# 1988 Michigan 500

The 1988 Michigan 500, the eighth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, August 7, 1988. Branded as the 1988 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Danny Sullivan, his first Michigan 500 victory and the first Michigan 500 win for Team Penske at the track Roger Penske owned. The event was race number 9 of 15 in the 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. 42°03′58.68″N 84°14′29.18″W﻿ / ﻿42.0663000°N 84.2414389°W﻿ / 42.0663000; -84.2414389

## Background

In 1988, Marlboro introduced the Marlboro Million, offering a one million dollar prize should a driver win the Marlboro Grand Prix at the Meadowlands, the Marlboro 500 at Michigan, and the Marlboro Challenge. Two weeks before the Marlboro 500, Al Unser Jr. won the Marlboro Grand Prix and entered Michigan still eligible for the Marlboro Million.
In May, Rick Mears won the 1988 Indianapolis 500.
Roberto Guerrero suffered severe head injuries in a testing crash at Indianapolis in September 1987. After spending 17 days in a coma, he recovered and returned to racing in early 1988. After finishing second in the season opener, Guerrero had a series of poor runs. Feeling he was performing poorly, he stepped out of the car. After a month away, Guerrero returned at the Michigan 500.
A. J. Foyt was hospitalized a day before practice began with abdominal ailments. He hired Johnny Rutherford to drive his car. Rutherford was scheduled to do color commentary for ESPN's broadcast of the race.

## Practice and Time Trials

In Thursday's opening practice, Rick Mears set the fastest speed at 218.612 mph. His teammate Al Unser was second at 216.028 mph. Mario Andretti was third at 215.892 mph. Gordon Johncock impressed with the 8th fastest speed at 210.422 mph. It was Johncock's first race at Michigan since 1984.
In Friday morning's practice session, Rick Mears ran a lap of 221.2 mph with cool, overcast conditions. Wind picked up for the afternoon time trials. On his first attempt at qualifying, Rick Mears returned to the pits after a gust of wind pushed him towards the wall on his warmup lap. After putting on an old set of tires, Mears returned to the track and ran a lap of 218.427 mph to win the pole. Al Unser qualified second with a speed of 216.060 mph. Mario Andretti joined the Penske cars on the front row with a speed of 215.673 mph.
On Saturday, the International Race of Champions competed at Michigan. NASCAR Winston Cup driver Geoff Bodine took Dick Simon's backup car out for four test laps on Saturday morning. Bodine's fastest lap was 200.781 mph. Bodine went on to win the IROC race that afternoon.

## Race

A crowd of 65,000 spectators filled the grandstands for the eighth annual Michigan 500. Prior to the race, Danny Sullivan was suffered from the flu and was unsure if he could run the entire race.
When the race began, Rick Mears pulled out to a sizable lead. He was remained in the lead for most of the first 150 laps, leading 94 laps in total. Mears was challenged at times by Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser, Mario Andretti, and Bobby Rahal, who all took turns at the lead.
On lap 143, Derek Daly hit oil on the track and hit the wall in turn three. Daly was unhurt. Under caution, Al Unser spun on pit road. On the restart from Daly's crash, Mears suffered a failure of the CV Joint. His team replaced the part in 30 laps, but retired from the race with engine failure after completing 177 laps.
Danny Sullivan inherited the lead following Mears's mechanical failure. Al Unser led 19 laps but also dropped out of the race with engine failure after 216 laps were completed.
The final caution came out with 11 laps remaining when Dick Simon's car dropped fluid on the track. That set up a seven lap run to the finish with Sullivan winning by one lap over Bobby Rahal.
Sullivan's win allowed him to become the third driver to win all three of IndyCar's current 500 mile Triple Crown races. He joined Johnny Rutherford and Mario Andretti by winning at Indianapolis, Pocono, and Michigan.
It was the first win for Team Penske in the Michigan 500 at the track Roger Penske owned. Only eight of the 28 starters finished the race and Sullivan was the only Chevrolet to finish.
The race's average speed of 180.564 mph made the event the fastest 500 mile IndyCar race, breaking the record set one year prior in the 1987 Michigan 500.

## Box score

| Finish | Grid | No | Name | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Led | Points |
| 1 | 5 | 9 | Danny Sullivan | Penske Racing | Penske PC-17 | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 250 | 2:46:03.820 | 92 | 20 |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | Bobby Rahal | Truesports | Lola T88/00 | Judd | 249 | +1 Lap | 18 | 16 |
| 3 | 14 | 18 | Michael Andretti | Kraco Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 247 | +3 Laps | 0 | 14 |
| 4 | 18 | 16 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr. | Bettenhausen Motorsports | Lola T87/00 | Cosworth | 240 | +10 Laps | 0 | 12 |
| 5 | 22 | 77 | Phil Krueger | US Engineering | March 86C | Cosworth | 239 | +11 Laps | 0 | 10 |
| 6 | 9 | 85 | Gordon Johncock | Hemelgarn Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 237 | +13 Laps | 0 | 8 |
| 7 | 17 | 22 | Dick Simon | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 227 | +23 Laps | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | 26 | 12 | John Jones | Arciero Racing | March 88C | Cosworth | 221 | +29 Laps | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | 2 | 60 | Al Unser | Penske Racing | Penske PC-17 | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 216 | Engine | 19 | 4 |
| 10 | 25 | 55 | Scott Atchison | Machinists Union Racing | March 86C | Cosworth | 214 | +36 Laps | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | 10 | 30 | Raul Boesel | Doug Shierson Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 211 | Engine | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 3 | 6 | Mario Andretti | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola T88/00 | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 180 | Engine | 10 | 1 |
| 13 | 1 | 5 | Rick Mears | Penske Racing | Penske PC-17 | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 177 | Engine | 94 | 2 |
| 14 | 24 | 24 | Randy Lewis | Leader Card Racers | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 174 | Engine | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | 21 | 11 | Rich Vogler | Machinists Union Racing | March 87C | Cosworth | 157 | Engine | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 8 | 10 | Derek Daly | Raynor Motorsports | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 135 | Crash | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 23 | 56 | Billy Vukovich III | Gohr Racing | March 88C | Cosworth | 129 | Oil leak | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | 13 | 14 | Johnny Rutherford | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 129 | Fire | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | 7 | 20 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Patrick Racing | Lola T87/00 | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 121 | Electrical | 17 | 0 |
| 20 | 16 | 2 | Roberto Guerrero | Vince Granatelli Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 99 | Engine | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | 6 | 3 | Al Unser Jr. | Galles Racing | March 88C | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 99 | Water hose | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | 15 | 71 | Tom Sneva | Hemelgarn Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 93 | Engine | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | 27 | 21 | Howdy Holmes | Alex Morales Motorsports | March 88C | Cosworth | 85 | Fatigue | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | 19 | 98 | John Andretti | Mike Curb Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 60 | Overheating | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | 12 | 8 | Teo Fabi | Porsche Motorsport | March 88C | Porsche | 56 | Mechanical | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | 20 | 91 | Scott Brayton | Hemelgarn Racing | Lola T88/00 | Judd | 56 | Engine | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | 28 | 19 | Dale Coyne | Dale Coyne Racing | March 86C | Chevrolet stock-block | 12 | Oil pressure | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | 11 | 7 | Arie Luyendyk | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth | 7 | Engine | 0 | 0 |
| Source: |||||||||||

### Race statistics

Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1–34 | Rick Mears |
| 35 | Mario Andretti |
| 36–39 | Al Unser |
| 40–58 | Rick Mears |
| 59–69 | Emerson Fittipaldi |
| 70–75 | Mario Andretti |
| 76–80 | Al Unser |
| 81–86 | Emerson Fittipaldi |
| 87–104 | Bobby Rahal |
| 105–111 | Al Unser |
| 112–122 | Rick Mears |
| 123–125 | Mario Andretti |
| 126–155 | Rick Mears |
| 156–186 | Danny Sullivan |
| 187–189 | Al Unser |
| 190–250 | Danny Sullivan |
Cautions: 5 for 33 laps :
| Laps | Reason |
| 4–8 | Al Unser Jr. tow-in |
| 41–45 | Debris in turn 3 |
| 85–92 | Johnny Rutherford tow-in |
| 144–155 | Derek Daly crash turn 3 |
| 239–243 | Dick Simon leaking fluid |

## Broadcasting

Pole Qualifying for the Michigan 500 was broadcast for the first time on ESPN. A one-hour, delayed telecast was aired on Saturday.
ESPN broadcast the race live, marking the first time it was broadcast on a cable network. Bob Jenkins and Steve Chassey were the play-by-play commentators. Larry Nuber reported from the pits.