Jim Crawford survived a spectacular airborne crash during practice, and for the second year in a row, three-time winner Johnny Rutherford struggled to get his car up to speed, and failed to qualify.

The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was included as part of the 1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series.

The Porsche Indycar team, led by Derrick Walker, was fresh off their first victory at Mid-Ohio in September 1989 with driver Teo Fabi.

[4][5][6][7] The Porsche team was forced to utilize a March chassis that was constructed with a then-standard aluminum bottom to adhere to the rules.

Eddie Cheever, who had spent the past decade in Formula One, and was the United States' lone F1 participant, switched to the CART series for 1990 and took the seat.

Truesports driver Scott Pruett, who won the rookie of the year award in 1989, had a serious crash at West Palm Beach during preseason testing.

The Alfa Romeo Indy car effort, formerly headed up by Alex Morales Motorsports, was taken over in 1990 by a re-booted Patrick Racing.

It featured aluminum chair-back bench seating, as well as modern restroom facilities and storefront space on the lower level.

[9] * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain ROP — denotes RookieOrientation Program During rookie orientation, driver Steve Barclay was injured in a crash, and was forced to sit out practice.

Tero Palmroth of Dick Simon Racing earned the honor of first car out on the track on opening day.

The first day of practice saw moderate activity, with Tom Sneva in a Buick-powered entry setting the fastest lap (215.646 mph).

Several drivers (Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Geoff Brabham, Bobby Rahal, and Danny Sullivan) were not present for opening day due to their participation in the first round of IROC XIV at Talladega.

Unser Jr., who finished second in that race, along with Rahal, did make it to Indianapolis in time to take a few practice laps.

Johnny Rutherford, rookie Buddy Lazier, and Bill Vukovich III all suffered wall contact.

The first week of practice ended with Unser Jr., Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, and Mario Andretti topping the speed chart.

Several drivers including Danny Sullivan, Al Unser Jr., Arie Luyendyk, and A. J. Foyt, were left waiting in line at the 6 o'clock gun.

The highly anticipated run by Al Unser Jr. was a disappointment, as he only managed 220.920 mph, putting him in 7th starting position.

By holding on to the second starting position, Rick Mears qualified on the front row in his career for a record tenth time.

Scott Brayton and Teo Fabi, who both of whom had missed out on a chance to qualify during the pole round, put in solid speeds.

The two Alfa Romeo entries of Roberto Guerrero and Al Unser Sr. put their cars safely in the field, as did Tom Sneva in a Buick.

Dean Hall and John Paul Jr. reported water leaks, Billy Vukovich III had brake failure, and Gary Bettenhausen had gearbox problems.

Tentatively, Emerson Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, and Bobby Rahal comprised the front row, but several cars including Arie Luyendyk, Al Unser Jr., and others, had yet to make a qualifying attempt.

When pole qualifying was finally completed on Saturday May 19, Bobby Rahal was knocked off the front row by Arie Luyendyk.

The two vacant spots in the semifinals were filled by the two next-fastest teams from the May 17 preliminaries, Bobby Rahal and Al Unser Jr. Pancho Carter was named the first alternate.

Temperatures were higher than expected, which ultimately led to poor chassis set ups and handling problems for many drivers.

Arie Luyendyk was now running second, with Fittipaldi dropping to third, just in front of fourth place Al Unser Jr. On lap 140, John Andretti brushed the wall in turn four, damaging the suspension.

Despite the manufacturer's high level of success in the sport during that period, which saw six CART championships between 1984 and 1993, and saw them quickly displace March as the prominent customer chassis, Lola failed to win at Indianapolis again.

[12][13] Bob Jenkins, a veteran on the crew as a turn reporter, as well as his work on ESPN, was named the new chief announcer and newest Voice of the 500.

During the pre-race, the broadcast would instead simulcast the Speedway's public address system (Tom Carnegie, Jim Phillipe, John Totten, and Dave Calabro).

Pit reporter Brian Hammons departed, and was replaced by Gary Gerould (who switched over from the radio network).