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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INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 24: The likeness of 1911 race winner Ray Harroun adorns the Borg Warner Trophy (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 24: The likeness of 1911 race winner Ray Harroun adorns the Borg Warner Trophy (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images) /

Ray Harroun

Ray Harroun only drove in one Indianapolis 500 race, but he is a legend in many ways as a result of his result in that one race. He drove in the inaugural Indy 500 way back in 1911, and he ended up winning it by roughly 103 seconds after it lasted for over six hours and 42 minutes.

Harroun led 88 of the 200 laps in that race, which would end up being the only 200 laps that he ended up driving in the Indy 500, giving him a 44% percentage of Indy 500 led, a percentage that ranks second among one-time Indy 500 champions.

Harroun is the only driver who has ever driven in just one Indy 500 and won it. In fact, he is the only driver who has driven in any number of Indy 500 races and won 100% of them, and he did it in the first ever edition of what has become known as the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

Harroun’s starting position of 28th place in that race is still tied for the lowest starting position of an Indy 500 winner in race history.

Frank Lockhart

Frank Lockhart only drove in two Indy 500 races. He won his first Indy 500 race in 1926 after starting in 20th place, and he finished in 18th in the 1927 race after starting from the pole position and having a rod issue that prevented him from finishing the race.

Lockhart is an honorable mention in this article as a result of the fact that his percentage of Indy 500 laps led is the highest of all-time. He led well over half of the laps in both of his career Indy 500 races.

In 1926, Lockhart led 95 of the race’s 160 laps, and in 1927, he led 110 of the 120 laps he completed before being prevented from continuing thanks to the aforementioned rod issue his car experienced.

In 280 career laps in the Indy 500, Lockhart led 205 (73.21%) of them, a total that ranks 30th on the all-time Indy 500 laps led list, which is impressive given the fact that he only drove in the race twice and finished it once. That percentage of 73.21% ranks first on the all-time percentages of Indy 500 laps led list.