Okay, so today I wanted to talk a little bit about the 1996 Indy 500, specifically about the winning car. Man, that race was a doozy! It was the 80th time they ran the Indy 500, and it happened on May 26, 1996. I remember it like it was yesterday.

First things first, I started digging around to learn more about this car. What a rabbit hole that was! I mean, you start with a simple search and the next thing you know, you’re knee-deep in stats, trivia, and random facts about racing history. But hey, that’s part of the fun, right?
So, I learned that this was actually the first Indy 500 race that the Indy Racing League took part in. Pretty cool bit of history there. Then I found out that Buddy Lazier was the guy who won the race, and he was driving a car that had actually crashed the year before in 1995. Can you believe it? Turns out, that same car was driven by Jimmy Vasser when it crashed, but they fixed it up and it went on to win. That’s wild!
I also learned that Tony Stewart was the one who started on pole position. Dude was probably pretty excited only to be let down. But, that’s racing for you. One day you’re on top, the next you’re in the middle of the pack.
Another thing that caught my eye was that this victory for Lazier was the last time Ford had a win at Indy. Ford hasn’t won a race there since! I had no idea. And get this, it was only the second time ever that a Reynard car won, and it was the first win for Firestone since 1971. It was just a whole bunch of records and milestones in this one race. It’s like, this was not your average race, folks.
Oh, and the pace car for that year? It was a Dodge Viper GTS. Now that’s a sweet ride. I saw some pictures of it and thought it was awesome.

The Milk Tradition
- Then there’s the whole milk-drinking tradition. I did a little more digging into this.
- Turns out, it’s a big deal at Indy. But in 1993, there was this whole thing where Emerson Fittipaldi won for the second time and he didn’t want the milk. He drank orange juice instead! He said it was because he was involved with the Brazilian citrus industry and wanted to promote it. What a story!
I started looking into some of the other drivers who were in the 1996 race, too. I came across names like Alex Palou, who’s a three-time series champion, and Will Power, who’s won the series twice. Just some serious talent out there on the track, you know?
And sadly, I also stumbled upon some pretty grim stats about fatalities at the track. Did you know that 59 out of 74 fatalities there have happened as part of the Indianapolis 500? That includes the race itself and qualifying. It’s a stark reminder of just how dangerous this sport can be.
All in all, going down this Indy 500 rabbit hole was a wild ride. I started with a simple question about the winning car, and ended up learning about so much more. That’s the beauty of exploring stuff like this, right? You never know where it’s going to take you. I hope you guys found this as interesting as I did. Until next time!