1988 Indianapolis 500

The 72nd Indianapolis 72nd Indianapolis 500

500 was held at the
Indianapolis Motor
Speedway in Speedway,
Indiana, on Sunday May
29, 1988. Team Penske
dominated the month,
sweeping the top three
starting positions with
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Rick Mears winning the
Indianapolis 500
pole position, Danny
Sullivan at the center of Sanctioning
USAC
body
the front row, and Al
Unser, Sr. on the outside. 1988 CART
Mears set a new track season
Season
1987–88 Gold
record, becoming the
Crown
first driver to break the
Date May 29, 1988
220 mph barrier in time
trials. On race day, the Winner Rick Mears
Penske teammates Winning team Penske Racing
proceeded to lead 192 of Average speed 144.809
the 200 laps, with Rick
Pole position Rick Mears
Mears taking the
Pole speed 219.198
checkered flag, his third-
career Indy 500 victory. Fastest qualifier Rick Mears
The race represented the Rookie of the
Billy Vukovich III
milestone 50th victory in Year
Championship car racing Danny Sullivan
Most laps led
for owner Roger Penske (91)
and Penske Racing.[3] Pre-race ceremonies

The victory was the first National anthem Sandi Patty

of six consecutive Indy "Back Home
500 wins by the Chevy Again in Jim Nabors
Indiana"
Indy V-8 engine, and
seven consecutive Starting
Mary F. Hulman
overall by Ilmor- command

constructed Oldsmobile
powerplants. The victory Pace car Cutlass
Supreme
also marked a triumphant
return of success for the Pace car driver Chuck Yeager
Penske chassis (in this Duane
Starter
case the PC-17), after Sweeney[1]
dismal results in 1987 Estimated
400,000[2]
(PC-16), and sparse use attendance
in the previous four TV in the United States
seasons. Network ABC

The race was the third Host/Lap-by-

round of the 1988 CART lap: Paul Page
Color Analyst:
PPG Indy Car World Announcers Sam Posey
Series, and was Color Analyst:
sanctioned by USAC. Bobby Unser
Chronology
Contents
Previous Next
1 Background 1987 1989
1.1 Rule changes
2 Race schedule
3 Practice - Week 1
3.1 Rookie Orientation
3.2 Saturday May 7
3.3 Sunday May 8
3.4 Monday May 9
3.5 Tuesday May 10
3.6 Wednesday May 11
3.7 Thursday May 12
3.8 Friday May 13
4 Time Trials - First weekend
4.1 Pole day - Saturday May 14
4.2 Second day - Sunday May 15
5 Practice - Week 2
5.1 Monday May 16
5.2 Tuesday May 17
5.3 Wednesday May 18
5.4 Thursday May 19
5.5 Friday May 20
6 Time Trials - Second weekend
6.1 Third Day - Saturday May 21
6.2 Bump Day - Sunday May 22
6.3 Carburetion Day - Thursday May 26
7 Starting grid
7.1 Alternates
7.2 Failed to Qualify
8 Race summary
8.1 Start
8.2 First half
8.3 Second half
8.4 Finish
9 Race Results
9.1 Box Score
9.2 Statistics
10 Broadcasting
10.1 Radio
10.2 Television
11 Notes
11.1 References
11.2 Works cited

Background
Defending champion Al Unser Sr. returned to Penske to join
a three-car effort with full-time drivers Rick Mears and
Danny Sullivan. After a dismal go around with the PC-16 in
1987, Penske introduced the brand-new PC-17 ('88), with
promise. Mears and Sullivan, respectively, won the pole
positions for the first two races of the CART season. For the
third year, Penske was fielding the Chevy Ilmor Indy V-8
engine.

Back-to-back defending CART champion, and 1986 Indy

winner Bobby Rahal returned for what would be his last
season at Truesports. The team dropped the Cosworth DFX
and they took up the development of the Judd AV engine.
The engine was known to be down on horsepower, but
excelled in fuel mileage and reliability, particularly in the
500-mile races.

Among the other changes included Al Unser Jr., who left

Shierson after a winless 1987 campaign and re-joined Galles.
Galles was now running the Ilmor Chevy engine, after
running the Brabham-Honda and Buick in previous years.
Raul Boesel took Unser's place in the #30 Domino's Pizza
entry.

During a tire test session in September 1987, Roberto

Guerrero suffered a crash, and a serious head injury. After a
lengthy recovery, Guerrero was back in the cockpit for 1988.
Jim Crawford, who suffered serious leg injuries during time
trials in 1987, also returned, signing with King Racing.

Billy Vukovich III, son of Bill Vukovich II, and grandson of two-
time winner Bill Vukovich, would become the first third-
generation driver in Indy history.

Many of the cars in the field were sporting new style wheels
with flush discs, giving the 1988 month of May a unique
visual appearance.

After becoming famous for being "first in line" at the Indy

500 from 1950-1987, longtime fan Larry Bisceglia of
Chicago, and later from Phoenix, fell ill and missed the 1988
race. With failing health, he died December 7, 1988.

Rule changes

Starting in 1988, teams were allowed to have six crew

members over the wall during a pit stop. The crews would
consist of four tire changers, a fueler, and a fuel vent/airhose
man. Previously they were only allowed five (i.e., three tire
changers). This was due in part to the fact that after the
series changed from bias-ply tires to radials, the left-front
tire (which at the time was seldom changed) would now be
changed much more frequently.

For 1988, turbocharger "boost" pressure was reduced from

47 to 45 inHG. Stock-block engines were permitted 55 inHG.

Race schedule

Race schedule — April/May 1988

 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
ROP ROP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ROP Practice

14
8 9 10 11 12 13
Time
Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice
Trials

15 21
16 17 18 19 20
Time Time
Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice
Trials Trials
*
22 23 24 25 26 27 where
28
Bump Carb Mini- activit
Parade
Day Day Marathon signifi
limited
29 30 31
Indy Memorial
ROP —
500 Day
Rookie
Orient

Practice - Week 1
Rookie Orientation

Six drivers took part in rookie orientation. John Andretti led

the group, putting in 220 laps with a top speed of
201.974 mph. After being denied entry five years ago, Harry
Sauce returned to attempt the program once again.

Saturday May 7

Opening day saw Raul Boesel first out on the track for
Shierson. Dick Simon (211.665 mph) posted the best lap of
the day, with less than 15 minutes to go in the session.

Sunday May 8

The track closed about two hours early due to rain. Mario
Andretti set the best lap of the day (210.970 mph), but did
not eclipse Simon's speed from Saturday.

Monday May 9

Rick Mears turned the fastest lap of the month thus far at
213.118 mph. Two cars, Teo Fabi in the Porsche entry, and
Ludwig Heimrath, Jr. suffered mechanical/engine-related
problems.

Tuesday May 10

Rick Mears turned the fastest unofficial practice lap in Indy

history, breaking the 220 mph for the first time. His lap of
220.048 mph was just a tick faster than Mario Andretti's lap
of 219.995 mph.

Roberto Guerrero was involved in the first crash of the week.

He spun in turn one and tapped the outside wall. His car
suffered damage to the rear wing. He was not injured.

Wednesday May 11
After two days of Mears topping the speed chart, Mario
Andretti moved back into the top spot. His lap of
221.565 mph broke the day-old unofficial track record at
5:45 p.m.

Thursday May 12

Ludwig Heimrath, Jr. went high in turn 2 and brushed the

outside wall, the second crash of the month. His car
whipped around, and hit the wall again. He was not injured,
and car had light damage.

Mario Andretti (219.084 mph) led the speed chart, with

Scott Brayton second.

Friday May 13

The final day of practice was anticipated to be a duel

between Rick Mears and Mario Andretti, the two drivers who
had distanced themselves from the rest of the field. Mears
and Andretti finished the day with identical laps at
221.465 mph to tie at the top of the speed chart. Danny
Sullivan came in third-best with a lap of 218.446 mph.

Andretti finished the week of practice with the fastest over

speed, set on Wednesday. Mears was second, and the pair
went into time trials as the favorites for the pole position.
Time Trials - First weekend
Pole day -
Saturday May 14

On pole day morning,

Rick Mears blistered the
track with a lap of
222.827 mph during the
morning practice
session. It was a new all-
Danny Sullivan makes his time trial run
time unofficial track
record. Mario Andretti (220.372 mph) was close behind with
the second-fastest. Raul Boesel and Tom Bigelow suffered
single-car crashes during the session.

Mario Andretti drew the coveted first qualifying attempt.

After leading the speed charts in practice much of the week,
his qualifying speed was inconsistent and disappointingly
slow. His first lap of 217.014 mph was his fastest, but 4 mph
slower than he practiced a day earlier. His final lap of
212.761 mph pulled his four-lap average down to
214.692 mph. He claims to have hit a patch of oil-dry in turn
four, which was laid down earlier that morning due to
Boesel's crash.[4]

About one hour into the session, Al Unser Sr. took to the
track and completed his attempt at 215.270 mph, good
enough to take over the provisional pole position. Derek Daly
and Scott Brayton completed runs over 212 mph, and by 1
p.m., the field was filled to ten cars.

At 1:21 p.m., Danny Sullivan took to the track and set a one-
lap track record of 217.749 mph on his second lap. His four-
lap average fell short of a record, but his speed of
216.214 mph took over the pole position for the moment. not
to be upstaged, Rick Mears took to the track at 2 p.m. His
first lap of 220.453 mph was an all-time official track record,
the first driver to break the 220 mph barrier. His four-lap
average of 219.198 mph won him the coveted pole position.
It was his then-record fourth Indy 500 pole position.

With Penske cars Mears, Sullivan, and Unser, ranked 1st-

2nd-3rd, the team had the opportunity to become the first
team ever to sweep all three spots on the front row of the
starting grid. After Mears' run, the track stayed mostly quiet
until the final hour.

With better conditions at 5 p.m., Arie Luyendyk put his car in

the field at just over 213 mph. Al Unser, Jr. was the last car
with a realistic shot at the front row. Unser, Jr. fell short, with
a speed of 214.186 mph, good enough for 5th position.

At the end of the day, Bobby Rahal was among those not yet
in the field. His first presentation to the line was aborted
when the car would not crank. He waved off two attempts,
the second attempt was averaging 212.8 mph after three
laps. A. J. Foyt went out early, but debris on the track forced
him to pull off. His second attempt was too slow, and he
waved off.

At the end of the day, the field was filled to 19 cars.

Second day - Sunday May 15

At hot 88 degree day kept cars off the track most of the
afternoon. At about 5:30 p.m., Jim Crawford put his car in
the field at 210.564 mph. Bobby Rahal was the only other
qualifier, with a speed of 208.526 mph, slower than his
speeds from Saturday.

At the close of the first weekend of time trials, there were 21

cars in the field. Among those not in the field yet were A. J.
Foyt, Raul Boesel, Johnny Rutherford, and rookie John
Andretti.

Practice - Week 2
Monday May 16

Rookie Harry Sauce spun in turn one during the final phase
of his rookie test. The car was not damaged. Mario Andretti
(216.398 mph) was the fastest of the day.
Tuesday May 17

Gordon Johncock took to the track for his first shakedown

laps of the month. Rookie Dominic Dobson completed his
refresher test. Danny Sullivan (214.183 mph), was the fastest
of the day.

Wednesday May 18

Spike Gehlhausen wrecked hard in turn 1, and was taken to

the hospital. X-rays were negative, however, but he was out
for the rest of the month. After struggling getting up to
speed, Harry Sauce withdrew. Rookie Dale Coyne also
announced he would not attempt to qualify. Pancho Carter
(208.574 mph) was the fastest non-qualified driver, while Al
Unser, Sr. (210.280 mph) was the fastest overall.

Thursday May 19

Raul Boesel (213.270 mph) topped the speed chart for the
day. Rookie Scott Atchison wrecked in turn 4. he spent the
night in the hospital, but was cleared to drive.

Friday May 20

The final full day of practice saw Pancho Carter

(213.878 mph) and Raul Boesel (213.068 mph) lead the non-
qualified drivers. Mario Andretti drove a back-up car to
212.314 mph.

Time Trials - Second weekend

Third Day - Saturday May 21

Nine cars completed qualifying runs, filling the field to 30

cars. Raul Boesel (211.058 mph) was the fastest of the day,
with Dominic Dobson (210.096 mph) second fastest, and the
fastest rookie. A. J. Foyt secured a starting position in his
record 31st consecutive Indy 500.

As time expired, Steve Chassey made his third and final

attempt, which was good enough to make the field. Billy
Vukovich III, grandson of two-time winner Bill Vukovich, and
son of race veteran Bill Vukovich II qualified with a solid run
in the final hour. He became the first third-generation driver
in Indy 500 history.

Pancho Carter crashed twice during the day. On his final

qualifying lap, he brushed the wall in the final turn, and slid
and spun down the mainstretch. Later in the day, he wrecked
his backup car in turn 2 during a practice run. He was
uninjured.

Bump Day - Sunday May 22

The final day of time trials opened with three positions left
unfilled. Johnny Rutherford was the first car to make an
attempt, and qualified comfortably at 208.442 mph. Later,
Howdy Holmes and Stan Fox (driving Foyt backup car) filled
the field to 33 cars. Scott Atchison (205.142 mph) was the
first car on the bubble.

Atchison survived three attempts, but Ludwig Heimrath, Jr.

finally bumped him out at 3:45 p.m. The move put Rich
Vogler (206.463 mph) on the bubble. Ed Pimm made an
attempt but wrecked, and Gordon Johncock waved off after
a lap of only 206.049 mph. Vogler waited, and the team
wheeled out a back-up car just in case.

After crashing twice on Saturday, Pancho Carter's team

purchased a back-up car from Hemelgarn Racing, but with
practice time running out, they were having difficulty getting
the car up to speed. Meanwhile, A. J. Foyt rolled another
backup car out of the garage area. George Snider decided
he did not want to qualify the car, and Foyt quickly
consummated a deal with Johnny Parsons. Foyt shook the
car down, and Parsons took it out for a practice run. At 5:29
p.m., he went high and smacked the wall in the northchute,
ending his chances to qualify.

At 5:43 p.m., Gordon Johncock made his third and final

attempt, this time bumping Vogler. However, Johncock
himself was now on the bubble (206.693 mph) with less
than ten minutes renaming. Rich Vogler quickly climbed into
his backup car, and as time expired, bumped his way back
into the field with a speed of 207.126 mph. Johncock was
out, and Pancho Carter was left waiting in line.

Carburetion Day - Thursday May 26

A total of 31 of the 33 qualified cars took to the track on the

final practice session. Two of the alternates took laps, for a
total of 33 cars on the track. A few cars experienced minor
mechanical problems, but there were no accidents. Mario
Andretti (215.105 mph) was the fastest car of the day.
Penske teammates Danny Sullivan and pole-sitter Rick
Mears were second and third.

Penske Racing, with driver Danny Sullivan, won the Miller Pit
Stop Contest.

The day before the race, Al Unser, Jr. reportedly came down
with the flu; however, he planned to drive on race day.

Starting grid
Row Inside Middle
Danny
Rick Mears W Sullivan W
Pennzoil Z-7 Special Miller High Life
Penske Racing Special
1 5 Penske PC-17, 9 Penske Racing 1
Chevrolet 265 Penske PC-17,
219.198 mph Chevrolet 265
 (352.765 km/h) 216.214 mph
(347.963 km/h)

Mario Andretti
W Al Unser Jr.
Amoco/Kmart Valvoline/Stroh's
Special Special
Newman/Haas Galles Racing
2 6 3 7
Racing March 88C,
Lola T8800, Chevrolet 265
Chevrolet 265 214.186 mph
214.692 mph (344.699 km/h)
(345.513 km/h)
Scott Brayton Emerson
Amway Products Fittipaldi
Special Marlboro Special
Hemelgarn Racing Patrick Racing
3 91 20 10
Lola T8800, Buick V- March 88C,
6 Chevrolet 265
212.624 mph 212.512 mph
(342.185 km/h) (342.005 km/h)

Randy Lewis
Michael Andretti Toshiba/Oracle
Kraco Stereo Special Special
Kraco Racing Leader Card
4 18 March 88C, 24 Racing 2
Cosworth DFX Lola T8800,
207.591 mph Cosworth DFX
(334.085 km/h) 209.774 mph
(337.599 km/h)

Kevin Cogan Tom Sneva

Schaefer/Playboy W
Fashon Special Pizza Hut/WRTV-
 Machinists Union 6 Special
5 11 Racing 81 Hemelgarn 9
March 88C, Racing
Cosworth DFX Lola T8800, Judd
209.552 mph 208.659 mph
(337.241 km/h) (335.804 km/h)

Teo Fabi
Dick Simon
Quaker State
Uniden/Soundesign
Special
Special
Porsche
Dick Simon Racing
6 22 8 March 88C, 15
Lola T88000,
Porsche North
Chevrolet 265
America
207.555 mph
207.244 mph
(334.027 km/h)
(333.527 km/h)

Raul Boesel
Domino's Pizza
Bobby Rahal W
Special
Budweiser Special
Doug Shierson
Truesports
7 4 30 Racing 92
Lola T8800, Judd
March 88C,
208.526 mph
Cosworth DFX
(335.590 km/h)
211.058 mph
(339.665 km/h)

Bill Vukovich
A.J. Foyt W III R
Copenhagen/Gilmore Genesee Beer
Special Wagon Special
A.J. Foyt Enterprises Gohr Racing
8 14 Lola T8800, 56 16
March 88C,
 Cosworth DFX Cosworth DFX
209.696 mph 208.545 mph
(337.473 km/h) (335.621 km/h)

Steve
Chassey
Tero Palmroth R Gary Trout
Neste/Editor Special Motorsports
Dick Simon Racing Special
9 23 Lola T8800, 35 Gary Trout 98
Cosworth DFX Motorsports
208.001 mph March 87C,
(334.745 km/h) Cosworth DFX
207.951 mph
(334.665 km/h)

Stan Fox
Rocky Moran R Calumet Farms
Greer Special Special
A. J. Foyt Enterprises A. J. Foyt
10 48 March 86C, Chevy 84 Enterprises 17
V6 March 86C,
207.181 mph Chevy V6
(333.425 km/h) 208.578 mph
(335.674 km/h)

Ludwig Heimrath Rich Vogler

Jr, Byrd/Pepsi/Bryant
Mackenzie Financial Heating Special
Special Machinists Union
11 71 Hemelgarn Racing 29 Racing 33
Lola T8800, March 87C,
Cosworth DFX Cosworth DFX
207.215 mph 207.126 mph
(333.480 km/h) (333.337 km/h)
Alternates

First alternate: Gordon Johncock W (#60) - Bumped

Second alternate: Rich Vogler (#27T) - Back up car
Third alternate: Scott Atchison R (#55) - Bumped

Failed to Qualify

Gary Bettenhausen (#46) - Waved off, too slow

John Jones (#12) - Waved off, too slow
Pancho Carter (#28) - Waved off, too slow
Johnny Parsons (#36) - Incomplete run
Ed Pimm (#27) - Wrecked during qualifying
Tom Bigelow (#77) - Practiced, but did not attempt to
qualify
Dick Ferguson (#27)- Car taken over by Pimm
George Snider (#84) - Practiced, but did not attempt to
qualify
Spike Gehlhausen (#87) - Practice crash, injured
Harry Sauce R (#36) - Withdrew
Dale Coyne R (#39) - Withdrew

R = Indianapolis 500 rookie

W = Former Indianapolis 500 winner

Race summary
Start
Danny Sullivan darted into the
lead at the green flag, with
Rick Mears in second. In turn
two, Scott Brayton spun,
collecting Roberto Guerrero,
and both cars crashed into the
outside wall. Tony
Bettenhausen, behind the The front row during the pace lap.
incident, also crashed. On lap From left to right: Al Unser, Sr.
(outside), Danny Sullivan (middle),
6, the green flag came back Rick Mears (pole position)
out. Danny Sullivan got the
jump on the start, and pulled out to a comfortable lead.

The top five would be Sullivan, Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr., Al

Unser Jr., and Mario Andretti.

First half

During the first sequence of pit stops, Tom Sneva crashed

coming out of turn four on lap 34. Under the yellow, Teo Fabi,
using the Porsche engine, pulled out of his pit stall with one
of the rear wheels not secured. The wheel came off, and the
car bottomed out, creating a terminal oil leak. Danny Sullivan
continued to dominate in the lead, with Rick Mears falling to
10th place with handling problems. Al Unser Sr. and Al Unser
Jr. continued to hold on to the top five, with Arie Luyendyk
also lurking. Jim Crawford also began working his way into
the top ten.

Three additional single-car crashes occurred prior to the

halfway point. A. J. Foyt wrecked coming out of turn two on
lap 58, due to handling problems and slick conditions. On
the ensuing restart on lap 64, Arie Luyendyk tagged Ludwig
Heimrath, Jr., sending Heimrath spinning and crashing out of
turn four. Steve Chassey crashed in turn 4 on lap 81,
suffering a concussion.

Both Mario Andretti (gearbox) and Al Unser Jr. (CV joint)

came to the pits for long repairs. Both cars re-entered the
race several laps down.

After suffering early handling issues, Rick Mears radioed his

crew and requested that they switch to the old style wheels.
The car was not handling well with the new style flush disc
wheels. The crew had to scramble back to the transporter to
collect sets of older style wheels, and have all the tires re-
mounted back in the garage area.

On lap 93, the caution came out for debris on the track. Rick
Mears had just un-lapped himself, and got back on to the
lead lap. Leader Danny Sullivan pitted, giving the lead for the
first time to Jim Crawford in the Buick-powered machine.
Crawford blistered the track for the next several laps, with a
noticeably drastic racing line, dipping deep below the white
line, and aggressive dicing through traffic.
Second half

At lap 100, Jim Crawford led, with Rick Mears finally back up
to second, Al Unser Sr. third, and now Danny Sullivan back to
fourth. On lap 102, Sullivan's front wing adjusters broke,
sending his car up into the outside wall in turn 1. After
leading 92 laps, Sullivan was out, but Penske teammates
Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. were now in control.

After a caution for debris (Unser ran over a rabbit), Rick

Mears took the lead on lap 113.

Johnny Rutherford crashed in turn 1, similar to Sullivan's

crash. It would be Rutherford's final lap of Indy 500
competition (he would fail to qualify in subsequent years).
After trading positions, Rick Mears took over the lead for
good on lap 129.

With Mears pulling away, the rest of the top three was being
battled out amongst Al Unser Sr. and Jim Crawford. Emerson
Fittipaldi worked his way up to the top five, as did Bobby
Rahal in the Judd.

After several long pit stops to repair gearbox problems, an oil

leak, and electrical gremlins, Mario Andretti finally called it
quits. With the leaders at lap 170, Mario was about 50 laps
down with a dead engine. Mario was credited with 118 laps in
20th place.
Finish

With Rick Mears seemingly in control, the only battle that

remained was for second place. Emerson Fittipaldi was
running second, but he was deep in traffic. In the final twenty
laps, USAC officials were contemplating issuing a two-lap
penalty to Fittipaldi for passing a car under the yellow while
exiting the pits on lap 164. After first penalizing Fittipaldi,
then tentatively retracting the penalty, USAC henceforth
decided to impose it. The penalty dropped Fittipaldi out of
the top five. The resulting scoring adjustments elevated Jim
Crawford into second place, Al Unser Sr. into third, and
Fittipaldi to 7th.[5][6]

On lap 194, Jim Crawford got sideways in turn three, which

flat-spotted his tires. He ducked into the pit area to change
tires, but the crew had difficulty changing them, and he lost
several seconds. He dropped back to 6th on the track.
Suddenly Penske teammates Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr.
were running 1st-2nd. Moments later, on lap 197 a piece of
bodywork flew off of Michael Andretti's car. The yellow came
out, and the safety crews were unable to clean up the debris
before the white flag came out for the final lap. The race
finished under caution with Rick Mears winning his third Indy
500. For the moment, Al Unser Sr. was second, Michael
Andretti third, and Bobby Rahal worked all the way up to 4th
in the Judd-powered entry.
After the race, during the post-race scoring evaluation,
Patrick Racing threatened to protest Emerson Fittipaldi's
two-lap penalty. USAC claimed that while exiting the pits,
Fittipaldi passed the lapped car of Rich Vogler, and did not
properly honor the blend-in rule. Fittipaldi claimed that
Vogler waved him by as they exited turn two to the
backstretch. When Vogler got word of Fittipaldi's penalty, he
immediately went to the USAC officials and claimed that he
was 8-10 laps down at the time and purposely waved
Fittipaldi by, and that the penalty was "unjust."[6] Under the
rules, slower cars were permitted to wave other faster cars
by during yellows, a move primarily used in order to not to
impede the leaders. USAC re-evaluated the situation, and
when official results were posted Monday morning, they
retracted Fittipaldi's penalty once and for all. Fittipaldi's laps
were reinstated, which elevated him to a second-place
finish.[5][6] Al Unser Sr. was officially third, denying Penske
Racing of their first 1st-2nd Indy sweep. Jim Crawford's
exciting day finished with a 6th place, the Buick V-6's best
finish to-date.

One year after his best ever finish in the Indianapolis 500,
Dick Simon rallied from a 16th starting spot to finish 9th in
his final 500 as a driver. During the season finale weekend in
Miami, Simon would announce his retirement from driving to
concentrate running his race team.
Race Results
Box Score

Finish Start No Name Qual Rank Laps

Rick
1 1 5 219.198 1 200
Mears W
Emerson
2 8 20 212.512 8 200
Fittipaldi
Al Unser,
3 3 1 215.270 3 199
Sr. W
Michael
4 10 18 210.183 12 199
Andretti
Bobby
5 19 4 208.526 21 199
Rahal W
Jim
6 18 15 210.564 11 198
Crawford
Raul
7 20 30 211.058 10 198
Boesel
Phil
8 15 97 208.212 24 196
Krueger
Dick
9 16 22 207.555 28 196
Simon
Arie
10 6 7 213.611 6 196
Luyendyk
Kevin
11 13 11 209.552 17 195
Cogan
Howdy
12 33 21 206.970 33 192
Holmes
 Al Unser,
13 5 3 214.186 5 180
Jr.
Billy
14 23 56 208.545 20 179
Vukovich III R
Randy
15 11 24 209.774 14 175
Lewis
Rocky
16 28 48[7] 207.181 31 159
Moran R
Rich
17 32 29 207.126 32 159
Vogler
Dominic
18 21 92 210.096 13 145
Dobson R
Tero
19 25 23 208.001 25 144
Palmroth R
Mario
20 4 6 214.692 4 118
Andretti W
John
21 27 98 207.894 27 114
Andretti R
Johnny
22 30 17 Rutherford 208.442 22 107
W
Danny
23 2 9 216.214 2 101
Sullivan W
Steve
24 26 35 207.951 26 73
Chassey
Ludwig
25 31 71 207.214 30 59
Heimrath
A. J. Foyt
26 22 14 209.696 15 54
W
Tom
 27 14 81 Sneva W 208.659 18 32

28 17 8 Teo Fabi 207.244 29 30

29 9 10 Derek Daly 212.295 9 18

30 29 84 Stan Fox 208.579 19 2

Scott
31 7 91 212.624 7 0
Brayton
Roberto
32 12 2 209.632 16 0
Guerrero
Tony
33 24 16 Bettenhausen, 208.342 23 0
Jr.

R = Indianapolis 500 rookie; W = Former Indianapolis 500

winner

Statistics

Cautions: 14 for 68 laps

From To # Of
Reason
Lap Lap Laps
#2 (Guerrero),
#16
(Bettenhausen,
1 5 5
Jr.), #91
(Brayton)
accident turn 2
Lap Leaders
#81 (Sneva)
34 39 6
accident turn 4 From To Number
Driver
#14 (Foyt) Lap Lap of Laps
 58 63 6 accident turn 2 Danny 1 30 30
Sullivan
#71 (Heimrath) Al Unser 31 33 3
64 70 7
accident turn 4
Danny
#35 (Chassey) 34 94 61
82 88 7 Sullivan
accident turn 4
Jim
93 95 3 Debris 95 101 7
Crawford
#9 (Sullivan) Rick
102 106 5 102 103 2
accident turn 1 Mears
Dead rabbit on Jim
109 111 3 104 104 1
track Crawford
#17 Al Unser 105 112 8
117 120 4 (Rutherford)
accident turn 1 Rick
113 121 9
Mears
#6 (Ma.
Andretti) Al Unser 122 122 1
140 145 6
stopped on Rick
track 123 200 78
Mears
#23 (Palmroth)
160 163 4 stopped on
track
#48 (Moran)
167 170 4
engine
#29 (Vogler)
175 179 5
accident turn 3
198 200 3 Debris

[8]

Broadcasting
Radio
The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. In
September 1987, Paul Page left NBC Sports and joined ABC.
As a result, Page left the IMS Radio Network, and vacated his
position as Voice of the 500. Veteran personality Lou Palmer,
who debuted with the network in 1958, was elevated to the
chief announcer position for 1988.

Outside of Page's departure, a few changes were made to

the crew for 1988. Pancho Carter, who failed to qualify for
the race, served as "driver expert." Bob Lamey debuted on
the crew, taking the Turn 2 location on top of the VIP Suites.
Howdy Bell, who was previously in that spot, moved to the
pit area and shared the north pits with Chuck Marlowe. Luke
Walton covered the starting command during the pre-race,
but did not have a role during the race itself.

After the race, with Palmer now in the booth, Bob Forbes
conducted the victory lane winner's interview. Sally Larvick,
(Paul Page's wife), who had worked on the crew from 1982-
1987 in only a limited role (conducting interviews with
celebrities, etc.), elevated to a full pit reporter starting in
1988.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

Turn
Booth Announcers Pit/garage reporters
Reporters
Chief Announcer: Turn 1: Jerry Luke Walton (pre-
Lou Palmer Baker race)
 Driver expert: Turn 2: Bob Bob Forbes
Pancho Carter Lamey R (garages)
Statistician: John Turn 3: Larry
Howdy Bell (north
DeCamp Henry
pits)
Historian: Donald Turn 4: Bob
Chuck Marlowe
Davidson Jenkins
(north pits)
Sally Larvick (center
pits)
Ron Carrell
(south/center pits)
Gary Gerould (south
pits)

Television

The race was carried live flag-to-flag coverage in the United

States on ABC Sports. Major changes were ushered in for
1988. Don Ohlmeyer was brought in as one of the directors,
and a new style of the broadcast reflected Ohlmeyer's
influence. The opening tease featured Alan Silvestri's score
from the film The Delta Force, in a medley with the
instrumental song "Katydid's Ditty" by Mason Williams. The
Delta Force intros (known as the "Page Teases"), narrated
by Paul Page, would become a popular fixture of the ABC
telecasts of the Indy 500, Brickyard 400, and other Indycar
races, through 1998 and reprised again in 2001.

With Jim McKay departed, Paul Page served as both host

and play-by-play announcer. Bobby Unser and Sam Posey
returned as color commentators, and this three-man booth
crew would cover the Indy 500 and other Indycar races on
ABC through 1995.

Jack Arute and Brian Hammons served as pit reporters, the

only time a crew of only two men covered the pits since
going to a live broadcast.

New RaceCam angles debuted for 1988. Along with the

"over-the-shoulder" camera, there were also cameras facing
backwards from the cars, as well as a cockpit camera
looking up at the driver.

ABC Television
Booth Announcers Pit/garage reporters
Host/Announcer: Paul Page Jack Arute
Color: Sam Posey Brian Hammons
Color: Bobby Unser

Notes
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1988
Indianapolis 500.

References

1. Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the

Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness
Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
 2. Miller, Robin (May 30, 1988). "Pole sitter fights early
problem to take charge". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1.
Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Penske Racing 100 wins statistics
4. Shaffer, Rick (May 15, 1988). "Mario not satisfied with
qualification run". The Indianapolis Star. p. 15. Retrieved
April 2, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ a b Benner, David (May 30, 1988). "Emmo's mood
swings with USAC's ruling (Part 1)". The Indianapolis
Star. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

6. ^ a b c Benner, David (May 30, 1988). "Emmo's mood

swings with USAC's ruling (Part 2)". The Indianapolis
Star. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

7. Greuter, Henri. "Fiasco Italo-Brittanico". Autosport.

Retrieved 29 May 2011.
8. https://www.racing-reference.info/race/1988-03/R

Works cited

1988 Indianapolis 500 Day-By-Day Trackside Report

For the Media
Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats -
Official Site
1988 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Radio Network
1987 Indianapolis 1988 Indianapolis 1989 Indianapolis
500 500 500
Al Unser Rick Mears Emerson Fittipaldi
show

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Month of Freedom 100
May Dave Steele Classic

Brickyard 400
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Straight No Chaser
Turbo

No races held in 1917–1918 or 1942–1945 due to World

War I and World War II, respectively.

show

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IndyCar Series on ABC

Related NASCAR on ABC

programs Wide World of Sports

RaceCam
Related Side-by-side (graphic)
articles WRTV

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 1990
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 Charlie Brockman
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Music The Delta Force (Alan Silvestri)

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Mario's Indy Win

Foyt's Record 4th Indy Win
Bobby Unser's Controversial
Win
Johncock VS Mears
1960s- Spin and Win
1980s First Live Indy 500
Al Unser's 4th Indy Win
Mario's 50th Win
Little Al Punts Mario
Emerson VS Al Unser Jr.

Luyendyk's First Career Win

Al Jr. is King of the Beach
Mears' 4th Indy Win
The Andrettis Finish 1-2-3
Sullivan Spins Little Al
Closest Finish in Indy History
Mansell-mania
Mario's Last Win
Tracy's First Win
Emmo Drinks Orange Juice
 Michael Andretti's Return from
Formula 1
The Mercedes 209 Pushrod
100th Win for the Unser Family
1990s
Emporer of the Beach
Villeneuve Overcomes a 2-Lap
Penalty
Crazy Race in Cleveland
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Lane
First IRL Race
Indy Without the Stars
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Three Days of Indy
Lore Stewart's First Win
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Kanaan's First Win

Little Al is a Winner Again

Montoya Wins at Indy
Montoya VS Michael
Scott Dixon's First Win
Helio Climbs the Fence
Final Michigan 500
"He Passed Me Under Yellow!"
2000s Barron Edges Hornish
First Use of "Side by Side"
Danica-mania
Newman-Haas' 100th IndyCar
Win
Newman-Haas' Final Win
Helio's 3rd Indy Win
Dale Coyne's Breakthrough Win

Wheldon's Last-Lap Win

Restart in the Rain
Death of Dan Wheldon
Dario's 3rd Indy Win
TK Finally Wins at Indy
Pagenaud's First Win
 First Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Hunter-Reay Wins the Indy 500
2010s 100th Indy 500/Rossi's Upset
Win
Alonso-mania/Sato's
Redemption
Wickens Makes a Splash,
Bourdais Makes His Comeback
Danica's Final Race
End of An Era & Rossi's
Mistake, Hunter-Reay's Win

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