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10 questions with Rick Mears

Autostock USA

10 questions with Rick Mears

Rick Mears is a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in American sports as one of just three drivers who are four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500. He also won three CART season championships and had 26 victories in his career, spending almost all of it with powerhouse Penske Racing. He won for the final time in the CART race at Michigan International Speedway in 1991 and retired from driving after the following season, at age 41. Mears, 58, has worked as a consultant with Team Penske since and continues in that role today.

1. Does the significance of the four wins in the Indy 500 grow as time passes?

It does to a point, but to me, the records never did dictate why I did anything. That was always icing on the cake. When I was in the race car, I never knew if it was going to be a record or not or if the race paid a dollar or a million dollars. That's not why I was out there. The four wins here at Indy mean a lot, but that will be something I dwell on more when I'm sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch.

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2. You have been here many times over the years. Does coming back to Indianapolis still carry that level of excitement for you?

Absolutely it does. There's only one of these places in racing, and this is it.

3. You had a lot of success here — winning six poles, four Indy 500 races, etc. What was it about Indy that allowed you to run so well here?

It was about being with the right people, having the right equipment, being with a great team. Of the 15 times I raced here with Penske, we were on the front row 11 times. They were giving me the tools every year, and they kept the pressure on me to perform. I also think my natural driving style seemed to fit this place. The faster the track, the more it suited my natural style.

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4. You retired at 41. Do you still consider that a good decision?

Absolutely. It was the right decision, without a doubt.

5. The image of every Indy 500 winner is on the Borg Warner Trophy. The folklore is that your images are different, due to accidents and fires you were involved in. True?

It is true. I know I am the only person on there that has at least three different faces on that trophy, if not four. One was stock, one was semi-modified, and the other was fully modified.

6. You were born in Wichita, raised in Bakersfield, so where do you make your home now?

Florida. Built a house there in 1991 and have lived there ever since.

7. You have been with Roger Penske since 1978. Why has it worked so well, for so long?

I think we're on the same page, and I realized that early-on. I understood the team concept because I had used it all along. My brother and I grew up racing together, and we always picked each other's brains. I knew the benefit of working together, and Roger has always been that way. A lot of people talk team concept, but they don't utilize it the way they could. Understanding that team concept, I felt like I fit in right away.

8. We have seen drivers moving to stock cars from open-wheel racing. Does the IndyCar Series miss a guy like Sam Hornish Jr., who moved to NASCARseveral years ago?

Sure, without a doubt. Why wouldn't it? But that's the way it is.

9. How did you spend the night before the Indy 500, to best prepare yourself for the day ahead?

Sometimes we had a sponsor function, but once all of that was done, it was just a matter of relaxing. I always tried to treat this as just another race. I felt like you had to keep all the hoopla and tradition and history from getting to you. I tried to stay out of all the buzz. I had 500 miles to get excited, so I didn't need anything to add to that.

10. What do you enjoy about the role you have with Team Penske?

It's the same things I enjoyed when I was driving — I enjoy the engineering side of it, enjoy working with the teammates — it's really a lot of the same things, but I just don't sit in the car any more.

— Matt Markey

First Published May 30, 2010, 10:31 a.m.

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