Beyond the Flag
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Indy 500: Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS - MAY 27: Helio Castroneves, driver of the #3 Team Penske Dallara Honda, leads a pack of cars at the start of the IRL IndyCar Series 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27, 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS - MAY 27: Helio Castroneves, driver of the #3 Team Penske Dallara Honda, leads a pack of cars at the start of the IRL IndyCar Series 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27, 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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14 Apr 1991: Rick Mears in action during the Long Beach Indy Grand Prix in California, USA. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell/Allsport
14 Apr 1991: Rick Mears in action during the Long Beach Indy Grand Prix in California, USA. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell/Allsport /

#1 – Rick Mears

Rick Mears is one of only three four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500. Of those three drivers, Mears won his four Indy 500 in the fewest attempts, as he drove in the race 15 times and won it for the fourth time in his 14th attempt. Both of those statistics show that he was able to do more in a shorter amount of time than the other two four-time winners of the race.

Mears holds the all-time Indy 500 poles record with six. In 2,342 career laps in the Indy 500, he led 429 (18.32%) of them, a total that ranks 12th on the all-time list.

As referenced above, Mears only drove in the Indy 500 a total of 15 times, yet he managed to win it four times. Of the 10 drivers who have won the race at least three times, Mears’ win percentage of 26.67% (four out of 15) is the second highest.

Mears also finished in 2nd place in the 1981 Indy 500, and he finished just 0.160 seconds behind race winner Gordon Johncock. If not for that 0.160-second span, Mears could be the lone five-time Indy 500 champion.

Mears made his unofficial Indy 500 debut in 1977, as he failed to qualify for the race. He made his official debut in the race in 1978 when he qualified in 3rd place, but an engine failure caused him to finish back in 23rd.

Next year in 1979, however, Mears started the Indy 500 from the pole position and went on to win it for the first time. He started the race from the pole position again in 1982, but he finished in 2nd place, as referenced above. He failed to win it again until 1984 after starting in 3rd place.

Mears started the Indy 500 from the pole position again in the 1986 race, but he was unable to win, as he finished in 3rd place. He won the Indy 500 for the third time in 1988 after starting from the pole position for the fourth time.

Mears started from the pole position in the 1989 Indy 500, but an engine failure caused him to finish back in 23rd place, much like it did in the 1978 race after he started in 3rd. He started from the pole position for the sixth and final time in the 1991 Indy 500 before winning the race for the fourth and final time.