Some people strap on their helmet and lose their brains.

Graham Rahal on the carnage at Toronto, July 2011

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

The Indy 500 was the defining stage of my career.

Mario Andretti

We'll see how it unfolds, and we're going to have to give each other respect and the space on the track.

Danica Patrick on Dan Wheldon, June 2007

If you're an open-wheel racer and not at Indy in May, you're not really a race car driver. You just think you are.

Eddie Cheever

Everyone thinks that running in dirty air causes the front end to wash out, but actually it affects the whole car and you just can't follow someone close in fast or medium-speed corners since the aerokits came in.

Will Power on aerokits, Motorsport.com, May 4th 2016

If he thinks I'm not going to remember that, HE'S CRAZY!

Danica Patrick on Dan Wheldon, Milwaukee 2007

For a moment, all is right with the world - Danica Patrick is leading the Indianapolis 500.

Adam Alexander, Indy 2005

Heeeeeee's on it!

Tom Carnegie

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

John Andretti, Indy 2010

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

I told him I'd follow him anywhere he went, as long as it was on the racetrack.

Sam Hornish Jr on Tomas Scheckter, Texas 2005

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

Buddy Lazier on the Indy 500

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

Whether you're a fan in turn 1 or turn 4, it doesn't matter what position you have. We all make the Indianapolis 500 what it is.

Josef Newgarden on The Indy 500, June 2023, via Twitter

Will he get through? Where is he? Where is he? There he is!

Tom Carnegie on A.J. Foyt, 1967

It's amazing how different an Indycar is from anything else on a racetrack.

Alexander Rossi, Autosport.com, April 26th 2017

Everyone remembers the pole winner for two weeks. Everyone remembers the race winner for life.

Dan Wheldon on the Indy 500

I'm a moving chicane out here!

Juan Pablo Montoya, lap 42 at St Pete's, March 30th 2014

It was a tough day – really disappointing... I guess it was a good day in reality.

Josef Newgarden on finishing 7th at the IMS Road Course, July 4th 2020

Cheever had a problem with my dad, he had a problem with me, and now he's taking it out on Marco.

Michael Andretti, Watkins Glen 2006

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

Any time I get to come to Indianapolis, any time I get to participate in the greatest spectacle in motor racing, it's a great day.

Paul Diatlovitch, Indy Bump Day 2007

Andy Granatelli for as much as he put into the sport, especially at Indianapolis. I had to deal with that big kiss. I can still smell the garlic.

Mario Andretti on Andy Granatelli after the 1969 Indianapolis 500

To finish first you must first finish.

Rick Mears

"Many people always ask me why I sign off 'Until we meet again.' Because goodbye is so final. Goodbye, Dan Wheldon."

Marty Reid, Las Vegas, October 16th 2011

Time to go to the back row party!

Ryan Hunter Reay, Indy 500 Bump Day 2009

There is nothing like winning the Indianapolis 500 and fortunately I was able to do so.

Eddie Cheever Jr.

Everyone wants to pick a fight with me. Whatever.

Sage Karam on everyone wanting to pick a fight with him, IndyStar.com, August 3rd 2015

You're not going to out-Dixon Dixon!

James Hinchcliffe on trying to beat Scott Dixon on fuel mileage, during the Bommarito Automative 500, August 27th 2023

I arrived in Turn 1 and I was convinced that I was doing flat out, but the foot was not flat - it had its own life, it was not connected to my brain at that moment.

Fernando Alonso on Turn 1 commitment at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 3rd 2017

What makes IndyCar racing so good is there's not much you can do on your car to differentiate it from the others. It's only dampers, third springs. There's the aero with the aero kits – and hopefully those are going away.

Bobby Rahal on the benefits of a spec series, Racer.com, May 18th 2016

If we're racing on Superspeedways with catch fencing, I fear we're just playing the odds until we have something protecting our heads. It’s a scary thing to say.

Ryan Hunter-Reay on canopies, Racer Magazine, 15 September 2014

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

No way. That's the best part about our cars, no power steering, high aero, get it done.

Scott McLaughlin on adding power steering, via Twitter, April 26th 2021

The toughest people out there passing me are my teammates, and I don't get that. I think three of the four of us get what the camaraderie of Andretti Green Racing is.

Marco Andretti on an unidentified teammate after Milwaukee 2009

I know a lot of people say that Iowa is in the middle of nowhere, but you know what, we get such a great crowd and they're so enthusiastic. As a driver you could put me in paradise, but if there's nobody in the grandstands then it's not good racing.

Dan Wheldon on Iowa Speedway, June 2009

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

A Sarah Fisher malapropism, Texas 2007

Well, the elephant in the room is the aero kits.

Marco Andretti on why the Honda teams were struggling, Barber, April 27th 2015

That was the hairiest day I've ever had.

Ryan Hunter Reay, Indy 500 Bump Day 2009

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

Helio Castroneves on the return to road courses

I just kept focused, focused, focused, all day long, getting every corner perfect.

Helio Castroneves, St Pete's 2007

This is and always will be the greatest spectacle in racing. This is the Indianapolis 500.

Leigh Diffey, as the green flag waved at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 29th 2022

I'm 38. I'm a legit 38. I don't know how old you are, but I'm legit 38. March 3 1981.

Ed Carpenter to Tony Kanaan on the suggestion that he was over 40, Gateway, August 24th 2019

It felt way better than I ever thought it was going to feel!

Ed Carpenter on finally winning his first race, Kansas, October 2011

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

This place isn't easy. It's not supposed to be easy. This place starts the 33 fastest, best-prepared cars. Obviously, I missed.

Paul Diatlovitch, Indy Bump Day 2007

Fernando Alonso on the difference between an IndyCar and an F1 car, May 3rd 2017

I'd have finished my career very disappointed had I not won the Indy 500. It's an amazing feeling and an amazing event.

Will Power on winning the 102nd Indy 500, racer.com, August 7th 2018