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The 76th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1992. The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser, Jr. held off second place Scott Goodyear for the victory by 0.043 seconds, the closest finish in Indy history. Unser, Jr. became the first second-generation driver to win the Indy 500, following in the footsteps of his father Al Unser, Sr. He also became the third member of the famous Unser family to win the race. Cold temperatures and high winds turned the race into a crash-filled, marathon day. The tone for the race was set early when pole position winner Roberto Guerrero spun out and crashed on the pace lap. The race was dominated by Michael Andretti in the debut of the Ford Cosworth XB engine. Andretti led 160 laps and was 30 seconds in front when his fuel pump suddenly failed with eleven laps to go. Thirteen cars were eliminated in crashes during the race, and several other serious wrecks occurred during practice. Former Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet suffered serious leg injuries in a crash on May 7. Pancho Carter and Hiro Matsushita suffered broken bones in separate crashes, and rookie Jovy Marcelo was fatally injured after a practice crash on May 15. Defending champion Rick Mears crashed during practice and during the race, while Jeff Andretti experienced the worst crash during the race itself, suffering serious injuries to his legs and feet. Following the race, sweeping changes came about at the track, largely in the interest of safety. In addition, a noticeable "changing of the guard" followed, as the 1992 race signaled the final race for several Indy legends, including A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Tom Sneva, and Gordon Johncock. A race-record ten former winners started in the field. The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1992 PPG Indy Car World Series. Unser's victory was considered by some an "upset," as his somewhat inauspicious Galmer chassis was not expected to excel on ovals, and its first generation Chevy engine was starting to become a lame duck powerplant in the series. It was also a long-awaited victory for Unser, Jr., who was making his tenth Indy attempt. Unser, the 1990 CART champion, had recently confided with Paul Page that he was afraid he may never win the 500.〔1992 Indianapolis 500 - ABC-TV broadcast (quote by Paul Page during the post-race coverage)〕 ==Offseason== A busy offseason began at the conclusion of the 1991 PPG Indy Car World Series. The biggest announcement was the return of Ford to the IndyCar ranks. The Ford Cosworth XB was developing quickly into an engine of choice, and for 1992, was the powerplant for Newman/Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. For 1992, Ilmor introduced an updated motor, badged the "Chevy-B," and it was fielded by Penske Racing. The rest of the Chevrolet teams utilized the existing Ilmor, which was retronymically referred to as the "Chevy-A." Galles-Kraco Racing unveiled their new Galmer chassis for 1992. It met with instant success as Al Unser, Jr. won the pole position for the season opener at Surfers Paradise and finished 4th. Teammate Danny Sullivan won a few weeks later at Long Beach, with Unser, Jr. 4th. The chassis was expected to excel on street and road courses, but there were some doubts about its oval ability. Unser, Jr. managed a 4th place at Phoenix, but both drivers entered the month of May at Indy with mixed expectations. Truesports fielded their own in-house "All American" chassis for the second year in a row. After much fanfare of a pending retirement in 1991, A. J. Foyt brushed off the idea, and returned to the cockpit. He raced in the 1992 Daytona 500, and entered as a driver for Indianapolis. It would be his record 35th consecutive Indy 500 start. Team and driver switches for 1992 included most notably Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan, who swapped rides with each other at Galles-Kraco Racing and Patrick Racing respectively. In December, however, Pat Patrick sold the assets of Patrick Racing to Rahal, and it became Rahal-Hogan Racing. Right off the bat, Rahal scored a victory for the re-booted team. He won the second race of the season at Phoenix, leading wire-to-wire. Rookie driver Paul Tracy continued into his second year with Penske, and was offered his first attempt at Indy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1992 Indianapolis 500」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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