The 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race is now in the record books. The event started it’s second 100 years with a bang….so to speak, with a history-making winner. There was a crash that was horrifying to watch and miraculous in that no one was seriously hurt. A fourth of the race, 50 laps was run under caution. There were 15 different race leaders, a new record. There were 35 lead changes which is fourth on the all time list. Helio Castroneves broke his own record for most completed 200 laps. He has gone the distance 13 times. No one else is even close.
The fact that the weather held off and the day was perfect for racing was a big plus. After predictions that the whole weekend would be a washout, Mother Nature smiled down on Indianapolis and the city was able to enjoy the race, the parade, and all the related activities. Possibly the only negative thing to happen was that drivers Scott Dixon and retired driver Dario Franchitti were robbed at gunpoint in a Taco Bell drive thru the evening he won the pole. When actor Jake Gyllenhaal and bombing survivor Jeff Bauman dropped the green flag and the race cars completed the first lap it looked to be a smooth and safe start. Scott Dixon took the lead and Will Power jumped from 9th to challenge him. Power dropped back after the first series of pit stops and never challenged again. Dixon’s dominance was short lived. On lap 53 driver Jay Howard lost control of his car coming out of the first turn and slid into the short chute directly in front of Dixon. Dixon slammed into Howard and catapulted into the air over Howard’s smashed Dallara and flipped upside down and right side up with pieces of carbon fiber, rubber and metal flying everywhere. Both cars had disintegrated down to the frame and Dixon’s was torn in two. Incredibly, both drivers were able to walk away a bit painfully. A news photographer was injured by flying debris. The red flag came out temporarily, stopping the race. On the restart Ryan Hunter-Reay took the lead and looked strong until he lost an engine on lap 139. Rookie Fernando Alonso then led the race and looked strong until lap 179 when he blew an engine. He finished 24th. Max Chilton regained the lead until lap 193. Chilton led the most laps with 50. At the end he ran low on fuel and dropped to 4th — still a fine run. There was a late crash in the middle of the field that set up the exciting finish.
On lap 193 Castroneves took the lead from Max Chilton and was flying towards what he hoped would be his 4th Indy 500 victory. Team Penske had not fared well during the month and this held up during the race. Power’s usual Indy Luck came through and he and teammate Josef Newgarden were eliminated in the late crash. Simon Pagenand experienced handling problems for most of the race and was not a threat to win. Juan Pablo Montoya ran in the top 10 but didn’t have the horsepower to challenge. The team seemed to be investing all its resources to get Helio his fourth win. On lap 196 Takuma Sato screamed by Helio in his Honda. Sato had driven a very smart race and it was time for him to let it all hang out. The former F1 driver had been here before. In 2012 Sato was running 2nd to Dario Franchitti on lap 199. He tried to go under Dario coming out of the 2nd turn but spun out. Fans cheered him for trying to go for the win rather than settling for 2nd place. This time the racing gods were with him. He was able to hold off Helio by .2355 of a second — the fourth closest Indy finish in history. Helio claimed his 3rd end place finish.
Sato is the first Asian born driver and the first Japanese driver to win at the Brickyard. Takuma Sato had been stuck on a very noncompetitive Foyt racing team for 4 seasons. He previously had won his only Indycar race victory at Long Beach in 2013. Andretti Autosports had it’s third Indy win in four years. Sato won 2 and a half million for himself and his team. Helio and Penske finished second. Rookie Ed Jones driving for Dale Coyne finished third. Max Chilton, who drove a very competitive race for Chip Ganassi finished fourth, and crowd favorite Tony Kanaan finished fifth. The fans got an exciting race with many thrilling moments. On the whole, it was an exciting way for the race to start it’s second 100 years.
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