When Clark arrived at Indianapolis in 1963, he was already a Formula One World Champion and among the fastest drivers on the planet. His partnership with Lotus founder Colin Chapman brought European racing philosophy to an event dominated for decades by traditional front-engined American roadsters. The rear-engined Lotus cars Clark drove at Indianapolis represented a direct transfer of the technology that had already reshaped grand prix racing, and their competitiveness immediately challenged conventional American assumptions about what winning Indy cars had to look like.
Clark made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1963, qualifying the Lotus and finishing second behind Parnelli Jones. The result remained controversial long afterward. Late in the race, Jones' car developed a crack in its oil tank and began leaking onto the track. The oil caused a slippery surface and contributed to a crash involving Eddie Sachs against the outside wall. USAC officials were prepared to black flag Jones when his car owner, J.C. Agajanian, ran down pit lane and convinced officials the leak was under control. Jones was allowed to continue and won. Colin Chapman later accused USAC of bias toward the American front-engined establishment. Clark also won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award in 1963.
In 1964, Clark was in contention again before a tire failure damaged the Lotus's suspension and ended his race. He was denied a consecutive Indy win that season.
The 1965 race was Clark's masterpiece at Indianapolis. Driving the Lotus 38 — the first mid-engined car to win the race — he led 190 of the 200 laps and won at a then-record average speed of over 150 mph, becoming the first non-American to win the Indianapolis 500 in almost half a century. The victory was extraordinary in its dominance and its historical weight: no front-engined car has won the race since. Clark's 1965 season was uniquely multi-dimensional — he won Formula One world championship, the Indianapolis 500, the Tasman Series championship, and both the French and British Formula Two championships in the same calendar year, a combination no driver has replicated. To compete at Indianapolis, Clark was required to miss the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix, a sacrifice he and Chapman made willingly given the significance of the American race.
Clark returned to Indianapolis in 1966, finishing second behind Graham Hill — his Lotus teammate in that season. His four Indianapolis appearances produced one victory, two second-place finishes, and one retirement.
Clark's involvement at Indianapolis was part of a far broader career that made him arguably the most complete driver of his generation. He won two Formula One World Championships (1963 and 1965) with Lotus, collected 25 grand prix victories, and held records for most wins, pole positions, and fastest laps at the time of his death. He won eight grand chelems — races in which he took pole position, led every lap, set fastest lap, and won — a record that still stands decades later.
On April 7, 1968, Clark died when his Lotus veered off the track during a Formula Two race at the Hockenheimring in West Germany. Investigators concluded the most likely cause was a deflating rear tire. He was 32 years old.
Clark was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1988 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990. His 1965 Indianapolis 500 win is remembered as the race that completed the transition from front-engined roadster to rear-engined race car, a transformation that reshaped American open-wheel racing permanently. Jackie Stewart described his driving style: "He was so smooth, so clean, he drove with such finesse. He never bullied a racing car, he sort of caressed it into doing the things he wanted it to do."