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1977 Pit Stop Contest
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Jim McElreath Wally Dallenbach (Patrick Racing)

1989 Pit Stop Contest
The semifinals and finals for the 13th annual Miller Pit Stop Contest were held on Thursday May 25. The top three race qualifiers and their respective pit crews were automatically eligible: Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr., Emerson Fittipaldi. However, Mears declined the invitation. Jim Crawford (who qualified 4th) took the empty spot. Al Unser Jr. secured the fourth and final spot in the contest during preliminaries which were on held on Wednesday May 17. Unser Jr. (13.618 seconds) defeated Bobby Rahal of KRACO Racing (24.432 seconds). Rahal suffered a 10-second penalty for running over an air hose. Mario Andretti also participated, but he was disqualified for running through the lights.

On the morning of Thursday May 18, a second round of preliminaries was held. Teo Fabi (16.286 seconds) was the fastest of the day, but was unable to top Unser Jr.'s time from Wednesday. Fabi was named the first alternate. Others included: Tom Sneva (17.082 seconds), A. J. Foyt (17.257 seconds), John Andretti (23.391 seconds), Pancho Carter (stalled), Michael Andretti (disqualified). King Racing withdrew from the contest after Jim Crawford crashed the team's primary car on the afternoon of May 18.

In the first semifinal, Al Unser Jr. defeated his father Al Unser Sr.. The Penske crew was issued two penalties, 10 seconds for running over a hose, and 5 additional seconds for a loose wheel. Mario Andretti defeated Emerson Fittipaldi in a close match in the second semifinal.

In the final round, Al Unser Jr. of Galles Racing and led by chief mechanic Owen Snider, faced Mario Andretti of Newman/Haas Racing, led by chief mechanic Colin Duff. Unser defeated Andretti by over 6 seconds. Andretti was subsequently issued an additional 5-second penalty due to a loose wheel.

1990 Pit Stop Contest
The semifinals and finals for the 14th annual Miller Pit Stop Contest were held on Thursday May 24. Ordinarily the top three race qualifiers and their respective pit crews are automatically eligible. However, rain interrupted the first weekend of time trials, and stretched the pole qualifying round into the second weekend. 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 to make a qualifying attempt.

On Thursday May 17, the pit stop contest preliminaries were held. The results were Michael Andretti (12.895 seconds), Bobby Rahal (12.915 seconds), Al Unser Jr. (13.300 seconds), Pancho Carter (16.668 seconds), Mario Andretti (17.631 seconds), and Eddie Cheever (no time). Michael Andretti secured a spot in the semifinals. The rest of the drivers had to wait out the final results of race qualifying. When pole qualifying was finally completed on Saturday May 19, Bobby Rahal was knocked off of the the front row by Arie Luyendyk. The front row for the race was officially Fittipaldi, Mears, and Luyendyk. Fittipaldi accepted his berth in the pit stop contest, but Mears and Luyendyk declined. 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.

In the first semifinal, Al Unser Jr. defeated Emerson Fittipaldi. In the second semifinal, Bobby Rahal beat Michael Andretti. That set up a final against the Galles-KRACO Racing teammates. Unser Jr., led by chief mechanic Owen Snider, easily beat Rahal, led by Jim Prescott, after Rahal's crew cross-threaded the lug nut on the left rear wheel. It was Unser Jr.'s second-consecutive victory in the Pit Stop Contest.











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