In sports, as in all aspects of life, the infamous “fickled finger of fate” has its moments of significant impact on the outcome of each event where the finger is applied…..as evidenced by this video of then leader of race Rick Mears going to the pits ahead of the rest of the field…..when just as he was pulling out of the pits and seconds away from being back on the track….the yellow flag came out…..and the field was able to not only catch up with the leader Mears…..but actually pass him on the restart….as Bobby Rahal took advantage of the “fickled one” showing up and causing the car of Roberto Moreno to have engine trouble less than 2 seconds before Mears was back on the track…..and there were only 2 laps to go.
The truth is that this video proves that the only way to answer why Rick Mears didn’t win his 2nd Indy 500….to which by the end of his career….Rick Mears would be standing alone as the only driver to win 5 Indy 500’s….except for the “fickled finger of fate”