Much to the surprise of competitors, media, and fans, Marlboro Team Penske arrived at the Speedway with a brand new, secretly-built[3] 209 in3 (3.42 L) displacement Ilmor Mercedes-Benz pushrod engine, which was capable of nearly 1,000 horsepower (750 kW).

[4] Despite reliability issues with the engine[4] and handling difficulties with the chassis,[5][6] the three-car Penske team (Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy) dominated most of the month, and practically the entire race.

While Al Unser Jr. won the pole position, two-time former winner (1989, 1993) Emerson Fittipaldi dominated most of the race, leading a 145 (of 200) laps.

John Andretti, who had left CART and moved to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, became the first driver to race in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day, an effort that has become known as "Double Duty".

Nigel Mansell went on to win the 1993 CART championship, with 1993 Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi finishing second in points.

Fittipaldi remained at Penske Racing, which expanded to a three-car effort for 1994, including Al Unser Jr. and Paul Tracy.

In an effort to appeal to mainstream car companies and smaller independent engine builders (both primarily based in the U.S.), USAC permitted traditional, "stock block" pushrod engines (generally defined as production-based, non-overhead cam units fitted with two valves per cylinder actuated by pushrod and rocker arm).

This rule made the Buick V-6 (and its successor the Menard V-6) attractive to the smaller, "Indy-only" teams, that could not acquire or afford the DOHC V-8 powerplants such as the Chevy-Ilmor or the Ford-Cosworth XB.

The team went so far as plowing several feet of snow off of Nazareth Speedway (a track which was owned by Roger Penske at the time) for a private test.

The team was in such desperate need of on-track reliability testing, they conducted the session despite frigid temperatures, tall snow banks on the sides of the track, and the engine sounds in the earshot of rival Mario and Michael Andretti's homes.

Paul Tracy took the first laps in the Penske PC-23/Mercedes 500I at 12:34 p.m. Al Unser Jr., however, was testing at Michigan International Speedway, reportedly "working on reliability."

Defending Indy Lights champion Bryan Herta, who had started the month with Tasman Motorsports, was withdrawn from that entry, and signed with Foyt.

After two wave-offs on Saturday, Scott Brayton finally put his Menard-powered Lola in the field as the fastest qualifier for the second round.

Robby Gordon spent time shaking down back-up cars for his teammates Willy T. Ribbs and Mark Smith.

Off the track, Rahal-Hogan Racing announced they had entered into a deal with Team Penske to lease two back-up cars.

Driving the new Honda HRX Indy V-8s, Bobby Rahal and Mike Groff were the two slowest cars in the field, and risked being bumped.

Mark Smith (219.947 mph) was the fastest of the non-qualified drivers, and veteran Roberto Moreno took over Al Unser, Sr.'s car, starting a refresher test.

After wrecking his car in practice on Saturday morning, Bettenhausen made it out with 8 minutes remaining for a last-ditch effort to bump his way into the field.

That moved Willy T. Ribbs (in a Walker Racing back-up machine) to the front of the line for a long-shot attempt to make the field.

After second-guessing their strategy overnight, the Foyt team ultimately made the right decision and did not withdraw Bryan Herta's car from the field.

The top three race qualifiers and their respective pit crews were automatically eligible: Al Unser Jr., Raul Boesel, and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Leader Al Unser Jr. stalled exiting the pits (a concern going into the race for the Mercedes) and Emerson Fittipaldi took over the lead for the first time.

Eddie Cheever and Nigel Mansell were both given black flags for passing Raul Boesel prior to the restart, forcing both to serve as stop-and-go penalty in the pits.

Fittipaldi admitted a driver error as he drove over the inside rumble strips causing the rear tires to lose grip.

Officials were about to put out the black flag and issue Andretti a stop-and-go penalty, but the subsequent caution that came out for Stan Fox's crash prevented them for being able to do so.

CART, as it had previously, refused to allow the engine increased boost at the events they sanctioned, effectively rendering it uncompetitive at those races.

On August 11, 1994, USAC changed its decision, and scaled back the boost for the purpose-built pushrod engines further to 48 inches; and outlawing it outright for 1996.

The broadcast was carried on hundreds of affiliates in all 50 states of the U.S., as well as AFN and World Harvest Radio International, reaching all continents including Antarctica.

Newcomer and former Indy winner Danny Sullivan joined Bobby Unser and Sam Posey as color commentators.

Host/Announcer: Paul Page Color: Sam Posey Color/Turn 2: Bobby Unser Color/Turn 4: Danny Sullivan The 1993–94 USAC Gold Crown Championship season consisted of one sanctioned race.