download mario andretti indy car experience

When Sugai pulled out, Mears switched to a Theodore Racing-run McLaren (another ex-Simpson car) for the remainder of the year.įour top-10 finishes including fifth at Milwaukee meant Mears appeared on Roger Penske’s radar, as The Captain needed a talented driver to sub for Mario Andretti in 1978 whenever the latter’s Formula 1 commitments with Lotus took priority.

Safety equipment legend Bill Simpson gave Rick his first Ind圜ar start in 1976, then sold his aged Eagle to Art Sugai for whom the 26-year-old Mears drove a couple more races that year and at the beginning of the 1977 season. Most know, too, that Mears came from a desert-racing background, his parents Bill (who sadly died just two weeks ago, aged 93) and Mae Louise (“Skip”) having moved their young sons Roger and Rick from Wichita, KS to Bakersfield, CA in 1955. The record-matching four Indianapolis 500 wins, the six Indy 500 poles (a record that may stand forever) and 11 front-row starts from 16 attempts, three Indy car championships, 29 race wins and 40 pole positions… Some of Rick Mears’ stats are well known.

Download mario andretti indy car experience