History
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500 Four-Time Winners
A.J. Foyt
1961, 1964, 1967 & 1977
A.J. Foyt remains INDYCAR’s ultimate tough guy, the Texan to avoid messing with still today. With that, he truly is the greatest ever to get behind the wheel not just at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but in INDYCAR ever.
Foyt won his first Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and he would become the first four-time winner in race history, an exclusive club that includes Foyt and three others. Foyt’s other wins came in 1964, 1967 and 1977. Additionally, he has the race record for most starts at 35 and most miles completed at 12,272.5.
He also holds the INDYCAR records for the most wins at 67, most wins in a season at 10 and most consecutive wins at 7. Foyt is still a pillar of the INDYCAR community, with his team A.J. Foyt Racing still competing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Al Unser
1970, 1971, 1978 & 1987
Al Unser, another of the four four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500, got his race-winning career off to a hot start with back-to-back wins in 1970 and 1971 driving the iconic Johnny Lightning car.
Unser became the fourth driver, at the time, to win consecutive “500s.” following Wilbur Shaw (1939-40), Mauri Rose (1947-48) and Bill Vukovich (1953-54). Unser added two more Indy 500 wins in 1978 and 1987. The last one, remarkably, came in a year-old show car that was pulled from a Pennsylvania hotel’s lobby late in May as Unser substituted for the injured Danny Ongais.
With that 1987 win, Unser became the event’s oldest winner at 47 years, 360 days. Unser holds one of the most decorated careers at the “500,” having made 27 starts and sitting second on the all-time laps led list at 644 laps.
Rick Mears
1979, 1984, 1988 & 1991
Rick Mears was the third driver to join the four-time winner’s club following his thrilling 1991 Indianapolis 500 victory over Michael Andretti. That one came after wins in 1979, 1984 and 1988.
Mears, who still serves as a driving coach and spotter for Team Penske to this day, is maybe one of the more unassuming all-time greats INDYCAR has seen. He’s the all-time qualifier at the Indy 500, having won the pole position a record six times (1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1991). Miraculously, Mears won all four of his “500s” from a front-row starting position, with three of them coming from the pole.
He's also a three-time INDYCAR champion, with titles coming in 1979, 1981 and 1982.
Helio Castroneves
2001, 2002, 2009 & 2021
Helio Castroneves is one of the modern-day legends of INDYCAR. One of the series’ all-time greats, he’s the most recent four-time winner and still an active driver in the series. He scored his fourth “500” win in 2021, following wins in 2001, 2002 and 2009.
Castroneves burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2001, becoming just the ninth driver to win the Indy 500 in their debut. With the 2002 win, he became the first back-to-back winner since Unser in 1971. He now sits fourth on the all-time Indy 500 starts list with 25 starts.
Castroneves still competes and is in search of a fifth Indy 500 win, something nobody in the 109-year history of the race has ever done.