1995 Marlboro 500

1995 Marlboro 500
Race details
Race 13 of 17 in the 1995 CART season
Date	July 30, 1995
Official name	1995 Marlboro 500
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan, United States
Course	Permanent racing facility; 2.000 mi / 3.219 km
Distance	250 laps; 500.000 mi / 804.672 km
Weather	Cloudless and sunny with temperatures up to 88.9 °F (31.6 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 10.2 miles per hour (16.4 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Parker Johnstone (Comptech Racing)
Time	31.242; 230.458 mph (370.886 km/h)
Fastest lap
Driver	Parker Johnstone (Comptech Racing)
Time	31.080 231.66 mph (372.82 km/h); (on lap 115 of 250)
Podium
First	Scott Pruett (Patrick Racing)
Second	Al Unser Jr. (Team Penske)
Third	Adrian Fernández (Galles Racing)

Coordinates: 42°03′58.68″N 84°14′29.18″W / 42.0663000°N 84.2414389°W / 42.0663000; -84.2414389

The 1995 Marlboro 500 was the thirteenth round of the 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series season. The race was held on July 30, 1995 at the 2.00 mi Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The race is historically significant for Firestone's first IndyCar win since 1974. Patrick Racing driver Scott Pruett took his first win in American open-wheel competition after a late-race battle with defending series champion Al Unser Jr., winning by just over half a second. Adrian Fernández came in third place, one lap behind Pruett and Unser. Parker Johnstone earned his first pole position and fastest lap in the series but suffered brake problems that forced him to retire; rookie André Ribeiro led the first ever laps of his career, ultimately earning a point for leading the most laps during the race. Danny Sullivan's IndyCar career would come to an end at leader's lap 194 as he would be involved in a crash where he would suffer a broken pelvis and other injuries.

This was the first time the series competed on the newly-resurfaced circuit, which made the track smoother and easier to drive on. Nevertheless, the race still saw massive attrition knock out many of the front-runners over the grueling 500-mile distance. Many cars suffered problems with failing wheel bearings and blistering tires. By the halfway point in the race, it was essentially a two-horse race between Pruett and Unser while the rest of the field simply struggled to make it to the end. Points leader Jacques Villeneuve, despite spending extensive time on pit lane trying to diagnose an engine problem, managed to finish tenth and keep his substantial lead in the points standings.

Qualifying[]

July 30, 1995 - Qualifying Speeds
Rank	Driver	Time	Leader	Speed (mph)	Team
1	Parker Johnstone	31.242	—	230.458	Comptech Racing
2	Teo Fabi	31.506	+0.264	228.526	Forsythe Racing
3	Michael Andretti W	31.522	+0.280	228.413	Newman-Haas Racing
4	Jacques Villeneuve	31.546	+0.304	228.239	Team Green
5	Jimmy Vasser	31.582	+0.340	227.982	Chip Ganassi Racing
6	Maurício Gugelmin	31.601	+0.359	227.839	PacWest Racing
7	Bryan Herta	31.767	+0.525	226.652	Chip Ganassi Racing
8	Paul Tracy	31.782	+0.540	226.540	Newman-Haas Racing
9	Danny Sullivan W	31.896	+0.654	225.732	PacWest Racing
10	André Ribeiro R	31.898	+0.656	225.722	Tasman Motorsports
11	Adrian Fernández	31.918	+0.676	225.579	Galles Racing
12	Scott Pruett	32.023	+0.781	224.841	Patrick Racing
13	Al Unser Jr. W	32.100	+0.858	224.296	Team Penske
14	Raul Boesel	32.104	+0.862	224.266	Rahal-Hogan Racing
15	Gil de Ferran R	32.173	+0.931	223.787	Hall Racing
16	Bobby Rahal	32.180	+0.938	223.734	Rahal-Hogan Racing
17	Emerson Fittipaldi W	32.198	+0.956	223.618	Team Penske
18	Eddie Cheever	32.208	+0.966	223.546	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
19	Carlos Guerrero R	32.218	+0.976	223.480	Dick Simon Racing
20	Buddy Lazier	32.610	+1.368	220.783	Payton-Coyne Racing
21	Stefan Johansson	32.692	+1.720	220.238	Bettenhausen Racing
22	Lyn St. James	32.750	+1.508	219.847	Dick Simon Racing
23	Eliseo Salazar R	32.846	+1.604	219.201	Dick Simon Racing
24	Alessandro Zampedri	32.998	+1.756	218.197	Payton-Coyne Racing
25	Christian Fittipaldi R	33.049	+1.807	224.649	Walker Racing
26	Hiro Matsushita	33.990	+2.748	218.245	Arciero-Wells Racing
Source:^[2]

Robby Gordon crashed during practice and was not cleared to participate in the rest of the weekend.

Race[]

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time/retired	Grid	Points
1	20	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	250	3:07:52	12	20
2	1	Al Unser Jr. W	Team Penske		Mercedes Benz	250	+0.56 secs	13	16
3	10	Adrian Fernández	Galles Racing	Lola T9500	Mercedes Benz	249	+1 Lap	11	14
4	33	Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	247	+3 Laps	2	12
5	2	Emerson Fittipaldi W	Team Penske		Mercedes Benz	245	+5 Laps	17	10
6	16	Stefan Johansson	Bettenhausen Racing	Penske PC-23	Mercedes Benz	244	+6 Laps	21	8
7	12	Jimmy Vasser	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	241	+9 Laps	5	6
8	9	Bobby Rahal	Rahal-Hogan Racing	Lola T9500	Mercedes Benz	240	+10 Laps	16	5
9	15	Christian Fittipaldi R	Walker Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	239	+11 Laps	25	4
10	27	Jacques Villeneuve	Team Green	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	235	+15 Laps	4	3
11	18	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	232	+18 Laps	6	2
12	8	Gil de Ferran R	Hall Racing	Reynard 95I	Mercedes Benz	226	+24 Laps	15	1
13	34	Alessandro Zampedri	Payton-Coyne Racing	Lola T9400	Ford-Cosworth XB	225	Contact	24	—
14	19	Buddy Lazier	Payton-Coyne Racing	Lola T9400	Ford-Cosworth XB	223	+27 Laps	20	—
15	4	Bryan Herta	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	193	Contact	7	—
16	17	Danny Sullivan W	PacWest Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	189	Contact	9	—
17	90	Lyn St. James	Dick Simon Racing	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	188	Contact	22	—
18	7	Eliseo Salazar R	Dick Simon Racing	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	175	Engine	23	—
19	14	Eddie Cheever	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	163	Transmission	18	—
20	25	Hiro Matsushita	Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 94I	Ford-Cosworth XB	139	Contact	26	—
21	31	André Ribeiro R	Tasman Motorsports	Reynard 95I	Honda	130	Electrical	10	1¹
22	49	Parker Johnstone	Comptech Racing	Reynard 95I	Honda	100	Brakes	1	1²
23	3	Paul Tracy	Newman-Haas Racing	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	91	Engine	8	—
24	11	Raul Boesel	Rahal-Hogan Racing	Lola T9500	Mercedes Benz	57	Engine	14	—
25	6	Michael Andretti W	Newman-Haas Racing	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	40	Electrical	3	—
26	22	Carlos Guerrero R	Dick Simon Racing	Lola T9500	Ford-Cosworth XB	5	Contact	19	—
27	5	Robby Gordon	Walker Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford-Cosworth XB	0	Withdrawn, not medically cleared	27	—
Source:^[3]^[4]

Notes

¹– Includes one bonus point for leading the most laps.^[5]
²– Includes one bonus point for being the fastest qualifier.^[5]

R = Series rookie
W = Former Marlboro 500 winner

Race Statistics[]

Lead changes: 18 among 8 drivers
Average Speed: 159.676 mph

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1-45	Parker Johnstone
46	André Ribeiro
47	Paul Tracy
48	Teo Fabi
49-50	Eddie Cheever
51-57	Parker Johnstone
58-88	André Ribeiro
89-90	Scott Pruett
91-92	Maurício Gugelmin
93-128	André Ribeiro
129-131	Scott Pruett
132-152	Al Unser Jr.
153-154	Scott Pruett
155-176	Al Unser Jr.
177-188	Scott Pruett
189	Al Unser Jr.
190-207	Scott Pruett
208-229	Al Unser Jr.
230-250	Scott Pruett

Total Laps Led
Driver	Total Laps
Andre Ribero	68
Al Unser Jr.	66
Scott Pruett	58
Parker Johnstone	52
Mauricio Gugelmin	2
Eddie Cheever	2
Teo Fabi	1
Paul Tracy	2

Cautions: 6 for 51 laps
Laps	Reason
1-2	Aborted start
7-15	Guerrero crash
152-158	Matsushita crash
194-208	Herta, Sullivan, St. James crash
238-245	Zampedri crash

Standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings

Rank	+/–	Driver	Points
1		Jacques Villeneuve	140
2		Bobby Rahal	109
3		Robby Gordon	98
3	2	Al Unser Jr.	98
5	1	Michael Andretti	94

Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

References[]

^ Weather information for the 1995 Marlboro 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
^ "1995 Marlboro 500". Motorsport Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
^ "1995 Marlboro 500 race results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
^ "1995 Marlboro 500".
^ ^a ^b Championship Auto Racing Teams (March 2001). "CART FedEx Championship Series - 2001 Rule Book". Archived from the original on 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2017-05-22.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Previous race: 1995 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland	Indy Car Indycar World Series 1995 season	Next race:
Previous race:	Marlboro 500	Next race: 1996 U.S. 500

[weather-information-1] Weather information for the 1995 Marlboro 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac

[2] "1995 Marlboro 500". Motorsport Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2017.

[3] "1995 Marlboro 500 race results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved September 24, 2017.

[4] "1995 Marlboro 500".

[:2-5] Championship Auto Racing Teams (March 2001). "CART FedEx Championship Series - 2001 Rule Book". Archived from the original on 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2017-05-22.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

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