Dario Franchitti wins Indy 500 for third time
Sunday, May 27th, 2012Source: USA TODAY
Dario Franchitti prevailed in a wild duel as Takuma Sato crashed while attempting to pass Franchitti on the final lap of the 96th Indianapolis 500.
It was Franchitti’s third victory in the Indy 500, which was marked by oppressive heat and a record number of lead changes.
Sato was attempting to pass Franchitti by going low into Turn 1 on the final lap when Sato’s car spun. Franchitti’s car missed Sato’s car and, as the caution light came on, was in first place.
“I moved over and saw him coming,” said Franchitti, who also won at Indy in 2007 and 2010. “I moved over again and he got loose underneath me. It was like Emerson (Fittipaldi) and Little Al (Al Unser Jr.) there at the end. My spotter was like, ‘Keep going, keep going, keep going.’”
Franchitti’s teammate, Scott Dixon, finished second, while Tony Kanaan finished third.
With bagpipes blaring in the background in reference to Franchitti’s Scottish heritage, Franchitti stood up in victory circle and raised his arms in triumph before donning a pair of white sunglasses to honor Dan Wheldon, who won this race a year ago but was killed in an Oct. 16 crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“(After Sato crashed), I was looking up at the pole,” Franchitti said. “I didn’t know who was going to win it, but everybody up there was a friend of Dan.
“To be on the trophy beside Dan, on either side, is more important than anything.”
Sato, attempting to become the first Japanese racer to win the Indy 500, finished 17th.
Instead, he was left to complain that Franchitti forced him too low and made his car lose grip.
“It looks like he didn’t give me enough room to go there,” Sato said. “I was well below the white line. I’m very disappointed.”
For the second consecutive year at Indy, a last-lap crash decided the winner. Wheldon won last year’s race after scooting past JR Hildebrand, who had crashed into the Turn 4 wall while leading on the final lap. (Hildenbrand was 14th this year.)
On Sunday, Wheldon’s widow was on hand and was part of the emotional celebration. She embraced Franchitti after the race.
“The thing that really got me was the,” Franchitti said, pausing, “… the love that the fans showed for Dan, the tribute that we were all able to pay him.”
Said Kanaan, a close friend of Wheldon’s who just fell short again in his bid for a first Indy 500 win in his 11th attempt: “Danny, wherever he is, is extremely happy … his three best friends in the top three.”
After a relatively poor qualifying performance last week — Franchitti started 16th, Dixon 15th — Ganassi’s team took advantage of the return to lower turbocharger boost levels used before qualifying. Both cars were fast Friday in the final practice session and quickly went to the front of the field in Sunday’s race.
Franchitti had to recover from a spin in the pits early in the race that sent the No. 50 Target Honda/Dallara to the back of the field. Replays showed that E.J. Viso struck Franchitti’s car in the rear.
But Franchitti was able to charge through the field and get into the lead pack and, ultimately, drink from the victor’s milk jug.
In doing so, he joined Helio Castroneves, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser, Mauri Rose, Wilbur Shaw and Louis Meyer as three-time winners at The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. All of Franchitti’s Indy 500 wins have ended with a yellow flag.
“Oh my gosh, three, that is such an extraordinary achievement,” said Franchitti’s wife, actress Ashley Judd. “What he did today was just awesome.
“When he got in the car today, I told him, ‘I will see you in the winner’s circle.’ I knew it; I knew it.”
Oriol Servia (fourth) and pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe rounded out Sunday’s top five.
James Hinchcliffe, Justin Wilson, Charlie Kimball, Townsend Bell and Castroneves completed the top 10 on a day that saw a record 35 lead changes.
Weather weighed heavily on cars and drivers throughout the race. The official temperature was 91 degrees, one shy of the record set in 1937.
Marco Andretti, who led a good portion of the first half of the race, reported by radio that his boot was melting onto the car’s throttle pedal. Later, he reported a major vibration and pitted to change tires, an indication that the 130-degree track temperatures were taking a toll on tires.
Andretti was finally knocked out of the race after a single-car crash with 12 laps remaining.
“Disappointing,” the American driver said afterward. “Definitely rang my bell.”
On a day of many crashes, the most impactful to the Izod IndyCar Series standings involved points leader Will Power. He was taken out of the race when Mike Conway’s car spun in front of his on lap 80.
Conway’s No. 14 Foyt Racing Dallara/Honda slid into the wall on the exit in front of Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet. Conway had been struggling after exiting from a bad pit stop.
“That’s what started it,” said A.J. Foyt, Conway’s team owner. “He slid in and hit my fuel man and knocked him over, and that’s what broke the front wing.
“To win this Indy 500, everything’s got to fall your way. One little thing goes wrong like that, it’s bad.”
Both drivers emerged from their cars safely, though both were knocked out of the race. Power entered with a 45-point lead over teammate Castroneves, who was nearly taken out by the crash.
A wayward wheel from Conway’s car bounced off the top of the right front tire on Castroneves’ car. But the three-time Indy 500 winner was able to continue.
Not as lucky was Ryan Hunter-Reay.
On lap 123 of a scheduled 200, Hunter-Reay’s car slowed, eventually sending him to the pits and out of the race with a suspension failure in the rear of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Chevrolet.
“Something broke,” Hunter-Reay said over the radio. “It felt like something went bad in the suspension in the back.”
Both Lotus-powered entries were black-flagged early in the race for being too off the pace. Simona de Silvestro and Jean Alesi parked their HVM Racing cars on the 11th lap after top speeds of 205 mph and 203 mph, respectively.
The leaders were posting top laps of better than 220 mph.
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
