The 80th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 1996. He eventually relented and also drank from the milk bottle later in the post-race ceremonies after the broadcast was over, but the public relations damage had already been done. No driver has been able to race a faster lap since then. It was Luyendyk's second Indy 500 win, becoming the 16th driver to win from the pole position. Restart happened at lap 132, with Zanardi leading the rest of the field, but the restart did not happen, as André Ribeiro was relocated to the lead lap, and Eddie Lawson lost one lap. Since the race was not held during the United States' participation in the two World Wars (1917–1918, 1942–1945), the advertised Centennial Era occurred during the 93rd to 95th runnings. They were the only five drivers on the lead lap. The caution ended Buhl's chances, as he had pitted just seconds before, losing a lap to the leaders. Another cool and windy day saw 18 cars practice. Practice started on the Saturday 22 days prior to the race, and four days of time trials were utilized. Various criteria include minimum weight, dimensions, and approved parts, particularly safety equipment. Six years later, in 2016, the race celebrated its 100th running with about 350,000 in attendance.[42]. The grandstands were only partially full, and it marked the first time since 1973 that the race was held mid-week. Jim Guthrie also passed Sospiri and briefly pressured Gordon, but at the end of the sixth lap he pulled into the pits with a sizeable water leak. Nine times Rex Mays led the Indianapolis 500, but he wasn't able to win any of those times. (The series will wave off the run if it is obvious the run will not be fast enough to qualify and it is getting late in the day.) No driver has been able to race a faster lap since then. At turn 4, a major crash happened, as Jimmy Vasser started a major pileup after colliding with Fernandez and Herta. From 1986 through 2018, ABC televised the race live in its entirety. Therefore, only 23 of the 25 eligible "locked-in" entries were present to accept their berth, and ten at-large starting positions were up for grabs at the onset of qualifying.[9]. Practice and time trials were carried over three networks: ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. The 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series season, the eighteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 3 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 8. At 1:30 p.m., track officials rescheduled the race for Monday.[52]. Tweet. In Turn 3, Boat passed Billy Roe, who was two laps down in 14th place, and Durant tried to do the same, but Roe closed the gap, unaware of Durant's presence, and both collided. [8] During the 1910 Decoration Day weekend, the first events on the newly paved circuit drew 60,000 spectators; Ray Harroun won the 200-mile (320 km) Wheeler-Schebler Trophy in a Marmon.[8]. CART-based teams that wished to enter the Indy 500 would henceforth be required to purchase all new cars and engines, and few if any had the interest or the budget to do so. Foyt raced his way to the lead. The new cars produced more downforce than the previous machines, changing the driving characteristics. [34] On the morning of Bump Day qualifying, several non-exempt teams were uneasy about their chances of making the field, despite having speeds amongst the fastest 33. Buddy Lazier won the race, his first career victory in Indy car competition.. [65][66] WTHR is now the local broadcaster of the race under this contract; the existing blackout policy remains, though speedway officials have left the door open to allowing WTHR to air the race live in the event of a sellout. The red flag was out, all the drivers who were involved, except Fernandez, took their spare cars. Jeff Ward sat on the provisional pole at 214.517 mph. Also unique is that qualifying requires the driver to complete four, rather than one, timed laps and qualifying itself has a separate weekend.