Full Throttle

Helio Castroneves completed a return to sanity at the quintessential site of victory – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Joyously climbing the fence at the yard of bricks after winning the 93rd Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, the now-three-time victor could not stem his happiness.

After going through the hell of a federal indictment on purported charges of tax evasion and being found innocent hours before returning to his job at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the emotional Brazilian capped a marvelous Month of May.

Castroneves won the Peak Pole position, took victory in the Pit Stop Challenge and finally won the race, showing his strength of will even as the tears fell down his cheeks in Victory Circle.

“This is incredible,” Castroneves said. “Wow! I think my tears speak for everything. I have to thank Roger [Penske], Tim [Cindric], my guys, our sponsors, because they gave me my life back. I’m here today because of those guys. I’m just going to enjoy this moment. It’s very special.”

Castroneves got this win with his second-to-last restart in a race plagued by eight caution periods of 61 laps. Getting the jump on teammate Ryan Briscoe, Castroneves was able to move forward and take control of the race he led at the start – and the end. In doing so, he gave team owner Roger Penske his 15th victory at Indianapolis – and took the win of his life.

The 2005 Indy 500 champion, Dan Wheldon was second, 1.9819 seconds in arrears. “Unfortunately we didn’t have enough for Helio, but I’m incredibly excited for this team. We executed 100 percent. We’ve had a difficult month,” Wheldon acknowledged, “but I think we got the best out of everything.”

Danica Patrick had her best run at the Brickyard, finishing third. She was 2.3350 seconds behind Castroneves and .3531 back of Wheldon at the close of the race. Patrick credited a crew that gained her track position in the pits all afternoon. “We had great stops all day and I had a really strong car for the last few stints. I would have loved to see the last 35 laps raced green because I know we would have had no issues making it to the end without stopping.”

Townsend Bell came from way-back land – 24th on the 33-car grid – to finish fourth this afternoon for his best Indy 500 result. “We had a few problems early on, fought back and made some good passes on the restarts,” Bell said. “We were smart when we had to be, aggressive when we needed to be and my crew did a fantastic job.”

Driving his third race for Team Penske, Will Power took fifth place and hounded Castroneves at times later in the going. “I could see the win there within our reach and that certainly would have made my situation easier,” the Aussie star said. I think Roger will be happy with a top-five, [my] not hitting the wall all month and all that stuff. Helio deserves that win. He worked very hard and he’s a good driver. It couldn’t have gone to a better guy.”

The two Target drivers – who just happen to have won the two previous Indy 500 races – Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Dixon led the most laps, 73, leading on two different occasions, but had trouble in the pits, as did Franchitti. “On that last stop,” Dixon said, “We fumbled. I’m not sure which tire it was and that’s the problem with the competition being so tight. You give up a few seconds here and there, and that’s nearly your day.”

Franchitti, who went to NASCAR for a protracted 2008 season, understands that pit work “is what it takes to win at Indianapolis. Everybody has to be flawless and we had a problem in the pits. One mistake, unfortunately, is very costly.” Franchitti led 50 of the 200 laps this afternoon: “When I managed to take the lead and was running away, I had a big smile on my face. But it was a tough deal; it was tough in traffic and when we got back in the pack, it was really difficult. But that’s the Speedway!”

Ed Carpenter had a strong run to eighth place from 17th grid position. The former sprint car ace scored his second top 10 Indy finish; he was fifth in 2008. “You always want more,” Carpenter acknowledged. “It was pretty slick out there and my car wasn’t great to start the day. We worked on it all day, added some downforce and got to where I was happy with the way it was handling. The problem was we just weren’t quite fast enough to get up front and challenge.”

After being booed by fans during driver introductions, Paul Tracy put in a grand drive to come in ninth in his return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway after a seven-year absence. Despite a constantly understeering car, the Canadian 2003 CART champion drove his heart out from 13th grid spot. “I could never get really close to guys in traffic but it’s great to be back here. Great to run with the top-10 guys all day, but you know, I just wish we did a little bit better,” Tracy said.

Hideki Mutoh rounded out the top 10 this afternoon in his third Indy 500. The Japanese driver thought his car was “really good, but I was hoping for a better finish. With better luck in the pits, we had a great chance at finishing in the top five. The crew worked so hard, I learned a lot today and it was great to drive such a fantastic car.”

The highest finishing “rookie” was Alex Tagliani, who took 11th place. Tag started last after taking over the ride qualified by Bruno Junqueira as a Conquest Racing entry. In his first visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Canadian was entranced. “When I first saw the grandstands I thought how unbelievable it was to be in this race. The team did a great job but we had no choice except to put a bit more downforce in the car. We were slowly going to the front in the pack with the top-10 runners and our day was pretty simple: no mistakes and stay out of trouble,” exactly what Tagliani did.

This 93rd Indy 500 was plenty strange, starting with a wave-off on a hot and muggy afternoon. The first caution came immediately for contact between a high-riding Marco Andretti and Mario Moraes. Andretti just doesn’t seem to do well in odd-numbered years here; he drove back to the pits, tried to compete after going 60 laps down but retired in 30th spot, leaving Moraes as 33rd finisher.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who barely got up to speed in qualifying and started 32nd, finished in the same spot after crashing in the fourth turn on the 21st lap. He had been following A.J. Foyt IV “a bit too closely and that’s my fault. I got a big aero wash and I was a passenger from there on.”

Graham Rahal caused the third caution by crashing in nearly the same spot as he did in his rookie 2008 race. Rahal credited Milka Duno (who finished 20th and last of all drivers still running) for his troubles. “She would go low like she was going to let everybody by, but then she’d go fast enough where you can’t get by her. I tried to go half a car width up in 4 and it just went straight,” he said.

Davey Hamilton, like the drivers who suffered contact before him, was uninjured when he connected with the same T4 wall when the back end stepped out. “The balance was getting a bit loose and we were making some adjustments, but I got loose getting into 3, had to chase it back up and got in the marbles.”

Hard-luck driver Tony Kanaan had something break in his car and was catapulted into the third turn midway in the going. Kanaan noted, “Something broke in the middle of the straightaway and I hit head-on on the wall.” That was only the first of three prangs that ended the Brazilian’s day. “I hit the wall at 190 mp and I’m standing here talking to you. I’m a little sore and I’m going to be sore tomorrow. Something broke in the rear suspension.”

Nelson Philippe was next to hit in the fourth turn in what looked initially like a simple “white wall,” but was more damaging than that. It was a light hit, but it was enough,” the Frenchman said. Next into the wall – this time Turn 1 – was Justin Wilson, who had pit troubles to boot, locking up and facing the wrong way in the middle of the race. “After that last pit stop, we weren’t moving forward so it was frustrating. I had a couple of cars go around me and I just lost all my downforce. The car just started turning straight away so I knew I was in trouble,” he said.

The final caution was the most scary, due to contact between Vitor Meira and Raphael Matos, and incident for which Meira apologized to Matos afterwards. The Foyt machine locked wheels with the Luczo Dragon entry and rode the Turn 1 wall on its side, eventually coming to a rest at the entry of the second turn. Meira suffered fractures of his L1 and L2 vertebra and will be fit with the back brace, according to Dr Michael Olinger, the Indy Racing League physician. Matos has a bruised right knee and is cleared to drive.

After the cleanup for this incident, it was a dash to the finish and the outcome that gave Roger Penske his 15th win, brought his driver to tears and pleased the huge crowd on hand. It ended Castroneves’ long off-season of discontent and placed him in an elite category: one of nine drivers to win three or ore Indianapolis 500 Mile Races. Castroneves’ win from pole is Team Penske’s record seventh such achievement.