The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Two-time World Drivers' Champion Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil became the first foreign winner of the race since 1966. Though Fittipaldi started on the front row and dominated most of the race, he found himself running second in the waning laps. Gambling on fuel, Al Unser Jr. caught up to Fittipaldi after a fortuitous caution period on lap 181, and subsequently took the lead on lap 196.

On the 199th lap, Al Unser Jr. was leading Emerson Fittipaldi down the backstretch. The two cars weaved through lap traffic, and Fittipaldi dove underneath going in turn three. The two cars touched wheels, and Unser spun out, crashing into the outside wall. Fittipaldi circulated the final lap under caution behind the pace car to score his first Indy 500 victory. Despite the crash, Unser Jr. was credited with second place.

Race winner Emerson Fittipaldi set a new record and reached a significant milestone, becoming the first Indy 500 winner to earn a one million dollar single-race prize money purse. His prize money officially totaled $1,001,600.

After dominating the 1988 month of May, all three cars of the Penske Team failed to finish the race in 1989. Danny Sullivan suffered a broken arm in a practice crash, and mechanical failures sidelined all three cars on race day. It was the only year in the decade of the 1980s, and the first time since 1976, that the Penske team failed to score a top five finish. Ironically, race winner Emerson Fittipaldi (driving for rival Patrick Racing) was fielding a Penske PC-18 chassis, acquired from Penske in a special arrangement between the two teams.

The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1989 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. By season's end, Fittipaldi became the fourth driver since 1979 to win the Indy 500 and CART championship in the same season.

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