Indyslotcar's G.O.A.T.

It is a nightmare that I have been having since the 25^th Indyslotcar Season Reunion Race in April 2018. The stress has caused me so much anxiety that I have to address this now in order to move on with my life. The nightmare…I got the rankings of Indyslotcar’s best drivers wrong. In looking back at the numbers, the in tangent reasons, historic video, and the results of the anniversary race I think I missed something. The debate about Ev Kamikawa’s place on my list (which he wasn’t), and the lack of other names (Mark Walczak commented “There are some big names missing from your list”) that I’ve decided to try and correct my error. I didn’t remove anyone from the list. I didn’t think that was fair, however I did re-order them. (for my original list click here: https://steveratchett.blogspot.com/2017/09/indyslotcar-best-all-time.html)
Sometime in the future either I or a different writer will clean up the list. I thought it was more important as of this writing to get the right drivers ON the list so the debate could continue.

I adjusted the numbers to account for all the races run through the 2019-2020 season. I de-emphasized the intimidation factor with adding the longevity of the career. I looked at a driver that had a dominant SEASON by countering it with how long a driver was THE dominant driver. An example of this is Larry Rotter was the dominant driver during two of his three championship seasons, however that dominance is tempered that he wasn’t the dominant driver for many of his other seasons. Phil Cianciola was arguably the dominant driver of his first two championship seasons, but also was the dominate driver in the league for several other seasons as drivers looked to him as the measuring stick to gauge their performance. Rotter was still more feared in his dominant seasons than Cianciola was in his dominant seasons, but Cianciola carried that dominance into other seasons more often than Rotter did even if he didn’t win the championship.

I also made a new statistic that combined heat wins with feature wins. In real life racing drivers only race one race during an event. These drivers are asked to race at least two races in one event. This stat shows how often a driver won SOMETHING and it shows how a driver can have a lower amount of career feature wins, but still be a dominant factor. Just using this statistic the order would be:

Lack 78%

Iverson 69%

Shea 52%

Kaehny 49%

Rotter 47%
Wiedemann 47%

Margetta 45%

Kamikawa 44%

Walczak 43%

Fitzlaff 39%

Cianciola 37%

Austin 36%

Hayek 30%

Sorce 28%

The new stat alone can’t be the only measure, because it can’t accurately explain why Cianciola has five championships and Shea has none. It is one of several factors to consider. These factors include:

wins, heat wins, championships, pole positions, club car era vs. own car era, race craft, honesty, intimidation over the rest of the field, and Indy 500 wins are what I re-examined. By compiling this list I've tried to stay objective and only consider what the fans see.

I left my original comments. Anything new is in italics. With that explanation, her is my revised list of Indyslotcar’s Greatest Of All Time:

12. Ev Kamikawa

43 wins
39 poles

111 heat wins

331 starts

4 Indy 500 wins

2 championships

winning percentage 13%

heat winning percentage 34%

Heat and Win percentage 44%

I only put him on this list to shut him up for not being on the last list. I’m giving him 12 because it is his second favorite number. I would give him his favorite number of 24, but I can’t come up with the names of enough winners to put him that far down the list. Still I have to give him some credit. His wins are almost evenly split between the Own Car and Club Car era including his Indy 500 wins. He has more wins on ovals than any other driver at this point in history, and he still is one for good copy if you need a quote for the media. No longer part of the sharp end of the grid, he’s the best midfield runner the league has ever seen.  

11. Mark Walczak

42 Wins

41 poles

73 heat wins

143 starts

1 Indy 500 win

5 championships

winning percentage 29%

heat winning percentage 51%

Heat and Win percentage 43%

Five championships and a bunch of wins. Where to rank him on the list? He wasn't on my original list.

The stats say he needs to be in the discussion.

10. Chad Source

9 wins

6 poles, 

15 heat wins

86 starts

winning percentage 10%

heat winning percentage 17%

Heat and Win percentage 28%

Chad is on the list because of his innovative race craft. He once filled up his Sauber so full of fuel that he didn't have to come in for a pitstop and finished second! Seriously, Chad had two great seasons where he was in final races for several races in a row as the leader of the Miller Lite team where he was in contention for the championship. Teaming with Dan Margetta in that team formed a strong team that rivaled Cianciola and Kaehny at Penske and Kamikawa and Shea at Ferrari. Unfortunately those seasons coincided with another driver's championship seasons so it gets overlooked. Chad also was the first to bring new teams like Sauber, Williams, and Jaguar to the field. He was also the first of the league, and one of the first in the country, to try Red Bull. He was also first to have a radio attached to an actual spotter as he and teammate Dave Austin used radio headsets at one race at Edgewood Superwpeedway.

9. Matt Hayek

16 wins

17 poles

37 heat wins

177 starts

2 Indy 500 wins

winning percentage 9%

heat winning percentage 21%

Heat and Win percentage 30%

Matt has similar numbers to other candidates for this list.

What puts Matt on this list is his up turn in form over the last two seasons. For his first few seasons Matt was a mid-pack driver, however his race craft has changed and he is now fast, smooth, and relentless on the track. His two 500 wins and being a contender for the championships over the last few seasons land him on this list. In 2020 he took five wins to start the season and then saw his championship slip away due to the tumultuous events of that year. Not exactly his fault so we hope it isn’t his only chance at a championship. Still his race craft improved more and you can see that he is more methodical in his approach to a race. A little more luck or better timing and that first championship will be his.

 

9. Dave Austin

16 wins

13 poles

27 heat wins

118 starts

1 Indy 500 win

1 championship

winning percentage 14%

heat winning percentage 23%

Heat and Win percentage 36%

Dave was a bit of an over site on this writers part because the later half of his career he was known more for antics than race craft, however at the reunion race he beat several drivers that are still racing to make the final race. Yes his one championship is tainted by having a magnet attached to the front wing, however you also have to account for it was the third season of league existence and no one even thought about doing that because the drivers didn't know what they knew. You have to give credit to Dave for that as no one else thought of it. Adding a magnet wasn’t forbidden in the rules as a car modification. Similar to the legendary Bass-Ford device in that it wasn't banned in the rules, Smokey Yunick would have been proud of the innovation and since the league took no action you have to consider it a non-issue. The image of him sticking his car to a metal pole at the end of his championship season is still an iconic image of the series. He went on to win more races in usually dominant fashion. His contribution to the league in terms of ties to Indycar/CART/NASCAR can't be overlooked either as they put real drivers in touch with their Indyslotcar heroes.

8. Mike Fitzlaff

13 wins

16 poles

66 heat wins

202 starts

winning percentage 6%

heat winning percentage 33%

Heat and Win percentage 39%

2 Indy 500 wins

"Fitz" as he is known, is probably better known as being a dominating ISF Sportscar driver, however in his Indyslotcar career he is known as being super fast. Get him in a fast car and he laps and laps the field. Put him in a car that can't win, and he will race it wisely to a top finish. There are more wins in his future. You can never count him out of contention and drivers use him as a yardstick to see how they are doing. He is one of the best technical minds in the pits. When he doesn't have a fast car it is pure magic to see him pass car after car in the heat races to advance to the finals.        

7. Jim Kaehny

23 wins

26 poles

53 heat wins

156 starts

winning percentage 15%

heat winning percentage 34%

Heat and Win percentage 49%

2 championships
1 Indy 500 win

In the early days new drivers looked toward beating the senior drivers as progress up the ladder. Usually the first person they would measure themselves against was
"Gentleman Jim." Always someone who raced fair and fast, Jim was a driver you knew would be in the fight for the win. His two championships were very popular among drivers and fans. His Edgewood Speedway was the first oval in series history and was home to the H.O. US Indy 500 for many years. Long a teammate to Cianciola as part of Team Penske, the leagues first super team.

6. Dan Margetta

45 wins

49 poles

132 heat wins

355 starts

1 Indy 500 win

winning percentage 13%

heat winning percentage 37%

Heat and Win percentage 45%

Indyslotcar's driver with the most career wins, heat wins, starts, and leader in many other categories as of 2020, has never been known as a dominant driver in the terms like a Mike Lack or
Larry Rotter. Sometimes he admits to not taking things as seriously as he could. What he is though is consistent. He has won a race in 20 straight seasons, He has had more second place finishes in the championship than any other driver. He is also known as being an intimidator on the track as he isn't afraid to use the "chrome horn" to get drivers out of the way by crashing into them. That uncertainty makes it interesting for other drivers to try and pass him because they pause just a bit not knowing if he will let them go or crash into them. His race craft is more serious than he gets credit for, he always knows the situation of the other drivers and can plan a strategy to beat them. A member of the Hall-of;Fame and easily the most well known of the drivers with the fans and maybe the most popular driver ever in series history?

5. John Shea

15 wins

11 poles

36 heat wins

99 starts

1 Indy 500 win

winning percentage 15%

heat winning percentage 36%

Heat and Win percentage 52%

At first glance it may seem odd to include John Shea in the top 10 drivers because he has less than 100 starts compared to others that have 150 or more. He doesn't have any championships, and only 15 wins. That being said there is no one in the history of the league (although Mike Fitzlaff and Jim Iverson are close) that have more technical knowledge and can set up these cars better than Shea. I mentioned how younger drivers looked to beat the older drivers and used each as a yard stick on their progress. When Shea raced in the first 10 years of the league the older drivers were scared to race him! They measured their progress against him! There were many classic duels between Shea and Phil Cianciola that often resulted in a Shea victory and Cianciola frustration. Twice he was leading the championship with one race to go only to purposely skip the last race and lose the championship in one case to Phil Cianciola and once to Jim Kaehny. Easily one of the fastest drivers over one lap in league history, how can he NOT be included on this list?

4. John Wiedemann

27 wins

23 poles

62 heat wins

188 starts

winning percentage 14%

heat winning percentage 33%

Heat and Win percentage 47%
3 Indy 500 win
1 championship

The first few seasons of his Indyslotcar career, like most drivers, were spent learning the cars and tracks and how to race. Now over the last seven seasons, JW he has won more races than anyone except his teammate Mike Lack. He is dominating and will go further up this list as his career continues and his first championship follows. In 2020 his first championship did follow along with his third win in the 500. If Mike Lack wasn’t around JW would be close to the top of the all time wins list and have at least two championships. He beat all the historic drivers in the 2018 reunion race and that must have given him good satisfaction as he always wondered how the current drivers stacked up against the past drivers. He proved they stacked up pretty well. Relentless in his attack and a good strategist, he beat Lack in a straight title fight, being the first to accomplish that, and that has to give him confidence going into the rest of his career.

In looking at the stats I decided Jim Iverson and Larry Rotter tied for third on the G.O.A.T. list. You can argue that either of them are second, third, or fourth on the list and you wouldn’t be wrong as both deserve their place. One thing is beyond debate, the best rivalry ever is Jim Iverson and Larry Rotter.

I don't have all the stats from Indyslotcar history, however I have them all from the ISF. Combined times they raced against each other in finals, Jim won 22 times and Larry won 21 times. In heat races Larry won 65 times and Jim won 64 times.
It was not only battles of speed, but race craft. These two drivers when racing traded the lead among each other graceful ice dancers moving from one jump and spin to another in the Olympics.
It wasn't uncommon for other drivers to stop and watch these two fight it out because it was that entertaining.
When they each retired, both said they missed racing each other best of all.
Drivers and fans who saw them race agree.

3. Jim Iverson

17 wins

11 poles

60 heat wins

111 starts

2 championships

1 Indy 500 win

winning percentage 15%

heat winning percentage 54%
Heat and Win percentage 69%

"The Grey Fox" was the first Indyslotcar driver to have a previous career racing slotcars. He was smooth right out of the box from the first race on. Not always the fastest car on track, he was always one of the most unflappable. You could never count him out even if he had a bad car. His back-to-back championships were two seasons of dominance, not in a loud brash way but rather in the understated way of his racing hero 

Jim Clark or Artyon Senna in that he was always in the mix and the other drivers could not escape his car in their mirrors. A brilliant technical mind who knew all the ins and outs of the cars, he knew where the limits of the car was and always drove within them. Most of the current league drivers never got to race Jim. I'm sure he would have given some great shows when racing the likes of Lack and Wiedemann. Limited to an observer role of the league for one year before he was given the chance to race, his patience during that experience was a forerunner to his patience on the track and picking his spots to take the advantage away from other drivers for the win or podium.

3. Larry Rotter

26 wins

26 poles

70 heat wins

203 starts

3 championships

1 Indy 500 win

winning percentage 13%

heat winning percentage 34%

Heat and Win percentage 47%

Larry Rotter was always fast from the start. His speed was never in question. His problem during the first several seasons of his career was he kept running into the juggernaut of Shea, Cianciola, Margetta, Sorce, Kaehny, Kamikawa, and others. Under the old format of the OC era where eight drivers made the heats based on total laps in qualifying and then only four made the final, Larry was usually blocked out of the final by four cars that happened to be faster on that night. Once the league switched to Club Cars though, Larry flew to the top winning the championship in the first year of the CC era in a thrilling duel with Margetta. He then won again the following year and then two years later. His natual fast pace was allowed to shine under the new qualifying format and he no longer was buried in the field. The league even had a song they sung to the tune of the Doors "Riders On the Storm" singing "Rotter's on the pole..." He won heat race after heat race and then final

after final. No one was close to catching him as his victories were by several laps over the competitors as they never had a chance. All champions have an era which they are dominant, but Rotter's was something else as he raised it to a new level. A very popular champion who had to cut back on racing due to health reasons (he also said he missed racing Jim as one of his motivations) and sadly shuffled off this mortal coil too early. The first member of the Indyslotcar Hall-of-Fame and deservedly so.
Drivers still miss Larry Rotter. A class act and a great champion.

2. Phil Cianciola

36 wins

48 poles

79 heat wins

173 starts

5 championships

2 Indy 500 wins

winning percentage 21%

heat winning percentage 46%
Heat and Win percentage 37%

Phil always raced clean and his race craft was such to put the car in a position to win at every race. He wouldn't give up in a dogfight until it was clear he couldn't beat the other driver, but then would be smart and bring the car home to the best finish he could. He was the benefactor of the "Bassford Device" cheating scandal for one of his wins.
The ultimate points racer he always had his eyes set on the championship.
Five championships. Four in the OC era and one in the CC era.
A winning percentage over 20%, and 36 wins sets the standard for any driver after him to reach to prove their greatness...enough said. Not quite. Why did I move him from fourth on the original list to second on this list? At the reunion race he jumped into an unfamiliar car after five years of not racing and beat every driver of his era in a heat race and in a semi final and finished second to Wiedemann in the final. That is talent. He was the first to five championships, was the clear all-time wins leader for many years, and is still the measuring stick that drivers of his era are compared to. How did I not recognize this before?

1. Mike Lack

44 wins

38 poles

97 heat wins

180 starts

winning percentage  24%

heat winning percentage 54%

Heat and Win percentage 78%
2 Indy 500 win
6 championships

"I think Mike Lack will be really good. You guys are going to be surprised how good he is going to be," said John Wiedemann when Mike Lack made his debut. Lack has lived up to that prediction finishing second in his first race. His nickname is "the machine," as he can race fast and faster and nothing seems to phase him. He rarely shows emotion when racing and nothing seems to get under his skin. Race strategy is a consistent theme of stay calm and race and to be in the hunt for the win at the end. If he is racing with his teammate then he makes sure to leave the other drivers behind before battling with his teammate. No one is scared to race Mike. Previous drivers were intimidating to other drivers. Mike Lack is the first to cause a feeling of fatalism in drivers, as all the other drivers just take it for granted that they are going to lose to him when racing against him. "The Machine" is King. Since the original list Mike Lack added one more championship and is one win away from being the all time wins leader. Nothing more needs to be said about this legendary drivers career.

There it is. I hope I finally exercised my demons by revising this list. I look forward to hearing your responses on Indyslotcar talk radio and in future articles and podcasts. Some people will criticize this list by saying there are more than 10 drivers and some are ties rather than a true top 10 list. As I stated in the beginning of the column, my goal was to get the right drivers in the discussion. I'll let some writer have the nightmares.

After a good nights sleep...it's easy being in the pits!

Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett