# Who is the unluckiest driver in Indianapolis 500 history?

> Leading laps at Indianapolis is not the same as winning it, and this list is made entirely of the difference.

*By YPB Team · Published August 19, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-unluckiest-driver-in-indianapolis-500-history*

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## Current results (4 votes)

1. **Michael Andretti** — 75% (3 votes · score 1000/1000)
   Led more laps at Indianapolis than any driver who never won it, across 16 starts.
2. **Lloyd Ruby** — 25% (1 votes · score 809/1000)
   Eighteen starts, five races led, and a torn fuel tank in 1969 while running down the leader.
3. **Ted Horn** — 0% (0 votes · score 607/1000)
   Finished fourth or better nine straight times at Indianapolis and never won.
4. **Robby Gordon** — 0% (0 votes · score 607/1000)
   Ran out of fuel while leading with nine laps left in 1999.
5. **Mario Andretti** — 0% (0 votes · score 550/1000)
   Won in 1969 on his fifth attempt, then went 0-for-24, including a 1981 victory handed back four months later.
6. **Roberto Guerrero** — 0% (0 votes · score 550/1000)
   Rookie runner-up in 1984, then spun on the warm-up lap from pole in 1992.
7. **Ed Carpenter** — 0% (0 votes · score 485/1000)
   Three Indianapolis poles as an owner-driver and never better than second.
8. **Paul Tracy** — 0% (0 votes · score 411/1000)
   Believed he had won the 2002 race, and lost it to a caution-flag ruling.
9. **J.R. Hildebrand** — 0% (0 votes · score 324/1000)
   Crashed in the final corner of the final lap in 2011 while leading.
10. **Scott Goodyear** — 0% (0 votes · score 221/1000)
   Beaten by 0.043 seconds in 1992 and penalised out of the lead in 1995.
11. **Rex Mays** — 0% (0 votes · score 221/1000)
   Four poles and two runner-up finishes in fifteen starts without a victory.
12. **Marco Andretti** — 0% (0 votes · score 221/1000)
   Lost the 2006 race to Sam Hornish Jr. by 0.0635 seconds as a rookie teenager.
13. **Tony Bettenhausen** — 0% (0 votes · score 221/1000)
   Fourteen starts, no win, and died testing a friend's car at the Speedway in 1961.
14. **Danny Ongais** — 0% (0 votes · score 221/1000)
   Led comfortably in 1981 before a crash that nearly cost him his life.
15. **Duke Nalon** — 0% (0 votes · score 221/1000)
   Started from pole twice and survived a fiery crash in the 1949 race.

Tags: usa, drivers, motorsport, indycar