Okay, here's a doozy. Indycar 1992, with... Indianapolis as the finale.
Pre-season in the States, there is uproar from the faithful. Indy has been moved from Memorial Day due to a series of factors beyond anyone's control. A tornado causing severe damage to the grandstands and the pitlane buildings before the cars could even hit the track. The race cannot be held at its regular slot. However, the crowds are appeased, reconstruction work begins as soon as possible and all the tickets sold for May are valid for the rescheduled event at the end of the season, while everything is shifted around and the Month of May becomes the Month of October for one single year.
The rest of the season pans out as being quite exciting. It's a knock-down fight between Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal, Rahal taking charge early in the season but Michael pulling it all back mid-way through the championship. They arrive at Laguna Seca. Michael takes the full points on offer while Bobby has to settle for a 3rd place. They leave Laguna Seca 192-188 in Andretti's favour and head to the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis, sparkling new after a herculean task by the construction crew to get the repaired facility ready in time.
Cold weather means crashes in practice. A lot of them. Nelson Piquet leaves the track with his legs mangled. Jovy Marcelo is killed in practice. The great champion Rick Mears has a second crash at the Speedway after his wreck in practice the year before, and the decision he had taken earlier in the season after settling on a part-time program is solidified in his mind; he would make this his last race at the Speedway. Qualifying is an interesting affair between the championship contenders, both of them qualify on the first day's run, but Andretti only 6th and Rahal 10th. The surprise package of Roberto Guerrero and the Lola-Buick shocks the paddock with an astonishing track record run to take the pole. Meanwhile, at the back of the field, a team makes a driver swap under the radar, sending the car to 33rd. The incoming driver being Scott Goodyear.
Race day dawns chilly and windy. Too chilly for the tires. On the second pace lap, the surprise pole sitter surprises everyone by crashing out exiting turn 2... behind the pace car! The damage is too great to continue, so the field loses its pole sitter before the green flag.
Right at the green, the Andrettis charge to the front at a furious pace. Then the first yellow falls due to a broken car. Mario pits with engine issues and leaves Michael at the front of the field. Then a crash for Tom Sneva starts to set the tone for the day: yellows breed yellows. 60 laps in, Michael has lapped everyone up to 4th place, but then... in the next 60 laps, only 9 of them were to be under green. Including two crashes for the other Andrettis in the race; Mario wrecks in turn 4 coming to a restart and suffers broken toes, while Jeff loses a wheel a few laps into a green-flag run and demolishes both his legs, while Michael has to circulate around and watch his family members being loaded into ambulances, injured. Meanwhile, another crash for Mears, as well as his teammate Fittipaldi at the same time, ends the champion's career at the Speedway on a sour note, but with no major injuries apart from a broken wrist.
Rahal keeps running around the fringes of the top 6, but after the long period of yellows he has to pit under green due to a puncture. With Andretti bossing the field at the front, leading lap after lap after lap after lap and seeming unstoppable, the championship seems to fall from Bobby's reach. Meanwhile, still in the top 3 but far behind the leaders, are two members of another racing family: the Unsers (both Al Sr and Al Jr). With about 15 laps to go, Rahal is sitting 7th, a lap down, with Al Sr having stopped and dropped back from his son who now sits in 2nd. Scott Goodyear has charged from 33rd to 3rd and is hunting down Al Jr for the lead.
Suddenly, with 12 laps to go, Paul Page starts screaming on the TV feed...
AND MICHAEL IS SLOWING! MICHAEL IS SLOWING DOWN!
A fuel pump fails on Andretti's car within sight of the flag! The Andretti curse strikes again, and this time there's more than an Indy 500 win that goes missing: the championship turns on its head too! From a safe lead and a pending championship win for Michael, Rahal is now 6th with Andretti out of the race, and this would give him the championship by 4 points!
But at the restart this is all left in the background. Goodyear is chasing Al Jr for all he's worth for the last 10 laps. The ABC and IMS Radio Network commentators are fully aware of the magnitude of what they are watching in terms of the Indy 500. Goodyear tries everything in the book, but Al Jr resists the pressure all the way.
And out of turn 4 they come for the 200th time, and Goodyear has a run, but it's too late. Al Jr wins the Indy 500 for the first time! And the margin of victory - 0.043 seconds. Closest finish in the history of the 500. Ever.
Yet on this day, the championship falls into the grasp of Bobby Rahal, who finishes 6th to overhaul Michael Andretti at the death. In the last 25 miles of the season.