Beyond the Flag
Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 13
Next
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MAY 24: Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia driver of the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet Dallara (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MAY 24: Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia driver of the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet Dallara (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

#7 – Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya is one of the 19 drivers who have won the Indianapolis 500 more than once, and he managed to break into that elite company in just three starts. To this day, he has only driven in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” five times.

In 863 career laps in the Indy 500, Montoya led 193 (22.36%) of them, a total that ranks 31st on the all-time Indy 500 laps led list despite the fact that he has only drive in the race five times.

Montoya first drove in the Indy 500 in 2000, and he started in 2nd place before going on to win the race after leading 167 of its 200 laps. He set a record, which is still a record to this day, for the most laps led in the race by a rookie.

But after one Indy 500, Montoya moved on and did not drive in the race for more than a decade. He very well could have retired from his Indy 500 career and been in elite company with Ray Harroun as the only two drivers in race history to drive in the race just one time and win it that one time.

However, after several years of driving full-time in Formula 1 and the NASCAR Cup Series, he opted to return to IndyCar in the 2014 season, and he drove in the Indy 500 once again for the first time in 14 years. He finished in 5th place after starting in 10th.

In 2015, Montoya won the Indy 500 for the second time in only three attempts. He won it after starting back in 15th place and after completing one of the biggest comebacks in Indy 500 history. He bounced back after he was forced to go to the back of the field after being run into and having the back of his car damaged under an early caution flag period.

By winning the race in 2015 for the second time after winning it for the first time in 2000, he set another record for most years between Indy 500 victories with 15. He crashed and finished in 33rd place in the race in 2016 and he finished in 6th in it in 2017.

Montoya is still technically an active driver, although he will not drive in this year’s Indy 500. If his Indy 500 career is over, which it still very well may not be, what a great career it was, especially since it only consisted of five races.