Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
Winners of the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award, first awarded in 1952. No official award was given from 1911-1951, even though at least one rookie starter has been present in every running of the Indianapolis 500. The award is voted on by members of the media the night of, or the morning after, the race, and does not necessarily go to the highest finishing rookie. Noteworthy accomplishments during qualifying, regardless of the respective race result, have frequently been a factor in voting. Years in which two drivers are listed indicate co-winners, due to a tie in the final voting.
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[edit] Rookie
The term "rookie" at the Indianapolis 500 may be deceptive. According to race rules, a rookie is any driver who has never qualified for the race and/or has never been credited with a start. Several exceptions have created confusion, among the many include:
- In 1927, Louis Meyer did not qualify for the race, but served as a relief driver. He first qualified on his own in 1928, and was considered a rookie when he won that race.
- Bill Puterbaugh had a notable streak of failing to qualify for the race six times from 1968-1974, before finally making the race for the first time in 1975. He was still scored a rookie for the 1975 race, and his 7th place finish earned him the Rookie of the Year award.
- Jacques Villeneuve qualified for the 1984 race, but crashed in practice. He was not cleared to drive, and was forced to withdraw, and not credited with a start. He returned in 1985, but a crash early in the month prevented him from making a qualifying attempt. In 1986, he qualified and started the race (his third year overall), where he was considered a rookie, and still eligible for the award (he did not win). members of the media lightheartedly referred to him as "the veteran rookie."
- Affonso Giaffone was a rookie when first qualified for the 1997 race. He wrecked on the pace lap, and never saw the green flag to take the start, and was credited with 0 laps. Had he returned in a subsequent year, despite never starting the race, he would not be considered a rookie again.
The term "rookie" can also confuse spectators, as it suggests a young, inexperienced competitor. In reality, it can be a mis-nomer, since several experienced champions of other forms of motorsports have come to Indy and been ruled a rookie. World Champions such as Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were still scored as "rookies" in their first starts.
- Graham Hill was considered a rookie winner when he won in his first start (1966). However, Hill had already won the 1962 World Championship going into the race
- In the wake of the CART/IRL split in 1996, several drivers who first arrived at Indy in the early 2000s had been experienced fixtures of the CART circuit. Juan Pablo Montoya was the 1999 CART champion, but when he raced at Indy for the first time and won in 2000, he was still considered by definition, a "rookie." A similar situation occurred for Helio Castroneves a year later. After experience in three seasons in the CART series, he attempted Indy for the first time in 2001. He won the 2001 race, also scored as a rookie. He would go on to the win the 2002 race also, becoming the first driver to win the race in his first two starts.
[edit] Selected history
In 1978, Larry Rice and Rick Mears tied in the voting. At the victory banquet, it was discovered that two of the voters had split their votes. They could not decide who to vote for, and put both Rice and Mears on their respective ballots. Officials requested that those two voters re-vote, and they both agreed. One voted for Rice, and the other voted for Mears, and a tie still prevailed. Officials decided to award co-winners.
In 1979, Howdy Holmes was the lone rookie in the field, and was poised to win the award regardless of his race performance.
In 1983, Teo Fabi won the pole position and led the first 23 laps, which helped earn him the award - even though he dropped out finished 26th, (and fellow rookie Al Unser, Jr. finished in the top ten).
In 2000 and 2001, Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves won the race and the award respectively, becoming the first drivers to do so.
In 2007, only two rookies were in the field (Phil Giebler and Milka Duno). Both drivers crashed during the race in separate incidents, and Giebler won the award finishing 29th, the lowest finishing position for any rookie of the year.
In 2008, Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first veteran driver (started three or more races the previous season) in the INDYCAR era (1996-present) to win the Indianapolis 500 rookie award. He had won the 2007 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year award, but his first INDYCAR start was July 22, 2007 (Mid-Ohio, eight weeks after Indianapolis), therefore he had not attempted Indianapolis, and was a race rookie and eligible for this award in 2008. Under INDYCAR rules in that season, the first since reunification of the open-wheel formula in the United States, drivers who had raced in CART/Champ Car with enough oval experience, but never in the Indianapolis 500, were declared veterans of the series but race rookies.
In 2010, Mike Conway's huge crash on the final lap shuffled the running order, as several cars slipped by others under yellow, trying to avoid the crash. Simona de Silvestro was unofficially scored as the highest finishing rookie, but when official results were posted, Mario Romancini was scored as the highest finishing rookie (13th) and he was also the fastest rookie qualfier. Simona de Silvestro, however, was still voted the rookie of the year.
Jeff Andretti, the 1991 rookie of the year winner, had actually attempted to qualify for the race in 1990, but was bumped. Therefore, 1991 was his second overall attempt.
[edit] Rookie of the Year award winners
| Year | Driver | Start | Qualifying Speed (mph / km/h) |
Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 |  Art Cross |
20 | 134.288 / 216.116 | 5 |
| 1953 | Jimmy Daywalt |
21 | 135.747 / 218.464 | 6 |
| 1954 | Larry Crockett |
25 | 139.557 / 224.595 | 9 |
| 1955 | Al Herman |
16 | 139.811 / 225.004 | 7 |
| 1956 | Bob Veith |
23 | 142.535 / 229.388 | 7 |
| 1957 | Don Edmunds |
27 | 140.449 / 226.031 | 19 |
| 1958 | George Amick |
25 | 142.710 / 229.669 | 2 |
| 1959 | Bobby Grim |
5 | 144.225 / 232.108 | 26 |
| 1960 | Jim Hurtubise |
23 | 149.056 / 239.882 | 18 |
| 1961 | Bobby Marshman |
33 | 144.293 / 232.217 | 7 |
| Parnelli Jones |
5 | 146.080 / 235.093 | 12 | |
| 1962 | Jim McElreath |
7 | 149.025 / 239.832 | 6 |
| 1963 |  Jim Clark |
5 | 149.750 / 240.999 | 2 |
| 1964 | Johnny White |
21 | 150.893 / 242.839 | 4 |
| 1965 | [1] Mario Andretti |
4 | 158.849 / 255.643 | 3 |
| 1966 | Jackie Stewart[2] |
11 | 159.972 / 257.450 | 6 |
| 1967 |  Denis Hulme |
24 | 163.376 / 262.928 | 4 |
| 1968 | Bill Vukovich II |
23 | 163.510 / 263.144 | 7 |
| 1969 | Mark Donohue |
4 | 168.903 / 271.823 | 7 |
| 1970 | Donnie Allison |
23 | 165.662 / 266.607 | 4 |
| 1971 | Denny Zimmerman |
28 | 169.755 / 273.194 | 8 |
| 1972 | Mike Hiss |
25 | 179.015 / 288.097 | 7 |
| 1973 | Graham McRae |
13 | 192.031 / 309.044 | 16 |
| 1974 | Pancho Carter |
21 | 180.605 / 290.656 | 7 |
| 1975 | Bill Puterbaugh |
15 | 183.833 / 295.851 | 7 |
| 1976 |  Vern Schuppan |
17 | 182.011 / 292.918 | 18 |
| 1977 | Jerry Sneva |
16 | 186.616 / 300.329 | 10 |
| 1978 | Larry Rice |
30 | 187.393 / 301.580 | 11 |
| Rick Mears |
3 | 200.078 / 321.994 | 23 | |
| 1979 | Howdy Holmes |
13 | 185.864 / 299.119 | 7 |
| 1980 | Tim Richmond |
19 | 188.334 / 303.094 | 9 |
| 1981 |  Josele Garza |
6 | 195.101 / 313.985 | 23 |
| 1982 | Jim Hickman |
24 | 196.217 / 315.781 | 7 |
| 1983 |  Teo Fabi |
1 | 207.395 / 333.770 | 26 |
| 1984 |  Roberto Guerrero [3] |
7 | 205.707 / 331.053 | 2 |
| Michael Andretti |
4 | 207.805 / 334.430 | 5 | |
| 1985 |  Arie Luyendyk |
20 | 206.004 / 331.531 | 7 |
| 1986 | Randy Lanier |
13 | 209.964 / 337.904 | 10 |
| 1987 | Fabrizio Barbazza |
17 | 208.038 / 334.805 | 3 |
| 1988 | Bill Vukovich III |
23 | 208.545 / 335.621 | 14 |
| 1989 | Bernard Jourdain |
20 | 213.105 / 342.959 | 9 |
| Scott Pruett |
17 | 213.995 / 344.327 | 10 | |
| 1990 | Eddie Cheever |
14 | 217.926 / 350.718 | 8 |
| 1991 | Jeff Andretti |
11 | 217.632 / 350.245 | 15 |
| 1992 | Lyn St. James |
27 | 220.150 / 354.297 | 11 |
| 1993 | Nigel Mansell |
8 | 220.255 / 354.466 | 3 |
| 1994 |  Jacques Villeneuve |
4 | 226.259 / 364.129 | 2 |
| 1995 |  Christian Fittipaldi |
27 | 226.375 / 364.315 | 2 |
| 1996 | Tony Stewart |
1[4] | 233.100 / 375.138 | 24 |
| 1997 | Jeff Ward |
7 | 214.517 / 345.232 | 3 |
| 1998 | Steve Knapp |
23 | 216.445 / 348.334 | 3 |
| 1999 | Robby McGehee |
27 | 220.139 / 354.279 | 5 |
| 2000 | Juan Pablo Montoya |
2 | 223.372 / 359.482 | 1 |
| 2001 | Hélio Castroneves |
11 | 224.142 / 360.722 | 1 |
| 2002 | Alex Barron |
26 | 228.580 / 367.864 | 4 |
 Tomas Scheckter |
10 | 229.210 / 368.878 | 26 | |
| 2003 |  Tora Takagi |
7 | 229.358 / 369.116 | 5 |
| 2004 | Kosuke Matsuura |
9 | 220.740 / 355.247 | 11 |
| 2005 | Danica Patrick |
4 | 227.004 / 365.328 | 4 |
| 2006 | Marco Andretti |
9 | 224.918 / 361.970 | 2 |
| 2007 | Phil Giebler |
33 | 219.637 / 353.472 | 29 |
| 2008 | Ryan Hunter-Reay[5] |
20 | 221.579 / 356.597 | 6 |
| 2009 | Alex Tagliani |
33[6] | 221.115 / 355.850 | 11 |
| 2010 |  Simona de Silvestro[7] |
22 | 224.228 / 360.860 | 14 |
| 2011 | J. R. Hildebrand |
12 | 225.579 / 363.034 | 2 |
- ^ Andretti was
Italian-born. - ^ Rookie Graham Hill won the 1966 race, but Stewart won the rookie of the year award. After leading the race by over one lap over Hill with 8 laps remaining, Stewart slowed and finally stopped his car, retiring from the race, due to a loss of oil pressure.
- ^ Guerrero was naturalised as a
citizen in 1989. - ^ Tony Stewart qualified second but started the race on the pole position after pole winner Scott Brayton was killed in a practice session accident with a backup car. Replacement driver Danny Ongais started 33rd in the pole winning car per regulations.
- ^ Hunter-Reay was the first veteran series driver (second year) to win the Indianapolis 500 rookie award. He had won the 2007 IRL Rookie of the Year award, but did not attempt this race and therefore was a race rookie and eligible for this award in 2008. [1]
- ^ Tagliani was the first driver to win the Rookie of the Year award without qualifying his car for the race. After failing to qualify his own car, team owners moved him into the car qualified in 30th position by veteran teammate Bruno Junqueira, resulting in the move of the car to the back of the field, per the rules regarding driver replacements before the start of the race.
- ^ Powell, Eric (2010-05-31). "Franchitti Earns $2.75 Million For Indy 500; De Silvestro Chase Rookie Of The Year". Indy500.com (Indianapolis Motor Speedway). http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/news/show/37812-franchitti-earns-2-75-million-for-indy-500-de-silvestro-chase-rookie-of-the-year/. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
[edit] Drivers to win award and race (chronologically)
| Driver | Rookie of the Year | Race Victories |
|---|---|---|
| Parnelli Jones |
1961 | 1963 |
| Jim Clark |
1963 | 1965 |
| Mario Andretti |
1965 | 1969 |
| Mark Donohue |
1969 | 1972 |
| Rick Mears |
1978 | 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991 |
| Arie Luyendyk |
1985 | 1990, 1997 |
| Eddie Cheever |
1990 | 1998 |
| Jacques Villeneuve |
1994 | 1995 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya |
2000 | 2000 |
| Hélio Castroneves |
2001 | 2001, 2002, 2009 |
[edit] References
2006 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Program
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