Top 25 IndyCar drivers of all-time
By Asher Fair
Top IndyCar drivers of all-time: #6 – Rick Mears
Rick Mears is most known for becoming the third — and still the most recent — driver to take the checkered flag for a fourth time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he won the Indy 500 for three decades ago now back in 1991. His win in this race was his fourth in 13 years.
Of the three four-time winners of IndyCar’s greatest race, Mears secured his four victories in the fewest starts, competing in the race on only 15 occasions.
Save for maybe Bill Vukovich, whose dominance in the 1950s at Indianapolis was unmatched before his tragic passing, Mears deserves recognition as the greatest Indy 500 driver of all-time.
Not only does he have a record-tying four wins, but he also took a record six pole positions and 11 front row starts in just 15 attempts. This all came after his first attempt to qualify for the race in 1977 was unsuccessful!
While this list isn’t based solely on the Indy 500, Means had plenty of success outside of the speedway to justify himself as one of the top drivers IndyCar, not just the Indy 500, has ever seen.
The driver who many consider to be Team Penske’s greatest of all-time not just in IndyCar but in all forms of motorsport finished his career with 29 total victories and three championships. Only five drivers have ever managed to secure more in both categories, and not surprisingly, four of them are ranked in the top five in this article and have yet to be discussed.
Three of those four drivers, however, have combined for just two Indy 500 wins, and Mears won the race four times. But the other one also does happens to be another four-time Indy 500 winner. All things considered, “Rocket Rick” could easily be included in the top five.