The race was sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC) and was part of the 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series.

Much of the pre-race attention for the month focused heavily on rookie Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion, who joined the CART Indy car series during the offseason.

His inexperience on oval circuits, however, led to him misjudging the restart speed and he was quickly passed down the main stretch by Fittipaldi, which proved to be the winning move.

On the morning of pole day qualifying, rookie Robby Gordon, driving a Foyt team car, crashed during a practice session.

Tony George and Bill France Jr. jointly announced the race on April 14 during a ceremony at the museum, a few weeks before opening day.

Mansell underwent back surgery on April 28, forcing him to miss Rookie Orientation, and the opening weekend of practice at Indy.

Other physical improvements included new grandstands at the north end of the circuit, observation mounds in the infield, and the completion of a new championship-caliber golf course on the grounds, designed by Pete Dye called Brickyard Crossing.

Shortly before 3 p.m., Jeff Andretti entered the warm up lane in turn three too fast, and slid back onto the track into the path of Roberto Guerrero's car.

At 8:11 a.m., during the morning practice session, rookie Robby Gordon, driving the #41 Foyt entry, spun exiting turn 1, then brushed the wall with the nose of the car.

[5] An emotional and teary-eyed Foyt was interviewed by Tom Carnegie over the public address system, giving his farewell speech to the fans:[6] "It's a hard decision, but there comes a time.

Emerson Fittipaldi, testing race setups, set the second-fastest lap of the month, at 226.051 mph, faster than the pole position speed.

At the opening of time trials, Eddie Cheever was the first car to complete a qualifying run, It was his third and final attempt in the #99 Turley Motorsports entry.

John Andretti signed last-minute to drive the #84 Foyt entry, and quickly posted a speed of 221.746 mph, the fastest car of the afternoon, and 6th-fastest in the entire field.

1986 winner, and defending CART champion Bobby Rahal (217.140 mph) started the day on the bubble, as the slowest car in the field.

In the morning, Team Menard offered a spare car deal for Bobby Rahal, who was in considerable danger of failing to qualify.

Over the next half-hour, four drivers (Didier Theys, Scott Pruett, John Paul Jr., and Éric Bachelart) all attempted to bump Bobby Rahal from the field.

The top three race qualifiers and their respective pit crews were automatically eligible: Arie Luyendyk, Mario Andretti, and Raul Boesel.

A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Gordon Johncock, and Tom Sneva had retired; Bobby Rahal and Scott Pruett both failed to qualify; and Michael Andretti's commitments in Formula One prevented him from entering the race.

With Al Unser, Sr. leading on lap 31, Danny Sullivan, suffering from a pushing condition, went high in turn three and smacked the outside wall.

Mario Andretti led the field back to green on lap 36, Arie Luyendyk ran second, and Emerson Fittipaldi third.

Under the yellow, Raul Boesel entered the pits while they were closed, and was assessed a stop-and-go penalty; however, he did not lose any considerable track position.

After the shuffle from the final sequence of pit stops, Nigel Mansell was now back in the lead, with Emerson Fittipaldi second, and Arie Luyendyk third.

Mansell, driving in his first-ever Indy car oval race, was inexperienced in restarts, and was too hesitant bringing the field back to green.

During post-race interviews, Mansell claimed he was trying to follow the rules, waiting for the green flag to come out before he accelerated, and he was surprised that Fittipaldi and Luyendyk had caught up such ground on him so quickly.

Race winner Emerson Fittipaldi, who previously won in 1989 pulled into victory lane to celebrate his win with team owner Roger Penske.

After the interview was concluded, and after television cameras had been turned off, Fittipaldi finally did take a sip from the bottle of milk at the direction of his owner Roger Penske, however, not before a controversy boiled.

Fan reaction to the snub was highly negative, and they charged Fittipaldi with breaking the popular and long-standing Indy tradition for personal gain.

A few days after the race, Fittipaldi issued an apology statement, and donated the $5,000 prize from the American Dairy Association of Indiana to charity.

[12] The move was supposedly to offer a fresh perspective, but others believed it was to separate Unser and Posey, who were known to engage in heated exchanges and debates on-air.

Host/Announcer: Paul Page Color: Sam Posey Color/Turn 2: Bobby Unser The 1992–93 USAC Gold Crown Championship season consisted of one sanctioned race.