Top 5 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all time: No. 4 Dario Franchitti
Editor's Note: From Tuesday, May 19 to Saturday, May 23, FOX Sports will count down the top five Indianapolis 500 drivers of all time.
INDIANAPOLIS -- There are many candidates that could considered for the No. 4 spot on the all-time best Indianapolis 500 drivers list and the competition for that position includes some of the greatest names in the history of the race. As stated in a previous ranking that placed Wilbur Shaw No. 5, this list is completely subjective and will likely spark debate within the sport and from readers, but this is purely one list to consider.
The names that were considered for this position include Bill Vukovich, Bobby Unser, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford and Helio Castroneves.
In his era, Vukovich was a tremendous driver. The Serbian-American race driver had the nickname "The Mad Russian." He didn't like that nickname because he was actually Yugoslavian. He was also known as the "Fresno Flash" and the "Silent Serb" for his quiet personality.
But at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was as good as it got. He won back-to-back Indianapolis 500s in 1953 and 1954 and was on his way to a third-straight victory when he had a 17-second lead on the 57th lap of the 1955 500-mile race. As he came out of the second turn, Rodger Ward, Al Keller and Johnny Boyd crashed. Boyd's car was push into Vukovich's path and the two cars collided, sending Vukovich airborne. It flipped four-and-a-half times, burst into flames and landed upside down. He was killed in the crash and was the second defending Indy 500 champion to die during the race, following Floyd Roberts in 1939.
Bobby Unser made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1963 driving the famed STP Novi. The hard-charger was the second of the Unser brothers to compete in the Indianapolis 500, following older brother Jerry, who was killed following a crash at Indianapolis in 1959.
Unser was a fearless driver and one of the best of his generation. He loved to have his car out front and used to take pride in the fact that if his car failed, "at least I was leading the race at the time." Unser was a driver that fans bought tickets to watch and would put Bob Wilke's car into victory lane in 1968. A second Indy 500 win came in 1975 in the Jorgensen Eagle and his final Indianapolis 500 win was for Roger Penske in the controversial 1981 race.
Unser started on the pole and led 89 laps, but during a pit stop under caution he passed cars under yellow. The next day, Unser's victory was rescinded and given to Mario Andretti. After appealing, the win was given back to Unser in 1981. Unser retired that year and never raced again.
Mario Andretti was one of the greatest drivers of all-time but in the Indianapolis 500, he scored just one victory (1969). He was a favorite for victory for many other years but could not repeat as an Indy 500 winner.
Johnny Rutherford and Helio Castroneves are both three-time winners that could easily be ranked No. 4. Rutherford won the race in 1974, rain-shortened in 1976 and with the "Yellow Submarine" - the famed Chaparral - in 1980. Castroneves is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in his first two attempts. He scored his third win at Indy in 2009.
However, the driver who is clocks in at No. 4 on this list is Dario Franchitti of Scotland.
Over a five-race period, he won the Indianapolis 500 three times. That is one of the greatest stretches in Indy 500 history and all three of his wins came in IndyCar's era of extreme parity.
For decades, the driver with the best car - one that was innovative and superior, often won the Indianapolis 500. But in the current era of IndyCar racing before the introduction of Aero Kits in 2015, all 33 drivers in the race were running the same chassis -- and in Franchitti's first two Indy 500 wins, the same Honda engine.
Franchitti's first four attempts in the Indy 500 may have been solid, but were unspectacular. He finished 19th in his first try in 2002, missed the 2003 race with a back injury suffered in a motorcycle crash in Scotland. In 2005 and 2006, Franchitti finished sixth and seventh.
In 2007, Franchitti was charging to an IndyCar Series championship and it was fueled with a victory in that year's Indy 500. After joining his hero, 1965 Indy 500 winner Jim Clark, as a face of the Borg-Warner Trophy, Franchitti walked away from IndyCar racing at the end of the 2007 season to begin a career in NASCAR in 2008.
Franchitti was injured in a NASCAR crash at Talladega in the spring of 2008 and was recovering from a broken ankle when he paid a visit to the Indianapolis 500 in 2008. He realized how much he missed the sport and was back in action in 2009 replacing his friend Dan Wheldon at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing.
He won the 2009 IndyCar Series title for the team and dominated the 2010 Indy 500 with his famed No. 10 Target car in front for 155 laps of the 200-lap contest. He scored his third IndyCar title at the end of the 2010 season.
After a 12th-place finish in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 and another IndyCar Series championship, Franchitti returned to victory lane at Indy in 2012. On the final lap of the race, Franchitti was the leader when Takuma Sato went underneath him in Turn 1. Sato ran out of room, touched Franchitti's car, spun around and crashed.
Franchitti completed the lap to become a three-time winner.
After that victory in 2012, he was asked where he ranks as one of the greatest drivers of all-time. Franchitti replied, "I'll let others decide that after I retire. I just want to enjoy this victory right now."
It would be the final IndyCar win of his career. Franchitti was forced to retire after suffering serious injuries in a crash at the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston in October 2013.
Because of his remarkable three wins in a five-race period (did not compete in 2008) Franchitti earns his place as the No. 4 Indy 500 driver of all-time.
