It was incomprehensible.
The greatest recovery by a team in Indianapolis 500 history.
In sports terms, it was the motorsport equivalent of coming back from a 3–0 deficit in the NBA Finals or the Stanley Cup. And it happened as the distant drums of civil war tapped softly around the two-and-a-half miles of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jacques Villeneuve‘s victory at the 1995 Indianapolis 500 — now 30 years ago — was a battle to overcome adversity, confusion and fate. That year, Villeneuve’s Team Green crew made up two laps on the field, a nearly impossible feat. Had this happened a year earlier, it would’ve meant nothing. Team Penske’s dominance in 1994 made miracles irrelevant.
But in 1995, everything changed. And the Speedway, as she has mystically done in the past, chose not to reward those who led early. She changed her mind again and again, waiting to reveal her true winner, only in the closing laps in one of the most controversial finishes ever.
Team Penske’s Collapse
In motorsports, the main plot usually revolves around how a race plays out. But not at Indy. Qualifying presents fascinating angles leading up to the Memorial Day Classic, and 1995 offered up the most devastating for the most accomplished team.
The year before, Penske had overwhelmed the field with the infamous “Beast”—a purpose-built pushrod engine badged as a Mercedes, built by Ilmor Engineering, and funded by Roger Penske. What ensued was a sledge hammer to a push-pin, as Team Penske with drivers Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. led all but seven laps en route to victory. In response, United States Auto Club officials made offseason regulation changes aimed at reducing the effectiveness of that engine in the name of balance and cost savings. What wasn’t known then was the deep impact it had on Penske’s cars heading into May.
In 1995, Penske rolled into Indy with their own in-house chassis. The previous year’s raw horsepower had masked the chassis’ flaws but now, exposed without an overwhelming power advantage, the weakness was terminal. A year after fighting for the front row, Penske was no clawing to make their way in.
As Scott Brayton set the pole speed with his Buick Team Menard car, all eyes shifted to the lack of pace at Penske. Desperate, the team even acquired Lola chassis from Rahal-Hogan Racing mid-month. But nothing worked. The team, scrambling on Bump Day, finally got in with Fittipaldi, but he had to survive the dreaded ‘bubble.’ At one point, Unser Jr. was trying to bump his teammate to make it in, but his last run was insufficient. With a dozen minutes left, Stefan Johansson became a trivia answer when he bumped Team Penske completely out of the Indianapolis 500 field.
Indy’s most iconic team was out, cast off their Brickyard throne.
Clouds of a Coming Storm
Penske’s failure to qualify might have been the top-fold storyline, but buried further in the pages was news of the brewing civil war.
By 1995, American open wheel racing was diverging. In 1994, even as Penske dominated with it’s infamously powerful engine (dubbed “The Beast”) and lease costs surged, president of the Speedway Tony George announced plans to form a new series: the Indy Racing League, built around the Indy 500 and an all-oval schedule.
At the time of the 1995 race, the paddock was filled with uncertainty. Could this really happen? Would anyone allow one of the most beloved racing series with the greatest race in the world to break in two? It seemed impossible. But the dread drifted through the concrete garages and metal grandstands.
As Penske’s haulers pulled out of Gasoline Alley and returned to Reading, Pennsylvania, the future was suddenly unclear for the entire paddock. The racing continued, but the storm was gathering.
The Race
By the time the 79th Indianapolis 500 went green, the drama of the preceding weeks had been replaced with the outright pace of a relatively newcomer to IndyCar, Honda engines.
After a disastrous 1994, in which Honda stalwart Bobby Rahal set aside the underpowered engine to prevent a repeat bumping like in 1993, the Japanese brand set out to climb to the top.
And they did, right from the start. Scott Goodyear blasted to the lead, pacing the field for the first nine laps. However most of that was under yellow, after a devastating opening lap crash that seriously injured Stan Fox. But it was clear that Honda had done their homework.
Familiar faces took charge up at the point for the first quarter, including 1990 winner Arie Luyendyk, Goodyear and Michael Andretti. Young Canadian Villeneuve hung near the front after starting fifth. His run took a complete U-turn though, when during a cycle of green flag stops, a yellow came out and he was the leader.
Due to confusion in his placing, Villeneuve missed two attempts by the pace car to queue behind it, thus collecting the rest of the field. USAC chose to penalize the Green team, taking away two laps that he had already completed, dropping him to 27th.
It appeared his race was over.
Andretti seemed like the early front runner, in his first Indy 500 back with Newman Haas Racing after his stint in Formula 1 in 1993. His Ford Cosworth, Lola chassis combination had been the dominant force in both 1991 and 1992, however he still was without that coveted win. Was this the year?
Like clockwork, the Andretti curse struck on lap 77 when he went to pass Mauricio Gugelmin, drifting into the turn 4 wall. The contact broke his suspension, taking him out of the race.
Andretti’s misfortune actually played into Gugelmin’s hands. Through the mid-point, the man who had led just seven laps in his three-year IndyCar career, took charge. By the race’s end, he had led for 59 laps.
Meanwhile, Villeneuve began a strong run of good luck. Well-timed yellows and pit strategy enabled him to climb back onto the lead lap, then later back into the hunt when the field packed up after Paul Tracy slowed on-track.
With 125 miles to go, the race started to shift between drivers who had not tasted Indy 500 glory. Oddly enough, none possessed Villeneuve’s luck.
Jimmy Vasser looked to capitalize in his Chip Ganassi No. 12 Reynard. For the first time in his IndyCar career, he led a race, and it was the biggest race in the world. Chasing him was Scott Pruett, driving for two-time Indy 500 winning team Pat Patrick Racing in a Firestone sponsored entry that was responsible for bringing the company back into IndyCar. Goodyear remained in the hunt, biding his time with that Honda power.
The lead swapped between Vasser, Pruett and Villeneuve as the laps ticked by. Then, prior to what seemed like the last stop, more luck from the Speedway shined on Villeneuve. On lap 163, Davey Jones crashed in turn 4 just as the Team Green driver headed to the pit lane. He made the abrupt call to stay on track and not get stuck, thus saving him valuable track position. Still, when the Canadian made his last stop, it wasn’t top notch, the crew held him long to ensure a max amount of fuel but he stalled the car on exit.
When he returned on track, he was behind Goodyear.
The sprint to the finish involved three drivers who held the win in their hands, but lost it. First was Vasser, who led after the last pit stops. He crashed on lap 171 after Pruett dove inside of him for the lead. Vasser did not approve of the maneuver.
Then, Pruett had his own disaster on lap 185 while pursuing Goodyear, striking the wall out of turn 2 and spinning into the inside, ending with a spectacular hit into the catch fence.
That put Goodyer up front, with Villeneuve trying to catch up.
Controversy
The decision to go fast cost Goodyear the 1995 Indy 500.
On the final restart, Goodyear made the fateful decision to protect his lead at all costs. When the pace car pulled off to head into the pits, it had barely exited the short chute when Goodyear, full throttle, soared by. It was clear that he had committed a penalty, overtaking the pace car before it had pulled off track. Regardless the green still waved, but what would happen next?
Behind him, Villeneuve, seeing the pace car, slowed dramatically to prevent doing likewise. Third place runner Christian Fittipaldi momentarily had a run, but wasn’t able to complete the pass. What wasn’t known at that time, was that was for the win.
USAC black flagged the Tasman team and Goodyear for his infraction, ordering him to come to pit road. Goodyear’s team kept him on track, thinking if an appeal was won then he needed to maintain the position to legitimize the win.
Well, USAC didn’t see it that way and stopped scoring him on lap 196. Villeneuve assumed the lead and held on to the end.
When he crossed the finish line, Villeneuve had remarkably completed 505 miles, because of the additional laps tacked on by his early pace car SNAFU. Pulling into victory lane, Villeneuve celebrated as the first Canadian to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
But the cameras and microphones were in front of the other Canadian who thought he deserved that honor. Goodyear was dumbfounded by the penalty, and his team seemed determined on an appeal. Later they decided against it and were credited with a 14th-place finish. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time controversy followed him at Indianapolis, in 1997 he’d finish second again after another confusing restart.
At the conclusion of the 79th running, surprise was the prominent emotion. So many drivers seemed to have a shot at the win but, for various reasons, lost out. It was a complete reversal of Team Penske’s 1994 domination. Moreover it was fitting that Villeneuve, the only driver to lead a lap the previous year not in Marlboro colors, came home the winner in 1995.
Due to the forthcoming “Split” some of those drivers that faced misfortune had missed their best shot to win with no other opportunity to redeem themselves. Pruett and Gugelmin never ran another Indy 500, joining former winners Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan and Rahal.
Runner-up Christian Fittipaldi completed his only May classic. Unser Jr. stuck with the rival Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), only returning to Indy in 2000 after being let go by Penske.
Andretti missed out once more on winning the Indy 500. Little did he know that this would be the last time for five years before he’d return to try another. Likewise for Vasser, whose career took off in 1996 when he won the CART title, but missed out on competing in his prime at IMS. He did come back in 2000, but it was his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya that took that victory.
As for Villeneuve, his first two trips to Indy resulted in a runner-up and a Borg-Warner Trophy. By year’s end he also took the last IndyCar World Series championship within a merged open wheel scene. As Sam Posey presumed correctly during the ABC broadcast, Formula 1 teams sought the Canadian out, and he went on to take the 1997 World Drivers;’ Championship.
His victory was the last one in a peaceful time. War erupted the following year, and IndyCar traveled a rough road for the ensuing two decades.
But the record books show that Villeneuve was the winner, in an incomprehensible fashion.
The winner of the Indy 505.
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and frequent editions of Inside IndyCar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.