Jim Nabors
Castroneves wins his third Indy 500.
Helio Castroneves completed a storybook spring on Sunday, winning the Indianapolis 500 for the third time only six weeks after being acquitted on federal tax evasion charges.
Castroneves, who began the day on the pole, dropped back a bit after leading the first seven laps, but took the lead for keeps with 142 laps to go. After a final pit stop, he held off Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick for the victory.
"Thank you, God, thank you," Castroneves said through his car radio after taking the checkered flag. He became the sixth three-time winner, joining Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser.
A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears all have four Indy 500 victories.
Castroneves' crew joined him in climbing the outside fence after the victory, a celebration that earned Castroneves the nickname "Spider Man" after his first two victories in 2001 and 2002.
Townsend Bell finished fourth, followed by Will Power, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Ed Carpenter and Paul Tracy.
Jim Nabors had barely finished singing the traditional "Back Home Again (in Indiana)" when two drivers made a quick exit from the race.
After the original start of the race was waved off because the field wasn't bunched, the cars of Mario Moraes and Marco Andretti made contact in the very first turn. Moraes' car was taken back to the garage area on a wrecker; Andretti's was receiving repairs in the pits.
“The kid doesn’t get it; he never will,” Andretti said of the 20-year-old Moraes. “All the work, all the hopes, it’s over just like that. This place can just be so hard on you.”
Moraes and Andretti started the race in the third row, having qualified seventh and eighth, respectively. But they never got up to speed on Sunday. “It’s so disappointing,” said Andretti. “The guy (Moraes) is clueless.”
Said Moraes: “I was in front, I was holding my line, and he just hit me.”
Andretti was hoping to win the race on the 40th anniversary of his grandfather Mario's lone victory in 1969.
On lap 55, another of the young stars of IndyCar racing crashed out. Graham Rahal, son of 1986 winner Bobby Rahal, hit the wall hard for the second consecutive year. He started fourth and was running sixth, but was placed 28th on the grid after the crash. Last year, as a rookie, he started 13th but was the first car out with a crash on lap 36.
The stands were full at Indianapolis beneath partly cloudy skies.
Original Source :
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/may/24/andretti-crashed-out-500/
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