Top 10 Indy 500s, No. 8: Al Unser Jr. edges Goodyear in closest finish in race’s history

(Editor’s note: NBC Sports has selected the Top 10 Indy 500s of All-Time through an esteemed panel of former drivers, broadcasters, journalists and historians. The countdown continues today and will run through the 107th Indianapolis 500.)

A race marred by myriad wrecks ended with a pristine finish – the closest in Indianapolis 500 history.

In a battle of Chevrolets, Al Unser Jr. held off Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds (about half a car length) for his first victory at the Brickyard in his 10th start, becoming the third Unser (alongside his father, Al, and uncle Bobby) to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I almost took it a little too easy off Turn 4, and Scott got a run on me,” Unser Jr. said.

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Goodyear, who finished second again in 1997 but never won the Indy 500 in 11 starts, actually didn’t qualify for the race. After being knocked from the field with 6 minutes remaining on Bump Day, Goodyear was added to the field by Walker Racing in place of Mike Groff in the No. 15 Lola-Chevy.

“It is a disappointment because for the last few laps, I thought this was really a possibility,” Goodyear said after the nail-biting finish. “We just drove flat out. We just didn’t have enough to get past him.”

Unser and Goodyear were battling for a victory only because of another unfortunate twist for the Andretti family.

Michael Andretti was in first by nearly 30 seconds before a fuel pump failure knocked the Newman-Haas driver out of the race while leading with 11 laps remaining. His No. 1 Lola-Ford finished 13th after being towed to the pits.

“Michael had us covered all day,” said Unser, whose No. 3 Galmer-Chevrolet for Galles Kraco Racing led 25 laps. “The Lola-