ADVENT CALENDAR DOOR 11 – 11 Drivers you forgot raced in IndyCar
Looking at the post merger era (2008 onwards) plenty of drivers have started an IndyCar race, many living legends like Dixon, Power, Newgarden, Castroneves, Montoya have all enjoyed the spotlight.
Today I want to highlight a few of the many other names, some came from elsewhere, others were underfunded.
Some had success while others faded away, and a few just have a really interesting career. The drivers are in no particular order.
- Carlos Muñoz
My bias aside as he was racing around when I truly started watching race by race, Munoz was one of the more promising young talents at the time, though unfortunately a lack of sponsorship cut his career short.
His first race was the 2013 Indianapolis 500, in which he finished runner up to Tony Kanaan, and this wouldn’t be the only time he was close enough to taste victory as 3 years later he was 2nd to a coasting Alexander Rossi who won the 100th Indianapolis 500 on a bold fuel strategy.
His Indy 500 results as a whole are impressive, finishing top 10 in 5 of his 6 attempts.
Overall raced full time from 2013-2016 with Andretti Autosport and in 2017 with AJ Foyt Racing, securing one win (Detroit 2014), six podiums and finished 8th in the 2014 IndyCar standings. He was a very consistent and dependable driver on the IndyCar scene. His departure from IndyCar after a part time schedule in 2018 remains the last time he raced at a competitive level.
- Hideki Mutoh
The inspiration for this project, a driver I had never heard of until I spent several hours looking back at stats from previous seasons. The 2007 Indy Lights champion raced full time from 2008-10 with Andretti Green Racing and Newman/Haas Racing. Like Munoz he impressed at Indy starting 9th on debut, the fastest rookie qualifier. He converted this to 7th at the flag and repeated the feat again the following year coming home 10th. His 2 years at Andretti Green Racing showed him to be consistent, coming home 10th and 11th in the standings with a podium in each season. As a whole his stint seems pretty forgotten.
- Mikhail Aleshin
Racing on and off with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports from 2014-17 you could be forgiven for forgetting Aleshin, just two podiums, at Houston in 2014 and Pocano 2016 and a best championship finish of 15th.
But I remember him racing and mixing it up at times, again feels just forgotten by time, a consistently mid career. Elsewhere he did achieve success as a Le Mans class podium finisher and he was 3rd in the 2009 F2 Championship.
- Rubens Barichello
I bet you didn’t know this one, the 11-time Formula 1 winner and Ferrari’s golden wingman in the early 2000s gave IndyCar a go after departing the F1 circle after 2011. His IndyCar days were fairly solid leading laps and claiming rookie of the year honours at Indianapolis he ended his one and only season 12th in the championship.
- Oliver Askew
An interesting career this, Askew entered IndyCar in 2020 as the reigning Indy Lights Champ driving for McLaren he seemed to be progressing well with 3 top 10 finishes including his first podium in the first six races. Then he suffered a massive shunt during that year’s Indy 500 that derailed his rookie year and ultimately cut it short just past halfway. He returned as a supersub for 3 teams in 2021 but would never race IndyCar again. He then moved to Formula E for one year with the Andretti team taking 3 points finishes on his way to 16th in the wdc. From what I can tell that is the last time he raced in an competitive event, however he is listed as an Andretti reserve driver through to today.
- Giorgio Pantano
Nothing says unique better than the story of this man’s racing career, having raced in Formula 1 for Jordan in 2004 achieving a career best of 13th in Malaysia and Europe. He then stepped back down to GP2 from 2005-2008 ultimately winning that 08 title from the likes of Senna, DiGrassi, Grosjean, Maldonado and Buemi. Following this he raced a variety of open wheel racing series, with a few one-off IndyCar appearances in 2011 and 2012.
- Zach Veach
Possibly one of the most forgettable drivers, Veach raced for Andretti Autosport from 2018-20 and while we watched his teammate Rossi contend for the 2019 championship, all I remember Veach for is a highlight reel save/crash at Texas in which he hit the wall but tried to hold it wide open down the backstretch, somehow he didn’t hit anything but he did dnf.
- Tristin Vautier
A man whose box score results show nothing of note but the legend goes further than one would think. He was a wizard of getting very strong results in really poor equipment. This was highlighted in 2015 when he took a struggling Coyne car to 4th at Detroit and 6th at Mid Ohio, when otherwise it was a 20th place entry. Outside of IndyCar he has a podium at the 2018 Bathurst 12 hours, he won an ALMS race and is a Sebring 12 Hour winner as well with Cadilac racing.
- Vitor Meira
Meira raced in IndyCar from 2002-2011 and he had many memorable moments, although never winning he took 15 career podiums and 2nd at the 2005 and 2007 Indy 500s. He would also finish 5th in the 2006 IRL season.
- Spencer Pigot
Coming into IndyCar in 2016 he was the Indy Lights Champion he underperformed at ECR taking just 1 podium in 4 years and would retire with just 4 top 5 finishes and a best of 14th in the championship.
- The Indy 500 Crew
While not a driver there have definitely been a few interesting cases of one-off 500 starts. Everyone remembers Alonso and McLaren’s impressive 2017 run, followed up by the embarrassing 2019 attempt in which he famously failed to qualify. But did you know Jean Alesi tried the 500 in 2012? He would start and finish 33rd after being black flagged for failing to meet 105% of pace under a full course yellow.
Similarly, while everyone knows about Larson’s failed double attempts in 2024-25, how many of you remember when 2004 NASCAR Cup Champion Kurt Busch gave the 500 a go in 2014? He would finish 6th at Indy having started 12th.
written by Carlos Faria / Media Credit: Penske Entertainment
