In 1992, Roberto Guerrero, seen here with his Lola T92/00 Buick, became the first driver in the illustrious history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to officially break the 230-mph barrier.
Driver Profiles

Roberto Guerrero: An Honor to Race There

Roberto Guerrero remembers earning the pole position, breaking the 230-mph barrier and other key events in his racing career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On May 9th, 1992, Roberto Guerrero earned the pole position for the 76th running of the Indianapolis 500-mile race. Piloting a Buick-powered Lola T92/00 for King Motorsports, the 33-year-old Colombian became the first man in Speedway history to officially break the 230-mph barrier as he set new track records for single-lap average (232.618 mph) and four lap average (232.482 mph) for the four-lap, ten-mile run into the record books.

Guerrero would be the only driver in the 33-car starting field to record all four qualification laps over the 230 mph barrier as the 1984 Indianapolis “500” Co-Rookie of the Year award winner would log what would prove to be the sixth and final pole position of his Indy-car career.

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Casey M. Annis is the Founder and Editor of Vintage Road & Racecar magazine, as well as Editor of Alfa Owner, The Oily Rag and BMW Ultimate Classic magazines. He founded Parabolica Publishing in 1997 after a career in neurobiology. Along with his passion for automobiles, Casey is a long distance open-ocean paddleboard racer who’s competed over 10 times in the 32-mile Catalina to Manhattan Beach race and the 32-mile Molokai to Oahu race. Casey still contributes and writes about the world of vintage road and racecars and edits and curates the content for this website.
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