Rick Mears

Rick Mears
Mears at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2021
Nationality	American
Born	Rick Ravon Mears December 3, 1951 (1951-12-03) (age 73) Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Awards	1979, 1984, 1988, 1991 Indianapolis 500 Winner
Champ Car career
179 races run over 14 years
Years active	1979–1992
Team(s)	Penske Racing
Best finish	1st (1979, 1981, 1982)
First race	1979 Arizona Republic Jimmy Bryan 150 (Phoenix)
Last race	1992 Marlboro 500 (Michigan)
First win	1979 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last win	1991 Marlboro 500 (Michigan)
Wins Podiums Poles 26 68 38

Mears' 1991 Penske PC-20 Indy Car

Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951), known by the nickname "Rocket Rick", 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 Wichita, Kansas and raised in Bakersfield, California. He began his racing career in off-road racing. In 1976, he was recommended by a representative of Bill Simpson' helmet company, and Simpson gave him a ride at the USAC Champ Car's Ontario 500 on an old Eagle-Offenhauser, finishing 8th. Simpson then sold the car to Art Sugai, on condition that Mears would continue driving it. In mid 1977 he switched to Theodore Racing.

His speed attracted the attention of Roger Penske. Although at the time Penske Racing had the services of Mario Andretti and Tom Sneva, Andretti was also racing in Formula One with Lotus, and Penske wanted another young driver who would focus exclusively on American racing. For 1978, Mears was offered a part-time ride in nine of the 18 championship races, filling in when Andretti was overseas. The arrangement also included a ride at the Indianapolis 500.

In his rookie appearance at Indy, Mears qualified on the front row and was the first rookie to qualify over 200 mph. When the race began, Mears discovered his helmet was not strapped on tight enough and he had to pit to get it safely secured. He did not lead a lap and retired at 104 laps with a blown engine. He ended up sharing "Rookie of the Year" honors with Larry Rice. Two weeks later, at the Rex Mays 150, he won his first race. He added another win a month later at Atlanta and rounded off the year with his first road course win at Brands Hatch.

1979

In 1979 the National Championship sanction changed from the USAC to CART. At Indianapolis he won his first "500", staying at the front of the field, taking advantage when Bobby Unser fell out of contention with mechanical trouble. Three wins and four second places in the eleven CART-eligible races won Mears his first championship. His worst finish in the season was seventh in Trenton's second heat.

1980

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 Formula One test with Brabham by then team boss Bernie Eccelstone. Mears took interest in the test largely because of the ongoing split between CART and USAC and wanted other options in case CART fell apart. Mears tested with Brabham twice, once at Paul Ricard and once at Riverside. After adjusting his driving style to the Brabham BT49 Mears posted lap times within half a second of future three time Formula One champion and then Brabham driver Nelson Piquet at the first test. During the second test Mears posted lap times faster than Piquet's. Piquet was so impressed with Mears' driving and enjoyed their time spent together so much that he endorsed bringing Mears on as a second driver. Eccelstone offered Mears a contract with Brabham that Mears ultimately declined. Mears would later say in his memoir that although he felt that Brabham was a strong team and that he had the skill to compete for wins in Formula One he was unsure about moving to Europe and was still interested in oval racing as the main reasons for declining Eccelstone's offer.

1981–1982

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 Indy 500, but finished only 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 Chevrolet racing engine. Mears used the new car to win the Indy 500. A year later, he took a record-setting fifth pole position at Indy, but retired from the race with mechanical problems. Emerson Fittipaldi took the 500 and also beat Mears to the Championship in the last race at Laguna Seca Raceway, despite Mears winning that race. Also, that last race of 1989 set Mears apart from all other Indycar racers as he broke a tie with Bobby Rahal for race wins and became the most successful Indycar racer of the 1980s. In his winner's circle interview, when asked about breaking his road course dry spell when his specialty has been ovals through the years, he replied to Jack Arute, "Well, I guess there is hope for us old circle track drivers after all."

Fittipaldi joined Mears at Penske for 1990, but the year belonged to Al Unser, Jr., who scored six wins. 1990 was Mears' last in the Pennzoil paint scheme as Marlboro took over as sponsor of the team, and Jim Hall re-entered Indycar.

1991–1992

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, at Michigan, he won his last race. At the 1992 Indy 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 Jim Crawford's spinning car in turn 1. He raced only four more times in 1992 and then announced his retirement from racing Indycars at the Penske team's Christmas party. No one except Penske himself and Rick's wife, Chris, knew of his plans to retire. He had just turned 41 years old.

As of 2016, 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 a mentor for Penske drivers Helio Castroneves, Will Power, and Scott McLaughlin.

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 Monster Energy Cup Series driver Casey Mears. His marriage to his first wife Dina ended in divorce in 1983. He married Chris Bowen in 1986.

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.
• 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)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Rank	Points
1976	Bill Simpson	Eagle 72	Offenhauser L4t	PHX	TRE	INDY	MIL	POC	MCH	TWS	TRE	MIL	ONT 8	MCH								16th	390
	Art Sugai														TWS 9	PHX 9
1977	Art Sugai	Eagle 72	Offenhauser L4t	ONT 24	PHX DNQ	TWS 15	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL													19th	555
	Theodore Racing	McLaren M16C/D								POC 30	MOS	MCH 6	TWS 7	MIL 5	ONT 26	MCH 8	PHX
1978	Team Penske	Penske PC-6	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX 5	ONT	TWS	TRE	INDY 23	MOS 2	MIL 1	POC	MCH 22	ATL 1	TWS 9	MIL 2	ONT 9	MCH	TRE	SIL 2	BRH 1	PHX	9th	2171
1979				ONT	TWS	INDY 1	MIL	POC	TWS	MIL												-	0
1980				ONT 21	INDY 5	MIL 5	POC 12	MDO 9														7th	766
1981-82				INDY 30	POC	ILL	DUQ	ISF	INDY 2													7th	800
1982-83				SPR	DUQ	NAZ	INDY 3															3rd	700
1983-84				DUQ	INDY 1																	1st	1,000

CART Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1979	Team Penske	Penske PC-7	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX 2	ATL 5	ATL 2				MCH 4	MCH 5		TRE 1	ONT 2	MCH 3	ATL 1	PHX 3				1st	4060
		Penske PC-6					INDY 1	TRE 5	TRE 7			WGL 2
1980	Team Penske	Penske PC-7	Cosworth DFX V8t	ONT 21																	4th	2866
		Penske PC-9			INDY 5	MIL 5	POC 12	MDO 9	MCH 4	WGL 2	MIL 2	ONT 3	MCH 3	MEX 1	PHX 7
1981	Team Penske	Penske PC-9B	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX 4	MIL	ATL 1	ATL 1	MCH 3	RIV 1	MIL 2	MCH 1	WGL 1	MEX 1	PHX 8							1st	304
1982	Team Penske	Penske PC-10	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX 1	ATL 1	MIL 3	CLE 4	MCH 15	MIL 12	POC 1	RIV 1	ROA 5	MCH 25	PHX 2							1st	294
1983	Team Penske	Penske PC-11	Cosworth DFX V8t	ATL 8	INDY 3	MIL 3	CLE 7	MCH 4	ROA 17												6th	92
		Penske PC-10B								POC 3	RIV 19	MDO 9	MCH 1	CPL 13	LAG 21	PHX 17
1984	Team Penske	Penske PC-12	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH 21	PHX 18																5th	110
		March 84C				INDY 1	MIL 2	POR 10	MEA 10	CLE 4	MCH 3	ROA 4	POC 2	MDO 5	SAN DNS	MCH	PHX	LAG	CPL
1985	Team Penske	March 85C	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH	INDY 21	MIL 3	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH 30	ROA	POC 1	MDO	SAN	MCH 2	LAG	PHX	MIA			10th	51
1986	Team Penske	March 86C	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX 19		INDY 3	MIL 3	POR 16		CLE 4	TOR 8	MCH 12	POC 8								8th	89
		Penske PC-15	Chevrolet 265A V8t		LBH 20				MEA 19						SAN 18			LAG 17		MIA 3
		March 86C												MDO 17		MCH 8	ROA 3		PHX 20
1987	Team Penske	Penske PC-16	Chevrolet 265A V8t	LBH 9	PHX 20			POR 3	MEA 18	CLE 7	TOR 10										5th	102
		March 86C				INDY 23	MIL 21					MCH 21	POC 1	ROA 9	MDO 4	NAZ 3	LAG 3	MIA 5
1988	Team Penske	Penske PC-17	Chevrolet 265A V8t	PHX 22	LBH 8	INDY 1	MIL 1	POR 6	CLE 23	TOR 6	MEA 3	MCH 13	POC 23	MDO 3	ROA 12	NAZ 7	LAG 5	MIA 2			4th	129
1989	Team Penske	Penske PC-18	Chevrolet 265A V8t	PHX 1	LBH 5	INDY 23	MIL 1	DET 5	POR 8	CLE 5	MEA 4	TOR 5	MCH 7	POC 2	MDO 6	ROA 3	NAZ 2	LAG 1			2nd	186
1990	Team Penske	Penske PC-19	Chevrolet 265A V8t	PHX 1	LBH 6	INDY 5	MIL 2	DET 4	POR 5	CLE 8	MEA 2	TOR 12	MCH 14	DEN 7	VAN 4	MDO 7	ROA 3	NAZ 2	LAG 4		3rd	168
1991	Team Penske	Penske PC-20	Chevrolet 265A V8t	SRF 3	LBH 4	PHX 5	INDY 1	MIL 15	DET 5	POR 6	CLE 17	MEA 3	TOR 20	MCH 1	DEN 8	VAN 6	MDO 6	ROA 15	NAZ 15	LAG 5	4th	145
1992	Team Penske	Penske PC-21	Chevrolet 265B V8t	SRF 2	PHX 8	LBH 6	INDY 26	DET	POR 7	MIL 16	NHA 4	TOR	MCH 16	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG		13th	47

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Note	Team
1977	Eagle 72	Offenhauser L4t	DNQ		Did not qualify	Art Sugai
1978	Penske PC-6	Cosworth DFX V8t	3	23	Engine Failure	Team Penske
1979	Penske PC-6	Cosworth DFX V8t	1	1	Running	Team Penske
1980	Penske PC-9	Cosworth DFX V8t	6	5	Running	Team Penske
1981	Penske PC-9B	Cosworth DFX V8t	22	30	Pit lane fire	Team Penske
1982	Penske PC-10	Cosworth DFX V8t	1	2	Running	Team Penske
1983	Penske PC-11	Cosworth DFX V8t	3	3	Running	Team Penske
1984	March 84C	Cosworth DFX V8t	3	1	Running	Team Penske
1985	March 85C	Cosworth DFX V8t	10	21	Gear linkage	Team Penske
1986	March 86C	Cosworth DFX V8t	1	3	Running	Team Penske
1987	March 86C	Chevrolet 265A V8t	3	23	Ignition	Team Penske
1988	Penske PC-17	Chevrolet 265A V8t	1	1	Running	Team Penske
1989	Penske PC-18	Chevrolet 265A V8t	1	23	Engine failure	Team Penske
1990	Penske PC-19	Chevrolet 265A V8t	2	5	Running	Team Penske
1991	Penske PC-20	Chevrolet 265A V8t	1	1	Running	Team Penske
1992	Penske PC-21	Chevrolet 265B V8t	9	26	Crash	Team Penske

Indy 500 qualifying results

Year	Att #	Date	Time	Qual Day	Car #	Laps	Qual Time	Qual Speed	Rank	Start	Comment
1977	85	05-22	16:02	4	90	1	—	—	—	—	Incomplete run; pulled off
	96	05-22	17:21	4	90	2	—	—	—	—	Incomplete run; waved off
1978	10	05-20	12:13	1	71	4	2:59.93	200.078	4	3
1979	34	05-13	16:39	1	9	4	3:05.82	193.736	1	1
1980	1	05-10	11:05	1	1	4	3:12.01	187.490	7	6
1981	34	05-16	13:41	1	6	2	—	—	—	—	Incomplete run; pulled off
	53	05-16	15:52	2	68	4	3:05.55	194.018	10	22
1982	2	05-15	11:09	1	1	4	2:53.91	207.004	1	1	1 and 4 lap track records
1983	7	05-21	11:39	1	2	4	2:56.211	204.301	3	3
1984	2	05-12	12:25	1	6	4	2:53.204	207.847	3	3
1985	29	05-11	17:10	1	1	4	2:51.595	209.796	10	10
1986	9	05-10	12:40	1	4	4	2:46.030	216.828	1	1	1 and 4 lap track records
1987	3	05-09	11:19	1	8T	4	2:50.239	211.467	3	3
1988	23	05-14	13:58	1	5	4	2:44.235	219.198	1	1	1 and 4 lap track records
1989	20	05-14	14:09	1	4	4	2:40.797	223.885	1	1	1 and 4 lap track records
1990	6	05-13	16:57	1	2	4	2:40.560	224.215	2	2
1991	16	05-11	12:51	1	3T	4	2:40.633	224.113	2	1
1992	21	05-09	17:48	1	4	4	2:40.289	224.594	10	9

International Race of Champions

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

International Race of Champions results
Season	Make	Q1	Q2	Q3	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Points
1978–79	Chevy	MCH	MCH 7	RSD	RSD	ATL			NA	-
1979–80		MCH	MCH 3	RSD	RSD 4	ATL 2			3rd	31
1986	Chevy				DAY 9	MOH 12	TAL 8	GLN 9	12th	25
1989	Chevy				DAY 8	NZH 10	MCH 9	GLN 9	11th	24

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

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