His-and-Her History

INDIANAPOLIS —  Dan Wheldon’s face will be on the Borg-Warner trophy as winner of the 89th Indianapolis 500, but Sunday’s race will forever belong to Danica Patrick.

Wheldon brought Michael Andretti his first 500 victory as a car owner after failing 14 times as a driver, but it was Patrick who brought most of the 350,000 spectators to their feet screaming their approval when her No. 16 was flashed on the giant scoreboards with only 28 laps remaining in what lived up to its billing as the “greatest spectacle in racing.”

The 23-year-old rookie, in only her fifth Indy car race, led for 19 laps in Bobby Rahal’s Honda-powered Panoz and twice swapped the lead with Wheldon, a 27-year-old Englishman in his third 500, before losing it for good six laps from the end. No woman had ever led a lap before.

She even survived a stall in the pits on Lap 79 that dropped her from fourth to 16th and a spin on Lap 155 in which her car collided with fellow rookie Tomas Enge’s Chevrolet-Dallara and damaged her front wing, forcing her to pit for a new one.

After Wheldon drafted past Patrick in the first turn of Lap 194, she slowed to preserve fuel and was passed by Vitor Meira, one of her Rahal Letterman Racing teammates, and veteran Bryan Herta, one of Wheldon’s Andretti Green Racing teammates.

“A stall and a spin and then I was leading the race at the end,” she said. “I think I was back in something like 16th after the stall. To finish fourth, it feels very good. I am pleased with our performance today and actually all month. I got to lead in my first Indy 500 and actually had a chance to win the thing at the end.”

The win was Wheldon’s fourth in five Indy Racing League races this year, driving a Dallara-Honda. For Andretti, it ended questioning about why he could never win the 500 and his father Mario could never win again after 1969.

“No more talk of that stupid Andretti curse,” Michael Andretti said. “That’s dead. It’s going to be nice coming back next year and not having to talk about it. It gets old, you know.”

Taking a swig of milk traditionally gulped by the winner, he said, “I never had a sip of that. I need a sip. I never tasted milk so good. It’s awesome. Dan drove a hell of a race.”

Mario Andretti, the proud father, gushed, “Fantastic. It’s so sweet. Dan Wheldon really deserved this one. He drove so hard. Michael, the team, what can I say? It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The race ended under caution when Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais sideswiped the barrier in Turn 4 two laps from the end.

“I’ve loved the Indianapolis 500 ever since I was a little kid in England,” said Wheldon, who started 16th and led for 30 laps. “And you can see what a race it is. The best drivers in the world are here, the best teams are here.”

Wheldon didn’t slow his pace to save fuel but he cut it so close that after a couple of celebratory spinning doughnuts after taking the checkered flag, he had to be pushed into Victory Circle.

The torrid pace, slowed only by eight caution periods for 46 laps, had 27 lead changes -- two short of the record 29 in 1960 -- among seven drivers.

Sam Hornish Jr., after taking the lead from pole-sitter Tony Kanaan in the third turn of the first lap, led 77 laps, the most by any driver. He, Kanaan and Dario Franchitti battled back and forth for the first 150 laps before Hornish collided with Bourdais on Lap 147 and dropped out with heavy damage to the right side of the car.

“I think I got pinched a bit too close,” Hornish said.

Franchitti took command then but only four laps later was passed by Wheldon, and Andretti Green cars were running first, second and third.

It was on the restart after Hornish’s accident that Patrick ran into trouble getting up to speed on cold tires. She did a quarter-spin and was hit by Enge. As he tried to avoid the spinning mess, Tomas Scheckter, Enge’s teammate, spun and hit the inside retaining wall. Rookies Jeff Bucknum and Patrick Carpentier and veteran Jaques Lazier also were involved.

“Danica lost it right in front of me,” Scheckter said. “My teammate got caught up in it, and I got caught up in it. She got it wrong on the restart, a little mistake but big consequences for everybody else.”

With the yellow flag still out as crews cleaned debris from the multi-car accident, Patrick pitted again four laps later and took on enough fuel to make it to the finish.

“That spin, I think, was something that needed to happen,” a smiling Patrick said later. “It happened for a reason. I really don’t know exactly what happened, but it seemed like everyone was going slow, so whether they had checked up at that very second and I didn’t have time to react, I don’t know.

“It seems weird that I wouldn’t be able to react at a hundred [mph] when I can react at 230.”

The big losers were the Toyota-powered Penske favorites, Hornish and two-time winner Helio Castroneves. Hornish ended up in the wall and Castroneves nearly suffered the same fate when he narrowly missed the crash of Larry Foyt, A.J.’s adopted son, on Lap 18. From that point on, Castroneves slowly slipped back into the pack; he finished ninth only because of others dropping out in front of him.

“The steering was bad and I was just surviving,” Castroneves said. “I mean, there was nothing I could do, I was just surviving.”

Ten cars were sidelined by accidents and two drivers, Larry Foyt and Bruno Junqueira, were transported to Methodist Hospital.

Junqueira, who won a Champ Car race last Sunday in Monterrey, Mexico, led briefly early in the race before being hit by the lapped car of the other Foyt, A.J. IV, on Lap 78. Junqueira suffered a concussion and fractures of the spine and will have surgery this morning.

“Today’s incident [involving Junqueira] was very unfortunate,” said Carl Haas, co-owner of Newman-Haas Racing, the only team that came from Champ Car to compete in the IRL’s premier event. “This was certainly not the way we had hoped to end the month, but Bruno was conscious and the extent of his injuries and best course of treatment are still being determined.”

Larry Foyt remained in the hospital overnight after complaining of pains in his back.

Bourdais, the other Newman-Haas driver, may have put the race in proper perspective when he said, “It was really crazy and wild out there.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*

TOP FINISHERS

1. Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda

2. Vitor Meira, Panoz-Honda

3. Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda

4. Danica Patrick, Panoz-Honda

5. Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevy

*

TOP WOMEN FINISHES

Danica Patrick, 2005...Fourth

Janet Guthrie, 1978...Ninth

Lyn St. James, 1992...11th

*

THE FINISH

at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

*--* Fin St Driver Car Laps 1. 16 Dan Wheldon Dallara-Honda 200 2. 7 Vitor Meira Panoz-Honda 200 3. 18 Bryan Herta Dallara-Honda 200 4. 4 Danica Patrick Panoz-Honda 200 5. 9 Buddy Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet 200 6. 6 Dario Franchitti Dallara-Honda 200 7. 3 Scott Sharp Panoz-Honda 200 8. 1 Tony Kanaan Dallara-Honda 200 9. 5 Helio Castroneves Dallara-Toyota 200 10. 24 Ryan Briscoe Panoz-Toyota 190 11. 26 Ed Carpenter Dallara-Toyota 199 12. 15 Sebastien Bourdais Panoz-Honda a-198 13. 22 Alex Barron Dallara-Toyota 197 14. 14 Adrian Fernandez Panoz-Honda 197 15. 33 Felipe Giaffone Panoz-Toyota 194 16. 27 Jaques Lazier Panoz-Toyota 189 17. 8 Kosuke Matsuura Panoz-Honda a-186 18. 17 Roger Yasukawa Dallara-Honda b-167 19. 10 Tomas Enge Dallara-Chevrolet a-155 20. 11 Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Chevrolet a-154 21. 25 Patrick Carpentier Dallara-Toyota c-153 22. 21 Jeff Bucknum Dallara-Honda a-150 23. 2 Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara-Toyota a-146 24. 13 Scott Dixon Panoz-Toyota a-113 25. 20 Richie Hearn Panoz-Chevrolet a-112 26. 23 Kenny Brack Panoz-Honda c-92 27. 31 Jeff Ward Dallara-Toyota d-92 28. 28 A.J. Foyt IV Dallara-Toyota d-84 29. 19 Darren Manning Panoz-Toyota c-82 30. 12 Bruno Junqueira Panoz-Honda a-76 31. 29 Marty Roth Dallara-Chevrolet d-47 32. 32 Jimmy Kite Dallara-Toyota d-47 33. 30 Larry Foyt Dallara-Toyota a-14

*--*

* Reason out: a-crash; b-engine; c-mechanical; d-handling.

* Lap length: 2.5 miles.

* Winner’s average speed: 157.603 mph.

* Time of race: 3 hours 10 minutes 21.0769 seconds.

* Margin of victory: 0.1302 second.

* Caution flags: 8 for 46 laps.

* Lead changes: 27 among seven drivers.

* Lap leaders: Hornish 1-2, Kanaan 3, Hornish 4-7, Kanaan 8-25, Franchitti 26, Kanaan 27-37, Hornish 38-54, Franchitti 55, Patrick 56, Junqueira 57-58, Hornish 59-97, Kanaan 98-100, Hornish 101-111, Kanaan 112-115, Hornish 116-119, Kanaan 120-122, Franchitti 123, Kanaan 124-135, Franchitti 136-143, Kanaan 144-145, Franchitti 146-149, Wheldon 150-161, Meira 162-164, Wheldon 165-171, Patrick 172-185, Wheldon 186-189, Patrick 190-193, Wheldon 194-200.

* Point standings: Wheldon 234, Kanaan 162, Hornish 146, Herta 139, Meira 136, Sharp 125, Castroneves 123, Franchitti 123, Patrick 112, Carpentier 101, Manning 98.

*

*--* INDIANAPOLIS 500 WINNERS

*--*

* 2005: Dan Wheldon

* 2004: Buddy Rice

* 2003: Gil de Ferran

* 2002: Helio Castroneves

* 2001: Helio Castroneves

* 2000: Juan Montoya

* 1999: Kenny Brack

* 1998: Eddie Cheever

* 1997: Arie Luyendyk

* 1996: Buddy Lazier

* 1995: Jacques Villeneuve

* 1994: Al Unser Jr.

* 1993: Emerson Fittipaldi

* 1992: Al Unser Jr.

* 1991: Rick Mears

* 1990: Arie Luyendyk

* 1989: Emerson Fittipaldi

* 1988: Rick Mears

* 1987: Al Unser

* 1986: Bobby Rahal

* 1985: Danny Sullivan

* 1984: Rick Mears

* 1983: Tom Sneva

* 1982: Gordon Johncock

* 1981: Bobby Unser

* 1980: Johnny Rutherford

* 1979: Rick Mears

* 1978: Al Unser

* 1977: A.J. Foyt

* 1976: Johnny Rutherford

* 1975: Bobby Unser

* 1974: Johnny Rutherford

* 1973: Gordon Johncock

* 1972: Mark Donohue

* 1971: Al Unser

* 1970: Al Unser

* 1969: Mario Andretti

* 1968: Bobby Unser

* 1967: A.J. Foyt

* 1966: Graham Hill

* 1965: Jimmy Clark

* 1964: A.J. Foyt

* 1963: Parnelli Jones

* 1962: Rodger Ward

* 1961: A.J. Foyt

* 1960: Jim Rathmann

* 1959: Rodger Ward

* 1958: Jimmy Bryan

* 1957: Sam Hanks

* 1956: Pat Flaherty

* 1955: Bob Sweikert

* 1954: Bill Vukovich

* 1953: Bill Vukovich

* 1952: Troy Ruttman

* 1951: Lee Wallard

* 1950: Johnnie Parsons

* 1949: Bill Holland

* 1948: Mauri Rose

* 1947: Mauri Rose

* 1946: George Robson

* 1942-45: No races, WWII

* 1941: Floyd Davis, Mauri Rose

* 1940: Wilbur Shaw

* 1939: Wilbur Shaw

* 1938: Floyd Roberts

* 1937: Wilbur Shaw

* 1936: Louis Meyer

* 1935: Kelly Petillo

* 1934: Bill Cummings

* 1933: Louis Meyer

* 1932: Fred Frame

* 1931: Louis Schneider

* 1930: Billy Arnold

* 1929: Ray Keech

* 1928: Louis Meyer

* 1927: George Souders

* 1926: Frank Lockhart

* 1925: Pete DePaolo

* 1924: L.L.Corum, Joe Boyer

* 1923: Tommy Milton

* 1922: Jimmy Murphy

* 1921: Tommy Milton

* 1920: Gaston Chevrolet

* 1919: Howard Wilcox

* 1917-18: No races, WWI

* 1916: Dario Resta

* 1915: Ralph DePalma

* 1914: Rene Thomas

* 1913: Jules Goux

* 1912: Joe Dawson

* 1911: Ray Harroun

*

The winner

Career highlights of Dan Wheldon, who won the Indianapolis 500 to become the first British winner since Graham Hill in 1966:

* Born: June 22, 1978, Emberton, England

* 1999: U.S. Formula Ford 2000 champion and rookie of the year

* 2000: Toyota Atlantic Championship rookie of the year

* 2001: Indy Lights rookie of the year

* 2002: Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar Series debut with Panther Racing

* 2003: IRL IndyCar Series rookie of the year; Autosport.com rookie of the year

* 2004: IRL IndyCar Series championship runner-up

* 2005: Wins 89th edition of Indianapolis 500