The 1986 Pocono 500, the 16th running of the event, was held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, August 17, 1986. Branded as the 1986 Domino's Pizza 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Mario Andretti in his 14th attempt to win the Pocono 500 at the track near his Pennsylvania home.
Background
Pocono Raceway was hurt financially by CART boycotts of the 1979 and 1981 races. Pocono filed an antitrust lawsuit against CART seeking $9 million in damages in July 1981. As part of the settlement, CART agreed to lease and promote the Pocono 500 for a period of five years. At the end of the contract in 1986, there were questions over whether the race would continue.
Mario Andretti said, "I know the contract runs out this year but I can't see our series being without Pocono."
CART Director of Administration, John Caponigro, affirmed that the series wanted to remain at Pocono. "This is an oval and the area is potentially a hotbed of Indy-car fans. We do want to come back."
Track owner, Joseph Mattioli insisted the track wanted Indy car to return. "We used to have this place loaded (for the Indy car race) and we would prefer to have this race than not have it. If I can have some fun and make some money without aggravation, yes. If the aggravation quotient is high and there's a high risk in making money, I'll go the other way."
Ultimately, in October 1986, the track agreed to promote the race the beginning in 1987.
Bobby Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500. Johnny Rutherford won the 1986 Michigan 500.
Practice and Time Trials
Practice - Thursday, August 14
Michael Andretti posted the fastest speed in the opening day of practice on Thursday, August 14. Andretti's speed of 203.542 mph was faster than Rick Mears' speed of 202.904 mph.
Practice was stopped for three and a half hour to fix a repaving job in turn two. According to CART director of operations Kirk Russell, "We redid Turn 2 Sunday and put the sealer on Tuesday. The trucks sitting near the patched area must have leaked diesel fuel, which penetrated the track, leaving two holes about two feet wide and 2-4 inches deep. We had to chop that out and put on quick-setting concrete."
Qualifying - Friday, August 15
In Friday's qualifying session, Michael Andretti broke the track record with a speed of 205.724 mph. Johnny Rutherford backed up his Michigan 500 win by posting the second fastest qualifying speed at 203.114 mph. Mario Andretti qualified on the outside of the front row at 201.866 mph.
Tom Sneva cut a tire and crashed in Friday qualifying. He went to a backup car, one that was set up for the next race at the Mid-Ohio road course. Dale Coyne was the slowest qualifier with a speed of 151.189 mph, over 54 mph slower than the pole speed.
Qualifying Day 2 - Saturday, August 16
In Saturday's final day of qualifying, Tom Sneva was unable to make a lap in his backup car. He was added to the field as a promoter's option.
On Saturday, A. J. Foyt hosted a wedding in his garage. He served as best man for Carl Boyer and Judy Anderson of Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
Support Races
Jeff Andretti passed Mike Groff on the last lap to win the American Racing Series event on Saturday. The 22-year-old son of Mario Andretti earned his first career victory in the series.
On race morning, a go-kart race was held on the frontstretch for the wives of the drivers. The race was won by Geoff Brabham's wife, followed by Roberto Guerrero's wife.
Race
An estimated 45,000 spectators were on hand for the race, called by observers as the largest since CART sanctioning began in 1982.
When the race began, Michael Andretti led the field into turn one. In response to a malfunctioning caution light displayed in the turn, Andretti slowed down, allowing Rutherford to take the lead. In turn two, Scott Brayton spun 360 degrees and was hit by Dennis Firestone. Johnny Parsons spun backwards into the wall to avoid the crash. All drivers were unhurt but none of the cars could continue.
The second caution came out on lap 14 when Ed Pimm stalled in turn three. After repairs, Pimm returned to the race ten laps down. The third caution came out on lap 25 when Pimm and Al Unser crashed in turn one. Pimm suffered a fractured right forearm. After leading the first 26 laps, Rutherford came into the pits. This gave the lead to Mario Andretti.
On lap 39, Emerson Fittipaldi had a wheel fall off in turn one. He pulled into the infield and retired from the race.