I liked all these solutions so much that I couldn't resist benchmarking a few of them to help me choose my favorite. Thought I'd share the results in case any of you also like benchmarks.

      ar0n:  4 wallclock secs ( 5.30 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.30 CPU) @ 1826.79/s (n=9682)
clever_tachyon:  4 wallclock secs ( 5.01 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.01 CPU) @ 605.19/s (n=3032)
     dkubb:  6 wallclock secs ( 5.22 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.22 CPU) @ 1821.65/s (n=9509)
   footpad:  5 wallclock secs ( 5.34 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.34 CPU) @ 385.96/s (n=2061)
     japhy:  6 wallclock secs ( 5.21 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.21 CPU) @ 2507.87/s (n=13066)
    merlyn:  6 wallclock secs ( 5.25 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.25 CPU) @ 1056.57/s (n=5547)
   tachyon:  6 wallclock secs ( 5.59 usr +  0.00 sys =  5.59 CPU) @ 1766.01/s (n=9872)

I have edited this a few times since I didn't get my post perfect the first time

use strict;
use Benchmark 'timethese';
 
my @array;
my $lookfor;
 
my @array = qw ( Juan Montoya Buddy Lazier Eliseo Salazar Jeff Ward Ed
+die Cheever
Robby Gordon Jimmy Vasser Stephan Gregoire Scott Goodyear Scott Sharp 
+Mark Dismore
Donnie Beechler Jaques Lazier Jeret Schroeder Billy Boat Raul Boesel J
+ason Leffler
Buzz Calkins Steve Knapp Davey Hamilton Robby McGehee Johnny Unser Sta
+n Wattles
Sam Hornish Jr Airton Dare Robbie Buhl Richie Hearn Andy Hillenburg Al
+ Unser Jr
Jimmy Kite Sarah Fischer Lyn St. James Greg Ray );
 
$lookfor= "toma";
test_get_index($lookfor);
$lookfor= $array[21];
test_get_index($lookfor);
                                                                      
+                               
sub test_get_index
{
my ($lookfor) = @_;
print "Looking for $lookfor\n",
      "dkubb found ",get_index_dkubb(\@array, $lookfor),"\n",
      "merlyn found ",get_index_merlyn(\@array, $lookfor),"\n",
      "japhy found ",get_index_japhy(\@array, $lookfor),"\n",
      "clever tachyon found ",get_index_clever_tachyon($lookfor, @arra
+y),"\n",
      "tachyon found ",get_index_tachyon($lookfor, @array),"\n",
      "footpad found ",get_index_footpad($lookfor, @array),"\n",
      "ar0n found ",get_index_ar0n($lookfor, @array),"\n";
} 

timethese(-5,
{
  dkubb => sub {get_index_dkubb(\@array, $lookfor)},
  merlyn => sub {get_index_merlyn(\@array, $lookfor)},
  japhy => sub {get_index_japhy(\@array, $lookfor)},
  clever_tachyon => sub {get_index_clever_tachyon($lookfor, @array)},
  tachyon => sub {get_index_tachyon($lookfor, @array)},
  footpad => sub {get_index_footpad($lookfor, @array)},
  ar0n => sub {get_index_ar0n($lookfor, @array)},
});
 
sub get_index_dkubb {
  my ($a, $e) = @_;
  $e eq $a->[$_] and return $_ for 0..$#$a;
  return -1;
}
 
sub get_index_merlyn (\@$) {
  my ($a, $e) = @_;
  for (my $i = 0; $i <= $#$a; $i++) {
    return $i if $e eq $a->[$i];
  }
  return -1;
}

sub get_index_japhy (\@$) {
  my ($a, $e) = @_;
  my $i = 0;
  for (@$a) { return $i if $e eq $_; $i++; }
  return -1;
}
 
sub get_index_tachyon {
  my $value = shift;
  for my $index(0..$#_) {
    return $index if $value eq $_[$index];
  }
  return -1;
}
 
sub get_index_clever_tachyon {
  map{return --$_ if $_[0] eq $_[$_]}(1..@_-1) and -1
}
 
sub get_index_footpad
{
  my $value = shift;
  my @values = @_;
  my $result = -1;
 
  for ( my $index = 0; $index < @values; $index++ )
  {
    if ( $value eq $values[ $index ] )
    {
      $result = $index;
      last;
    }
  }
  return $result;
}
 
sub get_index_ar0n {
  my $value = shift;
 
  for (0..$#_) {
    return $_ if $_[$_] eq $value;
  }
  return -1;
}
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It should work perfectly the first time! - toma