Timing and circumstances have prevented some mighty fine drivers from ever competing in the Indy 500. Having said that here are three guys who I wished could have raced in the 500 but never did.

1. Greg Moore
2. Alex Zanardi
3. Ayrton Senna

Now, anyone who knows anything about the sport remembers Senna's "secret" Penske test at Firebird in December of 1992. And, if Emerson Fittipaldi is to be believed, Senna and Penske came all so close to a one-off at Indy in 1993. Penske has often squashed that rumor by saying logistics of running three cars there in '93 just wasn't in the cards, citing conflicts and budget constraint issues with Marlboro, which had various branches for motorsports sponsorship set up around the world and Senna's budget would have to have come from the branch that was funding McLaren's F1 team, not the American branch funding Penske in CART. Hence, Marlboro wasn't prepared to fund Senna's one-off at Indy. Confusing, I know. Senna was often coy saying the test was interesting and he learned all he needed to know, leaving most under the impression that he was using the Penske test as leverage against Ron Dennis, who Senna had a falling out with at the end of '92 and failed to secure the much coveted Williams-Renault drive for '93 (another story in itself). However, Emmo maintains his friend wanted and was pursuing a one-off at Indy with Penske, even after the test. Could be true since, prior to Indy in '93, Senna was only racing for McLaren on a race to race basis and he could have told Ron Dennis that he was skipping Monaco and going off to Indy instead. He didn't sign a contract until that July, I believe, to run the remaining '93 schedule in F1. One of the more intriguing stories that make you go, hmmmmmmmmmm, what could have been!

Gilles Villeneuve
Stefan Bellof

Riccardo Patrese, Damon Hill, Jos Verstappen, Rene Arnoux.

Dave Darland
Russ Gamester

1. Joe Tanto

2. Jimmy Bly

3.Beau Brandenburg

Ronnie Peterson
James Hunt
Alain Prost
Mika Hakkinen

In terms of CART/CCWS drivers who never got one Indy start: Greg Moore, Alex Zanardi, Michel Jourdain, Jr., Alex Tagliani, Cristiano da Matta, Casey Mears, A.J. Allmendinger, Nelson Phillipe, Andrew Ranger, and Robert Doornbos.

Other series, I guess some of the F1 guys or NASCAR guys, but frankly I don't think any of them have any regrets. The CART/CCWS drivers should have been here, and those who have returned should have been there all along. Moore, Zanardi, and Allmendinger I think would have been the most exciting.

djski, you forgot Memo Moreno!

Michael Schumacher
Ayrton Senna
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Colin McRae

Brown Rhino - 23 May 2008 02:14 AM

Jeff Gordon

God what a mistake by the CART teams of the day. How they let him get to NASCAR is beyond me. I can't stand the guy, but his talent is undenyable.

Mike

djski - 22 May 2008 10:35 PM

1. Joe Tanto

2. Jimmy Bly

3.Beau Brandenburg

Ditto!