For the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, here are my selections for the all-time Indy 500 starting field.
Row 1:
Rick Mears: 4 time winner; record 6 pole positions
Wilbur Shaw: 3 time winner, and nearly four in a row. Convinced Tony Hulman to buy the Speedway, and served as its President
Row 2:
Bill Vukovich: In short career, 2-time winner, but nearly won 4 in a row; killed while leading in 1955. The stuff of legends.
Al Unser, Sr.: 4 time winner; record top 5 finishes.
Bobby Unser: 3 time winner; 9 times started on the front row.
Row 3:
Helio Castroneves: 3 time winner, including his first two 500s; close second twice.
Mario Andretti: Only one win, but a Speedway icon. Hampered with bad luck to point that "Mario is slowing down" became an Indy catch phrase.
Johnny Rutherford: 3 time winner dominated in 1970s through mid-1980s.
Row 4:
Louis Meyer: First 3-time winner; started tradition of drinking milk in Victory Lane; later his engineering firm provided the mighty Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engines that dominated Indycar's roadster era.
Jim Clark: Only 5 races, with one win and two seconds. Shy Scotsman changed the Indy 500, driving successful rear-engine car in 1963, and leading a wave of European drivers to Indy.
Dario Franchiti: Another Scottsman, won 3 times in 5 years, including the epic battle with Takuma Sato in 2012. Only disappointment -- he never took the checkered flag when the race was under green.
Row 5:
Al Unser, Jr.: 2 time winner continued the Unser legacy, winning the closest 500 ever and losing out in a wheel-to-wheel duel with Emerson Fittipaldi
Roger Ward: 2 time winner. Between 1959 and 1964, he never finished worse than fourth.
Juan Pablo Montoya: 2 time winner, his wins separated by 15 years.
Row 6:
Parnelli Jones: "Rufus" only raced at Indy seven times, breaking the 150 mph barrier in 1962, and winning in 1963. He had victory in sight in 1967, driving the STP turbine, but a $2 part failed with only 3 laps left. He never drove at Indy again.
Mauri Rose: 3 time winner, co-driving the winning car in 1941. Career interrupted during its peak by WWII, when there was no Indy 500 for four years.
Ralph DePalma: The first great legend at the 500. He lead 196 laps in 1912 only to have his car break down with just over 1 lap to go. He and his mechanic pushed the car to the start/finish line, but they were still a lap short. He returned to win the 1915 race.
Row 7:
Dan Weldon: Popular 2-time winner, including 2011 race when race leader JR Hildebrand crashed on the last turn of the last lap. Tragically killed in a 15 car crash later that year
Gordon Johncock: Often underrated driver. Winner of the race no one wanted to remember (1973) and the race no one could forget (1982 duel with Rick Mears).
Tommy Milton: First 2 time winner (1921, 1923)
Row 8:
Emerson Fittipaldi: 2 time winner and 2 time World Driving Champion.
Arie Luyendyk: Popular 2 time winner, he still holds the track record for qualifying some 20 years later.
Jim Rathmann: Three times second place, he finally won in 1960 after a 100-lap wheel-to-wheel duel with Roger Ward. Many race historians consider it the greatest Indianapolis 500 ever.
Row 9:
Scott Dixon: 2008 Indy 500 winner and 4 time Indycar national champion. And he's not done.
Mark Donohue: Roger Penke's first driver. His short Indy career changed the sport, making engineering as important as driving. Winner in 1972
Tony Kanaan: His 2013 win was one of the most popular ever at the Indy 500, following more than a decade of constantly leading and coming close.
Row 10:
Michael Andretti: Only non-winner on the list. He has led more laps than any other non-winner, but he continued the terrible Andretti luck at the Speedway, including the 1992 race when he led 160 laps before his car failed in the lead with only 11 laps left.
Jimmy Murphy: Won both the Indy 500 (1922) and the French Grand Prix, making clear that American drivers could compete world wide.
Billy Arnold: Won in 1930 by largest margin ever, leading 198 laps.
Row 11:
Ray Harroun: Won first Indy 500, then promptly retired. The legend of his rear view mirror continues to this day.
Frank Lockhart: Only raced twice at Indy, winning the race in his rookie year (1926), then winning the pole the following year and leading 110 laps before mechanical problems sidelined him. He was killed attempting a land speed record at Daytona Beach before he could race at Indy again.
Bill Holland: A rookie at age 41, in his first three races he drove Lou Moore's Blue Crown Spark Plug Special to second, second and first. Many maintain he should have won twice, but teammate Maury Rose ignored an "EZ" sign from the pits while Holland obeyed. When Rose passed Holland late in the race, Holland thought Rose was simply unlapping himself and that he (Holland) still had the race in hand. Holland even waived at his teammate as he passed. But Rose was actually taking the lead and the win.
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