The following is a list of fastest laps for the Indianapolis 500. The fastest lap statistic has been officially kept for the Indianapolis 500 since 1950. The honor is held in somewhat minor prestige, and typically a cash prize is awarded to the driver who accomplishes the feat. However, it is typically considered a peripheral award, and no championship bonus points are currently awarded for fastest lap.
Since records have been kept, the fastest lap has been achieved by the leader on the final lap of the race on one occasion (Bobby Rahal, 1986). It has never been accomplished on the first lap of the race. It is commonly done by a driver not leading the race at the time, due to drafting.
History From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 awarded points towards the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. During those eleven races, the driver setting the fastest lap received championship points towards the world title.
Fastest lap chart YearLap timeLap Speed(mph)Lap No.Driver1950 1:09.77 128.995 Johnnie Parsons1951 1:07.26 133.809 23 Lee Wallard1952 1:06.60 135.135 8 Bill Vukovich1953 1:06.24 135.870 27 Bill Vukovich1954 1:04.04 140.537 29 Jack McGrath1955 1:03.67 141.354 27 Bill Vukovich1956 1:02.32 144.416 19 Paul Russo1957 1:02.75 143.426 127 Jim Rathmann1958 1:02.37 144.300 55 Tony Bettenhausen1959 1:01.89 145.419 64 Johnny Thomson1960 1:01.59 146.128 4 Jim Rathmann1961 1:00.98 147.589 91 Troy Ruttman1962 1:00.69 148.295 56 Parnelli Jones1963 59.39 151.541 114 Parnelli Jones1964 57.09 157.646 15 Bobby Marshman1965 57.14 157.508 2 A. J. Foyt1966 56.54 159.179 18 Jim Clark1967 54.57 164.926 6 Parnelli Jones1968 53.36 168.666 94 Lloyd Ruby1969 54.05 166.512 20 Roger McCluskey1970 53.64 167.785 50 Joe Leonard1971 51.44 174.961 66 Mark Donohue1972 47.99 187.539 150 Mark Donohue1973 48.15 186.916 55 Roger McCluskey1974 47.02 191.408 2 Wally Dallenbach1975 48.10 187.110 2 Gordon Johncock1976 48.38 186.027 2 A. J. Foyt1977 46.71 192.678 42 Danny Ongais1978 46.41 193.924 75 Mario Andretti1979 46.58 193.216 184 Mike Mosley1980 47.35 190.074 149 Johnny Rutherford1981 45.70 196.937 159 Gordon Johncock1982 44.88 200.535 122 Rick Mears1983 45.568 197.507 3 Teo Fabi1984 43.942 204.815 52 Gordon Johncock1985 43.916 204.937 14 Rick Mears1986 43.031 209.152 200 Bobby Rahal1987 43.900 205.011 57 Roberto Guerrero1988 42.956 209.517 166 Rick Mears1989 40.455 222.469 85 Emerson Fittipaldi1990 40.436 222.574 91162 Emerson Fittipaldi Arie Luyendyk1991 40.508 222.178 109 Arie Luyendyk1992 39.281 229.118 166 Michael Andretti1993 41.898 214.807 198 Emerson Fittipaldi1994 40.783 220.680 121 Emerson Fittipaldi1995 40.177 224.009 179 Scott Goodyear1996 38.119 236.103 78 Eddie Cheever1997 41.739 215.626 105 Tony Stewart1998 41.908 214.746 19 Tony Stewart1999 41.118 218.882 101 Greg Ray2000 41.191 218.494 198 Buddy Lazier2001 40.941 219.830 130 Sam Hornish Jr.2002 39.735 226.499 20 Tomas Scheckter2003 39.2692 229.187 100 Tony Kanaan2004 41.2086 218.401 173 Vítor Meira2005 39.4560 228.102 167 Tony Kanaan2006 40.6778 221.251 41 Scott Dixon2007 40.2829 223.420 18 Tony Kanaan2008 40.1720 224.037 161 Marco Andretti2009 40.5325 222.044 187 Dario Franchitti2010 39.9840 225.090 15 Will Power2011 40.0593 224.667 169 Dario Franchitti 2012 40.8771 220.172 59 Marco Andretti 2013 39.6580 226.940 185 Justin Wilson 2014 39.9661 225.191 182 Juan Pablo Montoya 2015 39.6979 226.712 102 Charlie Kimball2016 39.9488 225.288 106 Alexander Rossi 2017 39.7896 226.190 150 Takuma Sato2018 40.1538 224.138 131 Hélio Castroneves 2019 39.8220 226.006 40 Scott Dixon2020 40.3290 223.164 66 James Hinchcliffe2021 39.5874 227.345 116 Santino Ferrucci2022 40.0263 224.852 179 Marcus Ericsson2023 39.8193 226.021 136 David Malukas2024 39.7574 226.373 175 Christian Lundgaard2025 39.7916 226.178 175 Hélio Castroneves2026 39.9777 225.126 182 Conor Daly
All-time record race lap speed.
References
Indianapolis Star & news 500 Mile Race Record Book (2002)
Notes