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Former Indy 500 Winning Owner Alexander Dies at 75

Friday, January 8, 2016 Donald Davidson

Tyler Alexander

Tyler Alexander, who passed away in England on Thursday, Jan. 7, at the age of 75, was one of the founding members of Team McLaren and was an integral member of that organization from its founding in 1963 until 1983, and then again between 1989 and his retirement in 2008. Because he was so entrenched in that organization – which won five consecutive Can-Am titles from 1967-71, eight Formula One World Championship titles between 1974 and 2008, and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1974 and 1976 – many people were surprised to learn that, as with Teddy Mayer, his longtime partner in many of those ventures, he was an American.


Tyler Alexander, who passed away in England on Thursday, Jan. 7, at the age of 75, was one of the founding members of Team McLaren and was an integral member of that organization from its founding in 1963 until 1983, and then again between 1989 and his retirement in 2008. Because he was so entrenched in that organization – which won five consecutive Can-Am titles from 1967-71, eight Formula One World Championship titles between 1974 and 2008, and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1974 and 1976 – many people were surprised to learn that, as with Teddy Mayer, his longtime partner in many of those ventures, he was an American. 

No sooner had Team McLaren made its Indianapolis debut in 1970, than Bruce McLaren himself was fatally injured, losing his life while testing a Can-Am car at Goodwood in the south of England on June 2, 1970. For the balance of the team’s run at Indianapolis through 1979, it was “Teddy and Tyler” who ran the show and were the McLaren figureheads. During that period, they won the “500” with Johnny Rutherford in 1974 and 1976, finished second with Peter Revson in 1971 and again with Rutherford in 1975, and won the pole with Revson in 1971 and Rutherford in 1973 and 1976. 

After a major shakeup at McLaren in 1983, Teddy and Tyler both left the organization and formed their own team for 1984, Mayer Motor Racing. They won the pole at Indianapolis with Tom Sneva, who became the first person ever to qualify in excess of 210 mph, while teammate Howdy Holmes qualified second. Sneva subsequently dropped out with a half-shaft failure while challenging Rick Mears for the lead at 168 laps, and Holmes ended up 13th, delayed along the way by mechanical problems. The team folded at the end of the year and therefore departed with the rare distinction of having sat one-two on the grid in its debut and then never returning. And the very team itself was always confusing to the fans, because, in the minds of many people – largely due to the familiar faces on the crew – that was it was actually Team McLaren.