racin Gardner  R  82 16 Blueprint Racing Johnny Parsons 80 2 Team Menard Scott Brayton (withdrawn)1 74 54 Beck Motorsports Robbie Buhl  R  32 64 Project Indy Johnny Unser  R  26 3 Team Menard Eddie Cheever 25 15 Tempero-Giuffre Racing (vacant)2 25 17 Leigh Miller Racing (vacant)3 22 45 Zunne Group Racing Lyn St. James 22 27 Blueprint Racing Jim Guthrie  R  20 91 Hemelgarn Racing Buddy Lazier 18 7 Team Scandia Eliseo Salazar 16 25 Tempero-Giuffre Racing (vacant)4 15  W  Former winner  R  Indy 500 Rookie ^ Brayton withdrew his already-qualified car on pole day, forfeiting his "locked-in" status, and qualified as an "at-large" entry in the #32 car. ^ David Kudrave, entered for the event, was replaced before the start of practice. Justin Bell  R  passed up on the ride after not completing his rookie test, and Joe Gosek practiced in it in the second week before switching to Team Scandia. ^ Stan Wattles, its lead driver, had been injured at Phoenix. Beck Motorsports, without cars after splitting from Zunne Group, struck a deal to buy their cars and entry, to use them as their own.[11] ^ Joe Gosek practiced in it the first week, and switched to the #15 car after not getting to complete his rookie test.

At-large main entries No. Team Driver 8 Team Scandia Alessandro Zampedri 10 Hemelgarn Racing Brad Murphey  R  22 Team Scandia Michel Jourdain Jr.  R  24 Zunne Group Racing Randy Tolsma  R  30 Team Menard Mark Dismore  R  32 Team Menard Scott Brayton1 Danny Ongais 34 Team Scandia Fermín Vélez  R  36 Loop Hole Racing Dan Drinan  R  39 Harrington Motorsports-LP Racing (vacant)2 43 Team Scandia Joe Gosek3  R  44 Della Penna Motorsports Scott Harrington2  R  46 Project Indy Rob Wilson4  R  50 Osella USA (absent)5 52 Beck Motorsports Hideshi Matsuda 60 Walker Racing Mike Groff 66 Burns Motorsports (absent)6 70 Galles Racing Davy Jones 77 Brickell Racing Tyce Carlson7  R  96 ABF Motorsports Paul Durant  R  99 Pagan Racing Billy Boat8  R  ^ Brayton died on May 17 after sustaining a basilar skull fracture in a crash, and Ongais was named as his replacement, switching from Brickell Racing. Per USAC rules, Brayton's pole position was withdrawn, and Ongais was allowed to start the race at the back of the field. ^ Harrington was entered in the #39 car until his lone chassis was destroyed in a crash on May 16, and he signed to Della Penna Motorsports on Bump Day. ^ Gosek switched from Tempero-Giuffre Racing on May 18. ^ Entered on May 16. ^ Russ Wicks was entered, but neither the car or the driver took part in practice over an alleged lack of sponsorship[12] ^ Jeff Wood was entered, but neither the car or the driver took part in practice. ^ Butch Brickell, entered for the event, was not medically cleared to race after a crash in testing at Walt Disney World. Carlson was entered on Bump Day after Danny Ongais, who was entered on May 16, switched to Team Menard ^ Entered on May 14.

Saturday May 4 - Opening Day

Rookie orientation was scheduled for Opening Day. However, rain washed out the entire first day of practice.

Sunday May 5 - Rookie Orientation

Opening day was reserved for rookie orientation, largely due to the overwhelming number of Indy 500 rookies entered. A cool morning saw only half an hour of practice amongst nine cars. Rain closed the track for the day at 9:35 a.m.^[13] Rookie Tony Stewart led the abbreviated session with a lap of 193.957 mph.^[14]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	193.957
2	23	Mark Dismore (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	193.569
3	33	Michele Alboreto (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	188.648

Monday May 6 - Rookie Orientation

Rain hampered practice for the third day in a row, however, activity was heavy throughout the day, with many drivers looking to finish their rookie tests. At 9:19 a.m., Tony Stewart ran the fastest lap ever at the Speedway by a rookie, at 231.774 mph.^[15] Later in the day, he upped the fastest lap of the month to 237.336 mph, which broke the existing unofficial track record.^[15][16]

Eleven drivers completed all four phases of their rookie tests: Stewart, Mark Dismore, Buzz Calkins, Michel Jourdain Jr., Michele Alboreto, Richie Hearn, Racin Gardner, Randy Tolsma, Dan Drinan, Brad Murphey, and Jim Guthrie.^[15] Despite being considered a rookie, Davey Hamilton, who had failed to qualify for the Indy 500 in three previous occasions (1991, 1993 and 1995), was given an exemption, and did not had to complete a rookie test.

Off the track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against CART to protect the "IndyCar" trademark. IMS officials deemed that CART, who was organizing the rival U.S. 500, was failing to comply with the license agreement under which they received permission to use the "IndyCar" trademark.^[15]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	237.336
2	30	Mark Dismore (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	228.566
3	22	Michel Jourdain Jr. (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	228.154

Tuesday May 7

Rain fell once again at the Speedway, and the start of the practice was delayed until 2:30 p.m. Veteran drivers took to the track for the first time, with Menard teammates Scott Brayton and Eddie Cheever quickly setting the pace at over 235 mph and 233 mph, respectively.^[17]

Johnny Unser and Paul Durant both competed their rookie tests, bringing the total to 13 rookies. That morning, Zunne Group Racing confirmed that Lyn St. James, who had run the first two IRL races with Team Scandia, would drive its #45 entry, as a teammate to Randy Tolsma.^[17]

Late in the day, Arie Luyendyk moved up to the top five, with a lap of 232.162 mph.^[17] Team Menard, however, swept the top three positions on the speed chart, when Tony Stewart topped at 236.121 mph.^[18]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	236.121
2	3	Eddie Cheever	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	235.997
3	2	Scott Brayton	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	235.730

Wednesday May 8

Rain washed out practice for the day, the second day of the month completely lost to weather.^[19]

Thursday May 9

A windy but warm day saw heavy action. Arie Luyendyk ran the fastest practice lap in Speedway history, at 237.774 mph. The three Menard entries (Stewart, Cheever, and Brayton) were all over 234 mph. Several other drivers cracked the 230 mph barrier, including Buddy Lazier, Davy Jones, and Scott Sharp.^[20][21]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	35	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	237.774
2	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	237.336
3	2	Scott Brayton	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	235.750

Friday May 10

"Fast Friday," the final day of practice before time trials, saw the fastest laps turned in Indy history. At 1:04 p.m., 35 minutes after completing the fastest lap of the month (238.045 mph), Arie Luyendyk ran the fastest practice lap in Speedway history, with an average speed of 239.260 mph.^[9][22] At 37.616 seconds, Luyendyk's lap was 0.106 seconds shy of the elusive 240 mph barrier, and as of 2018, stands as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway one-lap unofficial track record.

Shortly after the track opened, Scott Brayton had run his fastest lap of the month, 235.688 mph.^[9] He would finish fourth behind Tony Stewart, who reached an average of 236 mph, and Scott Sharp.^[9] At 3:25 p.m., rain closed the track for the day. That day, Robbie Buhl became the 14th driver to complete his rookie test.^[9]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	35	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	239.260
2	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	236.004
3	11	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Ford Cosworth	235.701

Pole Day - Saturday May 11

Pole day dawned cold and rainy. The track opened for practice at 11:55 a.m., with 24 cars taking to the track. Johnny Parsons crashed in turn 3, while Arie Luyendyk, who barely avoided Parsons's crash, stalled with engine trouble 25 minutes later. Marco Greco and Scott Sharp also lost an engine during this session. Tony Stewart ran the fastest practice lap of the morning, at 235.719 mph.^[23]

Pole day time trials began at 2 p.m. Lyn St. James was the first car to qualify, completing her four-lap run at 224.594 mph. Buddy Lazier then grabbed the provisional pole at 231.468 mph. Twenty minutes later, Davy Jones broke the 1 and 4 lap track records, completing a run at 232.882 mph. The speed broke Roberto Guerrero's 1992 track record.^[23]

Tony Stewart bumped Jones off the pole with another new track record, at 233.100 mph, becoming the first rookie to hold both the 1 and 4 lap track records since Teo Fabi in 1983.^[23] His Menard teammates Eddie Cheever (231.781 mph) and Scott Brayton (231.535 mph) also put in respectable runs, but neither were fast enough for the pole. Eliseo Salazar just missed making the front row at 232.684 mph.^[23]

By 5:00 p.m., the field was filled to twenty cars, fifteen of which were "locked-in" entries. Due to expected difficulties replacing the blown engine in his primary car, Arie Luyendyk had to make do with a back-up car and a brand-new engine, which had heating issues after a few practice laps. With 33 minutes left in the day, Luyendyk finally started his qualifying attempt, and, despite averaging 232.407 mph over his first two laps, something he later blamed on not having used the right gear, he got to set new all-time track records, with a best lap of 234.742 mph, and a four-lap average of 233.390 mph.^[23] With no other contenders in line, it appeared Luyendyk had secured his second Indy 500 pole. Tony Stewart and Davy Jones tentatively rounded out the front row.

Suddenly, Team Menard began scrambling, and Scott Brayton was back on pit road carrying his helmet. The team had withdrawn their already-qualified #2 car, and Brayton was preparing to re-qualify in a back-up car, on which Brayton had only turned 13 laps that morning with competitive speeds (233.851 mph). That car was the one Luyendyk had used to qualify in second place at Indianapolis the previous year.^[23] With this gamble, Menard had forfeited one of their "locked-in" spots, but Brayton would be eligible to run for the pole again. He took to the track at 5:42 p.m., and averaged 233.718 mph over a consistent 4-lap run that was fast enough to take the pole position, setting another four-lap track record. Luyendyk's one-lap record, however, still stood. At the 6 o'clock gun, Scott Brayton officially accepted his second straight Indy 500 pole position award.^[23] Luyendyk and Stewart now rounded out the front row.^[24]

At 7:45 p.m., USAC chief steward Keith Ward announced that Arie Luyendyk's car had failed post-qualifying inspection.^[23] The car was 7 pounds underweight, and his qualifying attempt was disallowed. The ruling elevated Tony Stewart to second place, and nullified Luyendyk's standing one-lap track record. Scott Brayton's fast lap of 233.851 mph now stood as the official one-lap record, alongside his 4-lap record.^[23] Despite being disqualified late on Saturday, Luyendyk would be permitted to re-qualify the same machine on a later day. However, one of the three allotted attempts were charged to the chassis.

Pole Day
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	32	Scott Brayton	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	233.718
DSQ	35	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	233.390
2	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	233.100
3	70	Davy Jones	Galles Racing	Lola	Mercedes-Ilmor	232.882
4	34	Eliseo Salazar	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	232.684
5	3	Eddie Cheever	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	231.781
6	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	231.468
7	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	231.373
8	8	Alessandro Zampedri	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	229.565
9	22	Michel Jourdain Jr. (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	229.380
10	12	Buzz Calkins (R)	Bradley Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	229.013
11	14	Davey Hamilton (R)	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Ford Cosworth	228.887
12	60	Mike Groff	Walker Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	228.704
13	33	Michele Alboreto (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	228.229
14	9	Stéphan Grégoire	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	227.556
15	30	Mark Dismore (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	227.260
16	4	Richie Hearn (R)	Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	226.521
17	64	Johnny Unser (R)	Project Indy	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	226.115
18	18	John Paul Jr.	PDM Racing	Lola	Menard	224.757
19	45	Lyn St. James	Zunne Group Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	224.594
20	27	Jim Guthrie (R)	Blueprint Racing	Lola	Menard	222.394
	11	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Ford Cosworth	Waved off

Second Day - Sunday May 12

Arie Luyendyk track record setting car.

After being disqualified the night before, Arie Luyendyk returned to the track on the second day of time trials. He set track records on all four laps.^[25]

• Lap 1: 38.097 seconds, 236.239 mph (new 1-lap track record)
• Lap 2: 37.983 seconds, 236.948 mph (new 1-lap track record)
• Lap 3: 37.933 seconds, 237.260 mph (new 1-lap track record)
• Lap 4: 37.895 seconds, 237.498 mph (all-time 1-lap track record)
• Total- 2:31.908, 236.986 mph (all-time 4-lap track record)

Luyendyk's run made him the fastest qualifier in the field, however, as a second-day qualifier, he was forced to line up 21st (behind first-day qualifiers). Luyendyk's one and four lap track records still stand as of 2018.^[26][27][28] By the end of the day, the field was filled to 26 cars, of which 18 were eligible for "locked-in" positions.^[23]

Second Day
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
21	5	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	236.986
22	11	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Ford Cosworth	231.201
23	41	Marco Greco	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Ford Cosworth	228.840
24	54	Robbie Buhl (R)	Beck Motorsports	Lola	Ford Cosworth	226.217
25	96	Paul Durant (R)	ABF Motorsports	Lola	Buick	225.404
26	90	Racin Gardner (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	224.453
	10	Brad Murphey (R)	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	Engine trouble

Monday May 13

A light day of activity saw Tony Stewart lead the speed chart at 235.837 mph.^[29] Johnny O'Connell (216.024 mph) led the non-qualified cars and passed his rookie test, with Tyce Carlson bringing the total to 16 later that day in the Loop Hole Racing entry assigned to Dan Drinan.^[30]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	23	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	235.837
2	7	Eliseo Salazar	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	234.858
3	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	234.308

Tuesday May 14

Brad Murphey led the non-qualified cars with a fast lap of 228.612 mph. Arie Luyendyk led all cars with a lap of 238.493 mph,^[31] faster than his official track record, and the second-fastest practice lap in Indy history.^[32]

Fermín Vélez completed his rookie test, while Billy Boat, who had signed to drive Pagan's second car, and Andy Michner took their first practice laps of the month. Just like Tyce Carlson, Michner was without a ride, and making his rookie test in Loop Hole Racing's car.

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	35	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	238.493
2	23	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	234.821
3	44	Richie Hearn (R)	Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	232.378

Wednesday May 15

Rain washed out practice for the day. It marked the third entire day lost to rain, and the eighth overall hampered by the weather.^[33]

Thursday May 16

A fairly busy day saw 22 cars take nearly 900 laps. Arie Luyendyk once again led the speed chart, at 234.540 mph. Brad Murphey (225.875 mph) was the fastest of the non-qualified cars, with Johnny O'Connell also over 225 mph.^[34]

Rob Wilson, in a second Lola for Project Indy, took his first laps of the month. Scott Harrington and Billy Boat passed their rookie tests, but Harrington later crashed in turn 3.^[34] His team, which had few resources and was being assisted by Treadway Racing,^[33] would be unable to repair his car or buy another one in time for the second weekend of qualifying.

Justin Bell confirmed he would not attempt to qualify for the race, after Tempero-Giuffre Racing struggled for speed all month.^[34] Bell had not passed a single phase of his rookie test and had not turned a lap since May 9, when he clocked the fastest of his 55 laps at just 186 mph. Joe Gosek, who fell short of the 200 mph barrier at the wheel of the #25, had taken his place since May 10, his best effort so far having been a 203 mph lap on May 14.^[35]

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	35	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	234.540
2	33	Michele Alboreto (R)	Team Scandia	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	231.083
3	44	Richie Hearn (R)	Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	230.669

Friday May 17 - Death of Scott Brayton

At 12:17 p.m., Scott Brayton, testing a back-up car,^[36] did a half-spin in the middle of turn two, and crashed hard into the outside wall exiting the turn.^[36] The car slid 600 feet to a stop down the backstretch. Brayton was found unconscious^[37] in the car, and was transported immediately to Methodist Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 12:50 p.m. EST.^[37] Brayton was killed instantly of basilar skull fracture.^[37][38]

The death cast a pall over the Speedway, and the entire racing community.^[37] It was determined that Brayton likely ran over a piece of debris in turn four or the mainstretch,^[37] which punctured his right rear tire. Unaware of the debris, he completed the lap at 228.606 mph,^[36] then drove into turn one. The tire suffered rapid deflation^[36][39] in the southchute and in turn two, causing the car to lose control.

The official report of fatality was not announced until 4 p.m.^[39] In the meantime, unaware of Brayton's condition, some other drivers resumed practice for a time. Arie Luyendyk posted the fastest lap overall at 234.870 mph, and Brad Murphey (228.548 mph) was the fastest of the non-qualified cars. When the news was released, nearly all participants stopped for the day.

Earlier that day, veteran Danny Ongais, who had been confirmed on Thursday, took his first laps in the Brickell Racing machine, while Andy Michner, Joe Gosek and Rob Wilson became the last drivers to complete their rookie tests, bringing the total to 22.^[39] Despite this, Michner stated he would not attempt to qualify for the race, as he felt he wasn't going to get "enough time to practice after qualifying to prepare for the race".^[39] He also said he had dismissed an offer to drive Foyt's back-up car, the #84.^[39]

After completing his rookie test, Joe Gosek got out of the #15 car. With help from the IRL, he landed a ride as the seventh driver for Team Scandia in the #43 car, which had been driven by Fermín Vélez during the week.^[40] Vélez would switch to the #34, Eliseo Salazar's back-up car, for qualifying. Tempero-Giuffre Racing didn't sign a replacement for Gosek, and their two locked-in entries were not qualified.

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	35	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd/Treadway Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	234.870
2	23	Scott Brayton	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	230.126
3	4	Richie Hearn (R)	Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	229.031

Third Day - Saturday May 18

Track activity resumed after Friday's tragedy. At 9:35 a.m., Dan Drinan, who was unsuccessfully trying to improve his best lap of the month (215 mph) during the practice session, endured a heavy accident in turn 1, in a very similar fashion to Brayton's crash.^[41] He was transported to Methodist Hospital, reportedly alert and in stable condition,^[42] and underwent surgery that same day. Drinan suffered a concussion, fractures in his left hip and foot, and a bruised left lung, and was ruled out for qualifying.

Five drivers completed a qualification attempt, with Brad Murphey being the fastest at 226.053, and the field was filled to 31 cars by the end of the day.^[42] Danny Ongais, whose last race at the Speedway had been in 1986, completed a 20 laps refresher course, and was set to qualify on Bump Day.

Third Day
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
27	10	Brad Murphey (R)	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	226.053
28	16	Johnny Parsons	Blueprint Racing	Lola	Menard	223.843
29	43	Fermín Vélez (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	222.487
30	75	Johnny O'Connell (R)	Cunningham Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	222.361
	99	Billy Boat (R)	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	221.824

Bump Day - Sunday May 19

At 11:00 a.m., Team Menard announced that Danny Ongais would drive the #2 entry, vacated after the death of Scott Brayton^[43] Due to the replacement, the car was moved to the back of the field, elevating Tony Stewart to the pole position. To replace Ongais, Brickell Racing signed Tyce Carlson, who had to "break" into a friend's car to retrieve his racing suit.^[40]

At 1:50 p.m., Randy Tolsma crashed in Turn 1, causing considerable damage to the #24 car. Zunne Group Racing lacked a spare, and Tolsma, who was uninjured, stated he was not considering offers to drive other cars for a qualification attempt.^[43] Veteran Hideshi Matsuda arrived at the track for the first time all month, and was quickly practicing over 227 mph. At 4 p.m., Matsuda, driving an "at-large" entry for Beck Motorsports, put his car safely in the field at 226.859 mph.

During the day, Scott Harrington rejoined the queue, having struck a deal to drive in Della Penna's back-up, and Billy Boat started practising in the #84 Foyt entry. Boat had already qualified the #99 Pagan entry, but was the slowest car in the field and had no "locked-in" berth. At 5:24 p.m., he crashed in turn 1 and complained of back and leg pain. Boat was not medically cleared to drive, and he would not be able to re-qualify if his car was bumped.

With 23 minutes to go, Harrington filled the field with a run of 222.185 mph, and immediately after, Joe Gosek bumped Boat out with a run of 222.793 mph, which dropped Harrington to the bubble spot. Tyce Carlson made two attempts in the closing minutes, but he was not fast enough to bump his way into the field, and Rob Wilson, whose fastest lap in practice had been slightly under 215 mph, didn't make a qualification attempt.

Despite the controversy regarding the "locked-in" entries, the "fastest 33 cars" did manage to make the field, and one bump did occur. None of the "locked-in" entries qualified slower than the slowest "at-large" entry, nor did any fail to meet the 220 mph requirement.

Bump Day
Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
30	52	Hideshi Matsuda	Beck Motorsports	Lola	Ford Cosworth	226.856
31	43	Joe Gosek (R)	Team Scandia	Lola	Ford Cosworth	222.793
32	44	Scott Harrington (R)	Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	222.185
Failed to qualify
	99	Billy Boat (R)	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	Bumped / 221.824
	77	Tyce Carlson (R)	Brickell Racing	Lola	Menard	Too slow / 221.201
	46	Rob Wilson (R)	Project Indy	Lola	Ford Cosworth	No attempt
	36	Dan Drinan (R)	Loop Hole Racing	Lola	Buick	Crashed in practice
	24	Randy Tolsma (R)	Zunne Group Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	Crashed in practice

Final practice

The final practice session was scheduled for Thursday May 23. Rain delayed the start of final practice until 12:52 p.m. Stéphan Grégoire suffered an oil leak, Brad Murphey coasted back to the pits with low oil pressure, Paul Durant suffered a blown engine, and Buzz Calkins had a minor pit fire. The most serious incident of the day involved Johnny Unser, who crashed in turn 4. Damage was moderate, and Unser was not injured.

Rain stopped the session at 1:49 p.m., and Tony Stewart (231.273 mph) was the fastest car of the day.

Top practice speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Speed
1	20	Tony Stewart (R)	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	231.273
2	3	Eddie Cheever	Team Menard	Lola	Menard	230.621
3	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	230.598

Pit Stop Contest

The Coors Indy Pit Stop Challenge for 1996 featured five teams competing for a $35,000 top prize. Galles Racing and driver Davy Jones defeated Pagan Racing with driver Roberto Guerrero in the finals.

Alternates

• First alternate: Billy Boat (#99) - Bumped
• Second alternate: Tyce Carlson (#77) - Too slow

Start

Morning rain threatened to delay the start, but the track was dried. The schedule, however, was pushed by 5 minutes, as the engines were stopped for a brief period shortly after Mary Fendrich Hulman gave the starting command, because USAC had not finished their inspection. It would be the final time Hulman would give the starting command for the "500." After some hesitation, the field pulled away for the pace laps.

During the first parade lap, Danny Ongais (driving Scott Brayton's car) lagged behind the field, and drove one memorial parade lap alone to salute Brayton's memory. Also, Hideshi Matsuda stalled on the frontstretch, and was pushed to the pits. He would re-join the field for the pace lap. On the second parade lap, Johnny Unser coasted into the pits with a transmission failure, and dropped out before the green flag.

A conservative, slow, ragged start saw Tony Stewart retain the lead into turn one, while Eliseo Salazar overcame Davy Jones for second, and Roberto Guerrero jumped Eddie Cheever and Buddy Lazier for fourth. Most of the field completed the first lap at a slow pace, but Stewart completed the lap over 208 mph. After two laps, Stewart was running a record pace of 221.965 mph.

At the start, Mark Dismore did a half-spin in turn one, and kicked up mud from the infield. Debris from the incident brought out the yellow on lap 3, while Dismore ducked into the pits repeateadly to check the car over. Under the yellow, Scott Harrington was catching up to the tail-end of the field down the backstretch, but approached too quickly. He locked up the brakes, nearly hit three cars, and spun undamaged into the warm-up lane on Turn 3.

First half

After three green flag laps, Paul Durant blew an engine down the backstretch on Lap 11, ducked into the warm-up lane, but spun in his own fluid. On the restart on Lap 18, Danny Ongais lost control, and spun harmlessly through turn four. Thus, the first representative green flag period didn't start until Lap 21. Having started 20th, Arie Luyendyk had already charged into 11th place before the first caution, and into eighth place before the second, also passing Alessandro Zampedri a few laps later.

Tony Stewart set a rookie record by leading the first 31 laps before his first pit stop, which was considered an early one compared to his rivals, and which brought concerns over Team Menard's fuel mileage. Some seven seconds back, the pursuit was led by Roberto Guerrero, who had taken advantage of the restarts to pass Davy Jones and Eliseo Salazar. On those first stops, Eddie Cheever dropped out of contention from fifth place because of a bad air wrench. Jones, meanwhile, had a slow stop that dropped him down to eighth, prompting Galles Racing to adopt a different fuel strategy from then on.

Being 11 seconds behind Stewart, Eliseo Salazar went back to second place on Lap 47, while Arie Luyendyk, already in fifth place, had touched the wall twice over a push condition, without damage. Caution would come out on Lap 50 after Johnny Parsons blew an engine, and Tony Stewart elected to pit again to rearrange his fuel situation, rejoining fourth, as well as Salazar. Roberto Guerrero led on the restart while Luyendyk unsuccessfully tried to pass Buddy Lazier, who was benefitted by traffic. Ten laps later, Stéphan Grégoire retired with engine problems, having climbed up to fifth after a well-timed first stop.

A caution came out for debris on Lap 70, and a large group of drivers elected to pit. Roberto Guerrero lost half a minute on his stop after a problem with his fuel nozzle and a brief stall. Arie Luyendyk had also lost positions to Tony Stewart, Eliseo Salazar and Alessandro Zampedri, but the Dutch would pass Salazar and Zampedri on the restart, led by Davy Jones, who would make his pit stop under green flag on Lap 87.

Just before the caution, Tony Stewart started having problems with his boost pressure, with his engineers fearing it would be related with a pop-off valve issue. Stewart, however, went after Buddy Lazier when the race resumed in a close pursuit. On Lap 81, his engine let go, pitting a lap later to retire from the race.^[2] Despite not finishing, he secured the Rookie of the Year award. Just behind him, Eddie Cheever made a pit stop, only to spin in front of his car when he tried to rejoin the track.

Arie Luyendyk catched Buddy Lazier and both engaged in a close pursuit until Lap 94, when the caution came out after a crash by Brad Murphey in Turn 2. The leaders headed to the pits, and Luyendyk was on his way to beat Lazier, but he stalled the car. After it was refired, Luyendyk managed to enter the warm-up lane a few inches in front of Eliseo Salazar, who was on his right side. Then, Salazar suddenly turned down on Luyendyk,^[2] the cars touched, and Salazar went spinning wildly through the grass and out onto the track itself. Luyendyk suffered a damaged nosecone, broken suspension and broken bodywork, and the repairs made him lose five laps, eventually retiring with 50 laps to go.^[2] Salazar's car also suffered heavy damage in his sidepod, but it was repaired, and only lost a couple laps.^[2]

With Luyendyk, the lone former winner, out of contention, the race would be won by a first-time winner.

Second half

By the halfway point, eleven cars had dropped out of the race, with nine more retirements coming up in the following 50 laps. The race restarted on Lap 105 with Davy Jones in the lead. He soon put a 10 second gap on Roberto Guerrero, who had passed Buddy Lazier on the restart. At that point, there were six cars on the lead lap.

Twelve laps down, Fermín Vélez suffered a huge fire on his car while on the backstraight, bringing out the yellow on Lap 119. During the caution, Mike Groff, one of the lead lap cars in fifth place, suffered a broken oil line that spilled into his cockpit, although he managed to reach his pit box before rushing out of the car. Davy Jones and Roberto Guerrero pitted during the caution, leaving Buddy Lazier on the lead when the race restarted. Both Jones and Guerrero rapidly closed the gap on him and Alessandro Zampedri, who stayed a second behind.

A timely caution on Lap 132, brought out by Mark Dismore's broken engine, set the stage in terms of fuel mileage. Buddy Lazier, Alessandro Zampedri and Richie Hearn pitted, the Italian driver making an additional stop to top off on fuel before the restart, which put them in position to finish the race with one more pit stop, while Davy Jones and Roberto Guerrero were set to make two more stops. The Colombian driver had passed Jones on Lap 129, and led the field at the restart, with both needing a caution before their stop, or after their rivals' one.

After stretching their tanks as far as possible, Roberto Guerrero stopped on Lap 160, and Davy Jones followed suit a lap later. Jones' faster stop put him several seconds ahead. However, if the race stayed green, Jones and Guerrero were expected to run out of fuel in the final two laps. Moments later, Scott Harrington, running 16th some nine laps down, tried to pass Lyn St. James, five laps down in 15th place, on the inside of Turn 1, but both touched, crashing hard into the outside wall. Both suffered minor bruises. The resulting caution fixed Jones and Guerrero's fuel issues, but not their track position one.

Under yellow, Buddy Lazier was able to make his final scheduled stop on Lap 167, with plenty of fuel to make the distance. It was a slow stop, however, as he exited the pits behind Alessandro Zampedri. Guerrero also ducked into the pits to top the car off, but the refueler inserted the nozzle awkwardly, the fuel spilled, and the car caught fire. The car was good enough to continue, but it was feared it would not have enough fuel to make it to the end, and his two-way radio became disconnected. ^[2] Jones stayed out, gambling on fuel, and took over the lead over Zampedri, Lazier, Guerrero and Richie Hearn, the final car on the lead lap, who also pitted.

For the restart, the lapped car of Eliseo Salazar was lined up just in front of Jones. As the green came out on Lap 169, Salazar blocked Jones exiting turn four. Down the frontstretch, Jones attempted to pass Salazar, but the Chilean swiped to the inside, forcing Jones to brush the inside wall. It was Salazar's second controversial, unsportsmanlike move of the race, with Scandia's team owner Andy Evans admitting it was intentional, in an attempt to help Zampedri.^[2] The Italian took a hold of the situation and passed Jones on the outside of Turn 1. Over his stint as the race leader, his team became increasingly worried over the car's fuel consumption, at two miles per gallon, not being low enough to make it to the end.

Finish

Davy Jones managed to stay within a second of Alessandro Zampedri for about 20 laps, despite some suspension damage from the Salazar incident, and being low on fuel, with Buddy Lazier some three seconds behind. On Lap 189, handling problems developed on Zampedri's car and he run high in Turn 3, allowing Jones to take the lead on the inside of Turn 4. A lap later, Lazier used Turn 3 to pass Zampedri on the outside, and went after Jones, who was told by the team to enter in "full lean mode". Lazier, running full-rich, passed Jones for the lead down the front stretch with 8 laps to go, and began to pull away, running laps over 232 mph.

With six laps to go, Eddie Cheever's car began smoking in Turn 2, laying down fluid on the track. Two laps later, also in Turn 2, Scott Sharp spun out of sixth place, and crashed into the inside wall. During the caution, as he had done previously, Lazier would raise his hands out of the cockpit to stretch his fingers and alleviate his back pain. Track crews quickly cleaned up the incident, and the race was restarted with one lap to go, the white and green flag being displayed at the starter's stand.

Decisively, Lazier had managed to lap Michel Jourdain Jr. before the caution came out, and Jones, who had the chance to run full speed to try and catch Lazier, lagged too far behind to make an early move on Jourdain, having to do so on the backstraight. It was enough for Lazier, who held off the challenge to win his first Indy 500 and get his first Indy car race win. Six seconds behind, rookie Richie Hearn finished third, having passed Zampedri just before the caution. It was the first Indy car podium finish for all three drivers, who accounted for a total of six top-10 finishes between them before this race: Lazier and Jones had never finished higher than seventh.

As the leaders crossed the finish line, a serious crash occurred further back in the field. Fifth-placed Roberto Guerrero, who had lost a lap after pitting with 10 to go, was not aware he was a lap ahead of Eliseo Salazar because of his two-way radio not working. Running hard on the final lap, he spun in turn 4 and slid in front of the cars of Zampedri and Salazar. Zampedri's car was pushed up, and flew up into the catch fence, suffering serious injuries to his wrist and feet. Salazar slid underneath Zampedri's car, and wrecked into the outside wall. Guerrero slid down the track, and came to rest in the pit area. Despite this, all three drivers retained their positions because of the high attrition, and the fact that the nearest contenders (Danny Ongais, Hideshi Matsuda and Robbie Buhl) were 3 laps down.

Post-race

The victory was Buddy Lazier's first win in championship-level Indy car competition, the second time in the 1990s that a driver had accomplished such a feat. Arie Luyendyk in 1990 also won his first career Indy car race at the Indy 500. Lazier had won races, and a championship, in the American Indycar Series, a minor league series that utilized CART machines. Lazier's previous best finish in CART competition had been a 7th place at Michigan, and his previous best finish at Indy was a 14th (1992), and he had not previously completed the entire 500 miles.

At the conclusion of the race, Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins wound up tied for first place in the season points championship, and were declared co-champions for the inaugural IRL season. There was no tie-breaker stipulated in the regulations at the time. If previous and later tie-breaker rules were in place, Calkins would have been declared champion, as he had the highest finishing position among the two with his win at Walt Disney World Speedway. Additionally, he went on to score the most points out of all IRL drivers in the calendar year 1996, if points from the New Hampshire and Las Vegas races were to be added.

Lazier's victory would be the final Indy 500 victory to-date for a Ford-badged engine. Ford-Cosworth reluctantly provided engines to the IRL for the five 1996 races, but generally sided with CART during the open-wheel racing split. The company did consult with the IRL during planning stages for the 1997 normally aspirated engine formula, but ultimately elected not to build engines to those specs. Ford-Cosworth continued to focus on CART and Champ Car, eventually ending its support after 2007.

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