Rick Mears

Rick Ravon Mears^[1] (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991). Mears is also a three-time Indycar series/World Series champion (1979, 1981 and 1982).

Biography

Early years

Mears was born in

In 1979 the National Championship sanction changed from the

In 1980 the ground effect Chaparral was technologically more advanced than the other chassis, and Johnny Rutherford drove it to his 3rd Indianapolis 500 win, going on to dominate the season. Mears finished in fourth place in the points with one win, scored at Mexico City.

In 1980 Mears was offered a

The 1981 and 1982 seasons saw two more championships for Mears. Despite facial burns during a pit fire in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, Mears' ten race victories in the two-year span were enough for another two Indycar championship titles. At the 1982 Indianapolis 500 he came within 0.16 of a second of adding a second Indy win. With less than 20 laps to go, during Mears' final pit stop, the crew filled the entire tank rather than giving him only the amount he needed to finish. The delay left him more than 11 seconds behind Gordon Johncock. Mears made up the difference when Johncock suffered handling problems, but failed to secure the win. The photo finish stood for 10 years as the closest finish to an Indy 500. The photo-finish also muffled out the controversial pace-lap crash with teammate Kevin Cogan who appeared to have spun out for no apparent reason; fellow drivers such as Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford, and Bobby Unser, charged Mears with causing the crash by bringing the field down at a slow pace.

1983–1984

For 1983 the Penske team acquired the Pennzoil sponsorship with its yellow paint scheme. Teammate Al Unser took that year's title. The team switched to the March chassis for the 1984 Indianapolis 500 after the Penske chassis proved unsuccessful in the first two races of the year. Mears scored his second Indy win that May but suffered severe leg injuries later in the year in a crash at Sanair Super Speedway. The March chassis, like most contemporary open-wheel racing cars, sat the driver far forward in the nose, with little protection for the legs and feet.

1985–1987

After the Sanair crash, Mears was slowed by the injuries to his right foot that affected him throughout the remainder of his career. Over the next three seasons, he won only two races. He completed a comeback from his injuries by winning the 1985 Pocono 500. In 1986, he won the pole position for the Indianapolis 500, but finished 3rd. He also won the 1987 Pocono 500.

1988–1990

In 1988, after several years using the March chassis, the Penske team utilized a new car, the PC-17, with a

In 1991 during a practice session Mears hit the wall at Indianapolis for the first time in his career. The next day, he climbed into his backup car and claimed his record 6th career pole position. Twenty laps from the end of the 500, it looked like Mears was set to be the runner-up behind Michael Andretti. However, when a subsequent yellow flag period erased Andretti's 15-second lead, Mears gained the lead as Andretti opted to pit for fuel. It was a short-lived lead, as Andretti passed Mears around the outside into the first turn. A lap later Mears regained the lead, using the same move Andretti had. Turning up his turbocharger, he then pulled away to win a fourth Indy 500, becoming the third driver to do so. In August 1991, in the Michigan 500, he won his last race.

At the 1992 Indianapolis 500 Mears broke a wrist in a crash during practice and then crashed out of the race for the first time in his career as he could not avoid

As of 2023, Rick Mears continues to work as a consultant and spotter for and Penske Racing, the team with which he won all of his Indycar races. He has acted as a mentor for Penske drivers

Personal life

Mears is the brother of Roger Mears, father of off-road and open-wheel racer Clint Mears, and the uncle of former NASCAR Cup Series driver Casey Mears. His marriage to his first wife Dina ended in divorce in 1983. He married Chris Bowen in 1986 whom he divorced in 2002.^[3]

Awards

• In 1997, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
• Mears was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1998.
• He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1998.^[4]
• Inducted into Team Penske Hall of Fame on May 25, 2017

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel racing

USAC

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indianapolis 500 results

Indy 500 qualifying results

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

Books

• Tremayne, David (1991). Racers Apart: Memories of motorsport heroes. UK: Motor Racing Publications Ltd. p. 293.
  ISBN 0-947981-58-6
  .
• Kirby, Gordon (2008). Rick Mears * Thanks: The Story of Rick Mears and the Mears Gang. US: Crash Media Group. p. 264.
  ISBN 978-1-905334-30-8
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rick Mears.

• Rick Mears driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• The Greatest 33