| Arie Luyendyk | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Luyendyk in 2010 | |||||||
| Born | Arie Luijendijk (1953-09-21)21 September 1953 (age 72) Sommelsdijk,South Holland, Netherlands | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| Major victories 12 Hours of Sebring (1989) Indianapolis 500 (1990,1997) 24 Hours of Daytona (1998) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 141 races run over 13 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 6th (1991) | ||||||
| First race | 1984Provimi Veal 200 (Road America) | ||||||
| Last race | 1997Marlboro 500 (Fontana) | ||||||
| First win | 1990Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last win | 1991Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix (Nazareth) | ||||||
| |||||||
| IndyCar Series career | |||||||
| 28 races run over 7 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 6th (1997) | ||||||
| First race | 1996Indy 200 at Walt Disney World (Orlando) | ||||||
| Last race | 2002Michigan Indy 400 (Michigan) | ||||||
| First win | 1996Dura Lube 200 (Phoenix) | ||||||
| Last win | 1998Las Vegas 500K (Las Vegas) | ||||||
| |||||||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |||||||
| Years | 1989 | ||||||
| Teams | Nissan | ||||||
| Best finish | DNF (1989) | ||||||
| Class wins | 0 | ||||||
Arie Luijendijk (anglicized asArie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch formerauto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2009, and theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2014.[1][2]
Luyendyk won a total of sevenIndy car races, including three in theCART series, all of them on ovals.
Luyendyk started racing in the early 1970s, winning a number of Dutch national titles. In 1977, he won the EuropeanSuper Vee championship, and switched toFormula Three. Further success eluded him until he moved to theUnited States in 1984, where he immediately won the Super Vee championship.[3]
With the help of sponsorProvimi Veal, Luyendyk ran his first fullChamp Car season in 1985, winning the rookie of the year title both for the season and the Indianapolis 500. Gaining additional sponsorship fromDomino's Pizza (and changing his racing number to 30, as at the time Domino's guaranteed customers that delivery orders would arrive in thirty 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 the1990 Indianapolis 500 forDoug Shierson Racing. His average speed record, which stood for 23 years, was finally broken in the2013 97th Indianapolis 500 byTony Kanaan 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 withScott 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 winnerJacques Villeneuve at the stripe to get his final lap back and finish on the lead lap.
In 1996, Luyendyk 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 the1997 Indianapolis 500 from the pole over Treadway Racing teammateScott 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. Asimilar finish involving a similar mistake almost took away a win from Luyendyk two weeks later.[4]
At the1997 True Value 500 atTexas, a scoring error by theUSAC resulted inBilly Boat being declared the race winner. Luyendyk protested in front of victory lane, only to be slapped by Boat's team ownerA. J. Foyt. Following the incident, Foyt and Luyendyk were finedUS$20,000 andUS$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.[5]
Luyendyk also was selected to participate in the 1992, 1993, and 1998 editions of theInternational Race of Champions.
After his terrific run in 1997, Luyendyk only won one race in the following season 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 the24 Hours of Daytona and the12 Hours of Sebring. His son,Arie Jr., is an off-road and Indy Lights racer.
The last corner of theZandvoort track in theNetherlands carries his name. In 1999, he was presented with theSagamore of the Wabash award, reflecting upon his Indy 500 career. In 2016, Luyendyk was selected as a chief steward for theIndyCar Series alongside fellow racerMax Papis and Dan Davis.[6]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Tony Trimmer | McLarenM18 | Chevrolet 5.0V8 | BRH | MAL | SIL | SNE | BRH | OUL | MAL | MIS | MAL | MON | SIL | BRH | OUL | JYL | ZAN 10 | SNE | BRH 14 | 31st | 1 | |
| 1974 | Anglo-American Racing Team | Chevron B24 | Chevrolet 5.0V8 | BRH | MAL | SIL | OUL | BRH | ZOL | THR | ZAN 11 | MUG | MNZ | MAL | MON | THR | BRH | OUL | SNE | MAL | BRH | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | RAM Autoracing | Chevron B48 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | VAL | MUG | PAU | HOC | ZAN 13 | PER | MIS | DON | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Racing Team Holland | Toyota | ZAN 6 | NÜR DNS | ÖST 6 | ZOL 5 | IMO DNQ | NÜR 5 | DIJ DNQ | MNZ DNQ | PER Ret | MAG 6 | KNU 5 | KAR 9 | DON 15 | KAS 22 | JAR Ret | VLL 12 | 12th | 9 |
| 1979 | Racing Team Holland | Toyota | VLL 16 | ÖST 19 | ZOL 13 | MAG 2 | DON Ret | ZAN 26 | PER | MNZ 16 | KNU 9 | KIN Ret | JAR 7 | KAS Ret | 6th | 13 | ||||
| 1980 | Racing Team Holland | Toyota | NÜR | ÖST | ZOL 20 | MAG | ZAN 7 | LAC | MUG | MNZ | MIS | KNU | SIL | JAR | KAS | ZOL | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Provimi Veal | Ralt RT5/84 | VWBrabham | LBH 2 | PHX Ret | MIL 1 | POR 3 | MEA 3 | CLE 1 | ROA 2 | WGI 1 | CTR 1 | MCH 2 | LS Ret | CPL 2 | 1st | 172 |
| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos. | Pts | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Byrd-Treadway Racing | Reynard 94I/95I | 5 | FordXBV8t | WDW 14 | PHX 1 | INDY 16 | 7th | 225 | [23] | |||||||||||||
| 1996–97 | NHA 13 | LVS 20 | 6th | 223 | [24] | ||||||||||||||||||
| G-Force GF01 | OldsmobileAuroraV8 | WDW 12 | PHX 22 | INDY 1 | TXS 1 | PPR 15 | CLT 21 | NHA 3 | LVS 25 | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 | G-Force GF01B | WDW 8 | PHX 24 | INDY 20 | TXS 13 | NHA 5 | DOV 9 | CLT 4 | PPR 22 | ATL 8 | TXS 28 | LVS 1 | 8th | 227 | [25] | ||||||||
| 1999 | Treadway Racing | G-Force GF01C | WDW | PHX | CLT | INDY 22 | TXS | PPR | ATL | DOV | PPR | LVS | TXS | 41st | 11 | [26] | |||||||
| 2001 | Treadway-Hubbard Racing | G-Force GF05B | PHX | HMS | ATL | INDY 13 | TXS | PPR | RIR | KAN | NSH | KTY | GAT | CHI | TXS | 41st | 17 | [27] | |||||
| 2002 | Treadway Racing | 55 | Chevrolet IndyV8 | HMS | PHX | FON | NAZ | INDY 14 | TXS | PPR | RIR | KAN | NSH | MCH 16 | KTY | GAT | CHI | TXS | 37th | 30 | [28] | ||
| 2003 | Mo Nunn Racing | G-Force GF09 | 20 | Toyota IndyV8 | HMS | PHX | MOT | INDY Wth1 | TXS | PPR | RIR | KAN | NSH | MCH | GAT | KTY | NAZ | CHI | FON | TXS | NA | - | [29] |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 |  Nissan Motorsport |  Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson | Nissan R89C | C1 | 250 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[30] | |||||||
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
| International Race of Champions results | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pos. | Points | Ref |
| 1992 | Dodge | DAY 10 | TAL 11 | MCH 11 | MCH 10 | 12th | 21 | [31] |
| 1993 | DAY 6 | DAR | TAL 10 | MCH 8 | 11th | 24.5 | [32] | |
| 1998 | Pontiac | DAY 5 | CAL 11 | MCH 7 | IND 11 | 12th | 26 | [33] |
Such was the increased profile of SCCA Super Vee Championship, it started to attract some international participation with the arrival of Dutchman Arie Luyendijk, who changed the spelling of his surname to Luyendyk to help the US press. In his Ralt RT5, run by Lee Hagen and financed by fellow Dutchman Aat Groenevelt's Provimi Veal business, Luyendyk won four races and took four second places, as well as four pole positions and four fastest laps. His closest competitor was Chip Robinson, one of the finds of 1983, who won three races in 1984 and had taken three second places up to the penultimate round, at Laguna Seca in October. Here he was leading comfortably on the last lap and poised to take the championship lead when a stub axle sheared and pitched his Cateret Savings Ralt into the barrier. That loss of 20 points would prove conclusive, and the Dutchman was crowned as champion.
Media related toArie Luyendyk at Wikimedia Commons| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | USFormula Super Vee Champion 1984 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | CART Rookie of the Year 1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Winner 1990 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Scott Brayton Award 2002 | Succeeded by |