Franchitti leads Castroneves at Indy 500 halfway point

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Dario Franchitti continued to narrowly lead Helio Castroneves at the midpoint of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday on a warm, sunny day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Castroneves, who started on the pole in hopes of becoming only the fourth driver to win four Indy 500s, was less than one second behind Franchitti, who won the historic race in 2007. Castroneves also is the defending winner of the Indy 500.

Ryan Briscoe, Castroneves’ teammate at Team Penske, was third and Ed Carpenter fourth.

Danica Patrick continued to struggle. After starting 23rd, she was 17th and running at speeds much slower than the leaders.

But Tony Kanaan, her teammate at the team of Andretti Autosport, made a huge move forward and was fifth after starting next-to-last in 32nd.

Stay tuned to latimes.com/sports for more updates on the race.-- Jim Peltz in Indianapolis