Ranking Every Indy 500 Winner since 2001
15. Buddy Rice
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The 2004 Indianapolis 500 was one of the most memorable in the race's history. Unfortunately for Buddy Rice, it was memorable for all of the wrong reasons. A massive storm, rain delay, and a tornado touching down near IMS after the race are all anyone seems to remember about that day. Despite the race not being one that is looked back fondly upon, Rice's victory was no doubt deserved. He started on pole for the 88th running, led 91 laps, and ended the month in victory circle after the race was called at lap 180. The combination of a rain shortened race and Buddy Rice only competing in the 500 4 other times makes him one of the most obscure and unlikely Indy 500 winners ever.
14. Marcus Ericsson
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No recency bias here as defending Indy 500 Champion Marcus Ericsson comes in at #14. While Ericsson is near the bottom of this list at the moment, I would not be surprised to see him much higher on this list by the time he calls it a career, with another win or being well within the realm of possibilities. Marcus has improved greatly during his short IndyCar career, with his career at Indianapolis almost mirroring his IndyCar career. At Indy, he has gone from spinning out by himself in the pits in his first Indy 500 (2019) to winning the race in dominating fashion down the stretch last year. Ericsson is an incredibly deserving Champion, but his win did come without having to defeat the two best cars on track last year, which happened to be his two Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou. Palou was taken out of contention by an incredibly unlucky caution, while Dixon committed a speeding penalty on his last stop of the race, pitting from the lead. A 3 car Ganassi shootout would have been epic last year and the Sneaky Swede beating his two teammates on pace wouldn't have surprised myself or anyone else who follows IndyCar at all.
13. Gil de Ferran
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To me, this is the most unknown driver on the list about how good he actually was at Indianapolis. Unfortunately for open wheel racing fans in America, the split happened in 1996 which split open wheel racing into two series (Cart and the Indy Racing League). CART got the good drivers and teams, while the IRL had the crown jewel of all of motorsports, the Indy 500. So despite Gil de Ferran being a pretty good driver, he only competed in the Indy 500 four times due to him being in CART from 1996-2001. When he returned to the speedway in 2001 after his first attempt in 1995, it was with the most dominant team in the history of IndyCar and the Indy 500, Team Penske. Penske had not entered the Indy 500 since 1995 either and their return saw a 1-2 team finish. De Ferran came home 2nd to his teammate, Helio Castroneves, and would see his teammate win again the next year while he finished 10th. De Ferran was able to seal the deal for himself in his final attempt at Indy, completing a 3 year run of Penske dominance at the speedway and putting the cherry on top of a great career for the Brazilian driver.
12. Sam Hornish Jr.
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This is a guy that should be much higher on the list. But at Indianapolis, it's about closing the deal. Just ask Tomas Scheckter, or... J.R. Hildebrand. Oh yeah, and that 19 year old rookie, Marco Andretti. Luckily for Hornish, his face is at least on the Borg Warner trophy and he was able to get 1 Indy 500 victory. Sam was always lightning quick at Indianapolis though, just year after year something would go wrong, whether it be his own fault or something out of his control. And nothing quite encapsulates Sam's Indianapolis 500 career better than his 2006 win. He was the fastest all month driving for Team Penske, started on the pole, and ran up front with Dan Wheldon all day long. But a pit road penalty would doom Hornish's chances with just 50 laps to go, sending him to the back of the field on a track notoriously hard to pass at. Thanks to some timely cautions and his raw speed, Sam found himself back inside the top 5 as the race would go back green with just 4 laps to go. He made his way around Michael Andretti with 3 to go for second and now the only man, or in this case, kid, standing in Sam's way of immortality was Marco Andretti. In arguably the most thrilling finish in 500 history at the time, Hornish would steal the victory away from Marco, passing him no more than 100 yards from the start finish line to claim the 90th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Motorsports. Sam only would run the 500 one more time the next year, shifting his career to NASCAR after 2007. Who knows how his career would have gone at Indy had he stayed in IndyCar, but for me it's really hard to imagine Hornish not winning at least one more Indy 500.
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay
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Starting with Hunter-Reay, positions 11-8 on this list were incredibly hard for me to choose who goes where. Hunter-Reay ends up drawing the short end of the stick due to having what I would call, a strange Indianapolis 500 career. He has competed in 14 Indy 500's, yet the results are surprisingly not that impressive. For the first part of his career he was not in a top car and that is hard to overcome in any race, let alone the most important race of the year. Once Hunter-Reay joined one of the top teams in IndyCar, Andretti Autosport, a realistic chance at an Indy 500 win was now in the cards for RHR. Things are never that easy at Indy though, and in Hunter-Reay's second year with Andretti in 2011 RHR missed the race entirely. Andretti Autosport ended up purchasing a car for RHR to race in from A.J. Foyt Racing that had qualified for the 95th running. A bumpy start to Hunter-Reay's Andretti career to say the least. His day in the sun only had to wait 3 more years however as RHR won in an epic duel 10 plus lap duel to the finish with Helio Castroneves. In 2016 and 2017 I believe Hunter-Reay had the fastest car and was the driver to beat both years. In 2016, he was taken out by his teammate Townsend Bell in a pit road incident and in 2017 he blew an engine. Two terrible finishes in his two best chances to get a second win through no fault of his own. That's the cruelty of Indy and part of what makes this race so incredibly difficult to win. After a year out of the car, it will be a very welcome sight to see Ryan Hunter-Reay back behind the wheel of an IndyCar at Indianapolis this year.
10. Simon Pagenaud
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Simon's career at Indy somewhat mirrors Ryan Hunter-Reays, a guy who went from a mid tier team to a top team and then won the Indy 500 without having much previous success at Indianapolis. When Simon first came to the speedway, he was far from an oval specialist, as a guy who fans looked at as a non contender no matter how good he was at the street circuits and road courses. Much like others before him that were once not super comfortable on ovals, Simon figured em' out, and driving for Team Penske it began to feel like only a matter of time before he would kiss the bricks. And that win would come in 2019 with Pagenaud completing the most impressive "new" month of May. He won the Indy GP, won the pole for the 500, and won the race. Only Will Power the year before had won both of the races, but Pagenaud adding the 500 pole makes this an achievement we very well may never see again. It's that impressive. He also led 116 of the 200 laps of the 103rd running. Since his win in 2019, Simon has had strong showings in 2021 and 2022 and has become a guy that gets the most out of his car each year at Indy.
9. Will Power
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Will Power is not a good IndyCar driver. He's not a great IndyCar driver. He's an amazing IndyCar driver. He's one of the greatest of all time. At Indy though? Ehh, it's a different story. For someone so fast everywhere else on the IndyCar calendar, Will Power has never been more than just good at Indianapolis. Clearly never bad, yet I don't feel like Power has ever done much at Indy outside of what his car is capable of. If he has a top ten car, that's where he'll finish, never getting much more out of it like he seems to do at all other tracks. This trend even continued the year he won. His car was on rails throughout the month of May and the 102nd running of the 500 was no different for him. He had the best car, dominated the race, and took the checkered flag in an almost too easy fashion. It was a long time coming and a well deserved win for a legend of the sport.
8. Alexander Rossi
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During the lead up to the Indy 500 each year the talk of who will win is a natural conversation amongst even the most casual of Indy 500 and IndyCar fans. A common phrase you will hear year in and year out during these discussions is "He's always strong here." This is about as high of a compliment you can give a driver at Indianapolis. It means they are expected to be a contender in the race and their performances in the greatest spectacle in racing are memorable. This phrase is reserved for the veterans of Indy, the ones who have proven their worth time and time again. With one exception. It feels like this simple phrase has been uttered about Alexander Rossi in May since his third race. After winning as a rookie on fuel strategy, Rossi has been extremely fast at Indianapolis every year since. And one the locals almost immediately latched onto as a driver you can never count out like I've never seen before. The only other exception I can recall was Helio Castroneves, who won his first two attempts at the 500. Rossi's win came because of fuel but he has proven without a shadow of a doubt that he is more than capable of winning the race on pace as well in the years since. Rossi owns probably the two most impressive non winning drives I've seen at the speedway in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Rossi started 32nd and finished 4th. He was the show that day. In what I consider the most boring Indy 500 since the DW12 chassis was introduced in 2012, Rossi entertained the 300,000 plus fans all day long. No one could pass all day long except him, and he did a lot of it on the high side on restarts, putting his car in places no one else dared to go. He followed that performance up the next year with a similar one, but this time it was in a fight for the win with eventual winner Simon Pagenaud. After having an awful pit stop late in the race, Rossi stormed back to the front, giving Oriol Servia a piece of his mind on the way there, and coming oh so close to getting win number 2 on the last lap of the race. Had he won that race, I would consider it the best drive I've seen at Indy. It was certainly the most entertaining. So here's to hoping we are blessed with many more years of Alexander Rossi driving like a man possessed around the 2.5 mile oval.
7. Scott Dixon
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Scott Dixon has led the most laps in the history of the Indianapolis 500. In 107 years of racing at Indy, no one has been in first place for more laps than Dixon. 665 laps to be exact. Yet somehow, the greatest driver of his generation has only led the final lap 1 time. Scott Dixon is the ultimate case study in how unfathonably challenging it is to win the Indy 500. Unlike the man above him on this list, Will Power, Scott Dixon is excellent everywhere including Indianapolis. He's unexplainably fast at the world's greatest race course, despite a 2nd victory eludeding him since he got his first in 2008. After blowing an almost sure victory in last year's 500, Dixon may just be destined to be this generation's Mario Andretti. And in my humble opinion, Dixon's struggles to win at Indianapolis are the same reasons why Dixon is such a great race car driver and so good everywhere else. He is an insanely smart and calculated driver who does just about everything perfect in the cockpit. Every lap, turn, and pit stop is measured and as close to perfect as any driver gets. Every race, without fail, he's the best. This driving style makes Dixon great at Indianapolis but not exceptional. Winning and being exceptionally great at Indy kind of takes a driver that throws caution to the wind and doesn't think about the consequences. Dixon will never be that type of driver and I believe that has been the difference between him and glory at the speedway multiple times, especially in recent years. Dixon getting his likeness on the Borg Warner trophy a second time would be awesome to see and personally I do hope the greatest race car driver I've ever had the pleasure to watch can get it done another time.
6. Takuma Sato
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No attack. No chance. Some guys just take to Indy, and Takuma Sato may be the ultimate example of this. If this list were ranked based on each driver's ability at Indianapolis compared to how good of a driver they are anywhere else, Sato is far and away number one. Many would argue I have him ranked too low on this list at number 6. Takuma Sato is an average IndyCar driver. That's not a dig at him, it's just a fact as the statistics will bear that out over his career. At Indy though, the guy is an all time great. The final five names on this list are legends of the speedway and I think it's safe to include Takuma in their company as well after everything he has done at the speedway. Sato is so great at Indy because of his personal motto, no attack, no chance. I don't think you can have a much better motto than that at Indy, you have to just go for it and put all other thoughts out of your head. No one does it better. He may be the bravest driver of his generation, oftentimes too brave for his own good and unfortunately at times has risked the safety of other drivers. That's kind of what it takes to be great at Indianapolis though. And the speedway has rewarded him with two victories after his daring last lap pass on Dario Franchitti in 2012 went awry. This year may very well be Sato's last Indy 500, and if it is, I'll miss seeing him do the unthinkable in an IndyCar every May. We may never see another driver quite like him.
5. Tony Kanaan
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Tony freakin' Kanaan. In the 107 year history of the Indianapolis 500, I'm not sure any driver has ever embraced the city, the fans, and the race like Tony Kanaan has. His passion for Indy has made him the ultimate fan favorite over the years. The love affair between TK and the fans has been incredible to witness and be a part of for the last two decades. It wasn't always like this though. Kanaan first came to the speedway in 2002 with virtually no fans in Indianapolis. He was just a young Brazilian driver who very few Indy 500 spectators had even heard of. He crashed out of that 2002 500, finishing in 28th. A third place finish in 2003 and a runner up in 2004 made Tony Kanaan a household name to fans at the corner of 16th and Georgetown road. Year after year it was Kanaan's year to kiss the bricks, until it wasn't. Whether a crash due to his own mistake or someone else just being a little better, each year was heartbreak for TK. But he came back each year with a smile on his face, loving the race, city, and fans more each year. By the time 2013 had rolled around, TK had somewhat accepted that a 500 win may just not be part of his legacy. He seemed strangely at peace with that, despite wanting it as much as anyone ever has, and the fans wanting it for him more than anyone in a long long time. So when Kanaan took the lead on the 2013 race's final restart at lap 197, it felt like only a matter of time before heartbreak would strike again. Almost as soon as TK took the lead though, Dario Franchitti hit the wall and would bring out a caution, simultaneously ending the race with Kanaan in the lead. No one ever wants to see a race end under caution, especially the Indianapolis 500. This finish was somehow perfectly fitting however. Kanaan got a 3 lap salute from the fans under the caution, while he got to soak in his accomplishment in the cockpit, saluting the fans that had given him so much love over the years. The conclusion to one of the most special relationships between athlete and spectators that will ever be witnessed in any sport. There may not be a dry eye at IMS during driver intros when TK is introduced for his final Indianapolis 500. Tony Kanaan is the eptimoe of Indy. He will forever be loved and never forgotten. A true legend of Indianapolis.
4. Dario Franchitti
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I have very clear thoughts about how I feel about all the drivers on this list and their accomplishments at Indianapolis. Except Dario. Was he incredible at Indianapolis? Yes. Was he incredibly lucky at Indianapolis? Also yes. To say Dario is undeserving of his three Indy 500 victories would be disrespectful in the highest regard. Luck is part of this race. Part of what makes it so fun and so great. With that being said, of his three 500 victories, two of them were extremely lucky. His first came in 2007 in a rain shortened race after 166 laps. He had one of the best cars all day long and very well might have won had the race gone green to the finish. In 2010 he was running out of fuel on the last lap when a caution came out, saving us from ever knowing if Dan Wheldon would have passed him coming to the checkered flag or not. On that day in 2010, he led 155 of 200 laps, yet winning the race came down to some luck after a dominant day. 2012 saw another dominant day from Franchitti that ended in controversial fashion. In my opinion though, Dario did everything right and there was zero luck involved in his third win. He's one of the best IndyCar drivers of all time and his career at Indianapolis was no different. The Scottsman's place in 4th on this list may be only because he almost made dominating the Indy 500 look too easy. So impressive it felt unimpressive. Like it was just routine for Dario. He was that good of a driver.
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
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There are greats. There are all time greats. And then there are once in a generation talents. Juan Pablo Montoya is a once in a generation talent. His career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was no different, he was special. In his debut as a rookie in 2000, Montoya led 167 laps and cruised to victory. Like a big leaguer hitting off a little league pitcher, it just wasn't a fair fight. Montoya didn't return to the speedway again until 2014 after stints in Formula 1 and NASCAR. He won races in both series, and was notably very fast at Indy in a NASCAR as well. He came back like he had never left, finishing 5th in his first 500 since that dominating day in 2000. The following year Juan won the 500 for a second time in three tries. And as impressive as his first victory was when he drubbed the field, this one may have been an even greater achievement. After an early on-track incident with Simona de Silvestro that sent him to last place on track, Juan spent the rest of the afternoon charging through the field, refusing to be denied. By the time he reached the front late in the race, his two final challengers to victory were the two best IndyCar drivers of the last 20 years, Will Power and Scott Dixon. Dixon was no match and Montoya would outduel his Team Penske teammate Power, passing him for good with just 4 laps remaining. Montoya only raced in two more 500s as a full time driver, finishing 33rd in 2016 and 6th in 2017. Had JPM spent his entire career in IndyCar I think we are talking about the first 5 time winner of the 500 and the most accomplished driver in series history. That probably sounds like some insane hyperbole to most, but I do believe that he was that great in an IndyCar.
2. Dan Wheldon
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How do you even write about and try to explain to someone what Dan Wheldon was like behind the wheel of an IndyCar at Indianapolis without them being there? In life, some things you just have to be there for. The stories, pictures, videos, whatever the case may be will never do them justice, it's those things that "you just had to be there" for. Dan Wheldon at Indianapolis was something you just had to be there to understand. He won the 2005 Indy 500 in only his third start, in one of the most exciting Indy 500's ever. A year later he led 148 laps, though failed to go back to back. After an up and down IndyCar career with top teams Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing, Dan found himself driving for mid pack team Panther Racing in 2009. Dan drove that mid pack team to a second place finish in the 2009 Indy 500. Then he did it again the following year in 2010. At this point, a fortune teller could have told me Dan Wheldon would drive the Marmon Wasp at the 2011 Indy 500 and would bring home a top 5 finish, and I would have believed em without a second thought about it. But if a fortune teller would have told me what actually would happen in 2011, I wouldn't have believed them. Not for a second. But sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. Dan Wheldon won the 2011 Indianapolis 500. He didn't win it with that mid pack team, Panther Racing, though. Dan was let go from that ride at the conclusion of the 2010 season. He didn't get picked up by a top team for 2011 either. In fact, he didn't get picked up at all. Dan Wheldon was not a full time IndyCar driver for the 2011 season. Dan found his way back to the speedway with a team competing in only the Indy 500, Bryan Herta Austosport with support from Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Wheldon drove a great race for the team, running in the top 10 all day but never having the outright speed to compete with the top teams for the win that day. A fuel saving finish would put Wheldon in 2nd place in the final laps of the race, coming up just one spot short again. As the white flag flew, he would trail rookie J.R. Hildebrand, who had replaced Dan at Panther Racing for the 2011 season. The car he had driven back to back second place finishes was now going to finish the job with another driver behind the wheel. Again though, reality is sometimes stranger than fiction. Hildebrand hit the wall on the final turn of the race and Dan went screaming by, through lapped traffic, and beat a limping Hildebrand to the line. The most exciting 500 finish ever in my opinion. Dan laid on the yard of bricks after the race, on his back, hands in the air, exploding with joy and gratitude. Wheldon never got to see the speedway again after that day. His win in the 500 meant some extra funding for the team, funding that was used to enter the 2011 IndyCar Series finale at Las Vegas Motorspeedway. Dan was tragically killed in a crash in the race, his first race since the Indy 500. Reality. Stranger than fiction. Dan Wheldon will never be forgotten. And he will forever be loved at Indianapolis. RIP Lionheart.
1. Helio Castroneves
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Is there even a debate? He's the GOAT at Indianapolis. For this generation at least. My first Indy 500 as a fan was in 2001. Helio's first Indy 500 as a driver was in 2001. His first 500 win came that same year. Twenty-two years have now passed and I'll be in the stands in the same spot I was in 2001 for my twenty-second Indy 500. For Helio, year twenty-three (Damn Covid). And all these years later, the best driver at Indianapolis for my twenty-second Indy 500 will be the same driver who was the best at my first. Spiderman. Since his first laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Helio Castroneves has been on another level at the speedway. He won his first two Indy 500's in 2001 and 2002, becoming the first to win back to back 500s since Al Unser Sr. in 1970-71. No one has gone back to back since. In 2003 he didn't win the race, but he qualified on the pole in one of the most insane drives in the history of motorsports. With winds howling at 25 mph on a frigid 57 degree May day, Helio went out and put down a 4 lap average of 231.725 mph to earn pole for the 87th Running. Most drivers didn't even consider going on track that day. 2009 brought a third win and Helio Castroneves becoming the 4th member of the 4 time winners club at Indianapolis seemed almost certain. Close calls in 2014 and 2017 all but sealed the deal on that dream becoming reality for Helio. As we all know though, that dream did become reality. At age 46, Castroneves' greatest day at the speedway had still not come yet. Driving his first race at Indianapolis for a team other than Team Penske, Helio joined the 4 time winners club on May 30th, 2001. I don't know if it will ever hit me that that day actually happened. It's so unreal. A 46 year old won the Indy 500 driving for a team that had never won a race before. Let alone the biggest race in the world. And two years later, that team hasn't won again, nor does it look like they ever will find victory lane again at any race. For my full thoughts on the 2021 Indy 500, they're all here at https://brandon-preda.blogspot.com/2022/05/it-really-happened.html. He's THE legend for those of us who didn't get to see the Andrettis, the Foyts, the Mears, and the Unsers. It's been an absolute honor to watch Helio race at Indianapolis over the years, and who knows, maybe he still has one more magical day in store for us at the world's greatest race course.
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