102 Stats in 102 Days Until 102nd Indy 500 – Day 19, Victories By Car Number (March 4, 2018)

The 102nd Indianapolis 500 is 84 days away! This is the 19th day of the 102 Stats in 102 Days Until the 102nd Indy 500.

Each day from now until the Saturday before the Indianapolis 500, we’ll post a list of stats related to the race. Some of well-known statistics, while others are a little more in-depth. You can view the current list of 102-stat blogs by clicking here.

Today’s list looks at the car numbers that have won the race. This is the entire list, by number of times. Drivers have taken Car No. 3 to victory lane more than any other car number – 11 times.

Indianapolis 500 Victories By Car Number (By Number of Times Occurred)

- 11 times: Car No. 3

- 9 times: Car No. 2

- 7 times: Car No. 1

- 6 times: Car No. 5, No. 14

- 5 times: Car No. 4, No. 6

- 4 times: Car No. 9, No. 16, No. 98

- 3 times: Car No. 8, No. 15, No. 20, No. 27

- 2 times: Car No. 7, No. 23, No. 26, No. 32

- 1 time: Car No. 10, No. 11, No. 12, No. 17, No. 24, No. 25, No. 28, No. 30, No. 31, No. 34, No. 35, No. 36, No. 48, No. 50, No. 51, No. 66, No. 68, No. 82, No. 91, No. 99

Notes of Interest

- Of the 99 numbers including and between 1 and 99, only 38 numbers have won the race.

- Every car number between 1 and 9 has won the race at least twice.

- A car number in the 70s has never won the race. Only one in the 40s and 80s and two in the 50s and 60s have taken the checkered flag first.

- The most recent first-time car number to win the Indianapolis 500 was No. 28, by Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014.

- The drivers to win the race multiple times with the same number were: Al Unser (Car No. 2 – 1970 and 1978); Bobby Unser (Car No. 3 – 1968 and 1981); Helio Castroneves (Car No. 3 – 2002 and 2009); Bill Vukovich (Car No. 14 – 1953 and 1954); A.J. Foyt (Car No. 14 – 1967 and 1977); and Gordon Johncock (Car No. 20 – 1973 and 1982).

- Only two car numbers have won the Indianapolis 500 in back-to-back years: Car No. 16 (1913 with Jules Goux and 1914 with Rene Thomas) and Car No. 14 (1953 and 1954 with Bill Vukovich). Technically, Car No. 16 also won consecutive races in 1941 and 1946 with Mauri Rose (and with Floyd Davis in 1941), with the 1942-1945 canceled due to World War II.

- Of the car numbers that have won, the longest drought is Car No. 17, which last won in 1916 with Dario Resta.

- Of the 101 races, 90 of them have been won by car numbers under Car No. 50. The first car number over 50 to win the race was Car No. 98, with Troy Ruttman in 1952.

- The lowest car number to not win the race is, unsurprisingly, Car No. 13.