CIS: Arie Luyendyk

The final two-time winner to be featured in our Centennial Interview Series is the winner of the 1990 and 1997 events, Arie Luyendyk. Arie started by talking about his early experiences with Indianapolis, including those of his rookie year in 1985 and how he uses those memories to coach rookies at the Speedway today. He also remembered winning in 1990 and what it was like to achieve that as his first win in Indy car racing and with with underdog team Doug Shierson Racing. He continued by discussing the many speed records he holds at IMS, particularly the one- and four-lap qualifying records of 1996. Arie looked at those records from many different angles, including how it feels to drive that quickly at the Speedway, whether those high speeds come close to exceeding the human limits of race car drivers, and whether he feels those records should be broken. He carried on to review his win in 1997 and the controversy over the finish that ultimately resulted in USAC being relieved of its sanctioning duties for the Indy Racing League. Arie then spoke about his crash in practice in 2003 and how that persuaded him to hang up the helmet for the final time. He also shared how he feels about his two wins as the only driver to have a win on either side of the split and talked about why his driving style worked so well at Indianapolis. Finally, after selecting a favorite memory and a greatest disappointment from his time at the Speedway, Arie discussed what being a champion of the Indianapolis 500 means to him.

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