First of an occasional series this month

Of all the nuggets of information Arie Luyendyk swept up in 18 years and nearly 3,000 race laps on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, a seminal moment occurred as he crossed the finish line in winning the 1990 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

“I put my arm in the air at the start-finish line and it almost got ripped off because I was going over 200 mph. The second (victory) I just put my fist in the air,” he said.

Luyendyk, who started on the outside of the front row in the Doug Shierson Racing entry, took the lead with 32 laps left and completed the 500 miles at an average speed of 185.981 mph -- a record that stood until 2013. Defending race winner and pole sitter Emerson Fittipaldi dominated the first half of the race, but lost a lap because of a tire wear issue and finished third. Bobby Rahal, the 1986 race winner, finished 11.8 seconds behind in second.

Click it: Luyendyk's Indianapolis 500 stats

“I remember that whole month being particularly smooth. We never had any down days or struggling with the setup,” Luyendyk said. “We were patiently fine-tuning the car pretty much the week leading up to the race. The car was so good and I was so confident that I felt good about my chances going in. Doug Shierson was a good communicator on the radio and we had made plans to keep me informed if I was running fourth, fifth or sixth. I always wanted to know where the leader was so I could have a visual reference point. I always kept the leaders in sight and in mind that way. We just did a few minor wing changes during the early part of the race and the car transformed; I was quicker than I was in qualifying.

“I closed the gap on Rahal, who was leading and overtook him.”

Fittipaldi caught Luyendyk on the frontstretch, trying to un-lap himself, which temporarily distracted Luyendyk.

“I remember very well. I was occupied with Emerson Fittipaldi in my mirrors, who was un-lapping himself. I was looking at him more than the white flag, so they never told me on the radio that it was the white flag,” Luyendyk said. “I remember so many things going through my head, like 10 laps to go I’m going to win a million bucks and I thought about my parents because I knew they were watching TV back in Holland. I could visualize them sitting there and then I said to myself, ‘OK, focus,’ and I finished the last couple of laps at a pace that was safe. You don’t want to lose your concentration either. It was my first win, but one of my easiest.”

The popular winner said that one day altered his racing career and life. He also won in 1997 from the pole – among the three poles earned in his 17 starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- and today drives the safety car at select Verizon IndyCar Series races in addition to coaching young drivers.

“I hadn’t won an Indy car race. I had a couple of podiums and was competitive,” he said. “The only negative was our season after that didn’t go well. The following year I won the race in Phoenix and raced good here (advanced 11 positions relative to his qualifying spot to finish third). For a while people were saying, ‘Oh, it was a fluke that he won that race.’

“It changed my life in a lot of ways. It was huge in the Netherlands. That victory marked me, and made me an Indy 500 specialist, which is true because I had a feel for this place and knew how to go fast. Throughout the ‘90s I won it twice but was in position to win it more. It’s OK with me. If I had to be good someplace, I’d rather be good here.

“It’s amazing that you can accomplish something 25 years ago and people still give you a pat on the back.”