1996 Indy 500

[IndyJim]

Just got done last nite watching the 96 500 for the first time in probably 8 years or so.

Very good race, great drama right up to the end.

ABC went without commercials the last 30 laps or so which was nice, but they cut to 4 minutes of commercials right after the race ended, with poor Zampedri sitting there with his feet sticking out of the car. Bad judgement call.

Did Salazar ever receive any penalties for chopping Davy Jones not once but twice into the pit wall? A really lucky thing that Davy did not get airborne and take out a bunch of crew members in that bonehead move. Between that and taking out Arie's chance of winning while coming out of pit lane, it was a forgettable race for him.

Danny on the gas came home with a top 10, after years of not running Indy Cars. He had some really good lap times.

Cheever had a winning car, but somehow got several laps down, anyone recall why?

[Chris Paff]

Cheever stalled in the pits and had long stops.. and had a spin on pit road leave the pits

[Ren Butler]

As thin as the field was beyond the front-runners, it definitely was an entertaining and memorable race.

[Field of 33]

Not that I wish harm upon ANY driver but it was no surprise that Salazar was involved in that last lap accident. Some might say he had it coming.

[IndyJim]

Not that I wish harm upon ANY driver but it was no surprise that Salazar was involved in that last lap accident. Some might say he had it coming.

A split second would have had Zampedri's car coming down full force on the cockpit of Salazar.

I had forgotten how hard the announcers were on him, for good reason.

Ritchie Hearn had a really good rookie run that day.

[Guy]

I agree that '96 was a very good 500. IIRC, Eddie set the fastest lap of the race that day; a record that must still stand today. On the Legacy DVD Eddie said that his team threw that race away, for many understandable reasons, I might add.
I know that Andy Evans was not liked by all but it was pretty awesome what he and Dick Simon put together for the event. I wrote a letter to Team Scandia back then thanking them for fielding Michele and wishing the two of them a great future. To my suprise the team mailed me some very nice autographed Michele shots and a polite letter on really nice paper.

[jdessar]

A split second would have had Zampedri's car coming down full force on the cockpit of Salazar.

I had forgotten how hard the announcers were on him, for good reason.

Ritchie Hearn had a really good rookie run that day.

Don't they show that accident on the intro to the races on ABC?

[crispy]

Not that I wish harm upon ANY driver but it was no surprise that Salazar was involved in that last lap accident. Some might say he had it coming.

This is in the running for the dumbest thing ever said here on TrackForum.

I was at that race. I was in J in the fourth turn. I was watching Roberto when 99.9% of the people were watching Buddy and Davy flying towards the checkered.

BECAUSE I was (and still am) a fan of Roberto's, I was watching to make sure he held onto his position.

Roberto lost it. In the process he collected Eliseo and Alessandro.

In fact, it was completely "by accident" that Eliseo was involved as he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Salazar may deserve a lot of things, but he did nothing to deserve that accident.

You owe Eliseo an apology.

[Indyknut]

Yep, I saw the same incident from J stand. I've got a picture of Zampedri just as he's coming down off the fencing. Roberto's fault all the way. He slid up into Salazar.

[THIRD TURN]

Cheever stalled in the pits and had long stops.. and had a spin on pit road leave the pits

That should be "pit lane".

[THIRD TURN]

On that day the IRL clearly won the day.

[jdessar]

I was at the wrong race that day.

The one I was at had the big crash before the green flag ever flew.

[j.d.c]

I probably shouldn't comment on this but I will any way. Salazar was a joke the entire race. He should have been black flagged after he tried to run Luyendyk into the grass on the pit lane and then his joke of a maneuver against Jones cost Jones the race. In my mind the guy was a piece of **** and he always will be.

[MichaelP]

I was in the NW vista that day, 2nd to last row under the ABC camera that looks down the front front straight. When Zampedri got airborne I thought he was going into the crowd! Man that was frightening for a split second! I was sitting with the late Can-Am historian Doug Waters who knew Buddy Lazier when he drove Can-Am in the early 80s and we were rooting pretty hard for Buddy. On the way out I noticed someone was listening to the bogUS 500 and I asked him what was going on. He said something about a massive accident before the start. I said "C'mon, quit yanking my chain". He said "No, I'm completely serious!" At that point I started laughing and never really stopped. They really showed how great their 'cars and stars' were that day

[Spike]

...On the way out I noticed someone was listening to the bogUS 500 and I asked him what was going on. He said something about a massive accident before the start. I said "C'mon, quit yanking my chain". He said "No, I'm completely serious!" At that point I started laughing and never really stopped. They really showed how great their 'cars and stars' were that day

So if a 500 mile race has a multi-car accident at the start that's cause for laughter but if a 500 mile race (on the same day) has a multi-car accident on the last lap that's not also laughable?

From my point of view, neither is funny. Drivers could/did get hurt.

Over the years there have been multi-car crashes at the start of of several Indy 500s. Were you laughing then? Did those accidents 'show how great those cars and drivers' were?