Helio Castroneves is now among the most accomplished racers in Indy 500 history.
Castroneves not only set a record for the fastest Indy 500 in history, finishing with a time of 2:39:50 in Sunday’s race, but also became the fourth driver ever to win four Indy 500 races.
“Spider-Man” hadn’t won the Indy 500 since 2009, when he last won for Team Penske.
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He joins elite company with his win on Sunday. Who did he join?
Who has won the Indy 500 four times?
Castrovenes joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners in the Indy 500.
Foyt was the first four-time winner, claiming his titles in 1961, ’64, ’67 and ’77. Unser Sr. won his races in 1970, ’71, ’78 and ’87. Mears won in 1979, ’84, ’88 and ’91.
Castrovenes claimed his race titles in 2001-02, ’09 and ’21. He won his first three races with Team Penske before winning Sunday’s race as a member of Meyer Shank Racing.
Who are the oldest Indy 500 winners?
At age 46, Castroneves is one of the oldest drivers to win the Indy 500. However, he is not the oldest.
Unser Sr. won his fourth title at age 47 in 1987; his brother, Bobby Unser, also won at 47 years old, in 1981. Emerson Fittipaldi won the 1993 race at age 46.
Several other drivers have won aged 40 or older. Lee Wallard, Eddie Cheever Jr. and Takuma Sato (2017) won at the age of 40. Mauri Rose, Bil Holland, Roger Ward and Bobby Unser all won at age 41. Rose, Hanks, Foyt, Rutherford and Fittipaldi all won at 42. Arie Luyendyk and Sato were the only drivers to win at 43. Gordon Johncock was 45 when he took home the 1982 Indy 500 crown.