The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 31, 1986…..when after being rained out on May 25–26….the race was rescheduled for the following weekend….as Bobby Rahal was the winner…..while becoming the first driver in Indy history to complete the 500 miles (800 km) in less than three hours.
Nearly the entire race unfolded as a three-way battle between pole sitter Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, and Kevin Cogan…..when Cogan….who was a key fixture in the controversial crash on the opening lap of the 1982 race….took the lead in dramatic fashion with 13 laps to go…..as he appeared to be on his way to victory….and career redemption….but his lead was lost when a caution came out on lap 194….and with two laps to go….the green flag came back out….and second place Bobby Rahal got the jump on the restart and grabbed the lead…..while pulling away and winning the race….with car owner Jim Trueman….who was stricken with cancer, was cheering him on in the pit area. Trueman died eleven days after the victory.
Isn’t it amazing how the “fickled finger of fate” has the ability to come from nowhere and become one man’s fat chance…..while being another man’s raw deal.
