Back then there were 50-75 cars just trying to make the field. And they were the best drivers in the world. I remember thinking; I can’t believe this. I can't believe I got a spot.

A.J. Foyt on qualifying for his first Indianapolis 500 mile race

Time to go to the back row party!

Ryan Hunter Reay, Indy 500 Bump Day 2009

Finishing in the Top-10 here was because of nutrition.

A Sarah Fisher malapropism, Texas 2007

I think it's is a long putt, so I think we're safe for a while.

Roger Penske on the possibility of F1 returning to Long Beach, April 2014

Heeeeeee's on it!

Tom Carnegie

The Indy 500 was the defining stage of my career.

Mario Andretti

The wall came too close and too quickly.

Fernando Alonso after crashing in practice, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 15th 2019

To finish first you must first finish.

Rick Mears

The walls are white, the track is grey, the grass is green, and the sky is blue... your job is to keep them all where they belong.

Johnny Rutherford's advice to Indy 500 rookies

I mean this guy can't even keep his lies straight. He's told so many in the last week, he's not sure what the truth is.

Robin Miller on Kevin Kalkoven, February 2008

I was going through there as hard as I could. It was for everything. It was for all the marbles.

Sam Hornish Jr, Indy 2006

A happy wife is a happy life!

Scott Dixon on marriage at the Carb Night Burger Bash, 2015

I'm tired of being nice about it. The fact is, grip created by aerodynamic downforce is our enemy... At the moment, the downforce is so great that it masks the handling and hurts the racing

Rick Mears on what's wrong with IndyCar, Motorsport.com, October 28th 2015

If I have to race until I am 86 years old, I am going to race until I win another Indianapolis 500.

Dan Wheldon after finishing 2nd in the 2010 Indianapolis 500

It's going to be a close finish. I have the bigger nose, I guess I have a good chance.

Tony Kanaan, Kansas 2005

I lifted a little, but I didn't touch the brake.

Will Power on the art of restarting, St Pete's, March 30th 2014

I was going good but then I slipped in my own drool.

Helio Castroneves on the return to road courses

Racing IndyCars at Richmond is like flying fighter jets in a gymnasium.

Eddie Cheever Jr.

Some people strap on their helmet and lose their brains.

Graham Rahal on the carnage at Toronto, July 2011

It takes a lot of guts to expose yourself in front of millions of people, in front of all the media, in front of all your peers. If somebody came to me and said, "Hey, you want to run Texas in an IRL car," I'd say, "Hell, no. I don't want to get embarrassed." She's doing that. I have a lot of respect for that.

Jeff Burton on Danica Patrick, June 2010

This track, believe it or not, has done worse to me in the past, and we came back swinging.

James Hinchcliffe on Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bump Day, May 19th 2018

Good news is we've won every race we've finished!

James Hinchcliffe on crashing out at Long Beach, April 22nd 2013

You don't gotta win by five seconds - you just gotta win.

Tony Kanaan, Motegi 2007

Going into Texas with four wheels on the car is pretty exciting!

Sarah Fisher after the 2009 Indianapolis 500

Who is the buff guy in blue with the big #Schnozolla?

Chip Ganassi on Tony Kanaan's Family Feud appearance, via Twitter, July 26th 2016

Obviously we always see the good days, but Gil de Ferran told me if you can have a bad day and nobody notices, that's how you do a really good job - and that's how you win a championship.

Simon Pagenaud on the 2016 season, ESPN.com, September 18th 2016

Winning is always a great feeling, but winning at your home track, a place that you grew up at and a place that helped you fall in love with the sport of IndyCar racing... this is priceless.

Graham Rahal on winning at Mid-Ohio, Instagram, August 3rd 2015

We are trying to fix them but when you start behind the eight ball like last year you are playing catch-up and you will continue to play catch-up until we get rid of these stupid kits!

Michael Andretti on aerokits, Autosport.com, 15th April 2016

I don't want to take a defeatist attitude here but it's going to be ugly. If IndyCar goes the domed skid route, we're going to be taking a knife to a gunfight.

Sam Schmidt on Chevy's advantage with domed skids, Racer.com, April 7th 2016

If I ever pit with her again, I'm not racing for this team anymore - ever!

Tony Kanaan, Kansas 2007

My picture isn't everywhere, but people recognize me. I'm telling you, it's the nose.

Tony Kanaan, May 2007

The things that play on your mind the most are the ones that just got away.

Buddy Lazier on the Indy 500

It's just crazy. If I never won another pole, I wouldn't care. Almost.

James Hinchcliffe on winning the pole for the 100th Indy 500, May 22nd 2016

This is a huge day for the IndyCar Series and for our sport as a whole, for sure.

Michael Andretti, February 22nd 2008

We'll be fine. I'll take them to Six Flags tomorrow and we'll all be fine.

Tony Kanaan on Marco & Danica, June 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway

When you tug at a guy in the pit lane, I think that is taking advantage of your gender, because it puts me in an awkward position.

Dan Wheldon on Danica Patrick, June 2007

My mom hasn't played much of a role in my racing career. In fact, I think she still wants me to join the Coast Guard. But I still love her.

PJ Chesson on Mothers Day

Whoever has got the big balls is going to go fast!

Helio Castroneves

I keep getting asked by Europeans, drivers also, if racing around IMS was boring an' easy. I just want to shake my head and walk away.

Connor Daly, June 6th 2013, via Twitter

Why do you think there are so many skid marks? It's not because it's a lovely corner.

John Andretti, Indy 2010

All up it was one of the toughest weekends of my career in ANY form of motorsport, and you can sometimes learn more from your roughest days out there.

Scott McLaughlin on his Detroit weekend, June15th 2021, Speedcafe.com

I wasn't thinking, 'That's Eddie [Cheever] and he's in an Infiniti and so I need to beat him.' I was thinking, 'That's Eddie, and I want to kick his ass!'

Robbie Buhl, after winning at WDW in 2000

That's a good way to lose a championship.

Tony Kanaan, Kansas 2007

I promise you this: it isn't the last you've seen of me at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. My last time there will not be a day when I'm walking out with my tail between my legs.

Paul Tracy, Indy Bump Day 2010

She probably does not know what that is, so I can say I'm going to Las Vegas to play poker and she'll think it's something like that!

Fernando Alonso on what his mother would think about the Indy 500, motor.as.com, April 20th 2016

Again, I was scared to death. I had zero grip, and I was lifting at the start/finish line going into one. It's embarrassing.

Marco Andretti, Kansas 2007

The minute he got in front of me, he slowed down half-a-second a lap because he knows I'm fighting him for the championship and he was out of the race. It's probably the most unsportsmanlike thing I've ever seen on the racetrack, apart from shunting someone into a wall.

Wade Cunningham on Sebastien Saavedra, Iowa 2009

I'm the happiest guy on earth right now!

Rinus VeeKay on finishing 5th at the IMS Road Course, July 4th 2020

I get one more opportunity to head into the defining racing venue of my career with a single, achievable goal: Win.

Danica Patrick on her final Indy 500, The Players' Tribune, May 15th 2018