CHASSIS HU 19

Coming off a championship season in 1991, Michael Andretti established that he was at the top of his game once the 1992 season began by achieving two pole positions within the first four events. Chassis HU 19 first saw action throughout the month of May leading up to the Indianapolis 500, but it did not run a race until the Miller Genuine Draft 200 at the Milwaukee Mile. A successful hunting ground for Michael, he secured his second consecutive victory at the track that year. The chassis was used again at the following event, the New England 200 at the one-mile oval of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, resulting in a 2nd-place finish.

In the final four events of the year, chassis 19 delivered a strong run of results which kept Michael in the championship battle. On the streets of Vancouver, Andretti took the pole and led 97 of the 100 race laps, securing the win in dominant fashion. Two weeks later at Mid-Ohio, another pole position provided Michael the opportunity to lead for 40 laps before his engine expired, but fortunes changed at the following race in Nazareth Pennsylvania, where another 2nd-place finish kept the points tally close. Just 12 points behind Bobby Rahal going into the final race at Laguna Seca, Michael needed to capture a maximum result in order to take the championship. He delivered by securing another pole position and led the most laps to a race win, but Rahal’s third place finish was enough to take a narrow championship victory by just four points.

THE LOLA T92/00

Having won 23 out of 32 races the previous two seasons, Lola continued to dominate the IndyCar scene in 1992 by winning the championship for a third consecutive year. The T92/00 was composed of a honeycomb composite monocoque with a carbon fiber upper section, allowing for a profiled aerodynamic surface and an aluminum-skinned lower section. The two are bonded together to provide the ideal combination of fatigue resistance, strength, and plasticity in the event of a collision. Double-wishbone suspension was connected to inboard springs on all four corners.

To meet the demands of the various disciplines, a high-downforce specification was available for short ovals, road courses, or street circuits. For the superspeedways, alternative suspension geometry was utilized to extend the wheelbase, and low-drag wings worked to slice through the air. The Newman/Haas organization adopted the new Ford Cosworth XB engine in 1992, beginning a partnership that would last until 2001. A turbocharged V-8 engine, its low-profile intake system allowed for a unique engine cover which provided cleaner airflow to the rear wing. This example is not presently fitted with an engine.