Rick Mears

Rick Mears helped put California race drivers on the map with a string of high-profile wins as he dominated open wheel racing during the 1980s.

“Rocket Rick” was born in Kansas in 1951 but his family soon settled in Bakersfield. Rick began his racing career in 1968 on motorcycles in the deserts of Southern California, then turned to four-wheel off-road racing. In the late 1970's, he switched to Champcar racing, a proving ground for aspiring drivers.

In 1977, Mears met legendary race team owner Roger Penske, who offered him a chance to substitute for Mario Andretti in Indy Car races that conflicted with Andretti's Formula One schedule. A year later, Mears started on the front row in his first Indianapolis 500 and was named Indy 500 Co-Rookie of the Year.

The breakthrough came in 1979. Mears won his first Indianapolis 500 and went on to earn his first Indy Car World Series Championship. Mears won his second and third series titles in 1981 and 1982, becoming the first driver to capture three PPG Cup Championships. Also in 1981 Mears became the only Indy car driver to win every road course event in one season, setting race records at Watkins Glen, Mexico City, and Riverside.

In his 17-year career, Mears won the Indianapolis 500 four times - 1979, 1984, 1988, and 1991 -- and posted 29 victories. He is the only driver to have won Indy from the pole in three different decades. He was recognized in 1990 as the Associated Press Driver of the Decade and in 1992 was named one of 10 "Champions for Life" by the Driver of the Year Awards panel.

Recognized as a true auto-racing champion, Mears was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Mortorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1998.