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In 2011, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500, the Speedway invited all living former “500” drivers to attend the race. At least 161 of the 269 living former drivers at the time were at the track during race weekend. Upwards of 175 visited the Speedway at some point during the month. On Legends Day – Saturday May 28, 2011 – all of the drivers were gathered for a historic group photo in Pagoda Plaza. (IMS Photo)

Living Indianapolis 500 Drivers

From 1911 to 2025 (109 races), there have been a total of 804 different drivers who have started the Indianapolis 500. Approximately 61–63 additional drivers have served as relief drivers (but did not qualify for the race on their own). As of December 1, 2025, there are a total of 289 living Indianapolis 500 drivers (including the three rookies who started in the 2025 race).

The living “500” drivers are listed below, sorted based on their respective rookie year.

Bold indicates race winners.

1958: (1) A.J. Foyt
1963: (1) Johnny Rutherford
1965: (3) Mario Andretti, Gordon Johncock, George Snider
1966: (3) Larry Dickson, Mel Kenyon, Jackie Stewart
1969: (2) George Follmer, Bruce Walkup
1970: (2) Donnie Allison, Dick Simon
1971: (4) David Hobbs, Steve Krisiloff, Bentley Warren, Denny Zimmerman
1972: (1) Sam Posey
1973: (1) Jerry Karl
1974: (4) Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Johnny Parsons, Tom Sneva
1976: (2) Spike Gehlhausen, Vern Schuppan
1977: (3) Janet Guthrie, Cliff Hucul, Bobby Olivero
1978: (4) Tom Bagley, Rick Mears, Joe Saldana, Phil Threshie
1979: (1) Howdy Holmes
1980: (5) Billy Engelhart, Dennis Firestone, Hurley Haywood, Greg Leffler, Don Whittington
1981: (6) Geoff Brabham, Michael Chandler, Kevin Cogan, Josele Garza, Pete Halsmer, Tom Klausler
1982: (6) Chet Fillip, Chip Ganassi, Roger Mears, Bobby Rahal, Hector Rebaque, Danny Sullivan
1983: (6) Patrick Bedard, Steve Chassey, Derek Daly, Teo Fabi, Chris Kneifel, Al Unser Jr.
1984: (4) Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Tom Gloy, Roberto Guerrero
1985: (3) Raul Boesel, Arie Luyendyk, Ed Pimm
1986: (4) Phil Krueger, Randy Lanier, Roberto Moreno, “Uncle” Jacques Villeneuve
1987: (5) Fabrizio Barbazza, Ludwig Heimrath Jr., Davy Jones, Randy Lewis, Jeff MacPherson
1988: (2) Dominic Dobson, Tero Palmroth
1989: (4) John Jones, Bernard Jourdain, Scott Pruett, Didier Theys
1990: (3) Eddie Cheever, Scott Goodyear, Dean Hall
1991: (5) Jeff Andretti, Mike Groff, Buddy Lazier, Hiro Matsushita, Willy T. Ribbs
1992: (6) Eric Bachelart, Brian Bonner, Philippe Gache, Lyn St. James, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser
1993: (5) Robby Gordon, Stephan Gregoire, Stefan Johansson, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet
1994: (9) Adrian Fernandez, Marco Greco, Mauricio Gugelmin, Bryan Herta, Hideshi Matsuda, Scott Sharp, Brian Till, Jacques Villeneuve, Dennis Vitolo
1995: (4) Christian Fittipaldi, Carlos Guerrero, Eliseo Salazar, Alessandro Zampedri
1996: (15) Robbie Buhl, Buzz Calkins, Paul Durant, Mark Dismore, Racin Gardner, Joe Gosek, Jim Guthrie, Davey Hamilton, Scott Harrington, Richie Hearn, Michel Jourdain Jr., Brad Murphey, Johnny O’Connell, Tony Stewart, Johnny Unser
1997: (13) Billy Boat, Claude Bourbonnais, Kenny Bräck, Tyce Carlson, Affonso Giaffone, Robbie Groff, Steve Kinser, Jack Miller, Greg Ray, Billy Roe, Sam Schmidt, Vincenzo Sospiri, Jeff Ward
1998: (8) Donnie Beechler, Jack Hewitt, Jimmy Kite, Steve Knapp, Andy Michner, Robby Unser, Stan Wattles, J.J. Yeley
1999: (4) Wim Eyckmans, John Hollansworth Jr., Robby McGehee, Jeret Schroeder
2000: (6) Airton Daré, Sarah Fisher, Andy Hillenburg, Sam Hornish Jr., Jaques Lazier, Juan Pablo Montoya
2001: (6) Hélio Castroneves, Felipe Giaffone, Jon Herb, Bruno Junqueira, Nicolas Minassian, Cory Witherill
2002: (8) Alex Barron, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, George Mack, Max Papis, Laurent Redon, Tomas Scheckter, Rick Treadway
2003: (7) Scott Dixon, A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira, Shinji Nakano, Buddy Rice, Tora Takagi, Roger Yasukawa
2004: (8) Kosuke Matsuura, Mark Taylor, Darren Manning, Ed Carpenter, Larry Foyt, Jeff Simmons, P.J. Jones, Marty Roth
2005: (6) Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Jeff Bucknum, Patrick Carpentier, Tomas Enge, Danica Patrick
2006: (5) Marco Andretti, Townsend Bell, Arie Luyendyk Jr., Thiago Medeiros, P.J. Chesson
2007: (2) Phil Giebler, Milka Duno
2008: (10) Enrique Bernoldi, Jamie Camara, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alex Lloyd, Mario Moraes, Hideki Mutoh, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, E.J. Viso
2009: (5) Alex Tagliani, Mike Conway, Raphael Matos, Nelson Philippe, Robert Doornbos
2010: (6) Mario Romancini, Simona de Silvestro, Takuma Sato, Ana Beatriz, Bertrand Baguette, Sebastián Saavedra
2011: (5) J.R. Hildebrand, Charlie Kimball, Pippa Mann, James Hinchcliffe, Jay Howard
2012: (7) Rubens Barrichello, James Jakes, Simon Pagenaud, Katherine Legge, Josef Newgarden, Wade Cunningham, Jean Alesi
2013: (4) Carlos Muñoz, A.J. Allmendinger, Tristan Vautier, Conor Daly
2014: (7) Kurt Busch, Sage Karam, James Davison, Carlos Huertas, Jack Hawksworth, Mikhail Aleshin, Martin Plowman
2015: (2) Gabby Chaves, Stefano Coletti
2016: (5) Alexander Rossi, Max Chilton, Matthew Brabham, Spencer Pigot, Stefan Wilson
2017: (4) Ed Jones, Fernando Alonso, Zach Veach, Jack Harvey
2018: (4) Robert Wickens, Matheus Leist, Zachary Claman DeMelo, Kyle Kaiser
2019: (6) Santino Ferrucci, Marcus Ericsson, Jordan King, Felix Rosenqvist, Ben Hanley, Colton Herta
2020: (5) Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Álex Palou, Oliver Askew, Dalton Kellett
2021: (2) Scott McLaughlin, Pietro Fittipaldi
2022: (7) David Malukas, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jimmie Johnson, Romain Grosjean, Callum Ilott
2023: (4) Benjamin Pedersen, Agustín Canapino, Sting Ray Robb, R.C. Enerson
2024: (6) Christian Rasmussen, Kyle Larson, Kyffin Simpson, Linus Lundqvist, Marcus Armstrong, Tom Blomqvist
2025: (3) Robert Shwartzman, Louis Foster, Nolan Siegel

Oldest Living “500” Drivers

Drivers born in 1940 or earlier (as of December 8, 2025)

  • 92 — Mel Kenyon (b. April 15, 1933)
  • 92 — Dick Simon (b. September 21, 1933)
  • 91 — George Follmer (b. January 27, 1934)
  • 90 — A.J. Foyt (b. January 16, 1935)
  • 89 — Gordon Johncock (b. August 5, 1936)
  • 87 — Janet Guthrie (b. March 7, 1938)
  • 87 — Johnny Rutherford (b. March 12, 1938)
  • 87 — Larry Dickson (b. September 8, 1938)
  • 86 — David Hobbs (b. June 9, 1939)
  • 86 — Jackie Stewart (b. June 11, 1939)
  • 86 — Donnie Allison (b. September 7, 1939)
  • 86 — Tom Bigelow (b. October 31, 1939)
  • 86 — Tom Bagley (b. December 3, 1939)
  • 85 — Mario Andretti (b. February 28, 1940)
  • 85 — George Snider (b. December 8, 1940)
  • 84 — Bentley Warren (b. December 10, 1940)
  • 84 — Denny Zimmerman (b. December 14, 1940)

Oldest Active “500” Drivers

Drivers born in 1981 or earlier (as of December 8, 2025)

  • 50 — Tony Kanaan (b. December 31, 1974)
  • 50 — Helio Castroneves (b. May 10, 1975)
  • 48 — Takuma Sato (b. January 28, 1977)
  • 45 — Scott Dixon (b. July 22, 1980)
  • 44 — Ryan Hunter-Reay (b. December 17, 1980)
  • 44 — Will Power (b. March 1, 1981)
  • 44 — Ed Carpenter (b. March 3, 1981)

Youngest Living “500” Drivers

Drivers born in the year 2000 or later (as of December 8, 2025)

  • 21 — Nolan Siegel (b. November 8, 2004) – Rookie in 2025
  • 21 — Kyffin Simpson (b. October 9, 2004)
  • 22 — Louis Foster (b. July 23, 2003) – Rookie in 2025
  • 24 — David Malukas (b. September 27, 2001)
  • 24 — Sting Ray Robb (b. September 3, 2001)
  • 24 — Christian Lundgard (b. July 23, 2001)
  • 25 — Rinus VeeKay (b. September 11, 2000)
  • 25 — Marcus Armstrong (b. July 29, 2000)
  • 25 — Christian Rasmussen (b. June 29, 2000)
  • 25 — Colton Herta (b. March 30, 2000)
  • 25 — Devlin DeFrancesco (b. January 17, 2000)

Living drivers by Decade

Drove in the “500” in the 1950s

  • 1 — A.J. Foyt

Drove in the “500” in the 1960s

  • 10 — Mario Andretti, Larry Dickson, George Follmer, A.J. Foyt, Gordon Johncock, Mel Kenyon, Johnny Rutherford, George Snider, Jackie Stewart, Bruce Walkup

Drove in the “500” in the 1970s

  • 31 — Donnie Allison, Mario Andretti, Tom Bagley, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Larry Dickson, George Follmer, A.J. Foyt, Spike Gehlhausen, Janet Guthrie, David Hobbs, Howdy Holmes, Cliff Hucul, Gordon Johncock, Jerry Karl, Mel Kenyon, Steve Krisiloff, Rick Mears, Bobby Olivero, Johnny Parsons, Sam Posey, Johnny Rutherford, Joe Saldana, Vern Schuppan, Dick Simon, Tom Sneva, George Snider, Phil Threshie, Bruce Walkup, Bentley Warren, Denny Zimmerman

Drove in the “500” in the 1980s

  • 63 — Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Tom Bagley, Fabrizio Barbazza, Tom Bigelow, Patrick Bedard, Raul Boesel, Geoff Brabham, Pancho Carter, Michael Chandler, Steve Chassey, Kevin Cogan, Derek Daly, Larry Dickson, Dominic Dobson, Billy Engelhart, Teo Fabi, Chet Fillip, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dennis Firestone, A.J. Foyt, Chip Ganassi, Josele Garza, Spike Gehlhausen, Tom Gloy, Roberto Guerrero, Pete Halsmer, Hurley Haywood, Ludwig Heimrath Jr., Howdy Holmes, Gordon Johncock, Davy Jones, John Jones, Bernard Jourdain, Jerry Karl, Tom Klausler, Chris Kneifel, Steve Krisiloff, Phil Krueger, Randy Lanier, Greg Leffler, Randy Lewis, Arie Luyendyk, Jeff MacPherson, Rick Mears, Roger Mears, Roberto Moreno, Tero Palmroth, Johnny Parsons, Ed Pimm, Scott Pruett, Bobby Rahal, Hector Rebaque, Johnny Rutherford, Vern Schuppan, Dick Simon, Tom Sneva, George Snider, Danny Sullivan, Didier Theys, Al Unser Jr., “Uncle” Jacques Villeneuve, Don Whittington

Living Indianapolis 500 winners

Since 1911, there have been 76 different drivers who have won the Indianapolis 500. As of December 8, 2025, there are 30 living “500” winners, representing 50 (of 109) victories. Going back consecutively, every race winner since 2012 is still living.

  • 4 wins — (3) A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Helio Castroneves
  • 3 wins — (2) Johnny Rutherford, Dario Franchitti,
  • 2 wins — (7) Gordon Johncock, Emerson Fittipaldi, Arie Luyendyk, Al Unser Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden
  • 1 win — (18) Mario Andretti, Tom Sneva, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, Jacques Villeneuve, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Kenny Bräck, Sam Hornish Jr., Buddy Rice, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou

Living Indianapolis 500 Pole Position winners

As of December 8, 2025, there are 29 living “500” pole winners, representing 54 (of 109) poles. Going back consecutively, every pole winner since 1997 is still living. Note that Tony Stewart, who in 1996 was elevated to the pole spot after the death of Scott Brayton, is not included.

  • 6 poles — (1) Rick Mears
  • 5 poles — (1) Scott Dixon
  • 4 poles — (2) A. J. Foyt, Hélio Castroneves
  • 3 poles — (5) Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Tom Sneva, Arie Luyendyk, Ed Carpenter
  • 1 pole — (20) Teo Fabi, Pancho Carter, Emerson Fittipaldi, Roberto Guerrero, Al Unser Jr., Billy Boat, Greg Ray, Scott Sharp, Bruno Junqueira, Buddy Rice, Tony Kanaan, Sam Hornish Jr., Alex Tagliani, Ryan Briscoe, James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud, Marco Andretti, Álex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Robert Shwarztman

Living Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Years winners

As of December 8, 2025, there are 54 living “500” Rookie of the Year winners. The award has been presented since 1952. This represents 51 of the 74 years the award has been given (note that in some years, co-winners were named). Going back consecutively, every recipient since 1989 is still living.

  • 1960s — (2) Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart
  • 1970s — (6) Donnie Allison, Denny Zimmerman, Pancho Carter, Vern Schuppan, Rick Mears (co), Howdy Holmes
  • 1980s — (9) Josele Garza, Teo Fabi, Michael Andretti (co), Roberto Guerrero (co), Arie Luyendyk, Randy Lanier, Fabrizio Barbazza, Bernard Jourdain (co), Scott Pruett (co)
  • 1990s — (10) Eddie Cheever, Jeff Andretti, Lyn St. James, Nigel Mansell, Jacques Villeneuve, Christian Fittipaldi, Tony Stewart, Jeff Ward, Steve Knapp, Robby McGehee
  • 2000s — (11) Juan Pablo Montoya, Hélio Castroneves, Alex Barron (co), Tomas Scheckter (co), Tora Takagi, Kosuke Matsuura, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Phil Giebler, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alex Tagliani
  • 2010s — (10) Simona de Silvestro, J.R. Hildebrand, Rubens Barrichello, Carlos Muñoz, Kurt Busch, Gabby Chaves, Alexander Rossi, Fernando Alonso, Robert Wickens, Santino Ferrucci
  • 2020s — (6) Pato O’Ward, Scott McLaughlin, Jimmie Johnson, Benjamin Pedersen, Kyle Larson, Robert Shwartzman

Living drivers — Drove front engine car

As of December 8, 2025, there are three living drivers who drove in the Indianapolis 500 in a front-engined car. All three also subsequently drove rear-engined cars as well. The last front-engined car to qualify and race in the “500” occurred in 1968. All three listed below happen to be Indy 500 winners, but only Foyt managed to win with a front-engined car.

  • A.J. Foyt
  • Gordon Johncock
  • Johnny Rutherford

Living drivers — Starting Field

As of December 8, 2025, there are ten races in which the entire starting field of drivers (typically 33 each) are all living. No races from the ’80s or prior have this distinction, and there is only one field that does so from the ’90s.

  • 1980s — none
  • 1990s — 1999
  • 2000s — none
  • 2010s — 2017, 2018, 2019
  • 2020s — 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Living drivers — Non-qualifying Drivers

Over the years, numerous drivers have entered at the Indianapolis 500 but failed to qualify. The following is a list of living drivers who were entered for the “500”, but did not qualify (and never raced in the “500”) at any time in their career. This list includes drivers who were bumped, too slow, or incomplete qualifying attempts. It also includes drivers that took part in the Rookie Orientation Program/Rookie Tests, some who failed ROP, some that practiced but never made a qualifying attempt, and some that withdrew. This list is slightly abridged, accurate to the best of available sources, and the drivers are sorted by the decade in which they first arrived at Indy.

This is a mostly-complete, working list as of December 8, 2025.

  • 1960s — Cy Fairchild, Lothar Motschenbacher, Dave Paul, Leon Duray “Jigger” Sirois
  • 1970s — Gary Allbritain, Kevin Bartlett, Merle Bettenhausen, Ed Crombie, George Eaton, Ed Finley, Chuck Gurney, Crocky Peterson
  • 1980s — Mark Alderson, Scott Atchison, Steve Ball, Mike Borkowski, Steve Bren, Jim Buick, Steve Butler, Phil Caliva, Dale Coyne, Bob Frey, Bruno Giacomelli, Michael Greenfield, Tom Grunnah, Ken Hamilton, Doug Heveron, Gary Irvin, Jan Lammers, Harry MacDonald, Mack McClellan, Rick Miaskiewicz, Teddy Pilette, Michael Roe, Steve Saleen, Harry Sauce, Ken Schrader, Ron Shuman, Jan Sneva, Sammy Swindell, Bill Tempero, Dean Vetrock, Desiré Wilson, Leroy Van Conett, John Wood
  • 1990s — Steve Barclay, Justin Bell, Ross Bentley, Mike Borkowski, Dan Drinan, Fredrik Ekblom, Nick Firestone, Franck Fréon, Olivier Grouillard, Ronnie Johncox, David Kudrave, Kenji Momota, Troy Regier, Vinicio Salmi, Mark Smith, Randy Tolsma, Jeff Wood
  • 2000s — Didier André, Stanton Barrett, Ross Cheever, Paul Dana, Luis Díaz, Doug Didero, Mario Domínguez, Brandon Erwin, Memo Gidley, Johnny Herbert, Anthony Lazzaro, Scott Mayer, Casey Mears, John de Vries
  • 2010s — Scott Speed, Ho-Pin Tung
  • 2020s — Jacob Abel

Additional Works Cited

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