1994 Michigan 500

The 1994 Michigan 500, the fourteenth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 31, 1994. Branded as the 1994 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Scott Goodyear, his second Michigan 500 win. It was race number 10 of 16 of the 1994 PPG IndyCar World Series.

Background

After winning the 1993 Michigan 500, Nigel Mansell won the 1993 CART championship. Mansell returned to team up again with Mario Andretti at Newman/Haas Racing. Andretti embarked on a yearlong ''Arrivederci Mario'' tour, announcing he would retire at the conclusion of the 1994 CART season. Penske Racing expanded to a three-car team for 1994, adding Al Unser Jr. Unser won the 1994 Indianapolis 500.

After a dismal season in Formula One, Michael Andretti returned to Indy car racing for 1994, signing with Chip Ganassi Racing. Andretti won the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Surfers Paradise. It was the first Indy car win for Ganassi, as well as the first win for the Reynard chassis (in its Indy car debut). Rahal-Hogan Racing, with drivers Bobby Rahal and Mike Groff, debuted the first Honda Indy car engine, the iron block Honda HRX Indy V-8.

Chevrolet dropped its support of the Ilmor engine program at Indy after 1993. For 1994, the 265C, the 265 C+, and 265D V-8 powerplants were badged the "Ilmor Indy V8."

After its recent scheduling of the first Sunday in August, the Michigan 500 was moved up a week to avoid a conflict with NASCAR's highly anticipated inaugural Brickyard 400.

Practice and Time Trials

In Friday's opening practice, Michael Andretti was fastest with a speed of 234.049 mph. Raul Boesel was second at 233.866 mph. Nigel Mansel was third at 232.785 mph. Mario Andretti was fourth at 232.633 mph.

Alessandro Zampedri blew a tire and made hard impact with the turn four wall. Safety crews took 14 minutes to remove him from the car. Zampedri suffered a bruised liver, broken right hip socket, and cuts to his right hand.

In the cool conditions of Saturday morning practice, Nigel Mansell ran a lap with a speed of 235.629 mph.

In time trials, Nigel Mansell won the pole with a speed of 233.738 mph. Raul Boesel was second fastest with a speed of 232.672 mph. Starting from the outside of the front row was Michael Andretti at 232.543 mph.

An excited Mansell declared, "This is the most significant pole I've had in my career, and it's for this reason: it's the fastest circuit in the world."

On Saturday, the International Race of Champions competed at Michigan. Al Unser Jr. won the 100 mile race. Unser and Scott Pruett were the only two drivers to compete in IROC and the Michigan 500.

Race

The attendance for the Marlboro 500 was estimated at 80,000 spectators, an increase of 30,000 from its level in 1991.

For the first time since 1990, the race began with the cars lined up in rows of three. CART director of competition Wally Dallenbach explained the two reasons why it returned was "one, by popular demand, they want to see it back. Second, with 25 or 26 cars in the past, we spread em out a little bit so it would look better."

Nigel Mansell looked for a repeat of his domination the year prior and led the first 26 laps. Mansell was the first of many contenders to drop out ofnthe race when a jammed throttle sidelined him after completing 35 laps. Mansell's retirement gave the lead to Michael Andretti who led the next 40 laps.

On lap 67, race-leader Michael Andretti crashed. Raul Boesel inherited the lead and led past the halfway point. In his last Michigan 500, Mario Andretti retired from the race with a blown engine while running second on lap 121. Running fourth on lap 170, Scott Goodyear ran out of fuel exiting turn two and coasted back to the pits. Al Unser Jr. spent time leading the race as well.

The race appeared to be a battle for the win between Boesel and Unser. Boesel passed Unser for the lead shortly after a restart on lap 190 and built a several second lead. After leading 120 laps, Boesel's engine blew with 25 laps remaining and he retired from the race. He was seeking the first win for both himself and the Dick Simon Racing team.

Boesel's engine failure gave the lead to Unser Jr, who now had a one lap advantage over the second place car. With 20 laps to go, Unser suffered an engine failure and retired after leading for a total of 38 laps.

Recovering from when he ran out of fuel, Scott Goodyear inherited the lead when Unser dropped out. Goodyear led the final 20 laps and won his second Michigan 500 by one lap over Arie Luyendyk.

Goodyear's average speed was 159.8 mph. Goodyear's best finish of the 1994 season entering Michigan had been 10th. It was the only CART win for King Racing which closed at the end of 1994.

Box score

Failed to qualify

* Alessandro Zampedri (#19)

Race statistics

Broadcasting

ESPN broadcast the Marlboro 500. Paul Page was the lead announcer and was joined by Derek Daly as color commentator.1994 Michigan 500 Telecast: ESPN-TV, July 31, 1994

References

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Michigan 500
Michigan 500
Motorsport in Michigan
Motorsport competitions in the United States
Michigan Indy 400