To finish first you must first finish.

Rick Mears

I think Danica's pretty aggressive in our cars. I mean, you know especially if you catch her at the right time of the month, she might be trading plenty of paint out there!

Ed Carpenter, July 2006

It's like a reunion to come back here every May. I've never retired. I always say, "I'm not done yet."

Parnelli Jones, Indy 2007

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

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

John Andretti, Indy 2010

Some of the drivers roll out this 'safety' word, and suddenly it ties everybody's hands. But those arguments make no sense anyway. Remove downforce and you actually improve safety

Rick Mears on downforce, Motorsport.com, October 28th 2015

I can hardly believe it. Who would have thought it?!

Dario Franchitti on winning the 91st Indy 500

Do you think I give a flying f*** what Buddy Rice thinks?

Dan Wheldon

I'm just so f***ing disappointed!

Kosuke Matsuura, St Pete's 2007

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

Helio Castroneves, St Pete's 2007

If we're not racing hard, we're not racing.

Tony Kanaan, St Pete's 2007

I'm 19 years old, I drive Indy cars... I'm happy.

Marco Andretti, July 2006

That's a cool shot of the glowing brake disc!

Colton Herta watching a replay of his pass on Rossi, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 3rd October 2020

That was for the team.

Tony Kanaan, Fontana 2005

I still have the passion to drive the hell out of it!

Juan Pablo Montoya on his motivation, NBCSports.com, July 12th 2016

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

It was a very good test in terms of outright speed, but I did destroy a car the first day.

Dan Wheldon, Homestead test 2007

With photos, sometimes people get old. Not me, but some people do.

Helio Castroneves, June 2009

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

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 came in not knowing what to expect. I basically fell in love with IndyCar.

Romain Grosjean on his rookie season, Laguna Seca, September 19th 2021

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

It looks so easy when you watch it on TV, but it's not.

Franck Perera on racing ovals, Homestead 2008

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

A Sarah Fisher malapropism, Texas 2007

Last season, we lost the championship in the last corner of the last lap of the last race to some other guy.

Chip Ganassi, Daytona 2008

Downforce is the enemy of racing.

Rick Mears, Motorsport.com, September 15th 2016

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

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

Tony Kanaan, Motegi 2007

The race that made the IRL famous!

Eddie Gossage on the Bombardier Lear Jet 500, May 2009

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

Do you still remember how to celebrate these things?!

Tim Cindric on the radio to Will Power, Detroit, 5th June 2016

The Indy 500 is the biggest race in the world. I don't think it's even debatable. It is.

Dan Wheldon

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

Alexander Rossi, Autosport.com, April 26th 2017

Then again my favorite films of all time are Fast and the Furious 1 through 8 or however many of them there are.

Conor Daly on underglow. Via Twitter, July 16th 2020

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

Eddie Cheever Jr.

This is just an excellent race and to be a part of the history, I'm really grateful for that.

Roger Yasukawa, Indy 2007

I miss my fans so much, you have no idea. I think I appreciate them more then I ever did.

Sarah Fisher, August 2006

When you've driven it for a day, you're going to feel naked without it.

Will Power on testing the Aeroscreen, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, October 2nd 2019

We'd love to see Buddy Rice in a car and in the Indy 500, but as best we can tell, no driver has ever qualified for the Indy 500 from their couch.

TrackSideOnline, May 2009

It was talent and skill, that's how I did it. A masterful display of driving ability!

James Hinchcliffe on getting through the gap that took him from 17th to 6th at Mid Ohio, August 2014

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 prefer to be here, even 34th, then being at home like last year.

Fernando Alonso on the Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 19th 2019

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

It's the biggest race in the world. It's not supposed to be easy.

Marcus Ericsson on The Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 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

You won't believe it!

Tom Carnegie

Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug. And sometimes you have an air gun failure.

Simon Pagenaud on equipment issues, St Petersburg, March 11th 2018

You know, if you're going to have an example of how not to go about things, this is 100 percent how you would do it.

Scott Dixon on Alex Palou's contract dispute, Toronto, July 15th 2022

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

Dan Wheldon on the Indy 500