Between 1955 and 1997 the Indianapolis 500 was held under the tutelage of the United States Auto Club (or USAC for short), with the company being a central figure of some of the most controversial and divisive decisions to effect both the Indianapolis 500 and open wheel racing itself (many of which will be discussed later). In 1997 however USAC’s involvement in Indycar racing came to an abrupt end, thanks in part to their involvement in one of farcical finishes in Indy 500 history.

The 1997 Indianapolis 500 had been far from distinguished even before the race reached it’s later stages. A change in regulations, including a new chassis design and switch to normally aspirated engines, meaning that lap times were up to 20 miles an hour slower then the record breaking figures seen during the previous years race. Whilst heavy weather throughout Memorial Day weekend eventually meant that the race was run on a Tuesday afternoon in front of a heavily depleted crowd. Despite this however the race itself turned out to be as eventful as ever, with pole-sitter Arie Luyendyk leading the field ahead of team-mate Scott Goodyear, Jeff Ward and Buddy Lazier, with the hard charging Tony Stewart rounding out the top five.

With just three laps to go until the end of the race Stewart ran wide on the exit of turn four, brushing the outside retaining wall but still allowing for the Menard driver to remain in the race, despite this however USAC made the call to bring out a full course yellow for Stewart’s incident. With two laps remaining in the race and at least three laps needed for the pace car to leave the pit lane and control the field, it seemed inevitable that this year’s 500 would end under a yellow flag for the first time since 1994. As the driver entered the start finish line expecting the white flag to signal one lap to go, USAC officially hastily decided to throw the green flag and recommence the race for one more flying lap, a move which caught both the drivers, as well as officials around the track, completely off-guard, with hazard warning lights surrounding the track still illuminated even though the race was now under green flag conditions.

“What the f*ck are they doing?” Luyendyk raged as he sped along the back-stretch for the final time, but the Dutchman was still able to hold his cool and held off Goodyear to take his second 500 win. Following the race a number of drivers expressed displeasure at USAC’s officiating of the race, with Goodyear particularly vocal that the lack of prior warning to the green flag had denied him a chance of challenging Luyendyk for the race victory.

Just a week later however Luyendyk and USAC were involved in yet more controversy, where during a race in Texas a scoring error from the governing body incorrectly declared Billy Boat as the winner of the race. As Boat celebrated what was his first Indycar victory Luyendyk stormed victory lane claiming himself to be the winner of the race, only for the Dutchman to get involved in a physical confrontation with Boat’s team boss AJ Foyt. The incident left a black mark on the fledgling Indy Racing League, and proved to be the last straw for USAC’s handling of the sport, with the series switching to an in-house sanctioning body just two weeks later.

Relive the final laps of the 1997 Indy 500, featuring the controversial green flag to end the race:

Tomorrow we look at one of the most controversial Indianapolis 500’s of all time, but one whose controversy stems from what happen off the track rather then on it.