The 92nd edition of the Indianapolis 500 is history, and open wheel fans everywhere can rejoice that the second post IRL/ChampCar edition of the race is in the books. What the race lacked in close racing at the front end it had in story lines.
Helio Castroneves completed his fairy tale story of being declared innocent of tax evasion charges to win his third Indy 500. The Brazilian driver is one of six drivers who have won the race three times:
Louis Meyer - 1928, 1933, 1936
Wilbur Shaw - 1937, 1939, 1940
Mauri Rose - 1941, 1947, 1948
Johnny Rutherford - 1974, 1976, 1980
Bobby Unser - 1968, 1975, 1981
Hélio Castroneves - 2001, 2002, 2009
Helio Castroneves completed his fairy tale story of being declared innocent of tax evasion charges to win his third Indy 500. The Brazilian driver is one of six drivers who have won the race three times:
Louis Meyer - 1928, 1933, 1936
Wilbur Shaw - 1937, 1939, 1940
Mauri Rose - 1941, 1947, 1948
Johnny Rutherford - 1974, 1976, 1980
Bobby Unser - 1968, 1975, 1981
Hélio Castroneves - 2001, 2002, 2009
Three drivers have won the race four times:
A.J. Foyt - 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977
Al Unser - 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987
Rick Mears - 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991
Castroneves led the race for 66 laps, and is the only driver in history to have won the Dancing With The Stars and Indianapolis 500 championships.
Dan Wheldon backed up his 2005 win in the 500 with a second place finish. Wheldon was let go from the Target-Ganassi team at the end of last season. The Ganassi team of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti led 123 laps, but they ended up in sixth and seventh place.
Danica Patrick continued her season of reason with a third place finish. Her only mistake in her solid run through the field was overshooting her pit on one of her stops. Her previous best finish in the race was a fourth in 2005.
At the end of the race an overjoyed Castroneves stopped his car on the front stretch to do his now traditional fence climbing to celebrate his win with the fans. Indianapolis officials attempted to stop him from celebrating, but fortunately for everyone Castroneves was not to be denied.
Townsend Bell moved up 20 positions to finish fourth, and Alex Tagliani jumped up 22 places to finish in eleventh. The biggest loser of the race was Graham Rahal who dropped 27 spots to finish thirty first.
