Indy 500: Margin of Victory

Through 2010

Year	Winner	Margin	Second Place	Notes
1911	Ray Harroun	1:43.00	Ralph Mulford
1912	Joe Dawson	10:23.00	Teddy Tetzlaff	More than 5 laps
1913	Jules Goux	13:08.40	Spencer Wishart	More than 6 laps; all-time widest margin
1914	Rene Thomas	6:39.00	Arthur Durayt	More than 3 laps
1915	Ralph DePalma	3:29.43	Dario Resta	About 2 laps
1916	Dario Resta	1:57.57	Wilbur D'Alene	About 1 lap
1919	Howdy Wilcox	3:46.17	Eddie Hearne	More than 2 laps
1920	Gaston Chevrolet	6:19.60	Rene Thomas	More than 3 laps
1921	Tommy Milton	3:49.38	Roscoe Sarles	More than 2 laps
1922	Jimmy Murphy	3:13.60	Harry Hartz	About 2 laps
1923	Tommy Milton	3:15.73	Harry Hartz	More than 1 lap
1924	L.L. Corum & Joe Boyer	1:23.57	Earl Cooper	Record closest finish at time
1925	Peter DePaolo	53.69	Dave Lewis	Record closest finish at time, first under 1 minute
1926	Frank Lockhart	2 laps + 35.54	Harry Hartz	Lockhart was ahead by over two laps when the race was red flagged and ended early due to rain.
1927	George Souders	12:02.87	Earl DeVore	More than 7 laps
1928	Louis Meyer	43.89	Lou Moore	Record closest finish at time
1929	Ray Keech	6:23.79	Louis Meyer	More than 4 laps
1930	Billy Arnold	7:17.36	Shorty Cantlon	More than 4 laps
1931	Louis Schnieder	43.19	Fred Frame	Record closest finish at time
1932	Fred Frame	43.66	Howdy Wilcox II
1933	Louis Meyer	6:41.89	Wilbur Shaw	More than 4 laps
1934	Bill Cummings	27.25	Mauri Rose	Record closest finish at time, first under 30 seconds
1935	Kelly Petillo	40.02	Wilbur Shaw
1936	Louis Meyer	2:17.15	Ted Horn	More than 1 lap
1937	Wilbur Shaw	2.16	Ralph Hepburn	Record closest finish at time
1938	Floyd Roberts	3:35.27	Wilbur Shaw	More than 2 laps
1939	Wilbur Shaw	1:48.22	Jim Snyder	More than 1 lap
1940	Wilbur Shaw	1:14.14	Rex Mays	Race finished under yellow (see below)
1941	Floyd Davis & Mauri Rose	1:29.95	Rex Mays	More than 1 lap
1946	George Robson	44.04	Jimmy Jackson
1947	Mauri Rose	32.12	Bill Holland
1948	Mauri Rose	1:24.07	Bill Holland	More than 1 lap
1949	Bill Holland	3:11.00	Johnnie Parsons	More than 2 laps
1950	Johnnie Parsons	38.00	Bill Holland	Race red flagged; ended due to rain
1951	Lee Wallard	1:47.26	Mike Nazaruk	More than 1 lap
1952	Troy Ruttman	4:02.36	Jim Rathmann	More than 3 laps
1953	Bill Vukovich	3:30.87	Art Cross	About 3 laps
1954	Bill Vukovich	1:09.99	Jimmy Bryan	One lap (cars crossed line side-by-side as Vukovich took checkered)
1955	Bob Sweikert	2:43.98	Tony Bettenhausen	More than 2 laps
1956	Pat Flaherty	20.46	Sam Hanks
1957	Sam Hanks	21.40	Jim Rathmann
1958	Jimmy Bryan	27.65	George Amick
1959	Rodger Ward	23.27	Jim Rathmann
1960	Jim Rathmann	12.67	Rodger Ward
1961	A.J. Foyt	8.28	Eddie Sachs
1962	Rodger Ward	11.52	Len Sutton
1963	Parnelli Jones	33.84	Jimmy Clark	Race finished under yellow light conditions (see below)
1964	A.J. Foyt	1:24.35	Rodger Ward	More than 1 lap
1965	Jimmy Clark	1:59.98	Parnelli Jones	About 2 laps
1966	Graham Hill	41.13	Jimmy Clark
1967	A.J. Foyt	2 laps	Al Unser, Sr.	Race red flagged due to last-lap crash
1968	Bobby Unser	53.81	Dan Gurney
1969	Mario Andretti	1:53.02	Dan Gurney	More than 1 lap
1970	Al Unser, Sr.	32.19	Mark Donohue
1971	Al Unser, Sr.	22.48	Peter Revson
1972	Mark Donohue	3:10.55	Al Unser, Sr.	About 3 laps (see below)
1973	Gordon Johncock	1:24.91	Bill Vukovich II	Race red flagged, ended due to rain
1974	Johnny Rutherford	22.32	Bobby Unser
1975	Bobby Unser	1:04.00	Johnny Rutherford	Race red flagged, ended due to rain
1976	Johnny Rutherford	15.36	A.J. Foyt	Race red flagged ended due to rain (see below)
1977	A.J. Foyt	28.63	Tom Sneva
1978	Al Unser, Sr.	8.09	Tom Sneva
1979	Rick Mears	45.69	A.J. Foyt
1980	Johnny Rutherford	29.92	Tom Sneva
1981	Bobby Unser	5.18	Mario Andretti
1982	Gordon Johncock	0.16	Rick Mears	Record closest finish at time, first under 1 second
1983	Tom Sneva	11.174	Al Unser, Sr.
1984	Rick Mears	2 laps + 0.021	Roberto Guerrero
1985	Danny Sullivan	2.477	Mario Andretti
1986	Bobby Rahal	1.441	Kevin Cogan
1987	Al Unser, Sr.	4.496	Roberto Guerrero
1988	Rick Mears	7.076	Emerson Fittipaldi	Race ended under yellow flag (see below)
1989	Emerson Fittipaldi	2 laps	Al Unser, Jr.	Race ended under yellow flag (see below)
1990	Arie Luyendyk	10.878	Bobby Rahal
1991	Rick Mears	3.149	Michael Andretti
1992	Al Unser, Jr.	0.043	Scott Goodyear	All-time closest finish in history; unofficially 0.0331 seconds (see below)
1993	Emerson Fittipaldi	2.862	Arie Luyendyk
1994	Al Unser, Jr.	8.600	Jacques Villenueve	Race ended under yellow flag
1995	Jacques Villenueve	2.481	Christain Fittipaldi
1996	Buddy Lazier	0.695	Davy Jones
1997	Arie Luyendyk	0.570	Scott Goodyear
1998	Eddie Cheever, Jr.	3.191	Buddy Lazier
1999	Kenny Brack	6.562	Jeff Ward
2000	Juan Montoya	7.184	Buddy Lazier
2001	Helio Castroneves	1.737	Gil de Ferran
2002	Helio Castroneves	-19.4404 (N/A*)	Paul Tracy	Race ended under yellow (see below)
2003	Gil de Ferran	0.2990	Helio Castroneves
2004	Buddy Rice	0.1559	Tony Kanaan	Race red flagged due to rain (see below)
2005	Dan Wheldon	0.1302	Vitor Meira	Race ended under yellow (see below)
2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	0.0635	Marco Andretti
2007	Dario Franchitti	0.3610	Scott Dixon	Race red flagged due to rain (see below)
2008	Scott Dixon	1.7498	Vitor Meira
2009	Helio Castroneves	1.9819	Dan Wheldon
2010	Dario Franchitti	0.1536	Dan Wheldon	Race ended under yellow (see below)
2011	Dan Wheldon	2.1086	J.R. Hildebrand	Race ended under yellow (see below)

Indy 500: All-Time Closest Finishes

Through 2010

Year	Winner	Margin	Second Place	Notes
1992	Al Unser, Jr.	0.043 seconds	Scott Goodyear	Unofficially 0.0331 seconds (see below)
2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	0.0635 seconds	Marco Andretti
2005	Dan Wheldon	0.1302 seconds	Vitor Meira	Generally not applicable since race finished under caution*
2010	Dario Franchitti	0.1536 seconds	Dan Wheldon	Generally not applicable since race finished under caution*
2004	Buddy Rice	0.1559 seconds	Tony Kanaan	(450 miles) Generally not applicable since race finished under caution*
1982	Gordon Johncock	0.16 seconds	Rick Mears
2003	Gil de Ferran	0.299 seconds	Helio Castroneves
2007	Dario Franchitti	0.3610 seconds	Scott Dixon	(415 miles) Generally not applicable since race finished under caution*
1997	Arie Luyendyk	0.570 seconds	Scott Goodyear
1996	Buddy Lazier	0.695 seconds	Davy Jones
1986	Bobby Rahal	1.441 seconds	Kevin Cogan
2001	Helio Castroneves	1.737 seconds	Gil de Ferran
2008	Scott Dixon	1.7498 seconds	Vitor Meira
2009	Helio Castroneves	1.9819 seconds	Dan Wheldon
2011	Dan Wheldon	2.1086 seconds	J.R. Hidebrand
1937	Wilbur Shaw	2.16 seconds	Ralph Hepburn
1985	Danny Sullivan	2.477 seconds	Mario Andretti
1995	Jacques Villeneuve	2.481 seconds	Christian Fittipaldi

*- Races that finish under caution, and those which were ended early under caution due to rain, generally are not regarded to have a recognized margin of victory. However, cars are scored with official finishing times.

Indy 500: Closest Multiple-Car Finishes (Green Flag Finishes Only) Through 2011
Cars	Year	Winner	Margin	Place	Finisher
2-car	1992	Al Unser, Jr.	0.043*	2nd	Scott Goodyear
3-car	2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	1.0087	3rd	Michael Andretti
4-car	2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	1.2692	4th	Dan Wheldon
5-car	2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	1.6456	5th	Tony Kanaan
6-car	2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	3.0566	6th	Scott Dixon
7-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	4.9159	7th	Dario Franchitti
8-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	5.5096	8th	Ed Carpenter
9-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	6.5180	9th	Paul Tracy
10-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	7.3312	10th	Hideki Mutoh
11-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	10.5351	11th	Alex Tagliani
12-car	2009	Helio Castroenves	10.9874	12th	Tomas Scheckter
13-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	11.1944	13th	Alex Lloyd
14-car	2009	Helio Castroenves	11.4259	14th	Scott Sharp
15-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	12.6695	15th	Ryan Briscoe
16-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	15.4867	16th	A.J. Foyt IV
17-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	15.9774	17th	Sarah Fisher
18-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	16.3488	18th	Mike Conway
19-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	18.0868	19th	John Andretti
20-car	2009	Helio Castroneves	1 lap + 18.2844	20th	Milka Duno

Note: The most-ever cars to finish the entire 500 miles on the lead lap was 19 in 2009.

*- Unofficially, the margin of victory was 0.0331 seconds
**- The 2005 race finished under caution, and the top three cars drove over the finish line in a "ceremonial" three-wide formation. The margin between 1st place (Dan Wheldon) and 3rd place (Bryan Herta) was 0.2061 seconds, but it is not regarded as the closest 3-car finish due to the yellow flag condition.

Indy 500: All-Time Closest Three-Car Finishes

Through 2011

Year	Winner	Margin	Second & Third Place
2006	Sam Hornish, Jr.	1.0087 seconds	Marco Andretti & Michael Andretti
2003	Gil de Ferran	1.2475 seconds	Helio Castroneves & Tony Kanaan
1986	Bobby Rahal	1.881  seconds	Kevin Cogan & Rick Mears
2008	Scott Dixon	2.3127 seconds	Vitor Meira & Marco Andretti
2009	Helio Castroneves	2.3350 seconds	Dan Wheldon & Danica Patrick
1995	Jacques Villeneuve	2.966  seconds	Christian Fittipaldi & Bobby Rahal
1997	Arie Luyendyk	4.081  seconds	Scott Goodyear & Jeff Ward
1993	Emerson Fittipaldi	4.237  seconds	Arie Luyendyk & Nigel Mansell
2011	Dan Wheldon	5.5549 seconds	J.R. Hildebrand & Graham Rahal
2001	Helio Castroneves	5.7359 seconds	Gil de Ferran & Michael Andretti
1998	Eddie Cheever, Jr.	6.749  seconds	Buddy Lazier & Steve Knapp
1996	Buddy Lazier	6.980  seconds	Davy Jones & Richie Hearn

Indy 500: All-Time Widest Margins of Victory

Through 2011

Year	Winner	Margin	Second Place	Notes
1913	Jules Goux	13:08.40	Spencer Wishart	More than 6 laps
1927	George Souders	12:02.87	Earl DeVore	More than 7 laps
1912	Joe Dawson	10:23.00	Teddy Tetzlaff	More than 5 laps
1930	Billy Arnold	7:17.36	Shorty Cantlon	More than 4 laps
1933	Louis Meyer	6:41.89	Wilbur Shaw	More than 4 laps
1914	Rene Thomas	6:39.00	Arthur Durayt	More than 3 laps
1929	Ray Keech	6:23.79	Louis Meyer	More than 4 laps
1926	Frank Lockhart	2 laps + 35.54	Harry Hartz	Lockhart had over a two-lap lead when the race was red flagged and ended due to rain at the 400 mile mark.
1984	Rick Mears	2 laps + 0.021	Roberto Guerrero	Mears lapped the entire field twice, and edged out second place Guerrero at the finish line to keep him two laps down in the final scoring.
1967	A.J. Foyt	2 laps	Al Unser, Sr.	Actually 1½ laps. A crash occured on the mainstrech on the final lap. Immediately after Foyt crossed the finish line to win, the race was red flagged. Unser, Sr. had completed 198 laps, was coming around to complete his 199th lap. He actually did cross the start/finish line to accept the red flag, and drove to the pits to complete 200 laps. Scoring, however, for all cars except Foyt reverted back to the previous lap, and Unser's 199th and 200th laps were not scored.
1989	Emerson Fittipaldi	2 laps	Al Unser, Jr.	Actually about 1-1/3 laps. Second place Unser, Jr. crashed in the third turn on the 199th lap, and he was scored with only 198 laps completed. (see below)

Indy 500: All-Time Widest Margins of Victory (Since 1975)

Through 2011

Year	Winner	Margin	Second Place	Notes
1984	Rick Mears	2 laps + 0.021	Roberto Guerrero
1989	Emerson Fittipaldi	2 laps	Al Unser, Jr.	Actually 1-1/3 laps; race ended under yellow flag (see below)
1975	Bobby Unser	1:04.00	Johnny Rutherford	Race red flagged, ended due to rain
1979	Rick Mears	45.69	A.J. Foyt
1980	Johnny Rutherford	29.92	Tom Sneva
1977	A.J. Foyt	28.63	Tom Sneva
1976	Johnny Rutherford	15.36	A.J. Foyt	Race red flagged ended due to rain (see below)
1983	Tom Sneva	11.174	Al Unser, Sr.
1990	Arie Luyendyk	10.878	Bobby Rahal
1994	Al Unser, Jr.	8.600	Jacques Villenueve	Race ended under yellow flag

Historical Notes
For many years, when the winner crossed the finish line, drivers still on the track were allowed to complete the rest of the race. Until 1963, the policy of the officials was to let as many cars finish the 500 miles within a reasonable time frame. Some years, it was an even 8, 10, 12, or more, depending upon attrition. In some early cases, drivers were required to complete all laps in order to recieve prize money. In early years cars would be running up to 45 minutes after the winner finished, but by the 1950s, the additional time was limited to about 15-20 minutes. In those cases, while the winner was in victory lane, cars would still be roaring by on the track, and many spectators would already be heading for the exits. Starting in 1964, however, the race was shown on live closed-circuit television. In order to better accomodate the television audience, the extra time to finish the race was reduced to about five minutes. In 1974, fans stormed the track to greet winner Johnny Rutherford, despite the fact that other cars were still racing. Officials had to red-flag the race and decided a policy change was in order. Starting in 1975, the race would be over once the winner crossed the finish line. The remaining cars were allowed to complete the lap they were on, then be flagged to the pits. Rain shortened the race in 1975 and 1976, so both finished under the red flag. Without rain, the 1977 race would wind up being the first race finished under the new "flagged" to pits rule.

1963: On the final lap, Eddie Sachs lost a wheel and Roger McCluskey spun in turn 3, therefore the yellow light came on. Under the rules of the time, the pace car did not bunch cars up under the yellow, instead cars were required to slow down and hold their positions. Parnelli Jones was shown the checkered flag while the yellow light was still on.

1967: A multi-car crash on the frontstrech on the final lap prompted officials to immediately wave the red flag after winner A.J. Foyt crossed the finish line. The remaining cars were no longer scored, and scoring reverted back to the previous lap for everyone except the winner, Foyt.

1972: Jerry Grant unofficially finished second in the race, but was later penalized for refuling in another car's pit area. Al Unser, Sr., who had originally finished third, was elevated to second place in the official results.

1976: Rain started falling and the race was red flagged on the 103rd lap. Despite drying efforts, it could not be restarted. Scoring reverted to the completion of the 102nd lap.

1979: The rules regarding caution periods were changed such that the pace car would be used for the first time to bunch up the field under yellow. Previously, cars were required to slow down and hold their positions around the track, a procedure that was used primarily to protect large leads established by drivers. The change to a bunched-up field under yellow was expected to lead to closer racing conditions towards the end of the race.

1984: The three-year old Dataspeed computerized scoring system crashed after about 70 laps. The remainder of the race was scored by hand. Since no other cars were running on the lead lap when winner Rick Mears crossed the finish line, no other cars were initially scored with a finishing time. Unoffically, Al Unser, Sr. was scored as second. After review later that evening, it was determined that Roberto Guerrero finished second, and Unser third. Guerrero was running two laps behind Mears at the finish, and in fact running alongside Mears at the finish line. No official margin of victory was calculated until a later examination of the data.

1988: Second place Fittipaldi was assessed a one-lap penalty during the race. When official results were released the following day, the penalty was removed, and he was credited with second place. In addition, a yellow came out for debris with less than 3 laps to go, and the race finish under caution.

1989: Second-place Al Unser, Jr. crashed on the 199th lap. The yellow (caution) and white (one lap to go) flags came out as Fittipaldi crossed the start/finish line seconds later. The next time by, the race was completed under caution. Unser, Jr. actually was only 1-1/3 laps short of finishing the race, but official scoring reverted him back to 198 laps completed. Third place Raul Boesel, credited with 195 laps, was five laps down to the winner Fittipaldi. He was also, in fact, 3 laps down to Unser, Jr., who was credited with 198 laps. Even though he was no longer running, Unser, Jr. was credited with second place because as the race was flagged, he had more laps completed than Boesel.

1992: The closest finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500 was in 1992. Officially, Al Unser, Jr. beat second place Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds. However, theoretically speaking, Unser's winning margin was in fact closer. Scoring was kept using individual transponders in the cars, which, when driven over antennas imbedded in the track, would signal a scoring computer. The standard location for the DATA-1 transponders in 1992 was in the left sidepod, next to the driver, near the middle of the car. Unser, Jr.'s car, the Galmer chassis, one of only two such cars in the field (the other was teammate Danny Sullivan), was not able to accomodate the transponder in the sidepod, due to oversight during design. The unit, about the size of a remote control, had to be placed in the car's nose. Incidently, when the system was first introduced in 1990, it was placed in the nose. Due to observed problems with the nosecone location, the standard location was moved to the more accessible sidepod. When the two cars crossed the finish line, side-by-side, Unser's car technically was scored the instant the nose crossed the line, whereas Goodyear's car was not recognized until the mid-point of the car crossed the line. A longer lag time was attained, although only measurable by computer. Had Goodyear been able to edge out Unser by the nose of his car, it is quite possible that the computer would have unintentionally scored Unser as the winner. If Goodyear's nose touched the line first, but his transponder did not hit it until after Unser's nose (where his transponsder was) touched the line, poor Scott Goodyear might have lost in a technicality.

Shortly after the 1992 race was declared official, USAC technical director Mike Devin reported that the true margin of victory was calculated to be 0.0331 seconds. The margin was calculated using relative speeds of the two cars as they drove down the mainstrech. A Speedway spokesperson, Bob Walter, however, announced that the margin of victory of 0.043 seconds would remain as the official difference.

1994: A crash by Stan Fox late in the race did not allow the track to be cleaned up in time, and the race ended under caution.

2002: Due to a caution on lap 199, the field was not able to sort out properly and cross the finish line in the correct scoring order. Second place Paul Tracy, third place Felipe Giaffone, and the lap car of Sam Hornish, Jr. all went by leader Helio Castroneves under the caution light. However, Castroneves was still being officially scored at the leader. The pace car picked up Castroneves, while Tracy, Giaffone, and Hornish were all about a half mile ahead of the pace car. Tracy and Giaffone technically finished the 500 miles first and second. Tracy's "unofficial" finishing time was 2:59:51.431, and Giaffone was 1.229 seconds behind. Castroneves, officially scored as the leader, and thus the winner, was actually 19.4404 second behind Tracy with an official finishing time of 3:00:10.8174. When official results were posted, Castroneves was scored first, Tracy second, and Giaffone third. Officials times were fabricated to fit withing the scoring data. Tracy was placed 1 second behind Castroneves, and Giaffone was placed 0.1 seconds behind Tracy. On the 199th lap, interestingly, a margin of the lead of 0.0376 seconds was taken at the scoring line at the end of the backstrech, the last location that the cars were in the proper order.

2004: The race went yellow for moisture on the 174th lap, and was officially ended at the completion of the 180th lap. The final lap was run under caution, led by the pace car.

2005: A caution came out for the crash of Sebastien Bourdais on the 199th lap. Dan Wheldon led the field down to accept the yellow and white flag. The final lap was run under yellow, and the pace car led the field to the checkered flag.

2007: The race went yellow for a crash on lap 163. Before the crash could be cleaned up, rain began to fall, and the race was officially ended at the completion of lap 166.

2011: Leader J.R. Hidebrand crashed coming out of turn four on the final lap. His car slid down the frontstrech, but he was passed by Dan Wheldon in the final 900 feet. The pass occured under green light conditions, and the yellow light came on immediately after Wheldon made the pass. The remainder of the field crossed the finish line under yellow light condition.