Arie Luijendijk (anglicised as Arie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2009, and the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...

in 2014.Arie Luyendyk
at the

Luyendyk won a total of seven Indy car races, including three in the CART series, all of them on ovals.

Career

Luyendyk started racing in the early 1970s, winning a number of Dutch national titles. In 1977, he won the European

Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe wa ...

championship, and switched to

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

. Further success eluded him until he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1984, where he immediately won the Super Vee championship. With the help of sponsor Provimi Veal, Luyendyk ran his first full

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

season in 1985, winning the rookie of the year title both for the season and the Indianapolis 500. Gaining additional sponsorship from

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

(and changing his racing number to 30, as at the time Domino's guaranteed customers that delivery orders would arrive in 30 minutes or less), his first win in the series came five years later in 1990, at the most important race in the series, with a record average speed of 185.981 mph (299.307 km/h). Luyendyk won the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for

Doug Shierson Racing Doug Shierson Racing is a former racing team that competed in the CART Championship Car Series from 1982 to 1990. The team was sponsored by Domino's Pizza for its entire run in CART. Shierson Racing's biggest victory came at the 1990 Indianapolis ...

. His average speed record, which stood for 23 years, was finally broken in the 2013 97th Indianapolis 500 by

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani an ...

with an average speed of 187.433 mph (301.644 km/h). Luyendyk continued to perform well at Indianapolis, scoring pole positions in 1993, 1997 and 1999, and retiring from the race while leading on three occasions. In 1995, Luyendyk controlled the race early until an incident with Scott Sharp put him several laps down. For the rest of the race, Luyendyk was able to make up all his laps and barely beat eventual winner Jacques Villeneuve at the stripe to get his final lap back and finish on the lead lap. ArieLuyendyk1996recordcar

In 1996, he set the qualifying lap record at 237.498 mph (382.216 km/h), although he did not start on the pole because he qualified on the second day of time trials. He won the 1997 Indianapolis 500 from the pole over Treadway Racing teammate Scott Goodyear. The race ended in controversy when on the final restart the white and green flag waved to end a caution but the yellow lights stayed on with Luyendyk pulling away to the win while the other competitors were confused. A similar finish involving a similar mistake almost took away a win from Luyendyk two weeks later. At the

1997 True Value 500 The 1997 True Value 500 was the sixth round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season. The race was held on June 7, 1997, at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, and it marked the first American open-wheel superspeedway night race. ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, a scoring error by the USAC resulted in Billy Boat being declared the race winner. Luyendyk protested in front of victory lane, only to be slapped by Boat's team owner

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

. Following the incident, Foyt and Luyendyk were fined 20,000 and 14,000 respectively, for unsportsmanlike behaviour. IndyCar officials reviewed the race tape and discovered that Luyendyk had actually finished on a lap by himself and completed more laps than the scheduled race distance, thus he was declared the official winner. Because Foyt refused to surrender the trophy, a duplicate was awarded to Luyendyk. Luyendyk also was selected to participate in the 1992, 1993, and 1998 editions of the

International Race of Champions International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...

. After his terrific run in 1997, Luyendyk had a washout year the following season. He only won one race, and had several races where he didn't finish the full distance. After 1998, Luyendyk decided to cut down to a part-time schedule, only racing in the 1999 Indianapolis 500 where he won the pole and dropped out because of a crash. He retired from racing after the 1999 season, and for a short time, joined ABC Sports as a color commentator. He returned to the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, he entered at Indianapolis for the final time. He suffered a crash during practice, and did not make an attempt to qualify. Other Luyendyk victories include the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

and the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second rou ...

. His son, Arie Jr., is an off-road and Indy Lights racer. The last corner of the

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

track in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

carries his name. In 1999, he was presented with the

Sagamore of the Wabash The Sagamore of the Wabash is an honorary award created by the U.S. state of Indiana during the term of Governor Ralph F. Gates, who served from 1945 to 1949. A tri-state meeting was to be held in Louisville with officials from Indiana, Ohio ...

award, reflecting upon his Indy 500 career. In 2016, Luyendyk was selected as a chief steward for the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

alongside fellow racer

Max Papis Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born 3 October 1969) is an Italian professional motorsport driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the ...

and Dan Davis.

Motorsports career results

Complete European F5000 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

American open-wheel racing

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Formula Super Vee

CART PPG World Series

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ Luyendyk was listed as the primary entry and participated in practice; during practice, Luyendyk crashed, and decided to sit out the race due to injuries. Alex Barron replaced him in the car.

=Indianapolis 500

24 Hours of Le Mans results

International Race of Champions

( key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

*
The Greatest 33
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luyendyk, Arie 1953 births Living people Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 polesitters Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Indianapolis 500 winners IndyCar Series drivers Champ Car drivers IndyCar Series team owners International Race of Champions drivers SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers Formula Super Vee Champions Dutch racing drivers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States Motorsport announcers People from Middelharnis 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Sportspeople from South Holland Formel Super Vau drivers Mo Nunn Racing drivers Bettenhausen Racing drivers Nismo drivers Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers United Autosports drivers USAC Gold Crown champions