Best Indianapolis 500 Races of All Time: The Top 7 Indy 500 Classics Ranked

Picking the “best” Indy 500s is a little like arguing the best buzzer-beaters — you’re really ranking reasons you still remember them.

Some years earn their place because the finish is pure chaos. Others because the stakes, the strategy, and the way the race felt in the moment turned the Speedway into its own kind of theater.

This list leans into the most iconic, rewatchable Indianapolis 500s: races with legendary finishes, defining moments, and storylines that still come up any time fans debate the greatest “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

1) 1992: Al Unser Jr. vs. Scott Goodyear — the closest finish ever

If you want the Indy 500 distilled into one final lap, it’s 1992. Al Unser Jr. and Scott Goodyear spent the closing moments locked in a draft-and-defend chess match where one tiny lift can decide everything. Goodyear launched his last move down the frontstretch, but Unser held him off by 0.043 seconds, the closest margin of victory in Indy 500 history.

2) 1982: Gordon Johncock vs. Rick Mears — a two-car knife fight to the line

Before 1992 raised the bar, 1982 was the standard. Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears turned the final laps into a tense duel where track position and bravery mattered as much as outright speed. Johncock crossed the line 0.16 seconds ahead — the closest finish the Indy 500 had ever seen at the time — and the race is still referenced whenever someone says, “They don’t do it like they used to.”

3) 2006: Sam Hornish Jr. stuns Marco Andretti with a final-lap slingshot

Few sporting moments swing from “this is destiny” to “how did that happen?” as fast as the end of 2006. Rookie Marco Andretti was seconds away from an all-time storybook win when Sam Hornish Jr. timed a perfect draft, then made a pass for the lead on the final lap — just 450 feet from the finish — to win by 0.0635 seconds. It’s one of the most replayed finishes in modern Indy history for a reason.

4) 2011: Turn 4 heartbreak — Dan Wheldon wins as J.R. Hildebrand crashes

The Indy 500 can be spectacular and brutal in the same breath, and 2011 is the modern example. J.R. Hildebrand, a rookie, was leading late and trying to nurse the car home when the Speedway demanded a price: he hit the wall exiting Turn 4 on the final lap. Dan Wheldon — running right there in contention — slipped through to take the win in a finish that still makes fans wince for Hildebrand and marvel at how quickly Indy can flip a script.

5) 2016: Alexander Rossi wins the 100th running by gambling on fumes

Indy has always been about speed and brains, and 2016 is a strategy classic that still feels impossible. Rookie Alexander Rossi stayed out while others made late fuel stops, then crawled the last lap like a man balancing a trophy on an empty tank. His final-lap speed was 179.784 mph — “slow” by Indy standards — but he’d built enough margin to coast across the line and win the 100th running. It’s a reminder that sometimes the bravest move is refusing to pit when everyone else blinks.

6) 1977: A.J. Foyt becomes the first four-time Indianapolis 500 winner

Some Indy 500s are great because they change the record book. In 1977, A.J. Foyt finally broke through for a milestone win that became part of the race’s mythology: he captured his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory, becoming the first driver to do it. The day had its own drama — including Gordon Johncock leading much of the race before trouble struck — but the lasting image is Foyt turning an already legendary career into something untouchable.

7) 1911: The first Indianapolis 500 — the origin story of everything

The racing world looked different in 1911, but the Indy 500’s DNA is there from the very start: innovation, endurance, and a sense that this place matters. Ray Harroun won the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in the Marmon Wasp, a car remembered not just for winning, but for a key piece of lore — its rear-view mirror, used to help Harroun see traffic behind him instead of relying on a riding mechanic. Whether you watch it for history or for pure fascination, 1911 is the Indy 500’s “Chapter One.”

Why these Indy 500s still matter

What links these races isn’t just the finishing margins — it’s how each one captures a different version of Indy greatness: wheel-to-wheel courage (1982, 1992), last-lap timing (2006), heartbreak and survival (2011), strategic nerve (2016), record-setting legacy (1977), and the very beginning of the legend (1911).