Rick Mears announced his retirement in speech at the Team Penske dinner in December 1992, one week after he turned 40. It came at the end of an unusually torrid year for the man who had only the previous season cemented his status at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a memorable triumph over Michael Andretti to join A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr as a four-time Indy 500 winner.
But his 1992 season, aside from a runner-up finish at the season-opening race at Surfers Paradise, had been a washout for Mears. He broke a bone in his foot and sprained his wrist in a huge accident practicing for the 500, after a loose hose sprayed a rear tyre with coolant. Come the race, he got caught up in someone else’s shunt which further damaged the bones and ligaments in his wrist, obliging him to wear a brace.
