A last lap move by Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay on Helio Castroneves earned the American’s first career Indianapolis 500 victory, by the second closest margin in the race’s 103-year history. Hunter-Reay had enough drive coming out of turn four to reach the yard of bricks just 0.06 seconds ahead of the charging #3 Penske car.
The race was a typical display of close-quarters IndyCar racing, with the first 150 laps being run entirely under green flags (setting a new Indy 500 record for yellow-free mileage). The caution-count rose as the afternoon wore on, with Scott Dixon, Charlie Kimball, Townsend Bell, James Hinchcliffe and Ed Carpenter all bringing out the Chevrolet safety car (driven by 3 time winner Dario Franchitti).
The red flag was waved with 8 laps to go when Bell hit the wall, spraying debris across the track and damaging the Safer barrier. A frantic sprint to the finish ensued, with Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti locked in a dogfight until the 200 laps were complete.
The Race as it Happened:
Hometown boy Ed Carpenter got the 98th edition of the famous ‘Great American Race’ running, although he was demoted to third in Turn one by a charging Will Power and James Hinchcliffe. The lead was distributed by many of the front runners during the first half: Hinchcliffe led for around 20 laps while Castroneves, Carpenter and Power all shared time at the head of the field.
Further back, Ryan Briscoe made an unscheduled visit to the pits after a scary moment on the back straight, while Graham Rahal’s torrid Indy 500 luck continued as he retired following an electric problem in the National Guard car 44 laps in. Defending 500 champion Tony Kanaan couldn’t replicate his 2013 triumph – a mechanical problem dropped him several laps off the pace; just one of several setbacks experienced by Chip Ganassi Racing throughout the day.
The warm temperatures did reduce the amount of passes (last year’s lead change record of 68 remains intact), but this still didn’t prevent several drivers from diving down the inside into Turns 1 and 3.
Big movers up the field included rookie Sage Karam and Colombia’s Carlos Munoz. Karam was skipping his high-school prom to drive for Dreyer/Reinbold Racing this weekend, and the American teenager showed promising pace on fresh tyres as he carved his way up from 31st to 9th. Fellow youngster Munoz couldn’t mount a challenge to improve on his second place finish last year, but a solid and mature drive earned the Columbian 4th place at the flag, suggesting that he’s asserted himself as an Indy specialist, despite being only 22 years old.
The last third of the race was littered with cautions. It took 150 laps for the first major accident, as Charlie Kimball slid off at Turn 2. This served as a trigger for further incidents (remember guys, restarts cause restarts….), which in turn obliterated any fuel strategy towards the end of the race as the competitors could afford to run their cars as quickly as possible.
The second yellow of the afternoon was waved on lap 168, and it was caused by a man who we’d never expect to see hurtling into the Turn 4 barriers at 200mph. Current series champion Scott Dixon appeared to lose control going into the corner, which left him as a passenger as the Ganassi car ricocheted off the outer wall and into the pit straight barrier, throwing debris into the path of the oncoming competitors.
Hinchcliffe and Carpenter collide
Then the big talking point arrived. It’s a well-known fact around the speedway that three-wide situations going into Turn 1 rarely come out cleanly. And so it was Ed Carpenter and James Hinchcliffe who were forced to find out the harsh consequences of such a move. With Carpenter and the impressive Townsend Bell already committed to a two-wide formation going into the first bend in the battle for 3rd, Hinchcliffe seemed to dive underneath the pair, with Castroneves tucking in behind. The move took Carpenter by surprise, and he shot slightly to the left (possibly the result of a minute tap by Bell), causing himself and Hinchcliffe to career into the wall. After the race, Carpenter was clearly furious by the altercation, telling ABC that “It’s a good thing he [Hinchcliffe] already had a concussion.” Strong words indeed.
Townsend Bell may have escaped that episode, but his enjoyable run would soon come to an abrupt halt as he lost control coming out of Turn 2. The flying debris and damage to the Safer barrier caused the race officials to throw a red flag, in the hope of finishing under green conditions.
Ryan Hunter-Reay leads three-way fight
And so that decision proved to be a perfect one. The remaining leaders hared off, led by Ryan Hunter-Reay who had been consistently running in the top five all afternoon. He was hotly pursued by Castroneves and Andretti: a barricade of yellow. Andretti tried a daring move on the outside of Castroneves going into Turn 1 with 6 to go, but he lost ground, allowing the Brazilian to gain momentum and pitch himself in Hunter-Reay’s draft. The pair exchanged positions twice before Castroneves made his decisive move with two laps left, squeezing past Hunter-Reay’s Honda on the inside of Turn 1, despite having barely a car’s-width to play with.
Hunter-Reay had one last trick up his sleeve, though. As the white flags flickered over the yard of bricks the Floridian made his move – a clean yet daring lunge into the first turn, taking Castroneves by surprise and prompting cheers from the patriotic crowd. Castroneves appeared to lose some ground, with Andretti and Munoz preparing to reel him in.
But, the #3 Pennzoil Penske Chevrolet edged closer through the final mile, leaving it as late as possible on the home straight to get into Hunter-Reay’s draft. It was time for the quarter of a million spectators at the speedway to hold their breath. Hunter-Reay crossed the line, fist in the air, no more than half a car’s length ahead of the charging Castroneves.
The finish displayed the two stark contrasts in emotion at the end of such a prestigious event: Hunter-Reay stood jubilantly atop of his DHL Honda, glugging the customary Indy milk in front of his equally delighted team, while Castroneves sat in his car and keeled over in disappointment; a moment of man-to-car solidarity and thoughts of ‘what might have been’.
But, the day certainly belonged to Hunter-Reay, who had gradually worked his way to the front of the field during the caution periods to stake his claim to a first career 500 win. Andretti’s fleet of cars were magnificent all day, with all four sitting in the top ten with a quarter of a race to go.
After a lengthy green period, endless overtaking, controversial incidents, 200 gruelling laps of intense G-Force and a photo finish, surely IndyCar should be staking its claim as one of the greatest and most exhilarating forms of motorsport right now….
And they say that turning left is easy.
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