Franchetti wins third Indy 500
Dario Franchitti drove into select company Sunday by winning his third Indianapolis 500.
The Scotsman held on in Turn 1 as Takuma Sato went for the lead and then crashed. Sato was trying to become the first Japanese driver to win the prestigious race.
Franchitti kept his Ganassi Racing car steady as Sato got loose and spun. Franchitti finished the lap under caution with teammate Scott Dixon behind him to become the 10th driver with at least three wins here.
The others with three: Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser and Helio Castroneves. Only A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears have four.
It was a competitive race with a record number of lead changes (35 among 10 drivers). Tony Kanaan finished third with Oriol Servia fourth and pole sitter Ryan Briscoe fifth.
The two Lotus cars, driven by Simona de Silvestro and rookie Jean Alesi, didn't last long in the race with a lack of horsepower. Running laps about 200 mph, they got the black flag at Lap 9. De Silvestro immediately adhered to it, Alesi completed another lap.
On Lap 14, USAC champion Bryan Clauson, a rookie in the 500 thanks to IndyCar's Mazda Road to Indy program, spun in Turn 1. Much like Danny Sullivan in 1985, he managed to keep the car off the wall before coming to a stop. He came to pit road for new tires.
Franchitti had trouble on the caution. Just prior to turning into his pit box, the two-time Indy winner took rear contact from EJ Viso. But it could have been worse. Franchitti didn't hit anything but a tire laid out for JR Hildebrand. The Ganassi Racing crew changed out the front wing assembly and sent him on his way. He restarted 29th. Viso was not penalized because chief steward Beaux Barfield deemed it a racing accident.
Also on that pit stop, rookie Josef Newgarden stalled his car, and Sebastian Saavedra was flagged for speeding.
On Mike Conway's 79th lap, he came to pit road under green, but he missed his mark and slid the car into three crew members, including the fueler. One of the crew members rolled over the front wing, damaging it. The team regroup and sent Conway back out, but the wing was compromised. That set up trouble.
In Turn 1, Conway lost control getting up to speed and spun to the wall. But that's where series points leader Will Power's car was headed, and Power drove into the back of Conway, launching him in the air.
It was the second time in three years that Conway got up into the fence, although this one was a much better ride. The top of his car rode along the wall before coming back down on its wheels. Heavily damaged, Power's car ricocheted to the inside wall where it came to a stop. Somehow, Helio Castroneves all but missed a bouncing tire; it grazed the top of his right front tire.
Just after the restart, Ana Beatriz lost control in Turn 1, sending her into the wall. Ed Carpenter was trailing, scraped the wall and somehow missed the Andretti Autosport car.
Marco Andretti crashed on Lap 188, ending his strong run. Like Ed Carpenter a few laps before him, he got too low entering Turn 1, sending him to the outside wall. But whereas Carpenter spun without contact, Andretti pounded the wall with the right side of the car.
The race featured several tributes to last year's winner, Dan Wheldon, who was killed in an IndyCar crash in October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. People in the crowd wore white sunglasses on Laps 26 and 98 -- Wheldon's car numbers when he won the 500 -- and Wheldon's team owner, Bryan Herta, drove last year's winning car around the track during pre-race.
Franchitti dedicated the win to Wheldon. Franchitti will soon have his face on either side of Wheldon's on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
"That's more important than anything," he said.
