INDY DIARIES: Mears '79 - pole, win ... and a lesson in perspective from AJ

Over 99 runnings, the Indianapolis 500 has become the most famous event in motorsport. That iconic status is built on a bedrock of hundreds of small stories, and to celebrate the centennial race, RACER.com has asked some of the people who are part of Indy's fabric to share a few of those stories with us. Check back every day between now and race day for a new 'Indy Diary' entry.

As one of only three four-time winners of the Indy 500, Rick Mears is very much part of Indianapolis folklore. But when he won for the first time in 1979, it took a while for the scale of the achievement to hit home.

"The 1979 win (Mears, No. 9, passing Tom Sneva, below right) happened so quickly for me. It was my second time running [at Indy], and it was, 'great, we've won another race'. We'd won a few races before that one and we'd sat on the front row the first year [1978] and probably had a shot at winning that one.

"Winning pole was almost as big a thrill as winning the race. Nobody expected it. I didn't expect it – it was my first pole, not just at Indy, but anywhere in IndyCar. So that was huge to me. I've always loved qualifying at Indy; it was always one of the most pressure-packed but fun and gratifying things to do. And then to turn around and win the race ...

"I remember talking to people afterwards and they said, 'Man, what's wrong with you? You ought to be doing double backflips.' And I was, 'I am excited, really.' But I didn't appreciate what it meant to win the race, because it was so new to me. I didn't know the history, I didn't know how difficult it was. I'd learn that later with time. Obviously I appreciated the win and was excited about it, but I remember my wife at the time saying to me after we'd left the track, 'What's wrong, why aren't you excited?.' And I said, 'I am excited, but I didn't win it. Bobby [Unser] broke before I had a chance to pass him.' So I didn't win the race.

"I ran into Foyt right after that at one of the other races, and I said, 'AJ, I didn't win that race'. And he just start laughing. He said, 'Mears, you take them anyway you can get them. You're going to lose more that way than you are going to win.'"