Dan Wheldon won the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 after rookie J.R. Hildebrand crashed in the final turn of the final lap. It was an unbelievable race with an unbelievable finish.
Wheldon lead only one lap, but it was the only lap that matters. In fact, he only led for half a straightaway, but that was all he needed.
Rookie J.R. Hildebrand took the lead with three laps to go and looked like he had the race wrapped up until he encountered a lapped car in the final turn. He attempted to pass the lapped car on the high side through turn four, but got too high and into the marbles causing him to lose control of his car. It wouldn't turn and it just drove straight into the turn four wall. Hildebrand, with a chance to become the first rookie to win the Indianapolis 500 crashed in turn four on the final lap. He managed to finish second, which is still a great achievement, but this is a sorrowful second place finish.
The race was dominated throughout by the Ganassi drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. But when the race came down to fuel mileage late, they became non factors in the finish.
Danica Patrick started 25th and managed to finish 10th today. She took the lead with 21 laps to go, but had to pit for fuel with about eleven laps remaining.
Pole sitter Alex Tagliani looked to be a factor early on, but got shuffled back and ended up crashing out of the race on lap 147.
Dan Wheldon ran around fourth or fifth place all day, but was in the right position at the right time to take advantage of a rookie mistake by Hildebrand.
Wheldon has finished second in this race the last two years in a row, so winning this race must taste very sweet. He doesn't even have a full-time ride for the rest of this season, but that has not dampered his excitement at all. Wheldon says that tomorrow he is taking his kids to Disney.
Breaking: Dan Wheldon's pass for the win is under review by IndyCar Series officials to determine whether the pass for the win was made after the caution was thrown.
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