Field of 33 Best Non-Winners at Indianapolis 500

In this year’s “Month of May” series, on each day leading up to the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, a different topic about the race or about Indianapolis will be discussed. Each of these topics will be ranked to create special “fields of 33” regarding the Indy 500. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you learn something about Indianapolis and the Indy 500, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Some inherit a family curse. Some just appear to be cursed on their own. And some come close time and time again but cannot seem to find their way to Victory Lane to drink that legendary milk. It’s not difficult to fill a field of 33 unbelievably great drivers who never got to be called Indy 500 champion. So here’s the best of the rest: The Field of 33 Best Non-Winners to race in the Indianapolis 500.

Row 11

33. Sebastien Bourdais won four consecutive CART/Champ Car championships and raced in Formula One for a couple of years. Now he’s full-time in IndyCar. He only has two career starts in the Indy 500, but in terms of best drivers to compete in the 500, he’s tough to beat.

32. J.R. Hildebrand finished second in his rookie year at the Indy 500. If not for a crash in turn four on the last lap, he would have become the ninth rookie to win the Indianapolis 500. He seems destined to win one someday after that.

31. Ryan Briscoe has five career top ten starts and three top ten finishes in his Indy 500 career, including sitting on pole last year. He’s one of the best on ovals in the series who has yet to get a 500 win.

Row 10

30. Marco Andretti nearly missed a trip to Victory Lane in his rookie year in 2006. At 19-years-old, he would have been the youngest to win the Indy 500. In seven career starts at Indy, he started in the top ten 5 times and finished in the top three on 3 occasions (’06, ’08, ’10).  

29. Roberto Guerrero is no stranger to heartbreak. He finished fourth or better in each of his first four starts, including two runner-up finishes. His car stalled in the pits while leading in the 1987 race, losing his huge lead and allowing Al Unser to win his fourth. He also started on pole in 1992, but crashed on the pace lap.

28. Bill Vukovich II had three top-three finishes in a four year span (’71-’74) including a second place finish in 1973. He only led one career lap, but was always a threat to win, like his father.

Row 9

27. Jim McElreath surprisingly enough never led a lap at Indianapolis in his 15 career starts. But he was always seen near the top of the scoring pylon, finishing in the top six a total of 6 times.

26. Takuma Sato was a great Formula One racer who made the transition to IndyCar in 2010. His best career finish in the Indianapolis 500 is 17th last year, but that doesn’t describe just how great of a race he ran. Sato was in second place when the white flag flew, dove to the inside of leader Dario Franchitti in turn one. Sato lost the rear end of the car and hit the wall. Instead of a top three finish or a possible victory, Sato had to finish near the middle of the pack. He enters this year’s race as the series points leader and a favorite to win the 500.

25. Mike Mosley was always competitive at Indianapolis, but somehow only managed a third-place best finish in 1979.

Row 8

24. Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500 in 1977. She finished a career best 9th a year later. That record held until Danica Patrick’s fourth place finish in 2005.

23. Kevin Cogan widely gets a bad name for his 1982 front row accident that knocked out Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt. People forget how consistently fast he was during his career, including that start in the middle of row 1 in just his second career race.

22. Eddie Sachs started on pole in two of his eight career Indy 500s and on the front row two other times. If it weren’t for his fatal accident in 1964, he might be on the list of winners and not non-winners.

Row 7

21. Nigel Mansell is a former Formula One World Champion who made his first career oval start in the 1993 Indy 500. He led that race with only 15 laps left, but was passed on the restart by eventual winner Emerson Fittipaldi and eventually finished third. Mansell only ever made two career Brickyard starts, leading 34 laps.

20. Danny Ongais was certainly Danny “On-The-Gas” during his Brickyard career. His best career finish was fourth in his 11 total starts at Indy. He might be most notable for his terrible crash in 1981 or his practice crash in 1987 that forced him to vacate his ride. Al Unser took over his seat and drove to Victory Lane.

19. Tony Bettenhausen finished in the top four three times in the 1950s. He was a fan favorite over his 14 years at Indy whose life and career were cut short due to a crash in 1961 at Indianapolis.

Row 6

18. Jimmy Vasser had three top-ten finishes in his Indy 500 career. His best racing years came from 1996-2000 when he participated in CART and away from the IRL and the 500. If he had been part of the IRL, he likely would have been a 500 winner.

17. Gary Bettenhausen was limited in his IndyCar career due to a partially paralyzed left arm. He led 138 laps in 1972 before his engine blew. His best finish out of 21 career starts was third in 1980.

16. Danica Patrick fought for a win in her rookie race in 2005. She led in two of her seven career starts, the first woman ever to lead the Indianapolis 500. She finished in the top ten in all but one of her Indy starts, and likely would have finished there in 2008 as well if not for a pit lane accident.

Row 5

15. Tony Stewart was the hometown Indiana native that everybody rooted for, but could never win his home race. He made five career Indy 500 starts, but his best finish was only fifth in 1997. He qualified in the top four in three of his five career starts, including inheriting the pole in 1996 after teammate Scott Brayton’s fatal accident.

14. Scott Brayton was the fastest qualifier during the fastest years in Indianapolis 500 history, winning the pole position in 1995 and 1996. His fatal crash during practice kept him from the chance at victory. He always qualified well in his 15 years at the Brickyard, yet never finished better than sixth.

13. George Snider raced in 22 Indy 500s over his career, the most ever by a non-winner. His best finish of 8th came in 1975 and 1978.

Row 4

12. Sir Jackie Stewart participated in the Indy 500 twice before winning the F1 World Championship three times. He was leading in his rookie 1966 race when engine failure knocked him back to sixth. Engine failure also knocked him out of his 1967 race.

11. Tomas Scheckter will never get the credit he deserves as a racer. He does have three career top ten finishes in his ten career starts. But he will always be remembered for crashing while leading late in his rookie race in 2002.

10. Ralph Mulford believes he won the inaugural Indy 500 in 1911, and who’s to say he didn’t? He claims he did not get credit for a lap run when he came in for a pit stop. His determination was shown again the next year when he and his co-driver raced for over nine hours to complete the 500 miles, a requirement to get the prize money. A row four “non-winner” very well could have been a winner and we don’t know it, but his 1912 race TRULY shows him as a winner.

Row 3

9. Scott Goodyear is the unlucky one at the Brickyard. He finished second (after starting 33rd) in 1992, losing to Al Unser, Jr., by 0.043 seconds – the closest in 500 history. He seemed in perfect shape to win the 1995 race, but was duped by the pace car on a restart and was penalized for passing the pace car. He finished second in 1997 as well, again in controversy as the green flag waved with the white flag and nobody paying attention.

8. Paul Tracy still thinks he won the 2002 race. He was making the outside pass on the fuel-saving leader Helio Castroneves when a crash behind them brought out the yellow. Replays show that he might have executed the pass before the yellow lights came on. He was ruled to be behind Castroneves, however, and finished second.  

7. Lloyd Ruby had 18 career starts, finishing in the top eight in four of his first five. He battled with Mario Andretti all through the 1969 race before a fueling error knocked him from the race.

Row 2

6. Ted Horn had top-four finishes in NINE consecutive Indy 500 starts. He completed all but one lap in that stretch. He could quite possibly be the best to never win at the Brickyard.

5. Dan Gurney had one of the best three-year stretches in 500 history for a non-winner from ’68-’70. He finished runner-up in ’68 and ’69, third in ’70, driving the cars he built. He helped build Bobby Unser’s winning cars in ’68 and ’75.

4. Johnnie Aitken started in the inaugural 1911 Indy 500 and also from pole in the 1916 race. He finished 27th and 15th, respectively, in those races. His success at the Brickyard came pre-1911, where he won 15 events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more than any other driver ever.

Row 1

3. Rex Mays had four poles and qualified on the front row three other times as well. He led in nine of his 12 career Indy 500 starts with runner-up finishes in 1940 and 1941. How did he never take that final step to Victory Lane?

2. Tony Kanaan has been a fan favorite all of his years at the track. Much of it is due to his great personality, but also some is due to his misfortune at the Brickyard. He led in a record seven-straight Indy 500s, but could never bring home the Borg-Warner Trophy. In his rookie 2002 race, he spun in oil on the track and crashed while in the lead. In 2007, he led on lap 113 when rain brought out the red flag. But the rain stopped and the track dried, so TK had to race some more and ended up falling back. His teammate Dario Franchitti won. The next year, his teammate Marco Andretti pushed him high and into the wall while making a pass. In 2010 he barely qualified after a rough month, started 33rd, battled to 2nd, but had to pit late for a splash-and-go. Last year, he went from fifth to first on a restart on lap 186, but couldn’t hold on and finished third. Maybe this is the year for TK? 400,000 in attendance hope it will be!

1. Michael Andretti inherited his dad’s bad luck. 16 career starts, 7 finishes in the top six, tenth all time with 431 laps led, and countless times where a dominant car faltered out late in the race on him. At least he got wins in 2005 and 2007 as a car owner.

The Field of 33 – Greatest Non-Winners at Indianapolis

Row 1	1. Michael Andretti	2. Tony Kanaan	3. Rex Mays
Row 2	4. Johnnie Aitken	5. Dan Gurney	6. Ted Horn
Row 3	7. Lloyd Ruby	8. Paul Tracy	9. Scott Goodyear
Row 4	10. Ralph Mulford	11. Tomas Scheckter	12. Sir Jackie Stewart
Row 5	13. George Snider	14. Scott Brayton	15. Tony Stewart
Row 6	16. Danica Patrick	17. Gary Bettenhausen	18. Jimmy Vasser
Row 7	19. Tony Bettenhausen	20. Danny Ongais	21. Nigel Mansell
Row 8	22. Eddie Sachs	23. Kevin Cogan	24. Janet Guthrie
Row 9	25. Mike Mosley	26. Takuma Sato	27. Jim McElreath
Row 10	28. Bill Vukovich II	29. Roberto Guerrero	30. Marco Andretti
Row 11	31. Ryan Briscoe	32. J.R. Hildebrand	33. Sebastien Bourdais