Dan Wheldon shared a chug from the winner’s traditional bottle of milk with team co-owner Michael Andretti in Victory Circle . For both, it was satisfying.
For Wheldon, the victory under caution in the 89th Indianapolis 500 marked a lifelong dream. The tinkering with go-karts, the multiple formula series, establishing a home in the United States in 1999, and proving himself at every level was all for this moment in the sunshine that bathed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Despite result, Brack happy to be back
“I’ve loved the Indianapolis 500 ever since I was a little kid in England ,” said Wheldon, who became the first winner of the 500-Mile Race who started from the 16th position. And then I first came over here in 1999 and watched Kenny Brack win. It just opened my eyes to the magnitude of the event and how much I wanted to be here and the fact that the whole event lasted a month. I’m certainly just satisfied in the fact that I’ve won the Indianapolis 500 in my career.”
For Andretti, the victory finally exorcised “the curse” (or at least curtailed the talk). Save for patriarch Mario’s 1969 victory in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” racing luck hasn’t been on the side of the Andretti family. Michael competed 14 times in the 500-Mile Race, and - despite leading multiple times in multiple races - his best finish was third in 2001.
“No more talk of this stupid curse,” said Andretti, co-owner of Andretti Green Racing with Kim Green and Kevin Savoree. “That’s dead. You know, it’s going to be nice coming back here next year and not having to talk about that. It gets old, I’ll tell you.
“For me, it just feels so good. This place has been tough on me personally. But I just always had a feeling that one day it was going to -- I would have some good memories here, and it’s finally happened. Hopefully, this is the first of a lot more.”
So nothing tasted better in their hoarse throats than the ice-cold milk. Nothing was more satisfying (well, maybe the winner’s check at the Victory Celebration on May 30) after three weeks of trial, error, sweat and racing. In Victory Circle , there were tears flowing down Wheldon’s cheeks.
“It’s the proudest moment of my life,” he said. “The race was just difficult because there were so many good cars out there. And the depth of talent was amazing. I think it just shows you the direction the series is going with the amount of leaders and the amount of leaders from different teams. Although, you know, it was good to see Andretti Green Racing running 1, 2, and 3 at one point.
“I’d like to say about my teammates, I think they’ve developed me - they’ve been a big part of the development curve of me of getting me into this Victory Circle . They’re very talented individuals. They’ve helped, along with these guys (ownership group), get me where I am. So I’m proud of that.”
Vitor Meira, who started seventh in the No.17 Menards/Johns Manville Panoz/Honda/Firestone, was runner-up. Bryan Herta, one of Wheldon’s teammates, was third in the No. 7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda/Firestone.
IndyCar Series rookie Danica Patrick overcame a stalled car during a pit stop and a damaged nose/wing assembly when the No. 16 Rahal Letterman Racing Argent Pioneer Panoz/Honda/Firestone spun and made contact with another car to finish fourth. It was the best finish for a female in the race.
Buddy Lazier, the 1996 winner, was fifth in the No. 95 Panther Racing/Jonathan Byrd’s/ESPN 950 Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone.
Wheldon, who became the first Englishman since Graham Hill in 1966 to win the race, wasn’t pleased with his starting position or how the car performed by itself in practice. But that was sorted out on Race Day.
“Leading into the race, I had a car that was excellent through traffic, but perhaps not the quickest on my own,” said Wheldon, whose Klein Tools/Jim Beam Dallara/Honda/Firestone was the first No. 26 car to win the race. “Come the race, it actually seemed pretty quick on my own, too.”
Wheldon periodically moved into contention in the first half of the race, weaving through traffic and taking advantage of quick pit stops. He was third - following teammates Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti - on Lap 127, and assumed the lead on Lap 150 when he was first out of the pits.
After trading the lead with Meira, Wheldon pitted under yellow on Lap 172 for fuel and four tires (9.0 seconds). Patrick, who was eighth after having the nose/wing assembly replaced and topping off the fuel, inherited the lead. With the massive crowd standing and cheering through each lap of the 2.5-mile oval, Patrick held the advantage through Lap 186.
Just before the yellow flag flew after the No. 55 entry driven by Kosuke Matsuura made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4, Wheldon passed Patrick at the start-finish line. But the rookie used an inside move on the Lap 189 restart to swing back into the lead - which she held until Lap 194. With her last pit stop on Lap 159, fuel conservation was an issue.
Wheldon drove a middle line the next five laps, and crossed the finish line under the yellow/checkered flag (contact of the No. 37 car driven by Sebastien Bourdais with the SAFER Barrier between Turns 3-4) for his seventh career victory.
“I knew I could pass her, but it was just a case of timing,” said Wheldon, who has won four of the first five IndyCar Series races this season. “And having done it once, she was obviously aware of where I was good and where I was not. So she made it a little bit more difficult. But certainly the guys in my car gave me a car that was at its best right at the end of the race, and I needed every bit of that to win this race.”
Meira tied his career best with the runner-up finish. He just ran out of laps to make a move for the lead.
“We knew that our car was going to get better as the race went on,” said Meira, who led three laps. “And that is exactly what happened today. I didn’t know if I couldn’t have caught Danny at the end, but the yellow flag kept me from making a try. I knew Danica was on less fuel than we were so I needed to try to get by her. But she did an excellent at the end and I really had to go hard to get by and then try to get to Dan.
“But, unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance. Overall, it was a tremendous day for our Rahal Letterman Racing team. Second and fourth are not too bad. It isn’t like last year when Buddy won. But they knew we were here.”
