1995 Indianapolis 500

The 79th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1995. Sanctioned by USAC, it was part of the 1995 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season. Jacques Villeneuve won in his second start. After dominating the 1994 race and the 1994 IndyCar season, Marlboro Team Penske failed to qualify for the race. Two-time and defending Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. and two-time winner Emerson Fittipaldi (bumped) could not get their cars up to speed. A noticeable period of decline followed for the team until 2000 when Gil de Ferran won the CART championship, and subsequently the team returned to Indianapolis in 2001.

On lap 190, with the field coming back to green on a restart, leader Scott Goodyear passed the pace car in turn four, and was assessed a stop-and-go penalty. Goodyear refused to serve the penalty, claiming that the green light was on, and stayed out on the track. Per the black flag rules, officials stopped scoring Goodyear on lap 195, which handed Jacques Villeneuve the lead of the race, and ultimately, a controversial victory. Examination of video evidence after the race proved that Goodyear passed the pace car while the yellow light was on, and his team declined to protest the ruling. Villeneuve's winning car was powered by the Ford Cosworth XB engine, the powerplant's first Indy victory in its fourth attempt. The win broke a seven-year winning streak by Ilmor-constructed engines. With Goodyear's disqualification, Honda was effectively denied their first Indy victory, and did not win at Indianapolis until 2004 with Buddy Rice.

Race winner Jacques Villeneuve's day was not without incident, as he was penalized two laps for inadvertently passing the pace car during a caution period in the early segment of the race. Through both strategy and luck, the young driver made up the deficit during the course of the race, earning the "Indy 505" sobriquet. In addition to the race controversies, the day was marred by a multi-car crash on the opening lap involving Stan Fox, Eddie Cheever, and others. Fox suffered career-ending head injuries.

The race was held under a growing cloud of uncertainty about the future of the sport of open wheel racing in the United States. Since the early 1980s, the sport had operated in relative harmony, with an arrangement such that CART sanctioned the season-long Indy car national championship, and USAC sanctioned the Indy 500 singly. The Speedway's management, led by Tony George, had already announced the formation of the rival Indy Racing League for 1996, and the Indy 500 was to be its centerpiece. Competitors, fans, and media alike, were apprehensive about the event's future beyond 1995. The 1995 race was the final Indy 500 that featured a field of CART-based drivers and teams.

Due to injuries, retirements, and the open wheel split months later, the race was the final Indy 500 for several drivers, including Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan (career ending injury in Michigan in 1995), Teo Fabi, Scott Pruett, and Stefan Johansson. Emerson Fittipaldi (who failed to qualify but suffered career ending injuries in the second Michigan race in 1996) never raced at Indy again.

The 1995 month of May celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hulman/George family ownership of the Speedway.