1986 Michigan 500

After years of being defined by a rough, bumpy, asphalt surface, Michigan International Speedway was repaved in the spring of 1986. The smooth new surface produced higher grips and higher speeds. In testing on July 23, Rick Mears ran a lap speed of 222.5 mph. It was unofficially the first time an Indy car ran a lap speed over 220 mph.[2]

As was the case the past three years, Domino's Pizza offered a one million dollar bonus to any driver who could win IndyCar's Triple Crown of 500 Mile Races: The Indianapolis 500, Michigan 500, and Pocono 500.[3] Bobby Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and entered Michigan still eligible to win the million dollars.

Practice opened on Wednesday, July 30. Bobby Rahal set the fastest practice speed at 220.723 mph. Rick Mears was second at 220.467 mph. Roberto Guerrero, Ed Pimm, and Randy Lanier comprised the top-five fastest cars.[4]

The opening round of Time Trials was held on Thursday, July 31. Rick Mears broke the world closed-course speed record with a lap of 223.401 mph. The previous record had been 221.160, set by Mark Donohue at Talladega Superspeedway in August 1975. Mears was nearly four miles per hour faster than Al Unser in second place at 219.552 mph. Bobby Rahal completed the front row with a speed of 218.759 mph.[5]

Roughly one hour after his pole-winning time, Rick Mears crashed his car in turn two. After losing control, the car impacted the wall and damaged the nose and left-front suspension.[6] If Mears's team was unable to repair the car, he would have lost his pole position and had to start from the rear of the field.

Upon inspection, the crew found Mears's crash was the result of a failure of the right-rear CV Joint.[7] Mears's Team Penske crew worked 15 hours to repair to car by Friday morning.[8]

During practice on Friday, Bobby Rahal set the fastest speed at 217.615 mph. Mears's repaired car was second fastest at 217.615 mph. Roberto Moreno crashed in turn two and suffered damage to the right side of the car. His team was able to repair the vehicle before the race. Geoff Brabham's team withdrew his Cosworth powered car and substituted it with a Judd powered car. The change meant he would start the race in last position.[9]

At the start of the race, Rick Mears took the lead. On only the third lap, Steve Chassey crashed in turn two to bring out the first caution of the race.[10]

Rain began to fall on lap 14. The race was stopped for 90 minutes while the shower passed and the track dried.[11]

When the race restarted, Michael Andretti held the lead for 15 laps. Roberto Guerrero charged to the lead, passing Andretti to the inside in turn one on lap 37. After 11 laps in the lead, Guerrero hit oil in turn three and spun backwards into the wall. Guerrero was knocked unconscious in the wreck but soon walked to the ambulance and was transported to a local hospital where he was released later that afternoon.[12] Mario Andretti and Tom Sneva also crashed out of the race in single car incidents.

On lap 100, Randy Lanier crashed in turn three, impacting the wall hard with the right side of the car. Lanier suffered a fractured right leg and underwent surgery later that night.[13] Two trackside observers for CART were struck by debris and hospitalized. Robert Vanice suffered a laceration to the back of his head and Brian Brown was struck in the back. Both were treated and released at a local hospital.[14] It ultimately was the last auto race for Lanier who was indicted and later convicted on drug smuggling charges in October 1986.[15]

Throughout the midway point of the race, Bobby Rahal and Rick Mears led significant portions of the event. Both drivers would retire with engine failures.[16]

While leading on lap 195, Michael Andretti blew an engine and brought out the ninth caution of the day. That gave the lead to Johnny Rutherford.

With eight laps remaining, the third-place car driven by Geoff Brabham lost power in turn two and was hit from behind by Al Unser Jr. Brabham hit the outside wall and Unser spun to the infield. Unser lost his front and rear wings, had a damaged nose, and wired the oil cooler to the gearbox, but returned to the track and finished the race in 8th. Because of the high attrition, Brabham still finished fourth.[17]

The race restarted with four laps to go. By running laps over 217 mph (over 5 mph faster than his qualifying speed), Rutherford extended his lead over Josele Garza who was seeking his first win. Garza was unable to catch Rutherford who won the Michigan 500 by 1.82 seconds.[18]

Rutherford became the first driver to win 500 mile Indy car races at all four tracks that held them: Indianapolis, Ontario, Pocono, and Michigan.

Only seven of the 28 starters finished the race. The 10 cautions slowed the average speed to 137.139 mph.[19]

For the first time, NBC chose to televise the race on a tape-delayed format eight days later on Sunday, August 10.[20] Paul Page was the lead announcer and was joined by Bobby Unser as color commentator. Gary Gerould and Bruce Jenner served as pit reporters.[21]