'The Bachelor' Star Arie Luyendyk Jr. Looks Back at 'Awesome' Indy 500 Experience (Exclusive)

Arie Luyendyk Jr. is known for being a contestant on Season 8 of The Bachelorette and starring in the 22nd season of The Bachelor. But before the 41-year-old was looking for love on television, he was enjoying his passion: race car driving. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Luyendyk about competing in one of the biggest races in the world, the Indianapolis 500, in 2006. 

"Oh, it was awesome. I mean, I think at the time I only competed in one Indy 500, and it was just a shame the timing of my career," Luyendyk exclusively told PopCulture. "Because as soon as 2006, 2007 rolled around, we went through a little bit of an economic crash, the real estate crash. And because of that, all the marketing dollars dried up. And then I ended up going on The Bachelorette."

"It's like my life has taken these twists and turns, but ... it's all turned out really well for me," he continued. "So I can't say I regret that I didn't race more or been able to drive at the level that my dad did. But I'm in a happy place and I still get to race every now and then. I do a little Stadium Super Trucks. And maybe this year I'm going to do my first sprint kart race. But yeah, so it's wild."

Luyendyk finished 28th in the 2006 Indy 500, the one and only time he competed in the IndyCar Series. He spent the majority of his career in Indy Lights (now called Indy NXT), a developmental league for IndyCar. Luyendyk had his most success in Stadium Super Trucks, winning three races, including two in 2018. Back in 2015, Luyendyk earned a bronze medal at the X Games for Stadium Super Trucks. 

Luyendyk's father, Arie Luyekdyk, is a former race car driver who won the Indy 500 in 1990 and 1997. "If you can imagine as a kid growing up, my dad was my hero," Luyendyk Jr. said. "I used to go to all the races. So I went to college to better my racing career because I was like, 'Hey, I want a marketing degree.' Half of racing is ... there's driving and then there's marketing yourself to get the sponsorships. So that was the thing for me."

Luyendyk's passion for cars has led him to partner up with Advance Auto Parts for a new program called Fuel Ride to College. The program offers a chance for 10 college freshmen to win four years' worth of Shell gasoline. "So 10 students will get all their gasoline paid for throughout their college experience by Shell," Luyendyk explained. "So it's pretty cool. I remember when I was a freshman in college, I was going to Scottsdale Community College, I was also commuting 45 minutes away to work. So having a full take of gas in the car that ran right was crucial. So it's pretty cool that they're doing this."

Luendyk went on to talk about going through the same struggles when he was 19 years old. "My car was everything," he said. "I'd just bought my car after high school. Super proud to own it, loved working on it. Gas was one of those things where I remember ... I think gas was only a dollar a gallon, so it was a whole different landscape. I remember digging through my car, looking how much change I had to see how much gas I could put in my tank."