It’s been 30 years since Rick Mears pulled into victory lane for the fourth time at the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 1991.
He became just the third four-time winner of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, joining legends A.J. Foyt and Al Unser.
It capped a glorious 14-year period in the history of the race as Foyt, Unser and Mears each solidified their place in speedway history as the only four-time winners of the Indy 500.
Mears was still on top of his game and appeared on his way to becoming the first five-time winner of the world’s biggest race. He was only 40 years old.
In December 1992, however, Mears announced he was retiring from racing. Without the burning fire required to compete at the highest level, Mears realized the effort wouldn’t be there to claim a fifth Indy 500 win.
“It doesn’t seem like it has been 30 years since then,” Mears told SPEED SPORT. “Time flies when you are having fun, as they say. It is incredible when you think about it.
“It’s amazing it has been that long. For me, it was the most exciting race of the four Indy 500 wins.”
On the 30th anniversary of Mears’ fourth Indy 500 triumph, there are only three drivers in the field for the 105th Indianapolis 500 who have won the race more than once and only Helio Castroneves with three victories could earn a fourth Indy triumph this year.
After more than two decades and three Indy 500 wins with Team Penske, Castroneves will drive for Meyer Shank Racing this year. Castroneves won at Indianapolis in his first two starts in 2001 and ’02, but hasn’t tasted the winner’s milk since 2009.
Two-time winners Juan Pablo Montoya (2000 and ’15) and defending winner Takuma Sato (2017 and ’20) are the only other drivers with more than one Indy victory entered this year.
Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud have each won a single Indy 500.
That is why on the 30th anniversary of Mears becoming the third driver to win the Indy 500 for a fourth time, his accomplishment along with those of Foyt and Unser are worth celebrating
“All three were really, really smart racers with fabulous race craft,” 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti told SPEED SPORT. “No question, they all possessed that.
“You have to have a little bit of luck. That doesn’t hurt. That’s fine, but the point is they were still there ready to pick it up. You have to give them that, too.”
Of the three four-time Indy 500 winners, Mears accomplished his four wins in the shortest amount of time. He won his first in the 1979 Indianapolis 500 from the pole. He then won the 1984 500 by two laps over Roberto Guerrero. Mears led 119 laps and he is the last driver to win the race by one lap or more.
In 1988, Mears claimed his third Indy 500 win after he was nearly two laps down early in the race.
His daring duel with Michael Andretti in the 1991 Indianapolis 500 was his most exciting victory and the centerpiece of his career.
It took Mears only 12 years from his first Indy 500 victory to his fourth.
Foyt won his first Indianapolis 500 in 1961 after a dramatic battle with Eddie Sachs. The fight was so fierce one of Sachs’ tires had the cord showing through, creating a potentially dangerous situation during the closing laps. Sachs pulled into the pits just three laps from the apparent victory.
Foyt led the final three laps, putting him in front for 71 laps in the 200-lap race and the 29-year-old from Houston, Texas, had realized his dream of winning at Indianapolis.
“I’m the only one that can say I won it in roadsters and in rear-engine cars,” Foyt told SPEED SPORT. “That’s going to let me stand out different from the other two four-time winners. I’m proud of that. All-in-all, in 1977 when I won it for a fourth time, we built my own race car in Houston, Texas, and I built our own motors with help from the Ford Motor Co., and, I drove the car.”
Foyt’s second Indy 500 win in 1964 was the last time a front-engine roadster won the famed race.
In 1967, Parnelli Jones was blowing away the field in Andy Granatelli’s STP-Turbine before a bearing failed four laps from the finish.
Jones led an astounding 171 laps, but Foyt capitalized on Jones’ misfortune.
Foyt joined Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw and Mauri Rose as the only three-time Indy winners at that time.
Ten years passed before Foyt became the first four-time Indy 500 winner in 1977.
Foyt’s four Indy triumphs came during a 16-year span.
Unser won back-to-back Indy 500s in 1970 and ’71 in the Johnny Lightning Special and became a three-time winner with team owner Jim Hall in 1978.
Unser didn’t have a ride in 1987, but after Danny Ongais hit the wall during practice and was injured, team owner Roger Penske called on Unser to wheel a “show car” that was retrieved from a display and prepared for the 500.
Mario Andretti’s powerful Chevrolet dominated the race before a valve spring broke with a one-lap lead and only 20 tours of the 2.5-mile track remaining.
That put Guerrero in front by two laps over Unser, but when the driver from Colombia made his final pit stop, he stalled the engine.
It took an extended amount of time for the engine to refire, handing the lead to Unser.