Dario Franchitti dominates 2010 Indy 500
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| A happy Dario Franchitti |
The race sometimes goes to the swift, and the battle to the strong, but this time it didn't happen without drama at the end. Dario Franchitti dominated the 2010 Indy 500 until the end, when he survived a fuel run for his second win, the fourth for Chip Ganassi.
Dan Wheldon came in a close second, with Alex Lloyd third, Scott Dixon fourth, and Danica Patrick fifth.
The race ended under caution as Mike Conway's car was launched into the fence in turn two, cutting the car in two. Conway needed to be extricated, but walked away.
(NOTE – later x-rays showed "orthopedic injuries" to his left leg)
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With high temps and sunny skies, two things are certain in the Indy 500: Some Hoosiers will be passing out, and the track will be slick. In the case of the track, the action started early with Davy Hamilton crashing out in less than one lap. As the race started, Tomas Scheckter made a bold move to the outside to pass cars, including Hamilton. Hamilton was surprised, yanked the steering wheel to the left, and spun out into the inside wall. "Tomas Scheckter thinks he can lead the first lap, you know. He's is an idiot. He just came out of nowhere, and we have no spotters in turn 2."
No sooner had the green flag flown again, Bruno Junqueira's car wriggled in turn 2 and hit the wall. "I was being very conservative, and I think I came in a little bit too high. I don't know, I just lost the car."
When the dust settled and the green flag flew again on lap 12, Dario Franchitti was in the lead. Dario was the story of the day, dodging bad luck and conserving just enough fuel. His car seemed to be comfortable all day long, and it was obvious early on that he had the best car.
Also making strong moves early on was Tony Kanaan, who went from 33rd to 18th before the second caution flag. By lap 20, Will Power was in second, Helio Castroneves was in third, and Alex Tagliani in fourth.
Conversely, Graham Rahal's car was awful early on, and he dropped from 7th to 25th. Graham would have up and down day, including a black flag for blocking later one, and finished 12th.
On lap 32, Will Power took the lead, but a lap or two later ducked into the pits. Pit woes killed any chances at a Power victory today, starting with this stop, when he took off with the fuel hose still attached. Before Power got back into the pits, debris from the hose caused a yellow flag, and Power was given a drive-thru penalty. Power would eventually finish 8th. "As a team, we made too many mistakes today… we had a bloody fast car."
From that point on, the race settled down into one of those long periods of calm that sometimes make Indy a bit boring. Worse yet, Dario was leading the race again, easily keeping ahead of Castroneves
On lap 53, John Andretti was given a drive-thru for blocking Dan Wheldon down the front stretch. Early in the race John got pushed into the grass with a side impact by EJ Viso, damaging John's car. When Andretti hit the wall on lap 64 from the damage, John was noticeably angry with the situation. "We were moving up, making up spots and then another driver gets in the side of us and helps ruin our day." John finished 30th in his Richard Petty / Andretti entry.
In the pit stops from the Andretti crash, both Scott Dixon and Rafael Matos lost tires pulling out of their pits. In the case of Matos, he spun the car and nosed it into the inside pit road. Fortunately, his car hit in an area where there were no pit crews, and his tire — which travelled to the end of the pit road before it ran out of steam — didn't hit anyone either. When the race restarted a few laps later, a rear suspension part broke on Matos' car, and he ended his day backing hard into the wall.
The green flag flew on lap 79, with Dario in the lead, followed by Helio, Ryan Briscoe, Ed Carpenter, and Tony Canaan. Graham Rahal got caught blocking Dan Wheldon, dropping Rahal from his 9th position to maybe 100 yards shy of being lapped. Scott Dixon was also trying to hang onto the lead lap after his problems on pit road. At the halfway point, Dario lead Helio (see a pattern here?), with a total of 24 cars on the lead lap.
Graham was forced to pit on lap 103, but was in the pits when Vitor Meira got into the marbles and took out his car in turn 2. The incident bent the suspension on Meira's AJ Foyt entry, and also ended any drama about Rahal being lapped. Before this point, Ed Carpenter had been running strong — in the top 10 — but he ran out of gas before the pits opened, and he never ran high in the standings again. Sato also entered the pits for a full pit stop while the pits were closed, costing him a penalty that put him 2 laps down. Meira finished 27th, Sato finished 20th, and Carpenter finished 17th.
When the green flew again, Tomas Scheckter was in the lead due to pit strategy. Dario Franchitti then lead Helio Castroneves, with Tony Kanaan having worked his car up from 33rd to 4th, thrilling the crowd. Within a lap, Tony Kanaan jumped into 2nd place, and Scheckter dropped to 3rd with Dario in the lead.
On lap 139, pit woes once again hit Team Penske. Helio stalled his car in his pit stop, dropping him to the end of the lead lap. However, Ryan Briscoe lead for a few laps after pit stops, chased by Dario and Tony Kanaan. Almost as quickly as Briscoe took the lead, he lost control of his car in turn 4's marbles and managed to hit both sides of the speedway walls as he slid down the front stretch.
After yet another round of pit stops, Dario was in the lead, but pit strategy had three Andretti cars in the top 6: Marco was second, Tony Kanaan was in third, and Ryan Hunter-Reay was in 6th. What had been a frustrating month for the Andretti team suddenly looked promising for the first time all month. Conversely, Penske had no cars in the top 8, with Will Power the front runner in 9th.
With Helio buried in the field, Dario set sail again, and provided a great time to check out the concession stands for a few laps. And, he would've made time to take a nap except that Sebastian Saavedra — the rookie who qualified for the 33rd spot on Bump Day while at Methodist Hospital from a crash — got into the marbles in the south short chute, coming to rest in turn 2.
In the ensuing pit stops, Hunter-Reay made contact with Scott Dixon, knocking Hunter-Reay's steering for a loop. Hunter-Reay would finish 18th in the scariest moment of the day, while Dixon would survive the later fuel runs to finish 4th.
The green flag flew on lap 166 with second-year driver Mike Conway holds lead. With his car 28 laps lighter in fuel he stayed ahead of Justin Wilson, who also was on an alternative pit strategy, and also making the first 1-2 Dryer-Reinhold run in anyone's recent memories of the Indy 500. Also opting for a fuel run was Helio and Graham Rahal, with everyone counting on lots of cautions to help them win a race. Finally, on lap 178, Conway was forced to the pits, giving the lead for a few laps to Justin Wilson.
On lap 189, Wilson and Rahal were forced to the pits, with Graham having a slow stop. Justin Wilson finished 7th, and Rahal finished 12th. A couple of laps later, Helio was forced into the pits for fuel, coming out 16th. Castroneves finished 9th.
All of this pit activity set up a final shootout between Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, and Dan Wheldon. Tony was forced into the pits for fuel, but Wheldon was able to catch Dario when lapped traffic became a factor. Dario cleared lapped traffic with 2 laps to go, but by then Dan Wheldon was out of "push to pass" and he never got through the traffic. "This tastes just as good the second time" he commented as he took the most famous drink of milk in the world.
In the scariest moment of the month, on the last lap, Mike Conway encountered the wounded Hunter-Reay car on the last lap. Conway drove his car over the left front wheel of Hunter-Reay, launching Conway into the fence above the SAFAR barriers. Fortunately, the car went in backwards, otherwise the result could've easily been a redux of the Kenny Brack accident a few years ago. Conway's car was split in two, with the tub tumbling back onto the track, coming to rest upside down on the apron. Conway was helped from the car, and later was transported to Methodist Hospital with what was termed an "orthopedic injury" to his left leg. There were reports of minor injuries to a couple of fans as well.
In the chaos of the last 2 laps, Marco Andretti slipped from 3rd spot to 6th. Marco had been on an extreme fuel run, and didn't get forced to the pits like hit team mate. However, at the end of the race, Marco claimed that he was passed when the yellow was out.
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The top 4 places in today's race were either current or past Ganassi drivers. Dan Wheldon lost his seat when Dario returned to the IRL, and Alex Lloyd was only given 3 races in the time he was contracted to Ganassi before jumping to Dale Coyne Racing. Yes, Alex admitted that he felt a sense of vindication, taking a vastly underfunded effort to a solid third place finish.
Then again, the top 3 drivers today are Brits, with 4th place Scott Dixon, 7th place Justin Wilson, and 8th place Will Power all very much loving their queen as well. And, didn't the Brits come in 1-2 in F1 this morning?? Rule Britannia?
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Blocking will be hotly debated for a while longer. Graham Rahal complained that he was sent into the grass by Danica, making his blocking penalties all the more bitter. "You know, you they penalized me for the blocking… Danica put me in the grass on the back straightaway. So they penalize me after all that kind of stuff." It was obvious that father Bobby Rahal also thought that the blocking penalty against Wheldon wasn't exactly the worst offence ever seen either.
In addition, John Andretti was penalized for blocking, but likewise had his day ended by a car that made an aggressive move.
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The crowd today at Indy was disappointing. Vast expanses of empty seats were seen in the north end of the pit seats, with even premium front-stretch seats empty today. IT will be interesting to see how the new management promotes future races to address that problem.
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People will recall the Dale Coyne passed out some fine cigars after their first IndyCar victory last summer at Watkins Glen. Today's third place run by Alex Lloyd left Dale with a huge smile on his face, but… as they say, close but no cigars.
The Coyne effort is even more incredible considering that Alex's team mate is Milka Duno, who — despite being a nice person and a fan favorite — isn't exactly much help setting up race cars.
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It's official — Paul Tracy and Jay Howard were both awarded the very dubious "Jigger Siroy" award this week. Akin to Jigger — whose team called off a run that would've put him on the pole in 1969, but then missed the show when he failed to qualify — Tracy and Howard both missed the show when they withdrew times that would've had them in the race. Perhaps we should ad Bryan Herta to that list, since Paul and Jay's mis-steps meant that Sebastian Saavedra got to crash his car yet again this month.
Results
|
Pos |
Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Status |
| 1. | 10 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | Running |
| 2. | 4 | Dan Wheldon | Panther Racing | 200 | Running |
| 3. | 26 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | 200 | Running |
| 4. | 19 | Alex Lloyd | Dale Coyne Racing | 200 | Running |
| 5. | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | Running |
| 6. | 7 | Danica Patrick | Andretti Autosport | 200 | Running |
| 7. | 22 | Justin Wilson | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 200 | Running |
| 8. | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 200 | Running |
| 9. | 3 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | 200 | Running |
| 10. | 77 | Alex Tagliani | FAZZT Race Team | 200 | Running |
| 11. | 11 | Tony Kanaan | Andretti Autosport | 200 | Running |
| 12. | 30 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Racing | 200 | Running |
| 13. | 34 | Mario Romancini* | Conquest Racing | 200 | Running |
| 14. | 78 | Simona De Silvestro* | Stargate/HVM Racing | 200 | Running |
| 15. | 23 | Tomas Scheckter | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 199 | Running |
| 16. | 99 | Townsend Bell | CGR/Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 199 | Running |
| 17. | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Panther/Vision Racing | 199 | Running |
| 18. | 37 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 198 | Contact |
| 19. | 24 | Mike Conway | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 198 | Contact |
| 20. | 5 | Takuma Sato* | KV Racing Technology | 198 | Running |
| 21. | 25 | Ana Beatriz* | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 196 | Running |
| 22. | 36 | Bertrand Baguette* | Conquest Racing | 183 | Running |
| 23. | 29 | Sebastian Saavedra* | Bryan Herta Autosport | 159 | Contact |
| 24. | 6 | Ryan Briscoe | Team Penske | 147 | Contact |
| 25. | 8 | E.J. Viso | KV Racing Technology | 139 | Handling |
| 26. | 67 | Sarah Fisher | Sarah Fisher Racing | 125 | Handling |
| 27. | 14 | Vitor Meira | A.J. Foyt Racing | 105 | Contact |
| 28. | 06 | Hideki Mutoh | Newman/Haas Racing | 76 | Handling |
| 29. | 2 | Raphael Matos | de Ferran Dragon Racing | 72 | Contact |
| 30. | 43 | John Andretti | R.Petty/Andretti Autosport | 62 | Contact |
| 31. | 32 | Mario Moraes | KV Racing Technology | 17 | Contact |
| 32. | 33 | Bruno Junqueira | FAZZT Race Team | 7 | Contact |
| 33. | 21 | Davey Hamilton | de Ferran Dragon Racing | 0 | Contact |
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 161.623
Time of Race: 03:05:37.0131
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 9 for 44 laps
Lead changes: 13 among 8 drivers
Lap Leaders: Franchitti 1-30, Power 31-35, Franchitti 36, Briscoe 37-38, Franchitti 39-108, Scheckter 109-113, Franchitti 114-142, M. Andretti 143, Briscoe 144-146, Franchitti 147-162, Conway 163-177, Wilson 178-188, Castroneves 189-191, Franchitti 192-200.
Point Standings: Power 227, Franchitti 216, Dixon 203, Castroneves 199, Hunter-Reay 175, Wilson 167, Briscoe 155, Kanaan 151, Wheldon 142, M. Andretti 134.
POST-RACE QUOTES
DAVEY HAMILTON (No. 21 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing): "Tomas Scheckter thinks he can lead the first lap, you know. He's an idiot. And he does it all the time. He just came out of nowhere, and we have no spotters in Turn 2. We were just coming up the racetrack and there he was, and I just went to avoid him and we got caught up." (What will you say to him?): "Well, I'll just tell him what I think. What do you say to him? He knows better. It's very disappointing when you don't even get to race."
BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (No. 33 Bowers & Wilkins/TorcUP): "I'm very disappointed. I was being very conservative, and I think I came a little bit too high. I don't know. I just lost the car. It's very disappointing because me, Vitor (Meira) and Tony (Kanaan) were going (through) the field pretty fast. And the a few guys were going slower. I thought we were going to get a little gap, and I just lost the car."
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing): "The car was good. I was always passing cars. I went to the inside of Simona, and she saw me and minded me and she even got into the marbles on the outside a little bit because she knew I was coming to pass her. She didn't do anything wrong. She got loose, she lifted, I went to the inside where there were a lot of marbles and as soon as I went to turn in at Turn 2, I had no grip and slid up to the wall and pancaked the right side. I should have known better. It was a shame for the ABC guys; everybody was here. I really appreciated everybody being here. It was not the ending we were hoping for."
SARAH FISHER (No. 67 Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing): "We got shoved up high in Turn 4. When you get shoved up high, there's no place to go here. There's no room. I white-walled the tires of the Dollar General car, and our day is done. We think it's a broken suspension, and we're going to check on it. We were having really good restarts. The boys were flawless, which is key here, and the Dollar General car was on the ball gear-wise, but there's just no room. It's disappointing, but it's racing. I'm ready to put this month in the past and move on to Texas next weekend."
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 06 Panasonic Formula Dream): "I'm very, very disappointed because I know the guys have been working very hard over the winter and for the whole month. We had a very good car before, but today it wasn't the same. I couldn't find the right balance or get up to speed. I don't think the problem was entirely the heat; there was something else, as well, but I think the heat made it worse. We tried to fix it but couldn't find the exact problem. I felt a problem immediately, but I didn't think it was big enough to retire from the race. Lap by lap, the handling was getting worse and worse, and I was losing grip. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold it. It was a very free, very light car. The team worked hard to improve it, but nothing made a difference. I couldn't maintain a high speed, and I didn't want to damage the car or hurt someone's race. Unfortunately this is just part of the Indy 500."
JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Team Window World): "We had a good car so it's unfortunate that we're out of the race. I want to thank Andretti Autosport for giving me a great opportunity and of course Window World for making it all happen. The King (Richard Petty) is here and the King will probably be gone by the time I get up there. A disappointing day but overall I think it started out good. We were moving up, making up spots and then another driver gets in the side of us and helps ruin our day.
BERTRAND BAGUETTE (No. 36 Conquest Racing RACB): "The car was quick, and I was comfortable with the car all day. I could pass a lot of guys, and I could stay in traffic confidently without any problem. Unfortunately, we lost a mirror during the race and had to replace it, which cost us something like 25 laps. It was really a shame because we had a car capable of doing something great. It's just a real shame."
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com): "I'm very happy with the result, and the reasons we got it were that our pit stops rocked and we had a perfect strategy. We did struggle a little in the early goings. We almost went a lap down. But we were able to get the GoDaddy.com car into the position it should have been in. I focused on making sure I lifted and got a tow from other cars to save fuel as the laps were winding down. I'm really glad that yellow came out at the end because we were cutting it real close on fuel. That's the roll of the dice, and the team did a perfect job."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing): "For me, it was not much of an exciting race. I was kind of sitting in the back of the pack when we had the pit stop problem. We just never really regained. I slowly picked off cars as I went along. If it was a 600- or 700-mile race, we would have been looking decent. It was a huge day for the team. It was a fantastic job by Dario. He got lucky on the yellow, but you've got to give the guy a lot of credit: He led a lot of laps and definitely worked on it."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): "First of all, the Verizon car was very quick today. We could have hung with Dario (Franchitti) no problem, I think. You just can't make mistakes at Indy and win, and we just made too many mistakes today. I hope Mike Conway is all right, because I just hate to see an accident like that any time. We still have a championship to compete for, so we'll move on from here and keep pushing for that."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske): "It was a very hot day. Congrats to Dario. What an awesome car he had. Ganassi did an incredible job to put him up there. It was the car to beat today. We tried. Unfortunately, silly mistakes put us in the back. I'm very disappointed. I'm more disappointed with the mistake. Certainly, I am very upset for my guys. They did an incredible job the whole month long. They should walk out of here with their heads high."
TOWNSEND BELL (No. 99 Herbalife Ganassi/Schmidt Racing): "The car was great. I mean, the guys did an awesome job. We just kept notching it up, getting to fifth with 50 to go. You know, we got called for blocking, and I never had a warning. I still left room for guys to go low. I let a guy by on the backstretch, and then I got black flagged for that. I guess I'm confused. It's a heartbreak. I thought I was well within the protocol of the racetrack today. But you know, we gave it our all doing everything we could today. On the last stop, we tried to take just fuel and it got us a few positions. But then we were just a sitting duck. The vibration got so bad in the car. I'm not sure what happened with our tires. The vibration was so bad, I couldn't see. I was about to crash. My vision was getting blurrier and blurrier. I thought the car was going to snap in half, it was vibrating so badly. At that point, we were hosed, so we just brought it in and put new skins on it. Of course, it felt magic then. We were passing a bunch of cars, and then there was that horrible accident. I understand that is Mike Conway. I hope he is OK. It's just a terrible way to end the race. I hope he is all right."
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 30 The Quick Trim/RLR Special): "Really, it was disappointing for us. You know, they penalized me for blocking. Danica put me in the grass on the back straightaway. So they penalized me after all that kind of stuff. You go forwards. You go backwards. We struggled a little bit on the initial start. We moved all the way back. We got back in it. That was our day. The car ran great, especially there at the end. That 30 laps we were in front of Dario, the car absolutely flew. At the end, the car was pretty good. For sure, we were as quick as Helio. It just didn't work out. The strategy was good today. We just had to recover from too many mistakes. The QuickTrim boys worked really hard. It was great to come here and have the support that we've had. I promise that if we come back together in the future the performance will be even better."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske): "We were having a good run in the Team Penske car, so it was definitely a disappointing result. It was really slick out there, and we just added some downforce to the car. But we were on cold tires and just got up into the marbles, and it was the point of no return, so we hit the wall. I feel really bad for my guys. The car had been so good all month, and everyone worked really hard. We'll keep working away at it and go for the win next week in Texas."
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Panther/Vision/Fuzzy's Vodka): "Definitely, 17th isn't what we should have had. It's one of those days. That's how it goes sometimes. We were looking good early the first half of the race. I'm not really sure what is going on or happening, but for whatever reason, our stints were shorter than everyone else. It looked like we were getting full fill on the fuel tank. But when the one yellow came out, I was getting ready to pit. I couldn't make it until the pits opened. We lost all of our track position. We battled back some spots, then ran out of fuel with two laps to go and lost back some more we gained. It's just unfortunate because it's one of those days where when someone looks at the record books, it's going to look like I had a bad run. But at the end of the day, my teammate was second, which is awesome. We could have had two in the top three easily." (Was it easier to pass in the race this year than last year?): "I don't really think so in the race. You could pass for a few laps after restarts. But everyone kind of struggled. I know when I was running up front, Dario followed Graham for about 15 laps. That says it all right there when the leader can't pass someone he's driving up to lap. I don't know what the answer is. I don't think it's the cars, I'll just say that."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): "As a team, we made too many mistakes today. We had our first stop go wrong. I went long, and then we had a wheel problem in another. You can't win this race when you keep dropping to the back. We had a bloody fast car. The Verizon car was chopping through the field. It was one of those days. I really hope Mike Conway is OK. I hate to see that happen on the last lap of the race. It was a nasty crash. It was right in front of me. I really hope that he's OK. We had a fast car. I think we could have hung with Dario no problem. It's the lesson of this place. You can't make mistakes. You have to nail everything on a day like today, and that's how you win this thing. I was exhausted. Honestly, even halfway, I was like, 'Man, this race is tough." I couldn't wait to get out. I was drained. I was just glad to get out of the car at the end there."
E.J. VISO (No. 8 PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KV Racing Technology): "Well, pretty much from the beginning of the race, it was a handful to drive that car. It was very, very unstable, especially in traffic. I brushed the wall a couple of times. It was Lap 139 when I got more of a hit than a brush. We just basically decided to call the race and just go on the safer side. Definitely anything we did from (Miller Lite) Carb Day to today regarding changes to the car was not a good idea. This is racing. This is the way it goes. We're here to work together. Hopefully in Texas it's going to be a good performance."
ALEX LLOYD (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America): "The boys did a great job in the pits. We said beforehand we know that we've got a good car. We know that where we qualified wasn't where we deserved to be based on speed. So we figured we'll keep digging, we'll keep working, we'll be patient and the race will come to us, and it did. Everybody did a perfect job. Nobody made any mistakes, and the Boy Scouts guys are here in third place. That's amazing. We knew it was possible, but this is maybe even better than we could have dreamed of. We're very happy."
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven): "I hope I made it exciting out there. I promised them a good start, and I think I did that. I have been in many positions for this race, and I don't think the fastest car wins all the time. I think we had a shot for a win. This whole team for the work they did today deserved a top-three today. I had to come in and get fuel and go out and go as fast as I could. The strategies could have worked both ways. We took a gamble. When it comes to a fuel strategy race, I'm not a big fan of it. It could have gone the other way. We could have gotten the lead and won the race, and we could brag about it for the rest of my life. I support my guys all the way. Let's learn from it. I think this team is more together than ever."
MARIO ROMANCINI (No. 34 Conquest Racing): "When I took the checkered flag, I was in front of Simona. Then the crash happened, and she went by me. But it's OK because we worked it all out. I'm very, very happy, I knew this race gives me good memories and good emotions. I want to thank my guys and my crew my engineer, my team owner, sponsors, all of them. I'm just very, very happy to finish as the fastest rookie."
ANA BEATRIZ (No. 25 Ipiranga/DRR): "It was a great run. I was relaxed, and I was glad I finished the race. The car had different attitudes over the run. It was kind of stable sometimes. I'm sure we finished the race in a good position. We missed a lot of time in the pits, and then we had that accident (caution) at the end. It was a pretty steady run. At the end, was kind of fun, because I was staying with Dixon and Power, and we were staying pace. There are a lot of small things I learned, like setup of the car, what to do mechanically to get the car better, faster. It was a great month, and I gained a lot of experience."
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins/Honda Edmonton Indy): "The one restart where Saavedra was in the way – I'm very disappointed. It's about courtesy. Brian Barnhart mentioned it many times. You know, give some room out there. The guys are racing, and it is so difficult to pass. When you're trying to make some room and you're trying to stay in front, when you're running aggressively, with the downforce there is no chance if you fall back. We saw it with Dario last year. We've seen it with us this year. The car was fast enough to run up front, and unfortunately we couldn't keep it there. I'm very disappointed about that particular incident but very happy with the car and the team all month long. For our first effort as a group, I take my hat off to this group and I am very proud of the team."
TOMAS SCHECKTER (No. 23 Mona Vie/DRR): "It was a good run. We couldn't close it off. We had to play fuel mileage at the end, which is not exactly what we wanted to do. Sometimes it happens that way. Our radios weren't working. I started running out of fuel on that last lap. It's better to be 15th than last."
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR): "The car was great, but we knew we were 10 laps short on fuel. The key was to push as hard as we could and try and stretch the field out, so when we did our stop we would come out in a good position. Everybody else was saving fuel and trying to make it to the end, so I think without that yellow maybe we would have passed another three or four cars." (On how it felt to lead at Indy): "It felt really good. It's nice to have a taste of that. I want more. The guys on the Z-Line Designs car did a great job. I'm really happy for that. We're just thinking about the next one now."
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy): "I guess people decided to drive by me before the checkered. It's as simple as that. We've been (on the podium) here before, but the top five is in the money. I'd be frustrated if they scored me for sixth. I wouldn't rest for that one. They clearly passed me under yellow." (Will you protest?): "Darn right. It's a lot of money."
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 37 Team IZOD): "I'm fine. It became a fuel race toward the end, and I had no idea how much I had left in the tank. And it came down into Turn 3, and it just died. The car died, and that's when Mike latched over me. I have to have surgery on Tuesday on my thumb. It's a bummer, long day. That's probably one of the toughest races I've ever had." (Did you see the replay?): " Yeah, I did, I can't believe it didn't hit my head. That's one of the down sides of these cars having the driver's heads exposed. That car should have come down on my head; I don't know how it didn't. When I looked at the replay, I guess it came down on the camera, right on top, and at 230 mph that's as close as it gets. I hope Mike is all right. It was such a good day for the IZOD car. We were having a great run."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology): "This was definitely some experience for me today. We moved up to close to the top 10 in the middle of the race. Then we had a problem on a pit stop, and we received a penalty. Due to that penalty, we got behind a lap and we could not make it up. The race was very long, and there were a lot difficult situations. I do feel good about finishing the entire race, and I learned a lot. The Indy 500 is just a spectacular event. The Lotus – KV Racing Technology team worked very hard all month, and we had a great experience racing here."
MARIO MORAES (No. 32 GEICO-CURB Records-KV Racing Technology): "Unfortunately, we had the same problem in the race that we had on Carb Day. It is a shame for me and our KV Racing Technology team. We worked so hard this month. We had a great car up until Carb Day, and then something happened with the car. Our team tried to fix it in the garage, but it was best to park the car than have the problem continue. We will plan to run better at Texas."