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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 three 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.[3]
The victory was the first of six consecutive Indy 500 wins by the Ilmor Chevy Indy V-8 engine, and seven consecutive overall by Ilmor-constructed powerplants. Chevy-powered cars swept the first five starting positions, and the top three finishing positions. The victory also marked a triumphant return of success for the Penske chassis (in this case the PC-17), after dismal results in 1987 (PC-16), and sparse use during the previous four seasons.
One year after suffering severe leg injuries, Jim Crawford returned to the cockpit, and led 8 laps during the race (the only laps not led by the Penske team). Crawford finished 6th, the best finish at the time for the Buick V-6 engine. Three-time winner and Indy legend Johnny Rutherford, driving as a teammate to Crawford, turned his final lap of competition at Indy during the 1988 race. Rutherford crashed out on lap 107. He failed to qualify in 1989–1990, and again in 1992, and he formally retired in 1994.
The race was the third round of the 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, and was sanctioned by USAC.
^Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
^Miller, Robin (May 30, 1988). "Pole sitter fights early problem to take charge". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Penske Racing 100 wins statistics". Archived from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
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