Buddy Rice took pole, led the most laps and won after a thunderstorm stopped the race after 180 laps, giving Honda its first Indy 500 victory.
The race was called by a severe thunderstorm after 180 laps. Honda scored its first Indianapolis 500 victory that day, and Rice's team was owned by Bobby Rahal and David Letterman.
Buddy Rice won the 88th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 30, 2004, in a race that a severe thunderstorm brought to an end after 180 laps. He had also taken pole, won the pit stop contest and led the most laps. The win gave Honda its first Indianapolis 500 victory, after the manufacturer had first arrived at the Speedway in 1994.
Who won the 2004 Indianapolis 500?
Buddy Rice won the 2004 race for Rahal Letterman Racing, a team owned by Bobby Rahal and David Letterman. It was his first championship-level victory. Rice was the first American winner since Eddie Cheever in 1998, and the race was also the first rain-shortened 500 since 1976.
Rice had qualified on pole at 222.024 mph and held off late runs from Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan to secure it. He also won the Pit Stop Challenge that month, the first of two contest wins for the Rahal team. The result also ended the Panoz G-Force chassis's Indianapolis winning run.
A thunderstorm ended the race after 180 laps, and Honda's first Indy 500 win went to Buddy Rice.
Why was the 2004 race cut short?
A rain delay pushed the start back by about two hours, and a red flag stopped the race after 27 laps. Rain returned later in the afternoon, and a severe thunderstorm ended the race after 180 laps, twenty laps short of the scheduled distance.
Rain fell early that morning and returned at 9:18 a.m. before the track began to dry. Mari Hulman George gave the command to start engines at 1:02 p.m., and the field pulled away for the pace laps at 1:07 p.m. Robby Gordon left for Charlotte to try the Coca-Cola 600 that evening, and his car was later driven in relief.
The red flag came out on lap 28 with rain falling hard, and the cars were parked in the pits. The track was ready again after a delay of 1 hour and 47 minutes, and racing resumed shortly after 3:30 p.m. Greg Ray's team had been penalised for unapproved work on his car during the stoppage and was sent to the rear.
By lap 160 dark skies were looming, and the race had turned into a weather battle. A handful of teams stayed out in an attempt to stretch their fuel and lead when the rain arrived. The gamble did not work, and all the leaders had to take their final round of pit stops before the storm.
Rain began to fall on lap 174, and the yellow came out with Rice in front. A severe thunderstorm then moved into the area, and the race was checkered after lap 180, which covered 450 miles (720 km). The thunderstorm later produced an F2 tornado that missed the Speedway and its quarter-million spectators by six miles.
What rule changes came before the 2004 race?
Before the 2004 season the Indy Racing League cut engine displacement from 3.5 litres to 3.0 litres and reduced on-board fuel capacity from 35 gallons to 30. The aim was to slow cars that had crept up into the low 230 mph range during 2003.
The changes followed the death of Tony Renna, a Chip Ganassi driver, on October 22, 2003, during the second day of an off-season Firestone tyre test. On a cool 50 degree morning, his car spun in turn three, went airborne and crashed into the outside wall and catch fence. Officials also introduced a minimum ambient and track surface temperature requirement.
Single-point refuelling rigs were allowed for the first time. Teams could use one combined fuel and vent hose, which removed the need for a separate vent hose operator and improved safety during pit stops.
How did practice go in May 2004?
Practice was broken up by rain, and the speeds were modest compared with the lap times of 2003. Scott Dixon led the first day at 219.760 mph, and Adrian Fernandez was the first driver of the month to break the 221 mph barrier on May 11.
Rookie orientation on April 26 saw seven drivers take part. Ed Carpenter, Kosuke Matsuura, Mark Taylor and Luis Diaz passed all four phases of the rookie tests, while Jeff Simmons and Marty Roth passed three and could complete the fourth in routine practice. Larry Foyt was exempted because of his earlier high-speed oval experience, and Carpenter led the speed chart at 215.584 mph during that session.
Thunderstorms kept the track closed for most of Monday May 10, and it reopened just before 5 p.m. when Helio Castroneves ran 220.300 mph. Tony Kanaan later set 222.668 mph in midweek practice. On May 13 Scott Sharp crashed in turn one, ending the session about ten minutes early after rain had kept the track shut until mid-afternoon.
The Friday before pole day was lost almost entirely to weather. The track opened at 11 a.m. but lasted only four minutes before rain closed it for the day, and Sarah Fisher's single lap at 212.616 mph was the only effort of note.
How did qualifying go?
Buddy Rice took pole at 222.024 mph on pole day, May 15, after Dan Wheldon had briefly held the provisional pole at 221.524 mph. Rice's run came at 4:14 p.m., and it was the first pole of his Indianapolis career.
Pole qualifying began at 2:15 p.m. after a cool, damp morning and overnight rain that kept the track closed until shortly after noon. Roger Yasukawa was the first driver in the field, and Robby Gordon qualified and then flew to Richmond for an evening NASCAR event. Bryan Herta and Felipe Giaffone wrecked in the early attempts, and the field stood at 22 cars when the day ended.
On the second day four more cars completed attempts to fill the field to 26. Herta, who had recovered from his wreck, was the fastest qualifier of the afternoon. The final day of qualifying opened seven spots, and Greg Ray filled the field to 33 cars at 1:45 p.m. with a run of 216.641 mph.
A brief rain shower followed, and Robby McGehee sat on the bubble as the slowest qualifier at 211.631 mph. Tony Stewart visited the track that afternoon after A. J. Foyt invited him to practice in one of his back-up cars. Stewart passed his physical and suited up, but at 5:36 p.m. he left the pits on foot and announced that he would not attempt to qualify.
How did the race unfold?
Rice took the lead from pole at the start and led Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Helio Castroneves. Rain interrupted the race, and when the field resumed, Rice stalled exiting the pits on lap 94, dropping back to eighth. He recovered to fifth by lap 131 and was leading again by lap 160.
Foyt IV's race ended early, on lap 10, after he struck the turn four wall and then crashed in turn one. Several leaders pitted under that caution. Bryan Herta led the field back to green on lap 16, and Wheldon took the lead three laps later. Rain returned on lap 22, bringing another caution, and the red flag followed on lap 28.
After the restart Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jr. battled for second and third, while Rice led at the halfway point. Ed Carpenter and Mark Taylor crashed on lap 64, and P. J. Jones hit the wall on lap 94. Darren Manning and Greg Ray collided on lap 105, collecting Hornish, and Tony Kanaan led when the green came out on lap 114.
Bruno Junqueira stayed out on lap 133 and inherited the lead, betting that he could outlast the field on fuel if the rain came back. His gamble failed, and he pitted on lap 151. The approaching weather meant that all the leaders would need one final round of stops, which threatened to turn the result into a lottery.
What happened in the final laps?
Rice led Kanaan and Wheldon on lap 160. Kanaan pitted for tyres and fuel on lap 164, and Wheldon followed a lap later. Rice pitted two laps later and handed the lead to Bryan Herta, who gave it up on lap 169 to pit for fuel, passing it to Adrian Fernandez.
Fernandez tried desperately to stretch his fuel, but he was forced to pit on lap 171. His stop lasted nine seconds, and he lost the lead. After this sequence of stops Rice was back in front, and Kanaan and Wheldon were second and third when the rain began to fall on lap 174.
The yellow came out with Rice as the certain winner, and the race was checkered after lap 180. Victory Lane could not be set up because of lightning, so the celebration moved indoors into the master control tower, known as the Pagoda. It was the first time the race had held its post-race events away from the circuit.
What were the main race results?
Rice won, Kanaan finished second and Wheldon third. Honda, which had first arrived in 1994, took its first Indy 500 victory, and the Foyt team finished 32nd and 33rd after Larry Foyt crashed on lap 56.
| Finish | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Buddy Rice | Pole-sitter, most laps led, pit stop winner; Honda's first Indy 500 win |
| 2nd | Tony Kanaan | Led several laps in the second half before the final stops |
| 3rd | Dan Wheldon | Led early and mid-race before the final stops |
| Pole | Buddy Rice | 222.024 mph, held off Franchitti and Kanaan |
| Relief | Jaques Lazier | Drove Robby Gordon's car; first relief driver at Indy since 1977 |
| 32nd-33rd | Foyt team | Larry Foyt crashed on lap 56 |
The race was the first rain-shortened 500 since 1976. The race was stopped at 180 laps, twenty short of the planned distance, and the result was decided by the final round of stops rather than a clear run to the flag.
Who covered the race on television and radio?
ABC Sports carried the race live from flag to flag, marking its 40th anniversary of covering the Indianapolis 500. Terry Gannon took over as host after Bob Jenkins was released, while Paul Page and Scott Goodyear called the action.
The marathon broadcast ran for 8 hours and 22 minutes as ABC filled the delay with highlights and interviews. Its introduction, titled The Chase and featuring Henry Rollins, was nominated for a Sports Emmy.
On radio, Mike King was chief announcer, and Kenny Brack served as driver expert until the rain delay. Donald Davidson celebrated his 40th year on the crew, and Jerry Baker reached his 30th race in the booth.
