ARIE LUYENDYK

Known as “The Flying Dutchman” Arie Luyendyk quietly compiled some of the most impressive achievements in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Aside from being a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, Luyendyk holds the IMS one-and four-lap speed records, and his average speed over 500 miles of 185.981 mph in 1990 is a mark that is unlikely to ever be broken.
A native of Holland, Luyendyk rose through the European open-wheel formula car ranks in the late 1970s but his break came when he moved to America to compete in the SCCA Super Vee championship. He attracted the attention of his countryman Aat Groenevelt, who began to sponsor Luyendyk under the Provimi Veal banner.
Luyendyk won the 1984 Super Vee championship and finished eighth in his Indy car debut at Road America. The following year, he and Groenevelt teamed up for a full season in the CART-sanctioned IndyCar World Series. One of his best races was the Indianapolis 500, where he finished seventh and claimed “Rookie of the Year” honors.
In 1990 he joined Doug Shierson Racing; driving the memorable Domino’s Pizza-liveried Lola-Cosworth where he dominated the latter stages of the Indy 500, pulling away to win by nearly 11 seconds over Bobby Rahal.
Luyendyk secured the first Indianapolis pole position for himself and Chip Ganassi Racing in 1993, and they finished second behind old nemesis Fittipaldi. In 1995, Luyendyk qualified a Menard-Buick-powered car on the front row and finished seventh.
In 1996, Luyendyk was arguably the top Indy car driver who chose to join the newly-formed Indy Racing League. Arie was in a league of his own throughout the month of May, but he had little or no luck. After setting the unofficial IMS track record with a 239.260 mph practice lap, Arie was not able to complete a first-day qualifying run. He came back the following day to set one (237.498) and four-lap (236.986 mph) records, but it earned him only the 20th starting position. The race wasn’t much better, as a collision with an inexperienced driver eliminated Luyendyk.
In addition to holding the one-lap, four-lap, and race records, Luyendyk thus holds the unique distinction of being the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in cars built to CART and IRL specifications.
“I have pride in being able to be a guy who was able to win races but also goes fast in qualifying, and in that regard, be versatile. I know a lot of guys who were really good racers at Indy, but they didn’t care for qualifying. They didn’t want to hang it out, they didn’t want to run low downforce. I always enjoyed putting together that one phenomenal lap.”