Indianapolis 500 – All-Time Mileage Leaders

The list of drivers who have completed the most laps/miles in Indianapolis 500 race competition. The list includes only laps completed during the 500-mile race, and not any laps turned at the Speedway during practice, testing, time trials, or in other Speedway oval races (e.g., Brickyard 400, Freedom 100, IROC at Indy, etc.) Laps completed totals reflect official box scores, as well as laps credited while the driver was serving as a relief driver.

Four-time winner A.J. Foyt, who also holds the record for most career starts (35) holds the record for most lap/miles completed in Indy 500 competition. Foyt has held that distinction since 1975. He eclipsed Cliff Bergere’s mark of 2,458 laps completed on the 72nd lap of the 1975 race. Subsequently, Foyt became the first driver to pass the 10,000-mile mark in Indy 500 competition. Upon completing the 4th lap of the 1986 race, Foyt reached that significant milestone. Al Unser Sr. and Hélio Castroneves are the only other drivers to also pass that mark.

As of 2022, four-time winner Hélio Castroneves, has the most laps/miles completed among active drivers.

All-time laps completed/mileage leaders of the Indianapolis 500. Race winners denoted in bold. Drivers active as of 2021 are denoted with ►.

Rank	Driver (# of race wins)	Total Starts	Total Laps Completed	Total Miles
1	A.J. Foyt (4)	35	4909*	12,272.5
2	Al Unser Sr. (4)	27	4356	10,890.0
3	► Hélio Castroneves (4)	22	4198	10,495.0
4	► Tony Kanaan (1)	21	3751	9,377.5
5	► Scott Dixon (1)	20	3669	9,172.5
6	► Ed Carpenter	19	3394	8,485.0
7	► Marco Andretti	17	3200	8,000.0
8	Al Unser Jr. (2)	19	3173	7,932.5
9	Gordon Johncock (2)	24	3158	7,895.0
10	Mario Andretti (1)	29	3040	7,600.0
11	Buddy Lazier (1)	20	3015	7,537.5
12	Arie Luyendyk (2)	17	2957	7,392.5
13	► Will Power (1)	15	2858	7,145.0
14	Johnny Rutherford (3)	24	2792	6,980.0
15	Michael Andretti	16	2653	6,632.5
16	Bobby Unser (3)	19	2611	6,527.5
17	Ryan Hunter-Reay (1)	14	2471	6,177.5
18	Cliff Bergere	16	2451*	6,127.5
19	► Graham Rahal	15	2422	6,055.0
20	Mauri Rose (3)	16	2416*	6,040.0
21	Gary Bettenhausen	21	2372	5,930.0
22	Lloyd Ruby	18	2357	5,895.5
23	Rick Mears (4)	15	2342	5,855.0
24	Jim Rathmann (1)	14	2320	5,800.0
25	► Takuma Sato (2)	13	2225	5,562.5
26	Raul Boesel	13	2213	5,532.5
27	► J.R. Hildebrand	12	2202	5,505.0
28	► Simon Pagenaud (1)	11	2197	5,492.5
29	Tom Sneva (1)	18	2180	5,450.0
30	Scott Sharp	14	2180	5,450.0
31	Rodger Ward (2)	15	2160	5,400.0
32	Roger McCluskey	18	2155	5,387.5
33	Pancho Carter	17	2141	5,352.5
34	Eddie Cheever (1)	14	2122	5,305.0
35	► Joseph Newgarden	11	2094	5,235.0
36	Chet Miller	16	2062	5,155.0
37	Wilbur Shaw (3)	13	2019	5,047.5
38	Bobby Rahal (1)	13	2007	5,017.5
39	Oriol Servia	11	1992	4,980.0
40	Tony Gulotta	13	1989	4,972.5
41	Tony Bettenhausen Sr.	14	1975	4,937.5
42	Dick Simon	17	1954	4,885.0
43	Ted Horn	10	1944	4,860.0
44	Dario Franchitti (3)	10	1940	4,850.0
45	Eddie Johnson	13	1930	4,825.0
46	Charlie Kimball	10	1910	4,775.0
47	Scott Brayton	14	1905	4,762.5
48	Townsend Bell	10	1898	4,745.0
49	John Andretti	12	1852	4,630.0
50	Jim McElreath	15	1848	4,620.0

• A.J. Foyt’s total include laps driven as a relief driver in 1962 (21) and 1973 (43)
• Cliff Bergere’s total include laps driven as a starting driver and serving as a relief driver. According to box scores, Bergere is credited with completing 2,424 laps (6,060 miles), However, in seven of his starts, Bergere was relieved during the race. A total of 282 laps across those seven races are deducted from his laps completed total. In four races, Bergere served as a relief driver for other drivers, logging a total of 309 career laps in relief. Factoring in all the laps, a total of 2,451 laps (6127.5 miles) has been established. However, some articles have listed 2,457 laps (6142.5 miles)
• Mauri Rose’s total includes 2,194 laps driven as a starting driver and 226 laps driven as a relief driver. Rose tallied laps in relief in 1934 (85), 1937 (12), and 1941 (129). In the 1941 race, Rose drove in relief of Floyd Davis, taking over for laps 72-200 and drove the car to victory. David and Rose were credited as co-winners.

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Additional References and Works Cited

• The Indianapolis Star via Newspapers.com
• The Indianapolis News via Newspapers.com
• Indianapolis 500 Historical Stats – Driver Stats
• ChampCarStats.com