Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year

Winners of the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award, first awarded in 1952. No award was given from 1911-1951, even though at least one rookie starter has been present in every running of the Indianapolis 500. The award is voted on by members of the media the night of, or the morning after, the race, and does not necessarily go to the highest finishing rookie. Noteworthy accomplishments during qualifying, regardless of the respective race result, have frequently been a factor in voting. Years in which two drivers are listed indicate co-winners, due to a tie in the final voting.

Rookie

The term "rookie" at the Indianapolis 500 may be deceptive. According to race rules, a rookie is any driver who has never qualified for the race and/or has never been credited with a start. Several exceptions have created confusion, among the many include:

• In 1927, Louis Meyer did not qualify for the race, but served as a relief driver. He first qualified on his own in 1928, and was considered a rookie when he won that race.
• Bill Puterbaugh had a notable streak of failing to qualify for the race six times from 1968-1974, before finally making the race for the first time in 1975. He was still scored a rookie for the 1975 race, and his 7th place finish earned him the Rookie of the Year award.
• Jacques Villeneuve qualified for the 1984 race, but crashed in practice. He was not cleared to drive, and was forced to withdraw, and not credited with a start. He returned in 1985, but a crash early in the month prevented him from making a qualifying attempt. In 1986, he qualified and started the race (his third year overall), where he was considered a rookie, and still eligible for the award (he did not win). members of the media lightheartedly referred to him as "the veteran rookie."
• Affonso Giaffone was a rookie when first qualified for the 1997 race. He wrecked on the pace lap, and never saw the green flag to take the start, and was credited with 0 laps. Had he returned in a subsequent year, despite never starting the race, he would not be considered a rookie again.

The term "rookie" can also confuse spectators, as it suggests a young, inexperienced competitor. In reality, it can be a mis-nomer, since several experienced champions of other forms of motorsports have come to Indy and been ruled a rookie. World Champions such as Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were still scored as "rookies" in their first starts.

• Graham Hill was considered a rookie winner when he won in his first start (1966). However, Hill had already won the 1962 World Championship going into the race
• In the wake of the CART/IRL split in 1996, several drivers who first arrived at Indy in the early 2000s had been experienced fixtures of the CART circuit. Juan Pablo Montoya was the 1999 CART champion, but when he raced at Indy for the first time and won in 2000, he was still considered by definition, a "rookie." A similar situation occurred for Helio Castroneves a year later. After experience in three seasons in the CART series, he attempted Indy for the first time in 2001. He won the 2001 race, also scored as a rookie. He would go on to the win the 2002 race also, becoming the first driver to win the race in his first two starts.

Selected history

In 1979, Howdy Holmes was the lone rookie in the field, and was poised to win the award regardless of his race performance. In 1983, Teo Fabi won the pole position, which helped earn him the award, even though he dropped out on race day and finished 26th. In 2000 and 2001, Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves won the race and the award respectively, becoming the first drivers to do so.

In 2007, only two rookies were in the field (Phil Giebler and Milka Duno). Both drivers crashed during the race in separate incidents, and Giebler won the award finishing 29th, the lowest finishing position for any rookie of the year.

In 2008, Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first veteran driver (second year) in the IRL-era to win the Indianapolis 500 rookie award. He had won the 2007 IRL Rookie of the Year award, but had not attempted Indianapolis, therefore was a race rookie and eligible for this award in 2008. Under IRL rules in that season, the first since reunification of the open-wheel formula in the United States, drivers who had raced in CART/Champ Car with enough oval experience, but never in the Indianapolis 500, were declared veterans of the series but race rookies.

Jeff Andretti, the 1991 rookie of the year winner, had actually attempted to qualify for the race in 1990, but was bumped. Therefore, 1991 was his second overall attempt.

Rookie of the Year award winners

Year	Driver	Start	Qualifying Speed (mph / km/h)	Finish
1952	Art Cross	20	134.288 / 216.116	5
1953	Jimmy Daywalt	21	135.747 / 218.464	6
1954	Larry Crockett	25	139.557 / 224.595	9
1955	Al Herman	16	139.811 / 225.004	7
1956	Bob Veith	23	142.535 / 229.388	7
1957	Don Edmunds	27	140.449 / 226.031	19
1958	George Amick	25	142.710 / 229.669	2
1959	Bobby Grim	5	144.225 / 232.108	26
1960	Jim Hurtubise	23	149.056 / 239.882	18
1961	Bobby Marshman	33	144.293 / 232.217	7
	Parnelli Jones	5	146.080 / 235.093	12
1962	Jim McElreath	7	149.025 / 239.832	6
1963	Jim Clark	5	149.750 / 240.999	2
1964	Johnny White	21	150.893 / 242.839	4
1965	[1] Mario Andretti	4	158.849 / 255.643	3
1966	Jackie Stewart[2]	11	159.972 / 257.450	6
1967	Denis Hulme	24	163.376 / 262.928	4
1968	Bill Vukovich II	23	163.510 / 263.144	7
1969	Mark Donohue	4	168.903 / 271.823	7
1970	Donnie Allison	23	165.662 / 266.607	4
1971	Denny Zimmerman	28	169.755 / 273.194	8
1972	Mike Hiss	25	179.015 / 288.097	7
1973	Graham McRae	13	192.031 / 309.044	16
1974	Pancho Carter	21	180.605 / 290.656	7
1975	Bill Puterbaugh	15	183.833 / 295.851	7
1976	Vern Schuppan	17	182.011 / 292.918	18
1977	Jerry Sneva	16	186.616 / 300.329	10
1978	Larry Rice	30	187.393 / 301.580	11
	Rick Mears	3	200.078 / 321.994	23
1979	Howdy Holmes	13	185.864 / 299.119	7
1980	Tim Richmond	19	188.334 / 303.094	9
1981	Josele Garza	6	195.101 / 313.985	23
1982	Jim Hickman	24	196.217 / 315.781	7
1983	Teo Fabi	1	207.395 / 333.770	26
1984	Roberto Guerrero [3]	7	205.707 / 331.053	2
	Michael Andretti	4	207.805 / 334.430	5
1985	Arie Luyendyk	20	206.004 / 331.531	7
1986	Randy Lanier	13	209.964 / 337.904	10
1987	Fabrizio Barbazza	17	208.038 / 334.805	3
1988	Bill Vukovich III	23	208.545 / 335.621	14
1989	Bernard Jourdain	20	213.105 / 342.959	9
	Scott Pruett	17	213.995 / 344.327	10
1990	Eddie Cheever	14	217.926 / 350.718	8
1991	Jeff Andretti	11	217.632 / 350.245	15
1992	Lyn St. James	27	220.150 / 354.297	11
1993	Nigel Mansell	8	220.255 / 354.466	3
1994	Jacques Villeneuve	4	226.259 / 364.129	2
1995	Christian Fittipaldi	27	226.375 / 364.315	2
1996	Tony Stewart	1[4]	233.100 / 375.138	24
1997	Jeff Ward	7	214.517 / 345.232	3
1998	Steve Knapp	23	216.445 / 348.334	3
1999	Robby McGehee	27	220.139 / 354.279	5
2000	Juan Pablo Montoya	2	223.372 / 359.482	1
2001	Hélio Castroneves	11	224.142 / 360.722	1
2002	Alex Barron	26	228.580 / 367.864	4
	Tomas Scheckter	10	229.210 / 368.878	26
2003	Tora Takagi	7	229.358 / 369.116	5
2004	Kosuke Matsuura	9	220.740 / 355.247	11
2005	Danica Patrick	4	227.004 / 365.328	4
2006	Marco Andretti	9	224.918 / 361.970	2
2007	Phil Giebler	33	219.637 / 353.472	29
2008	Ryan Hunter-Reay[5]	20	221.579 / 356.597	6
2009	Alex Tagliani	33[6]	221.115 / 355.850	11

1. ^ Andretti was Italian-born.
2. ^ Rookie Graham Hill won the 1966 race, but Stewart won the rookie of the year award. After leading the race by over one lap over Hill with 8 laps remaining, Stewart slowed and finally stopped his car, retiring from the race, due to a loss of oil pressure.
3. ^ Guerrero was naturalised as a citizen in 1989.
4. ^ Tony Stewart qualified second but started the race on the pole position after pole winner Scott Brayton was killed in a practice session accident.
5. ^ Hunter-Reay was the first veteran series driver (second year) to win the Indianapolis 500 rookie award. He had won the 2007 IRL Rookie of the Year award, but did not attempt this race and therefore was a race rookie and eligible for this award in 2008. [1]
6. ^ Tagliani was the first driver to win the Rookie of the Year award without qualifying his car for the race. After failing to qualify his own car, team owners moved him into the car qualified in 30th position by veteran teammate Bruno Junqueira, resulting in the move of the car to the back of the field, per the rules regarding driver replacements before the start of the race.

Drivers to win award and race (chronologically)

Driver	Rookie of the Year	Race Victories
Parnelli Jones	1961	1963
Jim Clark	1963	1965
Mario Andretti	1965	1969
Mark Donohue	1969	1972
Rick Mears	1978	1979, 1984, 1988, 1991
Arie Luyendyk	1985	1990, 1997
Eddie Cheever	1990	1998
Jacques Villeneuve	1994	1995
Juan Pablo Montoya	2000	2000
Hélio Castroneves	2001	2001, 2002, 2009

References

2006 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Program