INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Kanaan skidded out of control after a run-in with his teammate. Danica Patrick was clipped by another car just trying to get off pit road. With all those yellow flags, it was hard to get up to speed at the Indianapolis 500.
So when did Scott Dixon take the lead for the final time on his way to Victory Lane? In the pits. During the last caution period, no less.
Speeding back to the track after the final round of stops, Dixon came out ahead of Vitor Meira — thanks a lot, crew — and pulled away during the final 29 laps to capture his first Indy 500 victory Sunday, holding off the Brazilian and hard-luck Marco Andretti.
The 27-year-old New Zealander started from the pole and stayed ahead of all the trouble, leading more laps than everyone else combined on a day when yellow was the predominant color, coming out eight times to slow up more than a third of the race.
“I didn’t know what it felt like, but it feels pretty bloody amazing,” Dixon said after taking a traditional sip of milk.
He stayed patient and focused even while making 69 of the 200 laps around the 2 1/2-mile oval behind the pace car. Among those who weren’t around at the end: Kanaan, Patrick and 19-year-old Graham Rahal, the son of 1986 winner Bobby Rahal and last-place finisher in his first 500.
Dixon made the last pit stop trailing Meira, who had been out front for 12 laps after a daring move between Dixon and Ed Carpenter. But the red No. 9 car returned to the track with the lead.
“You just thought something was going to go wrong,” Dixon said. “There were so many yellows, it was really hard to get into a rhythm.”
Still savoring her landmark victory in Japan, Patrick failed to finish for the first time in four trips to Indy, though it wasn’t her fault. She was banged on pit road by Ryan Briscoe with 29 laps to go, breaking the left rear suspension on a car that had run in the top 10 most of the race but never challenged for the lead.
Patrick finished 22nd and was steaming afterward. After climbing out of her helpless car, she ripped off her gloves and stomped angrily toward Briscoe’s Team Penske pits. A track security official cut her off before she could get there.
“Probably best I didn’t get down there anyway,” Patrick said.
Even if she’d been running at the end, it’s highly unlikely Patrick would have caught Dixon. He clearly had the fastest car on the race track, just as he had throughout the month of May.
“It’s nice to see the fastest car win,” said Meira, who finished 1.75 seconds behind, driving for the one-car, low-budget Panther Racing team.
Dixon led 115 of the 200 laps.
IRL Indianapolis 500
At Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis
Lap length: 2.5 miles
(Starting positions in parentheses; all chassis Dallara, all engines Honda)
1. (1) Scott Dixon, 200 laps, 143.567 mph. 2. (8) Vitor Meira, 200. 3. (7) Marco Andretti, 200. 4. (4) Helio Castroneves, 200. 5. (10) Ed Carpenter, 200.
6. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 200. 7. (9) Hideki Mutoh, 200. 8. (17) Buddy Rice, 200. 9. (14) Darren Manning, 200. 10. (12) Townsend Bell, 200.
11. (25) Oriol Servia, 200. 12. (2) Dan Wheldon, 200. 13. (23) Will Power, 200. 14. (18) Davey Hamilton, 200. 15. (29) Enrique Bernoldi, 200.
16. (21) John Andretti, 199. 17. (32) Buddy Lazier, 195. 18. (28) Mario Moraes, 194. 19. (27) Milka Duno, 185. 20. (15) Bruno Junqueira, 184.
21. (31) A.J. Foyt IV, 180. 22. (5) Danica Patrick, 171, accident. 23. (3) Ryan Briscoe, 171, accident. 24. (11) Tomas Scheckter, 156, mechanical. 25. (19) Alex Lloyd, 151, accident.
26. (26) E.J. Viso, 139, mechanical. 27. (16) Justin Wilson, 132, accident. 28. (24) Jeff Simmons, 112, accident. 29. (6) Tony Kanaan, 105, accident. 30. (22) Sarah Fisher, 103, accident.
31. (30) Jaime Camara, 79, accident. 32. (33) Marty Roth, 59, accident. 33. (13) Graham Rahal, 36, accident.
Race statistics
Winner’s average speed: 143.567 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 57.679 seconds.
Margin of victory: 1.750 seconds.
Caution flags: Eight for 69 laps.
Lead changes: 18 among nine drivers.
Lap leaders: Dixon 1-2, Wheldon 3-9, Junqueira 10-11, Rice 12-19, Wheldon 20-35, Dixon 36-74, Wheldon 75-79, Dixon 80-91,Wheldon 92-93, Kanaan 94-105, Dixon 105-121, Ma.Andretti 122-135,Moraes 136-138, Ma. Andretti 139, Dixon 140-155, Carpenter 156-158, Dixon 159, Meira 160-171, Dixon 172-200.
Point standings (after five of 18 races): 1, Dixon 191; 2, Castroneves 176; 3, Wheldon 153; 4, Kanaan 139; 5, M.Andretti 130; 6, Patrick 122; 7, Carpenter 120; 8, Power 114; 9, Mutoh 113; 10, Servia 112; 11, Hunter-Reay 105; 12, Bernoldi 99; 13, Meira 98; 13, Rahal 98; 15, Viso 93; 16, Foyt 92; 16, Manning 92.
