1998 Indianapolis 500 (FULL, COMPLETE RACE)

Pep Boys Indy Racing League
82nd Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway, Indiana
May 24, 1998
First off. I would like to thank both SteveK51 AND Andrew Sopher/asopher1 for putting this great video together. Many brownie points to those two great men.
So, this is the ultimate version of the 82nd running of the Greatest Spectacle In Racing. Everything is in here, including the intro and pre-race, both rain delays, and the complete race. Nothing was edited out to my knowledge. Then again, I have not watched the whole thing yet.....
Enjoy!

[@randydubin7118]

The infamous "Fill In The Blank" crash at 1:58:38. Better replay look at 2:00:04.

[@robminmonaca]

Why did the crash get called “fill in the blank” ?

[@toxy3580]

@@robminmonaca probably because they have no fucking idea who crashed because they are no names

[@RandysRacingPlace633]

@@robminmonaca Because the third car that crashed landed right in the middle of where the other two was. If you watched the replay at the timestamp that I linked, you would see that.

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

I remember this crash very well, and am surprised it has been so under-analyzed. The most telling looks come at 1:59:43, 2:00:13, and 2:02:19 -- especially the slow-motion replays from that angle. The big issue for me, which no one seems to talk about, is how the orange car on the left (Davey Hamilton) pinches down hard on the yellow car of Sam Schmidt on the right as they approach turn one. There is no room left for Schmidt and soon he has his left front tire on the grass. He then spins out and the melee ensues. I find it remarkable that the announcers never once mentioned Hamilton's role in their breakdown of the incident. I also still don't fully understand why Jim Guthrie just flew in quite late and practically T-boned the wall at full speed. I realize that he ran directly into Schmidt's wing debris, but still -- no apparent attempt either to turn or slow down. Very easily could have died.

[@nicopatrizi1953]

@@pnutbutrncrackers I rewrote the accident for a fanfiction in 1999, with the difference that I put on the crash Paul Tracy, Dennis Vitolo, "the wreckers" Jim Guthrie and Sam Schmidt... And Tony Kanaan took debris like Guthrie in the real accident... But at maximum speed and... Kanaan ended up like Gordon Smiley. At last Italian treble: Sospiri, Zanardi, Papis, then Cheever and Davey Hamilton. I put in also Gregg Moore: short of fuel while he could win. Wrote it in October 1999...

[@TC-uy8ng]

Lap 1 crash "You can see the skid marks. I guarantee there's some skid marks inside the cockpit as well". Loved Tom Sneva's sense of humor.

[@TheSupradude26]

I was so happy to see Cheever finally get the big win that he deserved. I was always pulling for him in F1 even though I was young and didnt get to watch many races. I always wanted to see him get a win over there but he really only had a couple of years during his 150ish F1 starts where he had a car that was good enough to compete podium finishes. When he had good equipment he had some podium finishes bit just could never finish higher than second. Senna amd Prost were hogging all the wins haha.

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

Contrary to a lot of the opinions in this column, I liked this 500 and was happy for Eddie Cheever, coming from the sixth row to win it (also thought his car was pretty cool). For those who claim all these drivers were trash, I think it's ridiculous to classify the likes of Luyendyk, Stewart, Brack, Goodyear, Lazier, Sharp, Cheever, etc. so disrespectfully.

[@epaddon]

Amen to that. It's so nauseating to see CART bootlickers like Rob Mush (who weren't even alive during all this) spouting the hate propaganda that tries to push the false canard that there was something illegitimate about this era of Indy 500 history.

[@matthewscott8692]

@@epaddon Rob Mush spews his IRL hate on anything Indy related on KZbin. He doesn't really understand the dynamics of the split.

[@andresgutierrez8383]

Add to those important names Roberto Guerrero, probably one of the nicest guys in the paddock who deserved so much better luck through the years at Indy

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

@@andresgutierrez8383 You're so right, Andres. Sorry about missing Roberto Guerrero -- a driver I always liked. Still remember his super-cool DayGlo orange racing car! (1987?)

[@lockerracing7121]

@@andresgutierrez8383 Met Roberto at Watkins Glen 3 years ago. One of the nicest men I've ever met. He was busy working as an instructor but still took the time to talk to me and he wouldn't leave until he found something to autograph!

[@bmc8319]

The sound coming from the cars sound like a NASCAR engine about to blow up

[@robminmonaca]

MetalMastodon Tony should have kept some kind of turbo charged engines at the beginning of the IRL.

[@robminmonaca]

MetalMastodon he alienated the loyal Midwest INDYCAR base. However CART around this time was still getting big crowds but CART made dumb moves as well. However Tony George did most of the damage. All the IRL did was help NASCAR get huge at that time . Now that the IRL is history and now NASCAR is hurting big time. Tony was listening to much AJ Foyt and got what he wanted from the IRL. He hated Penske and other CART drivers and owners but now I read he retreats doing what he did in the 90s.

[@robminmonaca]

MetalMastodon at least both sides have learned the hard way what the split caused. Now INDYCAR has a chance to gain now with NASCAR just going into major decline. Hard to believe that it’s been ten years and finally now the series is starting to make gains.

[@KillyJoe]

It was that shitty pop off valve that gave everyone trouble they had to make the switch to naturally aspirated for a while

[@z71pack]

They were loud but complex and powerful. Like the Cadillacs and Auroras ahead of their time for the 90s they all aluminum don’t like heat. Larry Curry wasn’t happy that day.

[@nathanderover6929]

The museum asked about putting Eddie Cheever's car on display. He declined because he needed it for the rest of the season. The next race at Dover, he demolished it in a crash.

[@robminmonaca]

Nathan de Rover Kind of gods why of saying to IMS and Tony George that those cars were not worth being at the museum and that it should have been the real INDYCARs with CART chassis and engine.

[@epaddon]

Dover wasn't the next race. Texas was.

[@epaddon]

@@robminmonaca What a load of crap so typical of a CART bootlicker. You're talking about the same kind of car Greg Moore later died in, right?

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

@@robminmonaca These were real INDYCARs. CART was nothing more than a glorified version of Formula 1.

[@SwineBrothers]

i think i've been looking for this for about 6 years. this was the first indy 500 i remember watching as a very little kid, though i must have seen others. thanks a lot!

[@RoxUniverse]

This was my favorite win of all of the races I went to. Eddie Cheever is by far the nicest, brightest and competitive driver I have ever met! ♥️

[@jtdavis62]

"Well, this is the only thing I wanted to do with my life, this has been my only goal, and every year I get shit on doing it. How would you feel?" Tony Stewart (1:39:00)

[@SpaNT650]

The racing Gods hate you 😅 no one likes a sniveler

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

I still call it the Billy Boat era. In my ERA, in CART, we had Formula 1 Champs like Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Jacques Villeneuve, and record setting speeds they still have not equaled, 28 years later.

[@robminmonaca]

When Paul page did the INDY 500 broadcasts the productions were always pretty good and great even in the IRL era. However with the late 80s to mid 90s the music was always pretty good.

[@sunnybeech74]

Can't beat the Delta Force opening music.

[@CaptainRon956]

Close your eyes and you'd swear you're listening to a stock car race...

[@KillyJoe]

For a couple years they were basically cup cars it sounded like lol

[@robertmusgrave9236]

Killian Ryan I wonder how many complained to Tony George for those years and he changed the rules for the 2000 season to make them sound more like indycar’s. I wish Tony George would have make an apology for the way he changed rhe Indy 500 for the worst than better as he intended but even with the complaints CART at IMS was better without a 25/8 rule and more open rules but years before then they tired to give an advantage to the smaller teams like menard with boosts but then Penske saw it and took advantage of it and then IMS and the USAC guys got pissed off so much to get Tony George to change to formula to benefit them.

[@tomjewell7759]

And open wheel almost dies.

[@TDDDDDDDO]

Especially the Gen 7 sounding almost exactly like this

[@alannewman4818]

@@robertmusgrave9236 the Mernard engines were originally the “Buick” engines from the mid to late 80s. Brayton and his dad made them. Those engines were always suspect. Sure, you could take a “Menard” engine and make Pole, but it was never going to last. Find me a Menard/Buick engine that finished the 500 and I’ll buy you a round…

[@XXformula]

When the guys driving in the race are so obscure it takes 10 minutes to identify a car involved in a crash

[@incubrian]

hahhahahahahahahaha a good point!

[@MDCSWildcats86]

Not helped by the fact that Jim (no relation to Janet) Guthrie''s car number wasn't easy to spot based on the color scheme.

[@johnnystir9796]

Paul Page was always very careful to get things right rather than say the wrong name.

[@robertmusgrave9236]

johnnystir in a way I’m glad he stayed neutral and really didn’t say he opinions during the split and did races for both CART and IRL .

[@gregoryleggett9773]

@@johnnystir9796 Paul Page is the best.

[@SwineBrothers]

i always liked jeff ward. he tried every kind of racing. bokes, indy, rallycross, even offroad trucks!

[@DanielLearmouth]

"The world doesn't wanna hear about the labour pains; they just wanna see the baby." "......OK." Tom Sneva certainly has a way with words...

[@SwineBrothers]

paul page's reply of...okay. is priceless. like...what the hell do i say to that?

[@TheArfdog]

Baby turned out to be a lizard

[@cool3865]

@@SwineBrothers still a great line from both and Paul Page is like wtf did i just hear

[@SwineBrothers]

@@cool3865 paul described tom as scary to work with, you never knew what he was going to say.

[@bryanscholtes1199]

When did he say this? (if you dont' mind, generally)

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

Sweet pic of Cheever's car on the thumbnail. Diggin' the teal & black.

[@Alcochaser]

YES! Someone posted a non chopped up version!

[@de-fault_de-fault]

This was the first Indy 500 on live TV that I didn't watch live, so I don't think I had ever seen the Paul Page intro to this one. It's pretty sad how hard he had to sell the concept that this was still the same legendary, and legend-making, event it was just a few years prior. Thankfully, things have gotten a bit better again, but 1996-1999 (and especially 97-99 once the IRL cars came on the scene) were a pretty dark age. Tony Stewart was the one bright spot, and he left.

[@healthyone100]

its still hurts what they did the Indy 500 but its on its way back Cart had the best drivers and the fans started to stay away and its been over 20 years and the road has been hard!

[@robminmonaca]

dominick virgilio the 25/8 rule was the starting point.

[@healthyone100]

@@robminmonaca right.

[@TheTomgunnz]

Great damn racing in those years. I never missed a year and besides the politics I thoroughly enjoyed those years, and the fresh irl package as well, only wish Infiniti could have been more competitive. The fact that it was more blue collar than ever before was enjoyable for me as well

[@epaddon]

This was a true golden age. The ONLY Indy 500 post-2000 I would ever look at again is 2016. The rest have all been boring and irrelevant from my standpoint.

[@NotSteveCook]

Total Indy 500 experience: 95 previous starts Most experienced starters: Arie Luyendyk and Roberto Guerrero (13) Average age: 34.303 Oldest starter: Arie Luyendyk (44) Youngest starter: J.J. Yeley (21) IndyCar success in the field: 20 wins Most: Arie Luyendyk (6) National Championships: 2 World representation: 26 Americans, 2 Brazilians, and 1 each from Canada, Colombia, France, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Short track open-wheel racing graduates: Billy Boat, Tony Stewart, Davey Hamilton, J.J. Yeley, Andy Michner, Robby Unser, Jack Hewitt, Donnie Beechler, and Jimmy Kite (9; the most since 1992).

[@ror312gallery19]

love sneva in the booth, no bull, says what he thinks, and a really funny guy too,! cheers from italy,!

[@danschreffler1280]

When the favorite band from your youth comes to town with only a couple original members but you go anyway.

[@nettoflorestal]

Accurate lmao

[@motorsportmadness4580]

I swear as they played "Crazy Train" while introducing the rookies my eyes teared up. I love that song! Huge Ozzy fan and Indy fan! Both combined? Any day of the week!

[@sametozkan9175]

This race is Between Past F1 drivers is Eddie Cheever and Raul Boesel vs Future Nascar drivers is Tony Stewart and JJ Yeley

[@ElectoneGuy]

The dark days of the IRL. Thanks, Tony. You were such a stable genius...

[@robminmonaca]

Electone_Guy the intro was very sad and Paul had to truly sell the Indy 500 in the IRL era with weak no name fields compared to the early to mid 1990s with all those strong CART drivers.

[@danschreffler1280]

Been looking at some of these guys now on Wikipedia ( ones that have a page) and they basically dropped out of Indycar once the competition came back in a few years.

[@tomjewell7759]

Ego got in the way didn't it? Tony Jr. invented racing....

[@andresgutierrez8383]

1:20:58 "I'll guarantee there are some skid marks inside the cockpit as well!" LOL what a fine commentary by Gas Man Tom there 😅

[@johnnystir9796]

Love how Paul Page laid out and let the pictures do the talking at the start.

[@outfield1988]

Great to see Eddie win as he had some tough luck.

[@kg0173]

This broadcast missed Tony Stewart flipping the bird at Billy Boat early in the race. It was an onboard shot, I have seen it. Billy Boat cut him off and Tony got a little upset. Classic Stewart!

[@SN-nh6pq]

Wow, HUGE Indy 500 LEGENDS back then. Guys like Buzz Calkins, Andy Mincher, Billy Roe, Steve Knapp, Davy Hamilton, Jim Guthrie, Mark Dismore, Billy Boat, Greg Ray, Stan Wattles, Jack Hewitt, who can forget “DR” Jack Miller.....wow, John FUCKING PAUL Jr........Jeff Ward, Jimmy Kite, Donnie THE BRAIN Beecher, and so many other legends in this EPIC 1998 field. Thank you Tony George, you really did save not only Indy Car racing but the history & beautiful memories of the Indy 500.

[@robminmonaca]

This has to be a joke lol.

[@SN-nh6pq]

@ Rob YES, Rob Yesss. That was ultimate sarcasm

[@danschreffler1280]

I always get Billy Boat confused with Thomas The Train.

[@danschreffler1280]

@@3338MAN Well bust my buffers!

[@beeemm2578]

Go back 10 years from this...what a change. Kinda like rocknroll is now. The 70s bands are retiring/passing away and nobody replacing them. That's certainly not a list of legendary names.. lol. Buncha wallsmashers

[@NawnyaBusinaz]

Tony George's Amateur Mechanic's Hour at the Speedway.

[@andrewwinslow9315]

There was a team called PDM, Poor Dumb Mechanics. That should tell you all about this era. And the cars sounded bad

[@kg0173]

@@andrewwinslow9315 I just love this sound. Raw 4.0 NA engines. PDM actually was a good team that survived longer than others. What team did Johnny Herbert attempt to qualify for Indy 500? PDM?

[@nickporter574]

I missed the pre-split years by just a few years. Damn it!!!

[@DrColoso]

Well I'm going to say this really responsable, the grid next year will be by far one of the best in the last 20+ years, with the announcement of mclaren joining plus Alonso trying to win the race, wow, that race has changed for good.

[@robminmonaca]

Dr coloso and without Tony George’s help and money as well he gave a lot the those teams in 1996 money just for a spot at the 1996 Indy 500 to create the 25/8 rule.

[@stuartlongley2446]

Ermm... 😬

[@outfield1988]

Awesome run for Eddie

[@Gary_Johnston]

The early IRL years: no name drivers and crap equipment

[@robminmonaca]

victango84 Goes to show that they made the wrong moves but don’t tell that to Tony George and IMS at the time. Just now the sport is in decent shape and in the right direction. NASCAR seems to be just like INDYCAR was in the late 90s in total decline.

[@werxin]

some of them were name drivers in thier own respective series these were REAL grassroot racers who got a chance not drivers who bought thier seat.

[@louiskitchens6267]

Pssst. Good at piling in and out of the george family clown car. As sad as it is to see ABC go for tradition's sake, at least we won't have to hear about Cheever's "win" anymore. Must have chapped Goodyear hearing that all those times in the booth after what happened to him in '92 and '95.

[@robminmonaca]

MetalMastodon I say the last ones with Paul page in like 2003 or 2004 were ok. Then when they brought Todd Harris in ABC coverage of INDY went in a free fall and always sucked.

[@foskco87]

@@robminmonaca Lets be honest, NASCAR is nowhere near as interesting to watch as Indycar. I am surprised it became as popular as it did... although they did have some really good drivers. I just cant handle THAT amount of oval racing. Indycar had it all.

[@NotSteveCook]

Did anyone else take a liking to the bumper music ABC used in 1998 & 1999?

[@justinknust2395]

Seeing Sam Schmidt stand during his interview makes me sad.

[@indyracingnut]

I was JUST about to say that when I saw this at 37:20. But look how successful Sam is now!! So much more positivity has happened since that accident and I think he would agree! :)

[@RandysRacingPlace633]

indyracingnut Also, it should be pointed out that his father was also paralyzed in a ATV accident when Sam was a child, which was the reason why his parents forced him to go to college to get a degree to get a 'real job'. (Kinda like what happened with John Andretti, but without the near-fatal accident part, but I digress.) Kinda like a cruel version of the term, "Like Father, Like Son", no? 😞😭

[@kyleschaeding5661]

His accident at Texas was so tragic.

[@Miklos82]

Sam's career ending accident was not at TMS, but Walt Disney World Speedway.

[@kg0173]

Remember no driver was killed in first or secong gen IRL cars (1997-2002). Much better than losing Greg Moore and others forever. But safety was improving.

[@user-xb4pu5kc5n]

RIP Mary Fendrich Hulman(1905~1998)

[@joaofaria6547]

thank you

[@SwineBrothers]

17 out of the 33 drivers would win an american open wheel race. contrast that with cart's race the same weekend at gateway, where 24 out of the 28 drivers would grab at least one win. but at least this race had more americans (25, cart had 11)

[@cdname47]

IRL's obsession with American drivers seems bizarre in the extreme to the outsider. It's a race, the best will win no matter the nationality. If you're not winning, you're not good enough, so Americans just needed to try harder and up their game, not take their bat and ball and make an entire new series just for them. IRL was one of the worst things to happen to Motorsport, period.

[@SwineBrothers]

@@cdname47 as much as i agree, i think i can explain it. for several decades, the tradition in america was oval racing and american drivers. when road courses started to creep in, europeans took another look at indycar racing. it's a national pride thing. americans want to root for other americans, much as brits want to root for the british guys in f1. personally i've never cared, i've always valued talent over nationality.

[@pauloluciomachadodebrito8107]

2:52:30 That team just knew they were in the day, look that smile Cheever got the best car for that green track, super quick all day.

[@Tuck727]

I was there in 1998. Jay Leno drove the purple C5 corvette pace car,hilarious.

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

2:00:13 -- "We're going to try to identify each of these very carefully for you" -- followed by no mention of Davey Hamilton (orange car) who was KEY in this whole melee beginning. Didn't even correct this when they replayed it again. Don't understand that.

[@z71pack]

Really wish Aries gearbox and clutch could’ve made it 2 more pit stops. He really revved it leaving pits in 3rd gear. I believe he was really the man and car to beat that day.

[@ror312gallery19]

worked with robbie buhl racing for kids, by donating my original fine art prints , thank you robbie, cheers from italy,,!

[@katiewilliams5643]

I was there at that race that was my first race at the motor speedway

[@Texas_Takeover]

In case anyone is here after Spitta bought the pace car lol. 1:04:54 Who would have thought one day that car would be surrounded by weed smoke instead of tire smoke 😂

[@ricklane8342]

My favorite part of the whole race was Tom Sneva comment, he's in between girlfriends lol. After winning , I'm sure he was.

[@cdname47]

The late 90s 500s prove you need more than just a track, you need superstar drivers AND proper race cars too, something the IRL forgot in their quest for power. If the IRL had come out with powerful cars akin to CART's, they may have converted a few more fans, instead of being one of the main reasons of the death of many oval tracks on the Indycar schedule that isn't indy. *sigh* People's selfishness knows no bounds

[@robertmusgrave9236]

Brum Racing the IRL made it worse and had horrible marketing while CART still had the better promotion teams. At Kmart I remember Michael Andretti ads in 2000 at the local Kmarts were I lived.

[@garylewis6495]

I just realized what these stock block engines sound like; they sound like the noise my SoClean makes when it's cleaning my CPAP.!

[@danschreffler1280]

No, no no! How can you say such unkind things? The sound is more like when you get a spoon caught in the garbage disposer.

[@watsonroadster3707]

They sound like a sprint car engine...No wonder you think they sound like crap. You probably couldn't pick out a sprint car from a dune buggy.

[@andrewgillis8572]

John Paul JR gets flashed a tentative yellow light here - which he obeys - and thus goes a lap down - looks like Barnhart could have shown Paul alone that light had he wanted, IE chance of hinckty move by IRL

[@journeystarr]

Sound like stock cars

[@SwineBrothers]

poor tony stewart. probebly the best driver in the league's first few years and totally luckless. okay he won 3 races and a championship but think of the races he could have won if his motor held together

[@jamesgentry13]

Swine Brothers he should of win 2 Indy 500s and most of the races he was in.

[@robminmonaca]

James Gentry However from the Tony George power play and crap he made NASCAR get huge and why Tony Stewart left the mess that INDYCAR was turning into from the owners and from Tony George.

[@epaddon]

Dear Mr. Mush. Tony Stewart would NEVER have raced at Indy but for the IRL. That is the point that never seems to register in your brain because you've convinced yourself that CART never did anything wrong and was perfect.

[@andradesilva]

when you compare to CART cars it seems too slow.

[@jamesjodon7038]

andradesilva Yeah Cart cars could go up around 220- 240 mph. These 1998 indycars could only top out at 220.

[@foskco87]

There was no comparison really... worse looking, worse sounding, slower cars, crappier drivers. CART was in a whole other league during the rest of the 90's. Its too bad CART didnt try and race those 8 remaining spots in the Indy 500 in 96 because they probably would have made a mockery out of IRL and it could have possibly put a stop to the IRL right from the get-go

[@epaddon]

So what? The average fan frankly doesn't give a damn about that kind of thing. Were we supposed to watch cars get more and more fast to the point where no one could see them? Were we supposed to think of speed first instead of competition? We could also add safety, since CART was the circuit in this period that was killing more drivers than ever (Jeff Krosnoff, Gonzalo Marquez, Greg Moore) and then wanted to run unsafe cars at Texas in 2001. The more I read this kind of whining from CART crybabies the more I see what Tony George was dealing with and why the split happened.

[@robminmonaca]

David I think Penske now realizes that he made a major mistake with having the US 500 and probably should have been at Indy in 1996 to get back into the Indy 500 after getting bumped in 1995. Their was nothing wrong with bumping and Tony George screwed that tradition up with the 25/8 rule. Their was rumors Penske was wanting a similar one but those have been dead since he bought IMS and Indycar and stepped down as head of his long time racing team.

[@epaddon]

@@robminmonaca Buddy Lazier was a true champion. Which is more than one can say of Jimmy Vasser. (and if Roger made mistakes, maybe you should have a dream about punching him in the nose?)

[@reverendrasheemstewart3744]

Its sucks that Tony Stewart should had won at least two Indy 500s

[@robminmonaca]

Reverend Rasheem Stewart hey at least he left the no money IRL to become a NASCAR legend.

[@johnclark8360]

No, It Doesn't!😂🤓😎

[@epaddon]

He NEVER would have gotten to race ONCE at Indy under CART. That is the point you keep missing in your endeavor to kiss CART's butt on all things.

[@robminmonaca]

Thank you Tony George for screwing the Indy 500 in 1996. CART should have ran in 1996 despite the 25/8 rule and should have sued IMS and USAC to be allowed to run. The US 500 was so dumb and never should have been organized.

[@doolindanger2459]

Everyone hates George, but you have to look at it from the GEORGE/HULMAN family perspective - They own the Speedway and it is the Crown Jewel of all motor sports, and the reason cars are called "INDY" cars... Why let another organization run your business? CART was out of control with money and the gap was widening. It was becoming an F1 in America where only a couple of teams matter. The races weren't that good... Look where we are now. Indycar is the best racing on the planet now... Yes the early days were rough on the fans, but it was worth it.

[@epaddon]

AMEN! I wish "Rob Mush" would be forced to spend in real time the YEARS I spent with increased irritation in the late 80s through 1994 watching races and finding once again it was always going to be Penske or Newman-Haas and maybe one other elite team vying for a race win. Up through 92 at least I could still cheer for the old guard veterans of the 60s-70s who were still around but once they were gone and I saw the horror show that was 1994, that was when I knew this whole sport was suffering from rot underneath and CART was never going to address those problems. Tony George I think had the right idea and unfortunately his bad execution in a couple key areas is what's left him stigmatized, but I blame CART for making Indy racing boring and the 500 increasingly irrelevant (capped by Fiitipaldi pushing away the milk in 93 and the boring snooze-fest that was 1994).

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

@@doolindanger2459 Unfortunately, today's IRL is just another CART; three teams win almost every race and it's become too expensive for young drivers to find a ride. TG brought parity back to racing. And the thing I hated about CART were all the street races. Those are so boring. Those cars are meant to go 200mph like they do on ovals. But street courses are too narrow to allow much passing and because of all the hairpin turns, they can't go very fast. Tony George didn't "screw up" open-wheel racing. Roger Penske did. And this year's Indy 500 just proved that.

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

@@epaddon For most of its history, CART was a three-pony horse race. By the early 90s, three teams dominated the series. Sure, other teams would win races occasionally but in general, the races had become too predictable. I always ask fans who blame George for "ruining" open-wheel racing, what was so great about CART? Did you like watching races when you know who was going to win? Since you mentioned 1994, that year, Team Penske won 12 of 16 races. CART had become boring to watch. It had become as exciting as watching Formula 1. It's a shame more fans didn't support Tony George's vision. And unfortunately, today's IRL has become another CART. I hardly watch it anymore.

[@lawnchairgaming]

Actial race starts at 1:17:16

[@robertmusgrave9236]

Feels like the Indy 500 needed the CART stars here and what did the split ever accomplish?

[@danschreffler1280]

What do you have against Dr Jack Miller, you anti-dentite! He's a racing legend!

[@NotSteveCook]

@@danschreffler1280 One of those great short track racers who deserved a chance at Indy🙄

[@kg0173]

After watching the start of US500'96, please no. No. Maybe Greg Moore would be still alive.

[@kg0173]

@@danschreffler1280 Its amazing how some fans point out IRL's worst drivers, but never mention Juan Fangio II, Gualter Sales, Arnd Meier, Denis Vitolo, Hiro Matsushita, Fredrik Ekblom, Paul Jasper, Charlie Nearburg, Hideshi Matsuda, Luiz Garcia Jr., Naoki Hattori, Jason Bright, Takuya Kurosawa, Michael Krumm .... the CART superstars!

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

@@kg0173 Most CART drivers were not competitive in that series because only two-three teams ever had a realistic chance of winning. If you didn't drive for Penske, Newman-Haas or Galles, then you had almost no chance of winning. The IRL had much more parity. You didn't know who was going to win each race. No team dominated the series. I have never understood why more racing fans didn't support the original IRL. What is so exciting about watching a race when you almost know beforehand who's going to win? CART had become about as exciting as professional wrestling. And now, today's IRL is CART II and apart from the 500, it's just a predictable.

[@chrisbrown3699]

22 year Later we never Thought we been dealing with a pandemic

[@marktucker208]

The sound though

[@MrSeentIt]

CURREN$Y sent me here

[@warrenvollaro2529]

I was happy for him he deserved this win

[@KillyJoe]

100mph pit road speed limit lol wish they’d bring that back, freaking hauling ass

[@jamesgentry13]

if i remember didn't they finish the race one Tuesday?

[@EBanton24]

That happened in 1997.

[@walmars3curity]

Hell yea Yeley and Hewitt

[@racermac1988]

I have everything from the Command to the end of the broadcast, but would love to get a copy of the entire into, pre-race, and Rain Delay coverage

[@reverendrasheemstewart3744]

that would be good

[@MDCSWildcats86]

I would like the satellite feed, too. So far, only the 1995 race has it.

[@LeopardGeckoFry]

2:39:13 Lol. Greatest line in racing history. ".....Ok."

[@SN-nh6pq]

The demise of once was the greatest race in the world. I just remember my father saying after the 96 race that he would never go back. And he never did. And still after all of these decades later, that mystic/magic that Indy once had and cherished is still gone. Probably will never be resurrected again!

[@Cerberus2342]

Joe Joe - Some people just need to let go of the past... The 500 has been back to greatness for at least the past 15 years. Of course that’s all opinion, as is the opposing view... It’s true. The series and race went through a rough patch there for about 5 or 6 years. But as someone who’s been to every 500 since 2002, that old time magic is palpable again for all but the most bitter nostalgic holdouts.

[@robminmonaca]

John Barnett well all of the causal fans went to NASCAR and saw that leadership as constant and good. Were as INDYCAR/IRL/IMS/CART leadership wasn’t good at all and this period was what IMS thought there were giving America real INDY drivers and teams. They never really liked CART. USAC was Married to IMS from 1956-1997 and they really hated CART but let them in for them to make money for the track but hated a lot of the owners and Penske thinking they could make the rules. Tony George should have been the mediator instead of playing the homer. The split was a prefect storm of money,power and greed. Now NASCAR seems to be having some of the problems that INDYCAR had in the 90s.

[@erictripton]

Can't stand the engine sound...Glad Tony George is out... was a shitty time for Indy Car during those years of the split.

[@robertmusgrave9236]

I wonder how they convinced ABC and Disney to want to give them money when the IRL was a massive business failure.

[@SIGMAMAN69]

I remember pulling for Cheever when he raced in F1. He never won but was always competitive. I was really thrilled for him when he won this one.

[@Buynot]

Unpopular Opinion: Early IRL cars looked good.

[@kg0173]

Agree.

[@MDCSWildcats86]

Did Elizabeth Burch ever do anything other than sing the anthem? I thought she was one of the better ones over the years.

[@Omahamaho]

1:39:04 rofl

[@johnspradling7906]

The attempts at "background" music during driver introductions are intrusive and confusing when you try to listen to the information.

[@TheMNrailfan227]

I wish IndyCar kept the V8s, me being a NASCAR fan might find myself watching more IndyCar races today if that were the case.

[@hotdogflavouredmilkshake]

I didn't know Tony Stewart is a indy car driver lol. I always watched him in NASCAR 😂 lmao I feel stupid

[@gagemcpherson4454]

He won the indycar championship in 1997

[@robminmonaca]

Tony George should have helped him stay in INDYCAR then but he thought he was the only show at IMS and really didn’t seem to care that much to keep him full time. NASCAR got really huge because of Tony George crap in 1996.

[@robminmonaca]

MetalMastodon that is we’re Tony George really screwed up. Jeff Gordon also was big looking into NDYCAR as well. Unfortunately he couldn’t get a seat with a CART team in the early 90s and went to NASCAR when the split took place and was on his way of becoming a NASCAR legend and growing that sport leaps and bounds ahead of CART and IRL. In the end Tony George only seemed to be helping NASCAR than his grandfathers INDYCAR sport.

[@healthyone100]

@@robminmonaca right and i fuking hate nascar Tony George open the door for nascar and took full advantage but the tables are turnig back to Indy cars! Tony Stewart only went to nascar for the money he's a true open wheel guy by heart a throw back to the a.j. foyt era!

[@robminmonaca]

dominick virgilio I hope he can get to run at the Indy 500 one more time. However Tony George’s actions helped NASCAR even more than what Tony thought would stop Indycar drivers going to NASCAR in their booming days. However Tony’s complaint was that the USAC and small guys were getting ignored by CART for F1 like talents while IMS thought having USAC midget dirt drivers was an automatic spot at Indy like it was in the 50s and 60s. IMS and CART never liked each other. Tony George thought he could make all kind of money of the IRL. However he used the NASCAR Brickyard 400 to bankroll his IRL and making it look like it was going to have success while it never got of the ground and nearly destroyed all the the Indy 500 legacy.

[@robminmonaca]

Roberto looked a lot like Tony George. Just without the big ears.

[@danielhresko4900]

rob mush ...and with around 100 more IQ points than Tony George.

[@andrewwinslow9315]

1:20:58 Tom, That was very disgusting, but brilliant at the same time.

[@beeemm2578]

What a legend....lmao

[@DixytheGoat9]

2:23:52 Paul Page messes up John Paul .Jr with Eddie Cheever

[@TDDDDDDDO]

The Gen 7 sounds like this

[@randybobandy9243]

Reminds me of the 98 Daytona 500..

[@davidlarson3139]

The indy lights 500

[@na2305]

I stopped going to the race after 1996 and wait 10yrs to return. The race has never been same since live in person and on abc. The traditions are fading away

[@danschreffler1280]

I was dragged to the 1997 race (day 3) by my dad. I was not into it. It was my last race with my dad before he passed in '98. Should have tried to enjoy it more. As difficult as that would have been. The race is back, IMO. It's much different, a whole lot SAFER, which is good. the 2021 race was about the safest I have seen. NAPCAB is in decline, no longer racing at Chicago or Kentucky. INDYCAR is set to get it all back if the Chinese can stop sending us viruses.

[@TS-1267]

...yep! The world's greatest race, but just for America???

[@ChevyBuddy]

Best sounding engines they ever had imo. Way better than today anyway.

[@wpbarchitect1800]

Who are any of these people (besides the 3-4 anyone's heard of?) What are these cars? Is this the Indy 500 or Saturday Night Sprints at the County Fair? Cannot believe they allowed it to be branded. That crash at 1:58:36 is just sad....besides Roberto these people have no business driving these cars. This has to be the bottom of the barrel for Tony' George aka the Idiot Grandson's reign at IMS. From the early 90's glory to this sad affair in just a few years. The Gas Man in the booth with Paul Page was the only good thing.

[@robertmusgrave9236]

He was trying to get Jeff Gordon to join AOWR. NASCAR was booming and a lot of the USAC dirt track drivers were going to there instead of Indy car so Tony George tried to make it as close to the good old days in the 50s and 60s. However he spend so much of his personal family money and fortune on the IRL and it was the Indy 500 that kept the IRL running and don’t forget about the NASCAR race that came around the same time he created the IRL in the mid 90s. Their was some crazy times in AOWR racing in the 90s. However CART wasn’t perfect but made stupid decisions.

[@jamesjodon7038]

These cars sounded terrible and looked like rip offs of F1 cars with those air boxes.

[@mikepants35]

I remember my grandpa saying "If I wanted hear non-turbocharged engines I'd just watch NASCAR."

[@foskco87]

They were hideous and they sounded every bit as bad too. Slower cars, worse drivers... IRL was a complete waste of time. CART was still amazing during this time there was no reason to try and create a second league, especially at a time when NASCAR was growing in popularity. Purely created out of one man's overblown ego and greed.

[@xSoccerxCorex]

@@foskco87 his concept made sense (it took WAAYYY more money to operate a CART team then it did a nascar team in that era and was pricing out american drivers) but the execution from both sides was poor for the first few years.

[@robminmonaca]

CMartin6688 it seemed that emotion was more important than compromising to keep Indycar together. Tony George was only in his 30s then and thought he was young and saving Indycar my trying to bring it back to its “roots”. CART was just as emotional when they still had the best drivers in the late 90s but couldn’t be at Indy due to the politics of the leadership of both organizations.

[@skyhigh335]

2:31:00 🤣🤣

[@incubrian]

when the IRL shit on Indy so hard by trying to make it nascar, the poor indycars started SOUNDING like nascars....

[@ILSRWY4]

Agreed... dumbest thing they ever did was change that sound... good thing they changed it 2 years later during 2000 season...

[@freedom6919741]

Nobody shit on the Indy 500. The Indy 500 made every driver in cart ! See where Cart is now. Dissolved !

[@kregyung1041]

No turbos on the new IRL Kit Car. They put turbos back on to makes fans happy who didn’t like open wheel NASCAR 😂 If you don’t know Indy 500 history look it up. IRL was evolving in the late 90s. There were tons of changes as war waged on between the IRL Kit Car Series and CART (Championship Auto Race Teams). The Indy 500 was IRL’s ace card that killed CART

[@Mario_Ramirez]

@@freedom6919741 where's Tony George? CART dissolved but the team owners and to this day some drivers saved what was left of open wheel racing.

[@freedom6919741]

@@Mario_Ramirez really ? You can’t be serious. They all came back to the 500. Cart drivers didn’t save anything and that’s a fact.

[@fenderjbass6463]

0:45 wendy's

[@PeterMayer]

Mark dismore, Johnny Unser... Such top level drivers.. and these are the worst sounding cars in modern IndyCar history.

[@robertmusgrave9236]

But it’s the INDY 500 horrible how that only the history is what kept people still involved with the IRL years 1996-99 to want to still race at indy. All Tony George did was try to make it a “Pay to Play” scheme.

[@dennishewitt9509]

I would rather watch A.J. than the race!

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

Ah, the Billy-Boat, fat-man from TX beats the real winner on live TV era, such a Mickey Mouse farce, compared to CART World Series era. TY CoPilot, Google could not find answer. "The incident you’re referring to took place on June 7, 1997, at the Texas Motor Speedway. After the conclusion of the True Value 500 IndyCar race, A.J. Foyt had a physical altercation with driver Arie Luyendyk in Victory Lane. Luyendyk, who believed he had won the race, confronted the officials in Victory Lane, where Foyt slapped him and a scuffle ensued123. The confusion was due to a scoring error, and after a review, it was determined that Luyendyk was indeed the winner of the race"

[@oscartobaroatmeal6734]

people say that these sound terrible, I like them.

[@kg0173]

The best ever Indy 500 along 1991,1992,1999 and 2001.

[@chousby1513]

golf swing warm up at 29:03? haha

[@DM-qm5sc]

Almost like dan wheldons accident.

[@PeterMayer]

The worst sounding cars in history and a joke of a field. Eddie cheever. Please.

[@kevinprahn]

Love the sound of those motors for this race. Much better than the high pitched, 15,000 RPM, golf ball sized piston motors they run now, lol.

[@naswii4360]

I know I’m definitely in the minority here, but I really like how these cars sounded. Maybe it’s cause I’m mainly a NASCAR fan, and I can understand why people don’t necessarily like these cars, but man I would actually love to see Indycars sound like this again

[@haku_yuki2005]

It's strange to see a indy car sound like a nascar car.