All month along at the Brickyard, Marlboro-Team Penske's Sam Hornish, Jr. had one of the fastest cars, and it showed today, as he slingshot his way around Andretti-Green rookie Marco Andretti in the second-closest finish in Indy 500 history, winning the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500.
With very warm skies and an estimated crowd of 300,000+ in the stands, 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong led the field of 33 cars prior to the start, where boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson waved the green flag to begin the 500-mile race, and it didn't take long for trouble to show up. On lap 2, both Hemelgarn Racing cars, driven by Jeff Bucknum(#92 LifeFitness D/H) and P.J. Chesson(#91 Car-Melo D/H) made contact through turn 2 and spun into the outside wall, bringing out the first caution. Most everyone stayed out, while a few of the backmarkers ventured down pitlane to take on fuel, hoping to catch some lucky cautions and make up ground. Several laps later, the green flag came back out, and it was Helio Castroneves(#3 Marlboro-Team Penske D/H) who led them into turn 1, only to be passed several laps later by last year's winner, Dan Wheldon(#10 Target D/H) who began to tear away from the field, while further back in the field, Andretti-Green's Tony Kanaan(#11 Team 7-11 D/H) darted around Castroneves' teammate, Sam Hornish, Jr.(#6 Marlboro-Team Penske D/H) for second.
By lap 25, the first round of stops for the front-runners began, with AGR's Bryan Herta(#7 XM Satellite Radio D/H) the first to pit; he took on fuel and tires. By lap 35, everyone at the front was in for the first of an expected six or seven stops. Top 5 at this point: 1)#6 Hornish, Jr., 2)#11 Kanaan, 3)#26 Ma. Andretti, 4)#10 Wheldon, and 5)#4 Meira. The race continued in the sometimes torrid fashion that the Brickyard can provide; by lap 40, Wheldon had charged back into the lead and looked to be literally running away with the lead, leading by as much as 12-13 seconds. By the quarter-point of the race(lap 50), Wheldon was ahead by almost 14 seconds. Meanwhile, more pitstops, as drivers began to peel off for fuel, tires and wing adjustments. Just as everyone began to start penciling in Wheldon's name as a 2-time Indy winner.......the second caution came out. The reason.....on lap 66, Vision Racing's Tomas Scheckter(#2 Rock & Republic D/H) spun in turn 4, slammed into the outside wall, and then slid into the pitwall entrance. Scheckter was checked at the infield care center and released, but the scariest moment of the race occurred when Jaques Lazier(#21 Playa del Racing P/H), hit a piece of debris, shooting it into the pitstands, injuring 5 spectators, all of whom were treated at the care center as well. Top 5 at lap 75: 1)#10 Wheldon, 2)#9 Dixon, 3)#11 Kanaan, 4)#6 Hornish, Jr., and 5)#27 Franchitti.
When the green flag flew on lap 76, Wheldon once again charged ahead, leading teammate Scott Dixon(#9 Target D/H) by as much as 3 seconds(3.159 secs. on lap 90). While the Target/Ganassi pair contined to lead the field, some of the frontrunners pitted for fuel and tires. By halfway, Wheldon was still in the lead, with Dixon, Hornish, Jr., Kanaan and Patrick rounding out the top-5. Once past halfway, the rest of the frontrunner pitted, including Wheldon, who just edged Hornish, Jr. out of pitlane for track position, while Dixon took the point as race leader. While leading, Dixon would block Kanaan, preventing him from attempting a pass for the lead; race control warned Dixon not to block anyone else or he would receive a drive-through penalty. Then the next caution came out, as the cars of Castroneves and Rahal-Letterman Racing's Buddy Rice(#15 Argent/Pioneer P/H) touched wheels in the short chute btwn. turns 3 & 4, sending both card hard into the outside wall.
When the green came back out on lap 123, Wheldon once again retook the lead, only to have Dixon singshot around 2 laps later to retake the lead. Top 5 at lap 125 were Dixon, Wheldon, Hornish, Jr., Kanaan and Franchitti. The lead for Wheldon, wouldn't last as both Dixon, on lap 127 and Hornish, Jr. on lap 130, each took the lead. For the next 15 laps, Wheldon and Hornish, Jr. ran tooth-and-nail, Hornish leading until 145 when Wheldon passed for the lead. Just as Wheldon began pulling away......you guessed it, another caution. This time, it was 2-time 500 winner Al Unser, Jr.(#31 A1 Team USA/GEICO D/H) who crashed in turn 3. Now things began to get very, very interesting. First up: the #17 Ethanol P/H of Rahal-Letterman Racing, driven by rookie Jeff Simmons. As he left pitroad, he left before the fuelman could remove the nozzle from the car; the same things a little bit later would happen to Hornish, Jr. Both drivers would serve drive-through penalties. As the race passed the 3/4 mark(lap 150), Wheldon was back in the lead, followed by Hornish, Jr.(who was yet to serve his drive-through penalty), Dixon, Kanaan and Franchitti. During the caution, Simmons would drift into the "marbles" in turn 3; by the time he recovered, it was too late, as his car hit the outside wall, ending his day a bit early.
As the green flag fell on lap 163, both Hornish, Jr. and another driver, Townsend Bell(#90 Rock & Republic D/H) would head down ptilane to serve drive-through penalties. Meanwhile, rookie Marco Andretti(#26 NYSE D/H), began to make his way to the front, passing Franchitti for fourth on lap 166, then moving into third several laps following another Dixon block of Kanaan; this time, race control ordered the Kiwi to pitlane for a drive-through penalty, ending Dixon's chances to win. By now, it became a matter of who would blink first and pit. On lap 183, several of the frontrunners, including last year's 500 rookie of the year, Danica Patrick(#16 Argent/PEAK P/H) would come in for a "splash-n-dash", hoping to catch the leaders low on fuel at race's end. That plan went right out the window, though, when Foyt Racing's Felipe Giaffone(#14 ABC Supply Co. D/H), slid into the wall in turn 2, bringing out the caution, effectively ending Patrick and several others' chances of winning. The big surprise, though was when AGR co-owner Michael Andretti(#1 Jim Beam/Vonage D/H) elected not to pit, assuming the racelead with 9 laps to go. Would this be the year when the "Andretti Curse" would end? Could Michael win the biggest race on the calendar?
However, it wasn't to be.....for Michael, that is. When the green flew with 7 to go, son Marco flew past him, taking the lead and bringing the crowd to its' feet, roaring in absolute joy the way Patrick had done so the year before. Unfortunately for Marco, though, one other driver had passed father Michael.....Sam Hornish, Jr. Silent Sam had threaded his back up the leaderboard and began chasing down little Marco. On lap 198, Marco holds onto the lead by .564 secs. over Hornish; instead of Michael, the crowd thought, will the 19-year-old finally break the Curse? On the penultimate lap, Hornish dives down over the curbing in turn 3, but backs off, and Marco still holds on to the lead. As they cross the stripe for the white flag, Marco leads Sam by .945 secs. But it ain't over yet; as they exit turn 4, Hornish, Jr. runs as high a line as possible, and having caught the draft from the #26, begins to make the pass of a lifetime around the rookie, and by just 64/thousandths' of a second, edges out the rookie for the win. It is the second closest finish in 500 history; the closest was in 1992, when "Little' Al Unser, Jr. edged out Scott Goodyear by 43/thousandths'.
I'll have some observations on today's exciting race from the Brickyard later this evening. Meanwhile, congratulations to Sam Hornish, Jr. for winning "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500.
