100th Indy 500: Ten Best Races

Closest Indy 500 Finish Ever - Little Al beats Scott Goodyear by .043 seconds

10.  1986:  Redemption Lost.  Kevin Cogan was seeking to redeem himself from 1982 when he became a race pariah, crashing before the green flag and taking out AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti in the process. Cogan dominated the late stages of the race and seemed to be on his way to Victory Lane when a late race crash brought out the yellow. When the green flag waved with only three laps left, Bobby Rahal got a tremendous start and passed Cogan going into Turn 1. Cogan could not keep up and Rahal won his only race, dedicating the win to his terminally ill car owner and friend Jim Trueman. Cogan never again came close.

9. 2015:  Teammates.  After a late race caution, the race restarted on lap 184. Will Power led, followed closely by teammate Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Dixon. The last 13 laps saw the lead exchange hands four times among them, but Dixon faded. With four laps remaining, Montoya passed teammate Power on the outside of Turn 1. The teammates raced nose to tail, but Montoya held off Power to win his second Indianapolis 500 .  

8.  2014:  Grass to Pass.  Great race all day came down to Ryan Hunter-Raey seeking his first win and Helio Castroneves seeking history with a fourth win. They traded the lead several times in the final laps, including an incredible pass by Hunter-Raey going into Turn 3, his left wheels touching the grass. But it was Hunter-Raey's pass as he and Castroneves took the white flag that sealed his win.

7. 2012: Last Lap Bonzai.  Four car late race battle between Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Takuma Sato driving for A.J. Foyt. But as they took the white flag it was Franchitti and dark horse Sato. Sato attempted a pass, going low in Turn 1. Their wheels touched. Sato spun, but Franchitti managed to control his sliding car, taking the checkered flag under yellow.

6.  1989:  The Wheel Touch.  Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser, Jr. engaged in a furious wheel-to-wheel duel in the last laps of the race. On lap 198, the pair went through Turn 3 side by side. But Fittipaldi's rear end slid out and contacted Unser's wheels, sending Unser into the wall. Fittipaldi regained control of his car and won under yellow. On the white flag lap, as Fittipaldi passed the accident site he was greeted by a gesturing Little Al standing in the middle of the track. Unser called it "the greatest slide job in history."

5.  1992:  Closes Finish Ever.  Michael Andretti dominated the 1992 500, leading 160 laps. But Andretti's car rolled to a stop with 11 laps left.  Only one lap earlier, Al Unser Jr. passed Scott Goodyear for second place. After the yellow to retrieve Andretti's stalled car, the green flag came out with 7 laps left. Unser and Goodyear battled nose to tail until the finish, with Unser holding off Goodyear's last second pass attempt at the checkered flag by 0.043 seconds, still the closest finish in Indy 500 history.

4.   2011:  Last Corner Crash.  On the 100th Anniversary of the first race, it appeared that rookie J.R. Hildebrand was going to give long-time Panther Racing owner John Barnes his first win. But it wasn't in the cards. Passing a slower car in Turn 4 with the checkered flag in sight, Hildebrand got too hight in the turn and brushed hard against the wall. As his crippled car mades its way down the main straight, Dan Weldon passed Hildebrand to win his second Indianapolis 500. Often lost in the events of Turn 4 is the amazing job Weldon did in the last 10 laps, going from 7th place to 1st. Hildebrand finished second, the fourth straight runner up finish for Panther Racing.  

3.  2006:  Latest Pass Ever.  This race came down rookie Marco Andretti and Sam Hornish driving for Penske, who had made up a lap he lost in a pit stop incident. In Turn 3 on lap 198, Hornish tried a pass, but Marco cut him off with the poise of a veteran. Hornish had to back out of the throttle, and Marco opened what seemed to be an insurmountable lead as he took the while flag. But Hornish kept charging, and through Turn 4 and onto the main straight, Hornish was closing at a furious rate. He passed Marco in the last quarter mile, the latest pass for a win in Indy 500 history.

2. 1960:  Wheel to Wheel for 100 Laps.   For 100 laps defending champion Roger Ward and three-time runner up Jim Rathmann  dueled wheel to wheel, keeping the entire Speedway crowd on its feet for the last half of the race. Official records show 29 lead changes, a record for the time. But records at that time reflected a lead change only at the start/finish line. Many laps saw multiple exchanges of leads between Rathmann and Ward on the same lap that were not recorded. The duel did not break off until lap 197 when Ward saw cords showing through on his tires. He slowed to prevent a blowout, and Rathmann won by 12 seconds. 

1. 1982:  The Greatest Race Ever.  Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears battled over the last 40 laps of the race. Mears came in for his last pit stop with 18 laps left. He came up too fast on another pitting car, slamming on his brakes but still bumping the car. It slowed his pit time. Two laps later, Johncock roared into the pits, even passing another car on pit lane (there were no pit speed limits at that time). As a result, Johncock came out with an 11 second lead. Most thought the race was over, but Mears' car was running on rails and Johncock's car was developing serious handling problems on worn tires. Over the final 10 laps, Mears kept moving closer and closer as Johncock drove to the very edge, coming extremely close to crashing in Turn 3. When they took the white flag, they were side-by-side. But Johncock cutoff Mears as they dived into Turn 1. Mears had to back off, giving Johncock the lead. But Mears kept closing, making a final effort to slingshot by at the finish line, falling just 0.16 seconds short.