IZOD IndyCar Series: A.J. Foyt and Other Hall of Fame Inductees

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The IZOD IndyCar Series is the only major sport that doesn't have a Hall of Fame.  Professional baseball, basketball, football and NASCAR all have Hall of Fame inductees.

The only way for an open-wheel racer to get into a Hall of Fame is to be in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum or the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

I thought I would do my own Hall of Fame for the IZOD IndyCar Series right here on Bleacher Report.

My qualifications would be similar to NASCAR's.

Any member that has ever been a part of the old USAC days, CART or IZOD IndyCar Series is eligible.  That includes drivers, owners, crew members, chief mechanics, etc.

To get elected to my Hall of Fame, racers would have to have spent at least 10 years in the series at any given time.  They also must be retired from the series for at least five years—any owner, driver or crew member that has been in the series since 2007 is not eligible.

Since I just came up with this, I will announce my first class now. Every year after that, I'll announce my class in May to kick off the annual events at the Speedway.

So, here are my first IZOD IndyCar Series Hall of Fame inductees.

A.J. Foyt

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A.J. Foyt is a no-brainer, first-ballot choice.  He is possibly the best to have ever driven an open-wheel car.

He's eligible for his driving, not his car ownership—if it was for both, he wouldn't be eligible for this ballot.

Foyt raced in the open-wheel series from 1957 to 1993.

Foyt had 67 wins and 53 poles in 369 career starts, including an Indianapolis 500 record-tying four wins. 

He also has seven championships on his resume.

Mario Andretti

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Mario raced in the series from 1964 to 1994.  He is considered one of the best, along with A.J. Foyt.

Andretti has 407 career open-wheel starts with four series championships.

Andretti ranks second to Foyt on the career wins list with 52.  He only had one Indy 500 win, and that came in 1969. 

He had many misfortunes in the 500.  Luckily, this isn't just based on the big race.

Michael Andretti

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Mario's son Michael joins his father in my Hall of Fame.

The younger Andretti, like A.J. Foyt, is a current series owner. But, he is being inducted based on his driving skills.

Andretti has the most wins in modern day IndyCar with 42, ranking third on the all-time list.  He also had 32 poles in 317 career starts.

He raced full-time from 1983 to 2002, with a one-year stint in Formula One in 1993.  His final Indianapolis 500 was in 2006.

Andretti has one series championship, in 1991.

Al Unser

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Al Unser Sr. is one of three successful Unsers to have raced full-time in the open-wheel series.  The Unser family is perhaps one of the most successful families in open-wheel history.

Unser Sr. raced from 1965 to 1993.  He had 39 career wins, ranking fourth all-time.  Thirty-six of those came in the USAC days.

Unser Sr. is tied for the most Indianapolis 500 wins with four.  He's won two series championships in his career, in 1983 and 1985.

Unser Sr. also has four poles in 114 career IndyCar starts.

Rick Mears

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Rick Mears has set many records in his career.  He is tied with Foyt and Unser at four Indianapolis 500 wins, the most in history.  He also has the most career poles in the 500 with six.

Mears has won three series championships—1979, 1981 and 1982.

He competed full-time from 1979 to 1992 and ranks 10th on the all-time wins list with 29.