Greg Ray won his first and only Drivers' Championship while Kenny Bräck (pictured) finished second in the championship.
The 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League was highly competitive and parity was the order of the year. Team Menard had a very good season with their driver Greg Ray capturing 3 race wins and the series championship. This was the last year before CART teams began to break ranks and jump to the IRL.
On lap 62, Stan Wattles crashed after suffering a suspension failure. John Paul Jr. made contact with, sending Wattles' right rear wheel and tire assembly into the seating area. Scott Harrington also spun in the incident.[3]
The race continued under caution with Lazier initially leading until he had to make a pit stop to replace a punctured tire, giving Ray the lead. On lap 79, the race was stopped so medical helicopters could land.
The race was stopped permanently by track general manager Humpy Wheeler when it was announced that three spectators were killed. As a result, fans and participants were offered refunds.
The race was scratched from the record books due to the fact it did not reach the official race distance of 105 laps (the halfway point plus one lap, unlike the FIA Code, which is simply making it to the start of the fourth lap).
Until 2006, this race had the latest pass for the lead in Indianapolis 500 history when Gordon pitted on lap 199 and Bräck took the lead in turn 4.
Combined, Arie Luyendyk and Greg Ray led 95 laps. Luyendyk crashed while attempting to lap Tyce Carlson on lap 118 and during the ensuing caution, Ray was hit by Mark Dismore while exiting his pit stall.
Stewart, who moved to the NASCARWinston Cup Series, did Double Duty by competing at Indianapolis and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He finished 9th at Indianapolis, four laps down, and 4th at Charlotte on the lead lap, despite being moved to the rear of the field due to missing a drivers’ meeting.
Rookie of the Year McGehee had an incident during a pit stop where a pit crew member hit the ground, but survived.
This race was planned on being Luyendyk's final race. However, he returned to race part-time from 2001 to 2003.
Four drivers named either Robby or Robbie finished in the top 10.
Points leader Ray was the only championship eligible driver to finish in the top 5 and top 10, finishing 3rd. Scott Goodyear finished 23rd due to a crash. Scott Sharp finished 19th due to engine failure. Sam Schmidt finished 22nd due to a separate crash. Kenny Bräck finished 16th, 22 laps down.
There were several changes in the top 10 in points following this race due to 3rd being separated from 10th by 31 points. Race winner Dismore moved up from 11th to 3rd, Jeff Ward (at one time the points leader) dropped from 7th to 11th, Sharp dropped from 4th to 8th, Goodyear dropped from 5th to 9th and Hamilton moved up from 7th to 4th.
Dismore's only IndyCar win.
Schmidt's final IndyCar race. His career would end due to a testing crash at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 2000 that left him paralyzed.
Sarah Fisher made her IndyCar debut in this race, becoming the first woman since Lyn St. James at the 1997Indianapolis 500 to start an IndyCar race. She started 17th, but finished 25th due to a broken timing chain.
Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part.
RY
Rookie of the Year
R
Rookie
1 The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities.
Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.
Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (3 points), the second best qualifier (2 points), the third best qualifier (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (2 point).
