Rick Ravon Mears is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six. Mears is also a three-time Indycar series/World Series champion.
Alfred Unser was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men to have won the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race four times, the fourth of five to have won the race in consecutive years, and won the National Championship in 1970, 1983, and 1985. The Unser family has won the Indy 500 a record nine times. He was the only person to have both a sibling (Bobby) and child as fellow Indy 500 winners. Al's nephews Johnny and Robby Unser have also competed in that race. Additionally, he became the first-and-only driver, to-date, to win the race on his birthday, in 1971.
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of Double Four Valve, the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had four valves per cylinder.
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Michigan, the company supplies engines and consultancy to the IndyCar Series and MotoGP.
Danny Ongais was an American racing driver.
Theodore Racing (徳利賽車隊香港) was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars.
John Kevin Cogan is a former race car driver who drove in Formula One from 1980 to 1981. Driving a RAM Williams in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, he failed to qualify, suffering the same result driving for Tyrrell at the 1981 US GP West. He then moved over to Indy cars in 1982 but his career was cut short by a series of accidents.
Team Penske is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organization has also competed in various other types of professional racing such as Formula One, Can-Am, Trans Am, IMSA and Australian Supercars. Altogether, Team Penske has earned over 500 victories and over 40 championships in all of auto racing. Team Penske is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske. The team president is Tim Cindric.
The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner. Polesitter Rick Mears finished second by a margin of 0.160 seconds, the closest finish in Indy 500 history to that point.
The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 29, 1988. Team Penske dominated the month, sweeping the top three starting positions with Rick Mears winning the pole position, Danny Sullivan at the center of the front row, and Al Unser, Sr. on the outside. Mears set a new track record, becoming the first driver to break the 220 mph barrier in time trials. On race day, the Penske teammates proceeded to lead 192 of the 200 laps, with Rick Mears taking the checkered flag, his third-career Indy 500 victory. The race represented the milestone 50th victory in Championship car racing for owner Roger Penske and Penske Racing.
The 71st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 24, 1987. After dominating practice, qualifying, and most of the race, leader Mario Andretti slowed with mechanical problems with only 23 laps to go. Five laps later, Al Unser Sr. assumed the lead, and won his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. During the month of May, an unusually high 25 crashes occurred during practice and qualifying, with one driver in particular, Jim Crawford, suffering serious leg injuries.
Bill Alsup was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career. His best race finish of third came 3 times and he was the 1981 CART Championship runner-up, putting in a winless but consistent season for Penske Racing, his only effort with a top-level team. He returned to his own team the next year and struggled until leaving Champ Car following the 1984 Sanair Super Speedway race.
Mark Smith is a former American racing driver who competed in the CART IndyCar Series. Smith won the 1989 United States Formula Super Vee Championship and was the 1991 Indy Lights National Championship runner-up.
The 1985 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 7th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races. Al Unser Sr. was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Arie Luyendyk. The 1985 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Danny Sullivan won the Indy 500, in dramatic fashion, a race that became known as the "Spin and Win."
The 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 10th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Danny Sullivan was the national champion, winning for Team Penske. The rookie of the year was John Jones. The 1988 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Rick Mears won the Indy 500, his third victory at Indy.
Galles Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Rick Galles that competed in the CART series, Can-Am and the Indy Racing League. The team won the 1990 CART championship as well as the 1992 Indianapolis 500 with driver Al Unser Jr. The team won a total of 21 Indy car races along its history. In addition to Unser's 1992 victory, the team finished second at Indianapolis on three separate occasions.
Machinists Union Racing was a CART Indy Car team owned by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and run by the IAM's national automotive coordinator Andy Kenopensky, a former appointee to the United States Metric Board. The team competed in CART from 1981 to 1990.
Vince Granatelli Racing was an American auto racing team that competed in the CART PPG IndyCar World Series between 1987 and 1991.
The Ilmor-Chevrolet 265-A is a turbocharged, 2.65 L (162 cu in), V-8 Indy car racing engine, designed and developed by Ilmor, in partnership with Chevrolet, for use in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series; between 1986 and 1993.
The Lola T800 is an open-wheel racing car chassis, designed and built by Lola Cars that competed in the CART open-wheel racing series, for competition in the 1984 IndyCar season. The T800 was the Newman Haas Racing team's emergency vehicle in the CART series. The Newman-Haas team, founded by Paul Newman and Carl Haas in 1983, was only in its second season when it fielded the best-of-season vehicle, the T800. The Monoposto was powered by a Cosworth turbo engine and was driven by Mario Andretti and Danny Sullivan. From Andretti's maiden win at Meadowlands, he and Sullivan won eight straight races, with Andretti winning five times and Sullivan winning three races. However, the two drivers were unable to win the most important race of the year, the Indianapolis 500-mile race. At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winner Rick Mears led a phalanx of five March 87Cs. Andretti secured the 1984 CART championship with the T800. It was powered by the 800 hp (600 kW) Ford-Cosworth DFX.
