1989 Pocono 500

Race details
11th round of the 1989 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season
Date	August 20, 1989
Official name	1989 Pocono 500
Location	Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi / 4.023 km
Distance	200 laps 500 mi / 804.672 km
Weather	Temperatures up to 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Emerson Fittipaldi (Patrick Racing)
Time	211.715 mph
Podium
First	Danny Sullivan (Team Penske)
Second	Rick Mears (Team Penske)
Third	Michael Andretti (Newman/Haas Racing)

The 1989 Pocono 500, the 19th running of the event, was held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, August 20, 1989. The race was won by Danny Sullivan, his second Pocono 500 victory. It was the last Indy car race at Pocono until 2013.

Background

In 1987 and 1988, Quaker State was the title sponsor of the Pocono 500. For 1989, the oil company dropped the sponsorship of the race. Spokesman for Quaker State, Ben Faulkner, said the reason for the withdrawal was budgetary. "We had to bring costs under control. We dropped this and a drag race we sponsored for budgetary reasons."^[2]

However, Pocono track owner, Dr. Joseph Mattioli, claimed the withdrawal was due to the negative public complaints drivers had about the track conditions. "We had a good relationship, but they were in this to get good vibes. The bad vibes reflect on them."^[2]

Despite the withdrawal of the Quaker State oil company as sponsor, Pocono continued to call the race the Quaker State 500 in their promotional material, a reference to Pennsylvania's nickname as the Quaker State. The oil company was reportedly distressed about this and issued a statement on Thursday, August 17, reminding people it was not associated with the race anymore.^[2]

Unlike most tracks, Pocono's outside retaining wall was made of steel boiler-plate instead of concrete. And unlike concrete, the wall was not flush with the asphalt track surface, with small gaps on the bottom that would allow debris to fall from behind the wall. The wall was rusty, uneven, and wavy in spots. Entering the 1989 race, the track plugged the opening at the bottom of the wall in an attempt to reduce debris.^[3]

In the July 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup race, the boiler-plate wall broke in two separate crashes. On lap 80, the wall broke in turn two when Jimmy Horton crashed and the turn one wall broke on lap 128 when Greg Sacks and Lake Speed crashed.^[4][5]

The track was still favored by drivers, but all agreed that renovations were needed. Bobby Rahal said, "(Pocono) is actually my favorite oval. But they need some capital improvements. Nobody is asking anyone to go into bankruptcy."^[6]

Emerson Fittipaldi added, "It's a shame the surface is so bumpy. This is a really beautiful track. I enjoy racing here because it is a challenge to compromise the handling."^[3]

Fittipaldi had won the 1989 Indianapolis 500 and entered Pocono leading the CART point standings. Two weeks earlier, Michael Andretti won the Michigan 500.^[7]

Practice and Time Trials

Support races

The American Racing Series marked their fourth consecutive year racing at Pocono. Rain delayed the race from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning. Tommy Byrne won the pole and pulled out to a large lead. The first caution came out on lap five when Mike Groff spun in turn one and collected Paul Tracy and Tom Christoff. P. J. Jones brought out a late caution when he spun in turn one. Byrne survived a three-lap run to the finish to claim his second ARS win at Pocono. Salt Walther made his return to racing for the first time since 1981. He finished 7th.^[11]

Race

Approaching the green flag, row two starters Arie Luyendyk and Mario Andretti touched wheels in turn three, sending Luyendyk into the grass. The start was aborted. After getting his car back on track, Luyendyk regained the fourth starting position and the race began.^[12]

Emerson Fittipaldi led the field into turn one and pulled out a sizeable lead. The caution came out on lap 10 when Randy Lewis slowed to a stop entering turn three. Arie Luyendyk crashed at the exit of turn one on lap 60.

After 150 miles, Fittipaldi had lapped all but Mears, Sullivan, and Fabi. Except for four laps during pitstops, he led 63 of the first 67 laps. Fittipaldi led the field back after the restart for Luyendyk's caution. Suddenly as he went through turn two, Fittipaldi slowed off the pace and entered the pits. Suspension problems sidelined him for 22 laps before returning. He retired from the race after completing 167 laps.^[13]

"That was the best race I have ever been in," Fittipaldi said, "including Formula One. I have never been in a race where I was so dominant. I was like the little old lady, and the car just kept going faster and faster."^[14]

Rick Mears assumed the lead after Fittipaldi's problems and led 64 of the next 84 laps. Danny Sullivan, Teo Fabi, and Michael Andretti stayed close to the lead.

Michael Andretti took the lead under the final caution for debris on lap 150. He and held it for the next 37 laps. Andretti held a four-second lead over Sullivan as final green flag pit stops began with 15 laps remaining. Sullivan pitted first, a timed stop for fuel. Andretti's stop was longer, giving Sullivan a two-second lead after all stops were completed. Fading brakes on Teo Fabi's car forced him to miss his pit stall and go around another lap, knocking him out of contention to win. Mears passed Andretti for second with 10 laps remaining and set his sights on Sullivan. Mears cut the lead to within a second before fading late.

Sullivan won by 4.2 seconds to earn his second Pocono 500 win, his first since 1984. He won $98,618 and averaged 170.72 mph over the 500 miles, breaking the race record set by Johnny Rutherford in 1974.^[15]

Broadcasting

For the third consecutive year, the Pocono 500 was broadcast by NBC in a two-hour tape-delayed format at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Charlie Jones and Tom Sneva were the play-by-play announcers. Sally Larvick and Gary Gerould served as pit reporters.^[16]

Aftermath

When the 1990 CART schedule was released in early September, a race at Pocono was tentatively scheduled for August 19. As part of Pocono's four-year contract with CART beginning in 1987, the track had an escape clause that allowed them to cancel the 1990 event. An announcement was made in mid-September that Indy cars would not return to Pocono in 1990. Track owner Joseph Mattioli said the race lost too much money for the track.

"We lost our shirt on this race," Mattioli said. "We drew half of what we used to draw for the Schaefer 500 and half of what we draw for the NASCAR race, which was a sell-out."^[17]

While the decision to cancel the event going forward was made by the track, CART insisted they were prepared to drop the race regardless if improvements to the track were not made.

"He chose to exercise his option," CART spokesman Mel Poole said. "Technically speaking, he dropped us because of that option, but CART would not have returned because he failed to make the necessary improvements in the facility... We didn't want to lose Pocono. It's in a good market with Philadelphia and New York nearby, but we couldn't ask the drivers to race there under the current conditions."^[17]

Regardless of the Indy car event being canceled, Pocono replaced their boiler-plate wall with concrete at the end of 1989. The entire track was repaved prior to the 1996 season.

In September 1994, Mario Andretti spoke in support of Pocono's value to Indy Car racing. "We need Pocono. I'd love to see Pocono there. Pocono was, to me as a driver, the most challenging and best to drive of all the super speedways we ran... Fans on the east coast deserve that type of race. It has everything going for it. I wish they would have kept that up."^[18]

When the Indy Racing League was formed, the series expressed interest in racing at Pocono. In July 1995, Joseph Mattioli spoke highly of the IRL, but needed a race in late August, something the series was unable to provide. "As far as I'm concerned, the IRL is the best thing to happen to Indy cars in the last 20 years. With Tony George, that's the second best thing. His grandfather would be very happy with what he is doing. It's very good. We'd run them in a heartbeat. We just don't have the time."^[19]

Indy car races finally returned to Pocono in 2013 and the Pocono 500 ran again through 2019.

References