The last part of this series looks at the highest valued numbers to have taken part in the Indianapolis 500. Some of these numbers you have probably never seen compete in the Indianapolis 500 or you at least don't remember the last time you saw them. I must admit I find some of the best information are in these less celebrated places because you don't realize it exists. Everyone can remember when car #1 or car #20 or car #66 did something. We see those numbers with some regularity. We take it for granted. But the ones that have been missing for decades? Those are most intriguing.
#76
Total Uses: 7
First Use: 1948
Most Recent: 1993
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 2 (28.571%)
Top Tens: 2 (28.571%)
Average Finish: 18.285
Gordon Johncock is responsible for the only top five finish for car #72. Johncock was also responsible for the first top five finish for car #76. This one came the year before Johncock did it in car #72. He was a rookie in car #76 and was fifth. If you remember, Al Miller was fourth in the 1965 race in car #74. The 70s have a combined ten top five finishes. Twenty-percent of them came in the 1965 race. Johnny Parsons scored car #76’s other top five finish, a fifth in 1985.
#77
Total Uses: 34
First Use: 1949
Most Recent: 2022
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 2 (5.882%)
Top Tens: 7 (20.58%)
Average Finish: 19.647
By far the most used number in the 70s, car #77's only top five finishes were fifth in 1949 with Joie Chitwood and fifth in 1955 with Walt Faulkner. Salt Walther has made the most Indianapolis 500 starts in car #77, making seven of them. Walther's best finish was ninth in 1976, a rain-shortened race.
#78
Total Uses: 8
First Use: 1968
Most Recent: 2013
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Average Finish: 21.625
Prior to Simona de Silvestro, car #78 had only appeared in four Indianapolis 500s. De Silvestro made four starts of her own. Her best finish was 14th on her debut in 2010, matching Jimmy Caruthers for best finish with this car number.
#79
Total Uses: 4
First Use: 1962
Most Recent: 1994
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1 (25%)
Average Finish: 20
The last time we saw car #79 in the Indianapolis 500 Dennis Vitolo finished the race parked on Nigel Mansell's shoulders. It was Mansell's second and final Indianapolis 500 start as well. Bob Harkey was eighth in the 1974 race in car #79.
#80
Total Uses: 5
First Use: 1971
Most Recent: 1995
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Average Finish: 23.6
Car #80 was Al Unser's number in his final Indianapolis 500 start in 1993. Unser was 12th in that race, the best finish for this car number. The most recent driver to use it was Buddy Lazier one year prior to Lazier's Indianapolis 500 victory.
#81
Total Uses: 18
First Use: 1950
Most Recent: 2020
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 4 (22.222%)
Average Finish: 19
Mickey Rupp and Sheldon Kinser were each sixth with car #81 in 1965 and 1981 respectively. It was John Paul's Jr.'s number in his final Indianapolis 500 start in 1998 and Paul, Jr. finished seventh. It was Robby Unser's number in what was Unser's final "500" start the following year and Unser was eighth. It was Bill Vukovich's number in his rookie year in 1951 and Graham Hill's number in his second "500" start.
#82
Total Uses: 8
First Use: 1956
Most Recent: 2011
Wins: 1 (12.5%)
Top Fives: 2 (25%)
Top Tens: 2 (25%)
Average Finish: 13.125
Car #82 doesn't quite meet the ten appearance minimum, but if it gets two decent finishes in its next two appearances, car #82 could be at the top in many categories. Its average finish would be fifth. Jim Clark won in car #82 in 1965 and Tony Kanaan was fourth with the number in a Lotus-sponsored vehicle in 2011. Car #82 has finished in the top fifteen in six of eight appearances. Prior to Kanaan in 2011, it had not been used since 1974 with George Snider.
#83
Total Uses: 20
First Use: 1951
Most Recent: 2017
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 3 (15%)
Top Tens: 7 (35%)
Average Finish: 17.3
Charlie Kimball made car #83 known in recent seasons, but it was Mike Nazaruk who drove it to a runner-up result in 1951. Donnie Allison was fourth using the number in 1970, earning him Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors. It was also Dave MacDonald's number in his only Indianapolis 500 appearance.
#84
Total Uses: 19
First Use: 1963
Most Recent: 2001
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 5 (26.31%)
Average Finish: 17.263
Car #84 was a A.J. Foyt Racing one-off for many years. Seventeen of car #84's 19 appearances were as a Foyt entrant. George Snider used it seven times. No other driver used it more than once. Donnie Allison was sixth in 1971 and Robbie Buhl was sixth in 1999.
#85
Total Uses: 1
First Use: 1971
Most Recent: 1971
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Average Finish: 17
This one always amazes me. Of the normal numbers, car #85 is the only one to be used once. It was Denny Hulme's final Indianapolis 500 start. Hulme qualified fourth. He retired with a valve issue. This number is prime if Marcus Armstrong or Nick Cassidy or Mitch Evans or Brendon Hartley if any of them want to make an Indianapolis 500 start.
#86
Total Uses: 12
First Use: 1948
Most Recent: 2021
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 1 (8.333%)
Top Tens: 2 (16.667%)
Average Finish: 19.916
McLaren was runner-up in 1971 with car #86 and Peter Revson as the driver. Two years ago, Juan Pablo Montoya used it in a McLaren one-off. It wasn't quite second for Montoya but he was ninth.
#87
Total Uses: 2
First Use: 1959
Most Recent: 1987
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Average Finish: 28
Not quite car #85, car #87 has been used twice! Red Amick was 31st in 1959 and Steve Chassey was 25th in, fittingly, 1987. Car #87 has the worst average finish when ignoring the ten appearance minimum with an average of 28th. If someone from Nova Scotia ever enters the Indianapolis 500, this number is meant for him or her.
#88
Total Uses: 24
First Use: 1953
Most Recent: 2020
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 1 (4.1667%)
Top Tens: 5 (20.833%)
Average Finish: 18.416
The most used number in the 80s, car #88 has not had a top five finish since Johnny Boyd was fifth in 1964. It appeared in six consecutive races from 2015 through 2020, its longest streak appearing in the "500."
#89
Total Uses: 11
First Use: 1955
Most Recent: 1979
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 3 (27.27%)
Average Finish: 17.545
Lee Kunzman was the last driver to use car #89. Kunzman was 30th, the worst result for car #89. The best result was nine years earlier when Jerry Grant was seventh. It did finish tenth on its debut with Pat Flaherty.
#90
Total Uses: 12
First Use: 1968
Most Recent: 2006
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1 (8.333%)
Average Finish: 20.416
Lyn St. James was driver in half of car #90's appearances. Mike Mosley got the only top ten finish, an eighth in 1968. Townsend Bell was the most recent driver to use it. It was also Racin Gardner's number in his only Indianapolis 500 start in 1996.
#91
Total Uses: 28
First Use: 1948
Most Recent: 2014
Wins: 1 (3.571%)
Top Fives: 4 (14.285%)
Top Tens: 8 (28.571%)
Average Finish: 18.857
Speaking of 1996, car #91 won that race with Buddy Lazier. Lazier is responsible for all four top five finish car #91 has earned. Lazier was runner-up twice. Hemelgarn Racing was the entrant for car #91 in 21 of its 28 appearances. The final two were with Buddy Lazier's own team.
#92
Total Uses: 15
First Use: 1953
Most Recent: 2006
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 2 (13.333%)
Top Tens: 5 (33.333%)
Average Finish: 18
Jim Clark drove car #92 to second on debut, finishing behind Parnelli Jones in one of the best Indianapolis 500s. Peter Revson was fifth six years later. In 1991, Gordon Johncock took car #92 to an improbable sixth place finish from 33rd on the grid, albeit 12 laps down, driving for Hemelgarn Racing. Jeff Bucknum is the most recent driver to use the number.
#93
Total Uses: 8
First Use: 1952
Most Recent: 1992
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 2 (25%)
Average Finish: 18.75
In the 1963 race, Dan Gurney was teammates to Jim Clark, and Gurney drove car #93. The American ended up seventh. John Paul, Jr. was tenth in car #93's most recent appearance.
#94
Total Uses: 8
First Use: 1965
Most Recent: 1983
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 1 (12.5%)
Top Tens: 2 (25%)
Average Finish: 19.25
Mel Kenyon was fifth on his Indianapolis 500 debut in car #94. Two years later, Sam Sessions was ninth in car #94. Bill Whittington used it 1980, 1982 and 1983.
#95
Total Uses: 9
First Use: 1957
Most Recent: 2005
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 1 (11.111%)
Top Tens: 1 (11.111%)
Average Finish: 23.889
Car #95 had not been used in 18 years when Panther Racing entered it as an additional car for Buddy Lazier. It was Lazier's first Indianapolis appearance without Hemelgarn Racing since 1995. Lazier was a surprise qualifying ninth, but had an accident on Carb Day. In a repaired car, Lazier remained at the front and finished fifth. Lazier is the most recent driver for four different numbers (#44, #80, #91 and #95).
#96
Total Uses: 6
First Use: 1962
Most Recent: 1999
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Average Finish: 24.333
Car #96's best finish was 13th in 1980 with Don Whittington. Jeret Schroeder was the most recent driver to use it and finished 15th. It was last in its first two appearance, 33rd with Bob Veith in 1962 and 33rd in 1966 with Ronnie Duman. Taking into account all entries regardless of total appearances, #96 has the fifth worse average finish.
#97
Total Uses: 16
First Use: 1953
Most Recent: 2006
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 3 (18.75%)
Average Finish: 22.3125
George Snider scored the best finish for car #97 in 1975. Phil Krueger matched it in 1988. For the life of me, when going through this, I could not remember who drove this car in 2006. Turns out it was Stéphen Grégoire! It was Grégoire's first appearance in fifth years. It was also Grégoire’s final start.
#98
Total Uses: 52
First Use: 1948
Most Recent: 2022
Wins: 4 (7.692%)
Top Fives: 6 (11.538%)
Top Tens: 16 (30.769%)
Average Finish: 15.5
By far the most used and most successful car in the 90s, car #98 had the youngest winner, the 100th anniversary winner and the 100th running's winner. It also had Parnelli Jones. Its average finish is 17th all-time. The first driver to use it was Johnny Mantz, two years prior to Mantz winning the inaugural Southern 500. Two Bettenhausens, two Joneses, two Andrettis and a Vukovich have driven the number. Car #98 has appeared in 12 consecutive Indianapolis 500s.
#99
Total Uses: 28
First Use: 1951
Most Recent: 2012
Wins: 1 (3.57%)
Top Fives: 6 (21.42%)
Top Tens: 9 (32.142%)
Average Finish: 17.571
I cannot fathom how nobody made the Indianapolis 500 in car #99 until the 1951 race. It was worth the wait because it won on debut with Lee Wallard. George Amick was second in car #99 in 1958 to Jimmy Bryan. This was Hurley Haywood's number in his only Indianapolis 500 start in 1980. It was Michael Andretti's number on his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1984. Andretti was fifth in that race, car #99's most recent top five finish. Somewhat surprisingly, its most recent appearance was in 2012 when Townsend Bell finished ninth.
#00
Total Uses: 1
First Use: 2009
Most Recent: 2009
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Average Finish: 25
Here is the one fact about the Indianapolis 500 that you probably do not realize is true: One number has never been used. It is car #0. We have had car #00, but never just #0. The two numbers have the same value, but there has never been a single-zero car. Double-zero? Yes, but never single. The #00's only race was in 2009 with Nelson Philippe, still the youngest driver to ever start an IndyCar race, who was making his only Indianapolis 500 start. Philippe, a winner at Surfers Paradise in 2006, was only 22 years old at the time. It was his final IndyCar start. He would suffered an ankle fracture after Will Power collided with Philippe in practice at Sonoma later that season.
#02
Total Uses: 3
First Use: 2007
Most Recent: 2009
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1
Average Finish: 22.333
I blame the 21st century for the "#0X" trend we saw in the 2000s. Everything was '01, or '03, or '05. They are technically numbers, but #02 is the same as #2. The value of #02 is equal to #2. It is the same number. No one would ever write that they have $02 in their wallet. Why? Because it is just $2. You can add all the zeros you want before a number, the value remains the same.
Anyway, Davey Hamilton used the #02 in his Indianapolis 500 return six years after suffering devastating leg injuries at Texas Motor Speedway. Hamilton ended up ninth in the rain-shortened race. In the following two years, Newman-Haas Racing used car #02, as it was transitioning from Champ Car and the #2 was already claimed. Justin Wilson was 27th in 2008. Graham Rahal was 31st in 2009.
#06
Total Uses: 6
First Use: 2008
Most Recent: 2022
Wins: 1 (16.667%)
Top Fives: 1 (16.667%)
Top Tens: 2 (33.333%)
Average Finish: 21
IndyCar had a regulation for a brief period during the 2010s and into the 2020s that banned entries from starting with the number zero. That regulation was dropped prior to the start of the 2021 season, which also coincided with Meyer Shank Racing expanding to two entries and announcing one would be car #06. MSR actually announced it would use car #06 when it was still outlawed in the rulebook.
What has happened since? Well, Hélio Castroneves won his fourth Indianapolis 500 with car #06 in 2021. Castroneves was seventh last year. Prior to Meyer Shank Racing, it was Newman-Haas Racing's number from 2008 to 2011 with Graham Rahal, Robert Doorbos, Hideki Mutoh and James Hinchcliffe all using it. The car number finished better than 28th in that four-year run.
#07
Total Uses: 1
First Use: 2011
Most Recent: 2011
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1 (100%)
Average Finish: 8
What is the only number to have finished in the top ten of every Indianapolis 500 it has appeared in? What is the only number to average a top ten finish? Are these two questions disingenuous? Of course! Because the answer is car #07, but the #07 only made one Indianapolis 500 appearance. It was in 2011 with Tomas Scheckter for SH Racing, in partnership with KV Racing. James Sullivan, co-entrant for many years in IndyCar and now running the VasserSullivan Lexus program in IMSA, was behind this entry. Scheckter qualified 21st and made some audacious passes on his way to finishing eighth while in the middle of the fuel conservation run. This was Scheckter's final Indianapolis 500 start.
-----------
Will we ever see another new number compete in the Indianapolis 500? The #0 is still out there and if anyone wants to slap a zero in front of #1, #3, #4, #5, #8 or #9 those are seven more options out there. But could we see a race with a triple-digit number? A car #100 or car #234 or car #810 or car #909 or car #007, which is same value as car #7? Anything is possible and if a sponsor throws enough money at a problem it will solve it.
Does triple-digit expansion water down the history of some of these numbers? Maybe, but there are only 33 starters each May. There hasn't been 40 entrants for on race in over a decade. Triple-digits is unnecessary. Perhaps there will be a one-off entry that does it, but I doubt it would ever be a regular thing or we would ever see a race with 24 of the 33 entries sporting a triple-digit number. Someday, it may happen, and we will add it to the list.
With every number covered, I hope you find something valuable from this four-part log or at least found something enjoyable that you can carry forward this May.
