IndyCar: Will Indy 500 see 9th different winner in last 9 seasons?

By Asher Fair | May 22, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 27: Dario Franchitti of Scotland, driver of the #50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, pours the victory milk over his head in victory lane in celebration of winning the IZOD IndyCar Series 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

Eight different drivers have won the Indy 500 in the last eight IndyCar seasons. Will the race feature a ninth different winner in the last nine seasons this year?

Entering the 2019 IndyCar season, one race featured different winners in each of the last eight seasons. This race just so happened to be the Indianapolis 500, the crown jewel of the IndyCar schedule, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it is scheduled to take place this Sunday, May 26.

Before reaching the most recent driver to win the historic 200-mile race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana twice, you have to go all the way back to the 2010 season.

Dario Franchitti won this race to become a two-time Indy 500 winner, and he wont it under caution after earning his first career Indy 500 victory in the 91st running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” three years prior under caution as well. He also won the 96th running of the race in 2012 to become the 10th driver to win it at least three times.

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As a result, from the 2011 season through the 2018 season, no driver has won this race more than once.

The late Dan Wheldon led only one lap of the 2011 Indy 500. In fact, he led the race for mere seconds, but he led its final seconds after J.R. Hildebrand crashed with the lead in the final turn on the final lap. After starting in sixth place, he won it under caution over Hildebrand in second.

Franchitti, as discussed above, won the race in 2012 to become a three-time winner of it after winning it in 2007 and 2010 as well. After starting in 16th place and dropping to the back of the pack as a result of a minor early crash in the pits, he led 23 laps and avoided a spinning Takuma Sato on the final lap as Sato attempted to take the lead from him. He won it under caution over teammate Scott Dixon in second.

After a record-setting Indy 500 that featured 68 lead changes, fan-favorite and regular Indy 500 contender Tony Kanaan finally got to victory lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after starting in 12th place and leading 34 laps. He won the race under caution over Carlos Munoz in second.

Ryan Hunter-Reay held off three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves to win the 98th running of the race in 2014 by just 0.0600 seconds, the second closest winning margin in race history, after starting in 19th place and leading a race-high 56 laps.

In just his second Indy 500 start since he won the race in his first attempt in 2000, Juan Pablo Montoya found himself in 30th place early on after starting in 15th, as he was hit by Simona de Silvestro during an early caution flag period. That did not stop him from leading nine laps and winning the race by 0.1046 seconds over teammate Will Power in second.

Alexander Rossi gave a whole new meaning to the words “clutch and coast” by winning the Indy 500 in the 2016 season, his rookie season, at the slowest non-caution pace in a long, long time. He saved just enough fuel to hold off a hard-charging Munoz, who went from roughly half a lap behind Rossi in second place to just 4.4975 seconds behind him at the end of the race. Rossi started the race in 11th.

Sato got redemption for the crash that arguably cost him the victory in the 2012 Indy 500 by holding off Castroneves by 0.2011 seconds in second place to win the 2017 Indy 500 after starting in fourth and leading 17 laps. These two drivers were two of the record 15 different leaders of this race.

After years of frustration, Power broke through with his strongest Indy 500 performance in the 102nd running of the race in 2018, as he led 59 laps after starting in third place before going on to win it by 3.159 seconds over Ed Carpenter in second place, the largest margin of victory for the race (sans Rossi’s fuel-saving-induced margin of victory) since Montoya won it by 7.184 seconds in 2000. Power and Carpenter were two of the record 15 different leaders of this race.

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

Will this year’s Indianapolis 500, which is the sixth of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, feature a ninth different winner in the last nine seasons? Tune in to NBC at 11:00 a.m. ET this Sunday, May 26 to find out.