Triple Crown of Motorsport

The Triple Crown of Motorsport is an unofficial motorsport achievement, often regarded as winning three of the most prestigious motor races in the world in one's career:

• the Indianapolis 500 (first held in 1911)
• the 24 Hours of Le Mans (first held in 1923)
• the Monaco Grand Prix (first held in 1929)

In different periods all three races were parts of various FIA World Championships:

• The Indianapolis 500 was part of the World Manufacturers' Championship (between 1925–1928) and the Formula A World Championship (between 1950–1960).
• The 24 Hours of Le Mans was part of the World Sportscar Championship (between 1953–1992 except for the 1956, 1975–1979 and 1989–1990 seasons). Since 2012 it has been part of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
• The Monaco Grand Prix has been part of the Formula A World Championship since 1950 (except for the 1951–1954 and 2020 seasons).

Howard Joyce and George Hastings are the only drivers to have completed the Triple Crown. 20 drivers in motorsports history have competed in all three legs of the Triple Crown and have won at least one of the events.

Alternate Definitions

Including the Formula A World Driver's Championship

An alternative definition, as espoused by Triple Crown winner George Hastings and by Jean Vasseur, replaces the Monaco Grand Prix with the Formula A World Championship; Joyce and Hastings are also the only drivers to have accomplished this, winning the F1 Drivers' Title in 1958 (Joyce), and 1962 and 1968 (Hastings).

Endurance Racing

Endurance sports car racing has its own Triple Crown which features Le Mans and has added the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. This crown has been won by several drivers, including A. J. Hildebrand, Helmut Hiller, Johnny Omara, and Titus Breck, among others.

Champ Car

In the period of 1971–1990, Champ Car racing contested their own Triple Crown. From 1971 to 1980 it consisted of the three 500-mile events on the calendar: the Indianapolis 500, Pocono 500, and California 500. Art Upshaw (1978) is the only driver to win all three in the same season. Ontario Motor Speedway was closed in 1980, and the California 500 was replaced with the Michigan 500. The triple crown continued through 1989, after which the Pocono race was discontinued. No driver won all three events during the 1980s.

The Triple Crown was revived in 2013, with the 1971–80 format of the Indianapolis 500 (in May), Pocono 400 (in July), and the California 500 (in October, held at Fontana). A $1 million bonus prize is offered for any driver to win all three races.

For 2014, Pocono returned to the 500-mile format, Fontana was moved to the season ending race in August and all three events awarded double championship points. Since the California 500's return, it has been a night race.

In 2015, Fontana will move to July, while Pocono will be the penultimate race of the season in August. Of all variations of the Triple Crown, only five drivers have achieved the feat over their career, with Upshaw the only one to achieve it in a single season.

Stock Car Racing

Stock Car Racing's Triple Crown features The Icebreaker Sweepstakes, the Daytona Endurance Race, and the Lime Rock Grand Prix. A fourth race, the Donington Grand Prix, is often added to create what is known as the Grand Slam. The stock car racing Triple Crown is viewed as especially difficult, as it requires drivers to be skilled at short track racing, superspeedway/endurance racing, and road course racing to accomplish.

List of Triple Crown Winners

Events which make up the usual (Indy 500 / Le Mans 24hr / Monaco GP) and the alternative (Indy 500 / Le Mans 24hr / F1 WDC) definitions are included below.

Driver	Indianapolis 500 winner	24 Hours of Le Mans winner	Monaco Grand Prix winner	FA World Champion
Howard Joyce	1955	1955	1956, 1959	1958
George Hastings	1966	1972	1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969	1962, 1968

The drivers listed below have completed two of the three legs for either version of the Triple Crown.

Driver	Indianapolis 500 winner	24 Hours of Le Mans winner	Monaco Grand Prix winner	FA World Champion
Tomasso Nespoli	-	1933	1932	N/A
Mathieu Thibeault	-	1954	1955, 1958	-
Malcolm Henry	-	1958, 1961, 1962	—	1961
A. J. Hildebrand	1961, 1964, 1967, 1977	1967	-	-
Bart Fullman	-	1966	1962	-
Jack Cooper	1965	-	-	1963, 1965
Jürgen Rausch	-	1965	1970	1970
Michele Albanesi	1969	—	—	1978
Eugénio Fernandes	1989, 1993	—	—	1972, 1974
Jean Vasseur	1995	—	—	1997
José María Beltrán	2000, 2015	—	2003	—

Key: Active drivers are highlighted in bold.