Thursday, May 31, 2012

Indy 500 filled with excitement, lots of leaders

It's time for a few highlights from this year's Indianapolis 500. Penske driver Ryan Briscoe had the pole, and the top two drivers for Chip Ganassi - Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti - started in the middle of the pack. That didn't stop them from charging to a one-two finish, however, with Franchitti taking the win.

With the new car designs this year, it's still a little hard to get used to watching these cars that look significantly different than in the past few years. I got over it though when the cars started turning laps and trading for the lead right away.

Leaders of the pack
The 96th Indy 500 had a lot of lead changes. In fact, it was record setting. Thirty lead changes set the new record at Indy, and there were 35 of them between 10 of the 33 drivers before the 500 miles were up on Sunday. (I know, too many numbers.) That in itself is pretty exciting.

A small victory was the field getting through turn one on the first lap. That can always be a problem. I was also a little concerned because Marco Andretti was starting near the front, and in 2009 he got a little impatient and collided with Mario Moraes to take them both out before their races really began.

Right away Briscoe and James Hinchcliffe (who does a much better job in the GoDaddy car than Danica Patrick ever did, in my opinion) traded the lead early. On the restart after the first caution of the day, cars were scattered three and four wide. It was Andretti that grabbed the lead - and he stayed there for quite awhile during those first 100 laps.

Andretti Curse is alive and well
Before the race, I picked Tony Kanaan, and then Andretti, to win the race. I knew Andretti had a strong car, but one can never count out the Andretti curse that has plagued the entire family ever since grandfather Mario won his only 500 in 1969. I was feeling good about Marco's chances early on, but I also knew the key word: early.

Pit strategy was part of the equation for him, along with a vibration in the car. What finally did him in was a crash with 13 laps to go. He had fallen back from the leaders at this point, but at least he was still running. It's always something with the Andretti cars, unfortunately.

A nail biter
The final few laps had me on the edge of my seat. Despite starting so far back, and even getting punted in the pits by E.J. Viso, Franchitti was running comfortably up front. Takuma Sato was there, too. He was even the first Japanese driver to lead laps at Indy since that joke of a racer Tora Takagi ticked off a couple in 2003.

Kanaan is always the mover as well. He got in position and took the lead from his pal Franchitti near the end - to the very audible cheers of the crowd, and me at home. But then Marco had his crash, bringing out the yellow flag. I just had a bad feeling that it was bad luck for Kanaan.

As predicted, he was a sitting duck on the restart, and the Target teamsters got by. On the final lap, Sato was in position to be part of a podium finish. Keep in mind, he was already antsy during the race. The broadcast cut in to a radio conversation his team owner and 1986 Indy 500 champ Bobby Rahal had with him, telling him to basically cool his jets.

It comes down to the final lap
Going into turn one with the white flag flying, Sato tried one more time to make a pass on Franchitti. I held my breath and could tell this wasn't going to end well. My hope was that Sato would take out both of them, so that at least Franchitti wouldn't get the win. (Team Target Chip Ganassi is starting to get like the New York Yankees for me in terms of hatred. They always seem to get the breaks.)

The racing gods smiled on Franchitti, and somehow he was spared as he touched wheels with Sato who went flying into the wall. Franchitti finished the race first for the third time in his career, and for the third time under caution.

It was a good race. Despite my bitterness for the team that just can seem to do no wrong. I'll continue to watch what I can of the IndyCar season, and I'll look forward to another great Indy 500 in 2013.

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