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Rick Mears is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in IndyCar history, winning the famous Indianapolis 500 race four times during his career. And while this feat alone puts him in the most elite group of IndyCar drivers, he achieved so much more in American open-wheel racing in his 15-year-long IndyCar career (previously known as the USAC/CART Series).
Born on December 3, 1951, in Wichita, Kansas, Rick Mears had his first fun encounter with racing while riding dune buggies with his older brother Roger. However, he didn't start his professional racing career in IndyCar. He started by competing in off-road competitions, even winning the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1976. Later that year, he got his first opportunity to compete in a championship race when Bill Simpson gave him a ride in the 1976 Ontario 500.
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Soon after, he caught the attention of several prominent race team owners, including the likes of Roger Penske, who gave Rick Mears his first shot at IndyCar. Let’s take a look at five instances in his career when Mears proved that he is an IndyCar icon.
#5 Mears won his first Indy 500 in his first full-time IndyCar season
Roger Penske offered Rick Mears a part-time ride for the 1978 season, including a chance to race in the Indianapolis 500. This was the start of one of the longest and most successful partnerships in racing history, as Mears would go on to finish his career with Team Penske.
Mears made history in 1979 by winning The Greatest Spectacle in Racing in his first full-time season in IndyCar racing. He started from pole position with a qualifying speed of 193.736 mph, marking the first of his many Indy 500 poles. He faced tough competition from Bobby and Al Unser for most of the race but eventually took the lead with just 18 laps remaining and held it to secure his first victory at the Brickyard.
This victory not only marked his first Indy 500 win but also contributed to his first IndyCar World Series Championship that year.
#4 Rick Mears holds the record for most pole positions in the Indy 500
Rick Mears is widely known as the "Pole Master" in IndyCar circles, and that's for a good reason. He holds the record for most pole positions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with six (1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, and 1991). He also started from the front row in the race five other times, making it 11 front-row starts in his 15 appearances in the race.
One of the most crucial poles at the Indy 500 came in 1991, when he secured pole position less than 24 hours after crashing during a practice session the day before. What's most impressive is that three out of his four Indy 500 wins came after starting from pole position, making him a true legend of the sport.
#3 Rick Mears became a four-time Indy 500 winner
Rick Mears became only the third driver at the time to win The Greatest Spectacle of Racing four times. He joined an elite group of drivers like A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr. as a four-time winner of the Indy 500.
He won the race in 1979, 1984, 1988, and 1991. Each win showed his ability to adapt to different conditions and car changes over the years. What makes Mears' achievement even more impressive is that he reached four victories in only 14 starts, while Foyt needed 20 starts and Unser needed 22 starts to reach the same milestone.
But IMS isn't the only track where Mears achieved huge success. He also has an impressive record at the Milwaukee Mile track. In his 18 races there, he scored three wins, nine other top-three finishes, and took five pole positions. It is also the track where he achieved his first IndyCar career win with Team Penske.
#2 Rick Mears won back-to-back IndyCar championships
Rick Mears proved his talent in the American open-wheel racing series in his very first full-time season. Not only did he win the Indy 500 in 1979, but he also claimed his first IndyCar title in the same year with Team Penske.
In 1980, he could only manage a fourth-place finish in the championship. However, he went on to claim two back-to-back titles in 1981 and 1982. One remarkable thing about Rick's career is that he only finished outside the top-10 in the championship once, in 1992, after which he retired from the series.
Looking closely, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing has achieved the same thing in his career, winning three championships in his first four seasons in the exact same fashion.
#1 Winning the 1991 Indy 500 in an epic fashion
One of the most iconic moments in Rick Mears' career came in the 1991 Indianapolis 500. Just one day before qualifying, Mears crashed during practice, hitting the wall and flipping his car upside down. Despite the setback, he went on to claim his sixth and final Indy 500 pole on Saturday.
During the race, Mears found himself in a tough battle for positions with Michael Andretti. In the closing laps, he made a daring outside pass around Andretti to take the lead just 12 laps from the finish line and went on to win the race for the fourth and final time in his career.
This was also the year when Mears achieved another significant milestone by becoming the first driver to earn more than $10 million in career earnings from IndyCar races, cementing his place as the ultimate icon of the sport.
