42°03′58.68″N 84°14′29.18″W / 42.0663000°N 84.2414389°W
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 13 of 17 in the 1995 CART season | |
 | |
| Date | July 30, 1995 |
| Official name | 1995 Marlboro 500 |
| Location | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan, United States |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi / 3.219 km |
| Distance | 250 laps 500.000 mi / 804.672 km |
| Weather | Cloudless and sunny with temperatures up to 88.9 °F (31.6 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 10.2 miles per hour (16.4 km/h)[1] |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Parker Johnstone (Comptech Racing) |
| Time | 31.242 230.458 mph (370.886 km/h) |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Parker Johnstone (Comptech Racing) |
| Time | 31.080 231.66 mph (372.82 km/h) (on lap 115 of 250) |
| Podium | |
| First | Scott Pruett (Patrick Racing) |
| Second | Al Unser Jr. (Team Penske) |
| Third |  Adrian Fernández (Galles Racing) |
The 1995 Michigan 500 was the thirteenth round of the 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series season. Branded as the 1995 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was held on July 30, 1995, at the 2.00 mi Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The race marked Firestone's first Indy Car victory since 1974. Patrick Racing driver Scott Pruett took his first win in American open-wheel competition after a late-race battle with defending series champion Al Unser Jr., winning by just over half a second. Adrian Fernández came in third place, one lap behind Pruett and Unser. Parker Johnstone earned his first pole position and fastest lap in the series but suffered brake problems that forced him to retire; rookie André Ribeiro led the first ever laps of his career, ultimately earning a point for leading the most laps during the race. Danny Sullivan's IndyCar career would come to an end at leader's lap 194 as he would be involved in a crash where he would suffer a broken pelvis and other injuries.
This was the first time the series competed on the newly resurfaced circuit, which made the track smoother and easier to drive on. Nevertheless, the race still saw massive attrition knock out many of the front-runners over the grueling 500-mile distance. Many cars suffered problems with failing wheel bearings and blistering tires. By the halfway point in the race, it was essentially a two-horse race between Pruett and Unser while the rest of the field simply struggled to make it to the end. Points leader Jacques Villeneuve, despite spending extensive time on pit lane trying to diagnose an engine problem, managed to finish tenth and keep his substantial lead in the points standings.
- ^ Weather information for the 1995 Marlboro 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac