Racer - May 2016 SKIP BARBER

THE DESERT FOX WHO CONQUERED INDY

HIS BOSS, ROGER PENSKE…

“He’s just the best in the business. From a driving standpoint there could be no better owner, because he raced and understood what it was all about. When I had my accident at Sanair [in 1984] they were talking about amputating my feet and Roger said, ‘Whoa, let’s get him out of here.’ So he flew me to Indianapolis and Dr. Trammell saved my feet. When I was recovering he said maybe we should extend my contract and then told me to take my time because there would be a car waiting for me when I got out and felt like driving again. Every year, Pat Patrick would ask me if I wanted to come drive for him and I’d always say, ‘Not ready yet.’ The truth is there was no place I’d rather be than with Roger. He did everything for me, and I’m eternally grateful.”

HIS TOUGHEST TEAMMATE…

“They were all pretty good. ‘Big Al’ [Unser] was an open book; Emerson [Fittipaldi] and I have a very similar driving style and spoke the same language. Mario and Tom Sneva were good to me. Bobby [Unser] was tough. I’d known him since Pikes Peak, and when I started driving Indy cars he’d take me around the track in rental cars and show me the line and was really helpful.

But when we became teammates I knew how he was and he didn’t share information, and I understood and I didn’t blame him. But I had my own pride and ego and I didn’t want to ask him anything either... I drove him nuts by not paying attention – or acting like I wasn’t paying attention. But he was a fabulous racer.”

Mears made a rare mistake during practice at Sanair Speedway outside Montreal.

The resulting crash shattered his feet, which were saved by Dr. Terry Trammell, but he faced four months in the hospital.

“Quitting never crossed my mind,” he
says of his painful recovery. “When I saw I
still had my feet, I knew I could still drive.”
But the splendid road racer who’d got
F1’s attention and scored multiple
victories at Mexico City and Riverside,
along with Watkins Glen and Brands
Hatch, would only visit a road course
victory lane one more time after his
injury, at Laguna Seca in 1989.

“Everyone said, ‘Oh, his feet are too messed up,’ and then when I won Laguna Seca they said, ‘What are you doing different?’ But I wasn’t doing anything different, I finally had a good car [Penske PC- 17] to road race with,” he explains.

Being called an “Oval Meister” was factual, but also misleading.

“He got labeled as the oval-track ace,
but he was damn good wherever we
raced,” says Mario Andretti.

In 1988, Mears rallied from two laps down and led the final 77 laps to score Indianapolis 500 win No. 3, and then joined rarified air in 1991 with a fourth Brickyard victory. Although he only ranks 11th in all-time laps led (429) at IMS, it’s a deceptive statistic.

“Rick was cool and casual, but underneath he was always thinking about how to get more out of his car, and making

(BELOW) When the photo was taken in 1989, only A.J. Foyt (center) and Al Unser (right) were four-time Indy 500 winners. Mears had taken win No. 2 in 1984 (LEFT) and No. 3 in 1988 (BELOW LEFT), but wouldn’t earn his membership until 1991.