Sloppy start at 109th Indy 500 had ‘shades of 1992’

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Thirteen cars were eliminated in crashes during that race, and several other serious wrecks occurred during practice. 

Jeff Andretti experienced the worst crash during the race itself, suffering serious injuries to his legs and feet. His father, Mario, was also involved in a crash and suffered broken toes. Sunday’s 109th Indianapolis 500 was also known for unusually cool weather. The temperature was 65 degrees but with brief rain drops and some wind, it felt much colder.

The start of the race was delayed by 36 minutes by drops of rain, just persistent enough to send the track dryers onto the track and increase the tension for the start.

What happened on the Pace Lap was reminiscent of what happened to Guerrero on the Parade Lap in 1992.

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske was considered one of the favorites to win the pole before he crashed his race car during the practice session on Saturday, May 17. He started Sunday’s Indy 500 in 10th position, the inside of Row 4.

McLaughlin had just received the one-to-go signal from the flagman and picked up the pace to pack up for the start.

When he was zigzagging across the asphalt in an attempt to heat up his tires, it appeared that he spun himself out.

The No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet spun and hit the pit wall, as the yellow flag waved because of the crash.

McLaughlin was dumbfounded but mostly heartbroken.

He was determined to prove a point in Sunday’s Indy 500 after his teammates Josef Newgarden and Will Power were penalized for unapproved modifications to the rear attenuator. 

INDYCAR put both entries at the back of the field. The most severe penalties that came were from team owner Roger Penske, who dismissed Team Penske INDYCAR President Tim Cindric, Managing Director Ron Ruzewski and General Manager Kyle Moyer.

Penske also owns INDYCAR. And his team was involved in the push-to-pass scandal in 2024 that led Penske to suspend Cindric and Ruzewski from the month of May at the Indianapolis 500.

On Thursday, McLaughlin vowed that he was determined to prove a point and win the Indy 500 out of respect to the three friends that lost their jobs in the Penske housecleaning.

“I’m disappointed with how Roger’s name has been thrown through the mud, his integrity, our team, the people on the floor, the people that spend hours away from their families trying to build these cars,” McLaughlin said, referring to Team Penske owner Roger Penske. “Basically, they’re being thrown to the mud. I take that personally.”

McLaughlin has been on a quest to win the Indianapolis 500 since he attended it for the first time in 2016. That was the 100th Indianapolis 500 and Alexander Rossi won the milestone race.

“When Rossi won, I was in the middle of one or two on the Silver Bullets,” McLaughlin said, referring to Coors Lights.

Although he had crashed his primary car on Saturday, he was confident the backup Speedway car was just as good and could deliver Penske a record-extending 21st Indianapolis 500 win.

“It’s a brand-new car, brand-new chassis, brand-new speedway car,” McLaughlin said before the race. “It’s a purpose-built speedway car. Unfortunately, in the circumstance we have a crash like this, we had a car like that ready to go. Just bolted my race motor, all the race uprights, everything that I had done earlier in practice.

“Honestly, in Monday’s practice, it felt very close. We just had a couple things not quite at upright that affected some setup and stuff. Ironed that out, had a good week to prepare, and things should be just as fast.”

The look on McLaughlin’s face entering the race was one of determination.

“I’m not taking it for granted,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough race regardless. I know we have fast cars. Everyone feels that way, as well.

“For me, I’m focused on my own race. But we know what we need to do to sort of keep ourselves in the game. I’ve said it all month. It’s been so nice to be able to come into a month where I was up the front a little further than I had been in my career. I understand the cadence a little bit more, you could say.

“I’m just focused on myself.”

The focus went fuzzy before the race ever began, crashing out on the Pace Lap.

All the emotions built up in McLaughlin after his embarrassing crash. He climbed out of the wrecked racing machine, took off his helmet and buried his head in his hands, overcome with emotion.

He was downright despondent when he was checked and released from the IU Health Care Center in the infield.

Just as he began to speak to the media, his wife Karly gave him a kiss.

He needed that love to get through a moment he hated.

Race drivers face the potential of experiencing the greatest joy and the most bitter disappointments every time they compete. The schedule can be relentless. However, there is always the next race, and the next race for McLaughlin is next Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of downtown Detroit.

“We have another race next week, but this race is everything to us,” McLaughlin told me. “I didn’t even see the green flag.

“My heart is broken. Not good.”

The first four laps were scored under caution, with the green flag to start racing waving on Lap 4. The front of the field made it safely through Turns 1 and 2, but drivers in the back were engaged in a four-wide battle.

Jack Harvey’s Chevrolet moved up the track in the four-abreast clash, and that pushed Marco Andretti’s No. 98 Honda into the outside wall.

The yellow flag waved again.

“I’m fine, just the ego,” Andretti said after his trip to the IU Health Medical Center. “I just got crowded up high and I assume whoever came into me was crowded as well. It was four-wide, I was up against the wall, and there was nothing I could do.

“I got enough speed scrubbed off before I hit. I was at the wall, then I got pushed into the wall. 

“In hindsight, maybe I should have waited at the start but that is not in my nature to do that. It’s a bummer to wait all year for something like that, but that’s what I get for starting way back there (in the 10th row).”

When asked if he were coming back next year, Andretti said, “It would suck to go out like that.”

More disaster came on a pit stop on Lap 74 when Alexander Rossi, who was moving on up the field, came in for a pit stop. During the refueling, flames erupted, and the driver had to bail out of the cockpit as he was on fire.

Rossi angrily took off his gloves and slammed them against pit equipment.

“It’s always a terrible situation,” Rossi said after he was checked and released from the care center. “It’s so disappointing. It was such a phenomenal race car. The team made a great decision to stay out there when that first split happened with strategy. Everything we were doing on the No. 20 stand was awesome. 

“That’s what is so painful about this place. You have to have so many things go right. That’s what is so disappointing. It’s another opportunity gone. That’s the way that it goes. 

“All I know is that the gearbox was starting to go. All I know is that it was a gearbox issue.”

Robert Shwartzman was one of the major stories of the week, as he became the first rookie to win an Indy 500 pole since Teo Fabi in 1983. Shwartzman started on the pole and led the first eight laps.

Then, he pitted on Lap 87 and slid into his pit box, pinning his fueler, Spence Hall, into the pit wall. Hall suffered a foot injury, but the team told me it was “a minor injury.”

Shwartzman’s No. 83 Chevrolet experienced brake issues.

“I think I had a pretty decent start today and we were at the top,” Shwartzman said. “Then we had our first pit stop where we had some issue and we were at the back. I tried to battle my way to the front, and I think we were in P13. 

“When it was yellow, [my brakes] felt really strange. Already, when I was in — going slow coming in the pit lane —I locked both front tires, which is not usually the case. I wasn’t sure if it was the brakes or if the tires were cold. 

“I did not push. I tried to be very slow, but as soon as I touched my brakes, both fronts locked, and I just went straight into the guys. It was very scary when I braked. I was just a passenger. There were no brakes. 

“We don’t know what happened with the car. We’ll have to have a look and see if there is any mechanical problem or if it was just cold tire. It was really sad because we did such great work in qualifying, but as we know this the Indy 500 and in the race, anything can happen. I saw already a lot of strong drivers are out of the race or behind.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay led 48 laps in the race and the 2014 Indy 500 winner was beginning to look like a potential winner on Sunday. 

He was driving a different Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Racing than he had driven all month because in Friday’s final practice session on Carb Day, his primary car caught fire from a fuel leak in the fuel system.

When Hunter-Reay jumped out of the flaming car, it looked like a wienie roast before the actual Wienie 500.

The backup car may have been even better than the primary. He was leading the second-most laps in the race, just three behind the laps-leader Takuma Sato.

Just before his final pit stop, he ran out of fuel but made it into the pits. Because the car was out of fuel, an air pocket formed inside the fuel system, creating vapor lock.

Dreyer & Reinbold team owner Dennis Reinbold said that the team couldn’t get the vapor lock cleared and one of the best cars in the race finished 24th and 29 laps down.

“I’m just heartbroken,” Hunter-Reay told me. “We had a chance to win this race today. And with a car that hadn’t run a competitive lap before the race started. The DRR/Cusick crew did an amazing job to get the backup car ready for the race. 

“And then to lead for 48 laps and be in position to win the 500 is pretty remarkable. It felt like the engine was starting to run out of fuel when I came through Turn 4 for the pit stop. The final pit stop was good, and we were in the position we wanted with 31 laps remaining. 

“But it felt like we were out of fuel and the engine stalled. I tried everything to keep it running. But I really don’t know what to say. 

“The crew got me in the right spot today with strategy. And the car came together well as we made adjustments during the race. It felt very good the second half of the race. I think we would have come out of the pits with two back markers between myself and (Alex) Palou, and in the proper position to win the race. It’s just a heartbreaking scenario today. It’s going to take a while to get over this one.”   

Every Indianapolis 500 is a different and unique story, but Sunday’s 109th Indy 500 was an unwelcome blast from the past.

The 1992 Indianapolis 500 was held on a cold day with numerous crashes that left some of the greatest names in the field out of the race, some badly injured.

The 2025 Indianapolis 500 got off to a sloppy start. But fortunately, shades of 1992 did not repeat before the end of the race. However, Nolan Siegel’s crash on the final lap, as eventual winner Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson were battling for the win, meant the race would end under the checkered and yellow flags.

The 109th Indianapolis 500 had its moments where it was beginning to look like 1992 all over again.

Thankfully, it wasn’t.

Bruce Martin is a veteran motorsports writer and contributor to FOXSports.com. Follow him on X at @BruceMartin_500.

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