Arie Luyendyk (1990, 1997)

The Indianapolis 500 is all about speed. It is the fastest race in the fastest series with the fastest cars in the world. When talking about some of the greatest racers in IndyCar and Indy 500 history, you must look at the driver who was always at or near the top of the speed charts.

It's hard then to overlook Dutch driver Arie Luyendyk, three-time polesitter and two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. The original "Flying Dutchman" is a living legend in open-wheel racing, starting with road racing in Europe and moving to CART and IRL success in the States. He still works with the IndyCar Series today, most notably for giving two-seater rides around some of the tracks he used to race.


Luyendyk entered the CART Series in 1985, but the speed full of the "Flying Dutchman" became fully evident a few years later in 1990. That was when he won his first race in the series, and oh was it a doozy! Is there any better way to win your first race than at the Indianapolis 500? Well, that's what Arie did, and in record time. With a record race speed average of 185.981 mph, Luyendyk took his Domino's Pizza Lola-Chevrolet to Victory Lane. That record still stands today.

His speed would be further displayed with his three career poles at Indianapolis, in 1993, 1997 (a year he won his second 500), and 1999. However, it is a year he did NOT win the pole that places Luyendyk solidly on the map as the fastest driver in Indianapolis history.

The year is 1996, and speeds at the Speedway are faster than ever. On Fast Friday, the day before Pole Day qualifying, Luyendyk runs a lap at 239.26 mph, easily shattering any speed record at the Brickyard. However, that speed is unofficial because it did not occur during a qualification run (a possible tow from drafting another car could have helped that speed). However, there was no doubt going to be fireworks the next day going for the pole.


Early in the Pole Day qualifying, Davy Jones breaks single lap (former record of 232.618 mph) and four-lap average (former record of 232.482 mph) records during qualifying. Shortly after, rookie Tony Stewart rewrites the record books again. Then Luyendyk comes up and shatters Stewart's time (even with a poor first lap) and sets records for single lap (234.742 mph) and four-lap average (233.390 mph). Stewart's teammate Scott Brayton (who tragically would lose his life in a post-qualifying accident six days later) withdrew his primary car, which he qualified on row 2, took the backup car and knocked Luyendyk off of the pole with a 233.718 mph four-lap average.

 

Post-qualifying inspection finds Luyendyk's car seven pounds underweight, so those times are invalidated. He'd change that the next day, however. On day 2 of qualifying, Tom Carnegie's epic and legendary voice was heard booming those great words, "It's a newwww traaaackkk recoooordddddd!!!" multiple times during Luyendyk's qualifying run, faster each lap (236.2, 236.9, 237.2, 237.498), shattering the record for single lap and four-lap average (236.986 mph) at Indy. Those records are likely to stick for years to come, as slower cars are coming in 1997.

Even with slower cars in 1997, Luyendyk is still the quickest, sitting on pole for the '97 Indy 500 with a four-lap average of 218.263 mph. Luyendyk would win the race (which was postponed until Monday and then finished on Tuesday due to rain) in dramatic fashion. With the field under caution and Luyendyk in the lead, the field comes around to get the white flag. However, green waves with the white (5:12 in the video below). The field is racing, 2.5 miles to decide the Indy 500 winner. Nobody expects the green to come out (in fact, 2nd place Scott Goodyear was swerving back and forth warming his tires when the green flag waved), but Luyendyk jumped on the gas quickest and crossed the line first. Adding to the confusion (and to the comedy with some lovely "Dutch" language over the radio...at about 5:50 in the video below), yellow caution lights are still flashing around the Speedway. What was going on? To this day we still are not sure, except that Luyendyk got the twin checkereds.

Forever the fastest man in Indy 500 history, Arie Luyendyk will always be remembered in open-wheel racing lore. Nobody is faster than the Flying Dutchman. Nobody.