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, IN – MAY 29: Al Unser Sr. drives the Marmon Wasp (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MAY 29: Al Unser Sr. drives the Marmon Wasp (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

#9 – Al Unser

Al Unser is one of only three four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500. Of those three drivers, Unser drove in the race the second highest number of times and it took him the second highest number of races to win the race for the fourth time.

In 4,356 career laps in the Indy 500, Unser led 644 (14.78%) of them, a total that ranks first on the all-time Indy 500 laps led list.

Unser drove in the Indy 500 a total of 27 times over the course of his career. He did so for the first time in 1965. He qualified for that race in 32nd place and made it all the way into the top 10 by the end of it for a 9th place finish.

After driving in the race four times, Unser missed the event in 1969 due to a motorcycle accident. However, he returned to the race the following year in 1970. He qualified on the pole for that race , which would end up being his lone career Indy 500 pole position, and he went on to win it for the first time.

In 1971 after starting the Indy 500 in 5th place, Unser would go on to win it again, becoming the fourth driver to ever win the race two years in a row. He would not win the race again until 1978, when he started also started in 5th.

Unser won his fourth and final Indy 500 in 1987 in his 22nd career entry in the race after starting all the way back in 20th place. He ended up competing in the race five more times before retiring. In 1991, an entry failed to materialize for him, so he was unable to qualify, and in 1994, he also failed to qualify for the race.