Third in a series looking at historical Indy car statistical categories

A.J. Foyt won 10 of the 13 races during the 1964 season on his way to winning the USAC championship. In 1970, Al Unser matched Foyt's single-season record number of victories in 18 races on the way to earning the USAC title.

Foyt won seven consecutive races to kick off the ’64 season (Phoenix, Trenton, Indianapolis 500, Milwaukee, Langhorne, Trenton and Springfield).

Unser won five consecutive races in ’70 (DuQuoin, Indianapolis State Fairgrounds, Sedalia, Trenton and Sacramento) in the second half of the season and had a three-race stretch of wins (Indianapolis Raceway Park, Springfield, Milwaukee) in August.

So who had the better championship season? Both won the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in those respective seasons.

A.J. Foyt wins 1964 Indy 500

Al Unser wins 1970 Indy 500

Unser led 1,527 of a possible 2,287 laps -- 66.8 percent (first on the all-time list in most laps led in a single season; first in highest percentage of laps led in a single season since 1946), and eight of his 10 victories came from the pole. Unser finished in the top five in six of the eight other races.

Foyt led 861 of a possible 1,750 laps -- 49.2 percent (10th overall in most laps led in a single season; fifth in highest percentage of laps led in a single season since 1946), and two of his 10 victories came from the pole. He did start on the front row in four of the victories and in the top five in three other wins. Foyt finished out of the top 10 in the other three races.

Mario Andretti won nine times (five from the pole) in 1969, including the Indianapolis 500, on the way to earning the USAC championship.

Will Power’s three wins on the way to winning the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series title and Dario Franchitti’s three wins in his 2010 championship season don't make the list.

Unser also had a five-race winning streak in July of the 1968 USAC season (Nazareth, Indianapolis Raceway Park doubleheader, Langhorne doubleheader).

Click to Download (PDF):
IndyCar All-Time Champions (1946-2014)

IndyCar All-Time Winners (1946-2014)

IndyCar All-Time Records (1946-2014)

Most Victories by a Champion
in a Championship Year (1946-2014)

Wins

Driver

Year(s)

Sanctioning Organization
10 A.J. Foyt 1964 USAC
Al Unser 1970 USAC
9 Mario Andretti 1969 USAC
8 Tony Bettenhausen 1951 AAA
Mario Andretti 1966, 1967 USAC
Michael Andretti 1991 CART
Al Unser Jr. 1994 CART
Sebastien Bourdais 2007 CC
7 Jimmy Murphy 1922 AAA
A.J. Foyt 1975 USAC
Alex Zanardi 1998 CART
Juan Pablo Montoya 1999 CART
Cristiano da Matta 2002 CART
Paul Tracy 2003 CART
Sebastien Bourdais 2004, 2006 CC
6 Rick Mears 1981 CART
Mario Andretti 1984 CART
Bobby Rahal 1986 CART
Dan Wheldon 2005 IRL
Sebastien Bourdais 2005 CC
Scott Dixon 2008 IRL
5 Johnnie Parsons 1949 AAA
Sam Hornish Jr. 2002 IRL
Dario Franchitti 2009 IRL
4 Sam Hornish Jr. 2006 IRL
Dario Franchitti 2007, 2011 IRL, IC
Ryan Hunter-Reay 2012 IC
Scott Dixon 2013 IC

Highest Percentage of Laps Led
in a Single Season (1946-2014)

Rank

Driver

Year

Laps Led / Possible

% Led

Sanctioning Organization
1 Al Unser 1970 1527 / 2287 66.8 USAC
2 Mario Andretti 1966 1142 / 2083 54.8 USAC
3 Michael Andretti 1992 1136 / 2110 53.8 CART
4 Tony Bettenhausen 1951 851 / 1719 49.5 AAA
5 A.J. Foyt 1964 861 / 1750 49.2 USAC
6 Rick Mears 1982 746 / 1577 47.3 CART
7 Michael Andretti 1991 965 / 2107 45.8 CART
8 Sebastien Bourdais 2007 463 / 1087 42.6 CC
9 Sebastien Bourdais 2006 522 / 1251 41.7 CC
10 Tony Stewart 1996/97 812 / 1973 41.2 IRL
11 A.J. Foyt 1975 676 / 1683 40.2 USAC
12 Dario Franchitti 2011 844 / 2011 39.9 IC
13 Bobby Unser 1979 582 / 1461 39.8 CART
14 Paul Tracy 2005 512 / 1310 39.1 CC
15 Danny Ongais 1978 870 / 2253 38.6 USAC

In either case, both Foyt and Unser have the statistics to back up the legendary status.

A.J. Foyt and Al Unser