Two final turn passes complete exciting Sunday for race fans
The diehard racing fans were treated well on Sunday with two, dramatic final lap passes. And when I say final lap, I actually mean passes coming out of the final turn.
In Indianapolis, it was an error that will surely have JR Hildebrand kicking himself for years to come. Hildebrand found himself a few inches out of the main grove in turn four while trying to pass a lapped car as he was leading. Hildebrand’s No. 4 National Guard car smashed into the outside wall, with Dan Wheldon charging from seconds back to pass Hildebrand’s crumbled car less than 600 feet from the start finish line.
Hildebrand finished second. Disappointing is an understatement.
In Charlotte, it was a case of coming up less than a half lap short of fuel.
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[/media-credit]Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the crowd going nuts when he restarted at the head of the field in a green-white-checkered finish.
Kasey Kahne, who started on the outside of Earnhardt on the restart, ran out of gas, causing a major pileup as Earnhardt drove away to near certain victory.
Earnhardt, who, like Hildebrand, drove for the National Guard on Sunday, looked as though he was two laps away from breaking a 104 race winless streak.
Earnhardt led at the white flag, one lap away from the win. Earnhardt continued to lead on the backstretch.
Earnhardt ran out of gas.
As Earnhardt’s fuel tank finally emptied, Kevin Harvick, in his familiar “where the hell did he come from” fashion, sped by Earnhardt to take the checkers.
Earnhardt finished seventh.
And, for the second time that day, America and the world watched a driver lose two of the year’s biggest races on the final turn.
While a win for Earnhardt and Hildebrand would have seemed to be a perfect fit on Memorial Day weekend as they carried their National Guard colors. But it just wasn’t meant to be.
Still, more wins are sure to come for both drivers. And the nation’s heroes were able to see their drivers contend for a win on the world’s largest racing stages and they were treated to some of the best races either series has to offer.
A Memorial Day To Remember: The 52nd Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600 is a race where sometimes the strangest things can happen. You could be dominating the race at one point, and then you are fighting with everything you got just to stay on the lead lap. It could be that you’re cutting off the motor, trying desperately to conserve precious fuel, and you run out. That’s what the great races in any series will do to you. And it is no different in NASCAR’s longest race.
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David Ragan was able to stay up towards the front of the field all night long and finished a career high second. Many people, including myself, thought this would be a prime opportunity for Ragan to pick up his first Cup win, but it just wasn’t meant to be for the Georgia native.
Carl Edwards appeared as though he was going to run away with another Charlotte race as he dominated the first one hundred miles of the race; however, when the night time struck the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Scott’s Ford fell through the field and ended the night 16th. When the track turned to dusk and dark, Matt Kenseth looked like the driver that was able to keep his car handling well through the day to night transition. Kenseth was the leader two-thirds through the300 mile race, until a late race “splash and dash” forced Matt to go a lap down. He would later get a lucky dog to return to the lead lap group of cars, but finished a disappointing 14th.
Jimmie Johnson’s streak of leading at least one lap in eighteen straight races at Charlotte came to an end Sunday night when his Lowe’s Chevrolet blew an engine with just four laps remaining. Johnson joined Jamie McMurray and Michael McDowell as drivers to suffer engine woes in the marathon race. Other notable drivers to be caught up in trouble were Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton.
After all the bad luck in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day for Roger Penske, Sunday night more than made up for it.
Brad Keselowski started on the pole and lead early. Brad stayed up near the front of the pack all night long and looked poised for a top five, or even a win. That was until Kasey Kahne ran out of fuel right in front of Keselowski on the final restart of the night.
Kurt Busch must have ignored what he said earlier in the week about not talking on the radio as his car seemed to get better as the race went on. For the first time in a while, Busch’s car looked like it had speed to it which proved beneficial as he finished fourth.
You never know what you will get when you get to Coke 600 time. Sometimes you get a wreck fest. Sometimes the race really does feel like you’re watching 600 miles. Sunday we saw a little bit of both. But in the end, we saw a finish for the ages.
And that folks is why you never leave a NASCAR race until the checkered flag falls.
Next up: STP 400 at Kansas
Wheldon wins 100th Indy 500 in astonishing finish
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“I just felt a lot of relief. It’s an incredible feeling,” Wheldon said. “I never gave up.”
“It’s a fantastic achievement everybody at Bryan Herta Autosport,” Wheldon added in his emotional post-race interview in victory lane. “I love everything about Indianapolis – the tradition, the fans, the history.”
The Indy 500 was Wheldon’s first race of the season and the only race he is scheduled to run with Bryan Herta Autosport after the 2005 Indy 500 champion failed to secure a full-time ride this season. In fact, Wheldon was replaced by Hildebrand prior to the start of the season in the No. 4 National Guard car.
Hildebrand wrecked while attempting to maneuver around the lap car of Charlie Kimball.
“I caught him in the wrong piece of track,” Hildebrand said. “I got up in the marbles and that was it.”
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Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan and Orial Servia rounded out the top-five. Scott Dixon, Bertrand Baguette, Thomas Scheckter and Mario Andretti finished in positions 6-9. Danica Patrick, who was leading late in the race, finished tenth after pitting for fuel late in the race.
“It’s more and more depressing when I don’t win the race,” Patrick said. “But Dan Wheldon, he’s a great winner. And what a great story. He hasn’t run this year. … That’s really cool.”
The first 3/4 of the race made it appear that a Chip Ganassi Car would be the favorite to win the Indy 500, but other drivers took over the reigns in the final 1/4 of the race, with drivers such as Graham Rahal and Baguette took turns at the front.
Last year’s race winner Dario Franchitti was second with five laps to go, but had to stop for fuel and forfeit a chance to repeat after leading 51 laps. Dixon led 73 laps in the race, with lap 178 being the final lap his or Franchitti’s car was seen out front.
Danica Patrick took the lead on 179, and held until she came into pit for a splash of fuel on lap 189. Baguette picked up the lead until lap 197, when Hildebrand took the lead. Hildebrand held the lead for 1.75 laps, until the accident, when Wheldon took the race lead for the first and only time of the event.
Notes: The one lap led by race winner Wheldon is the least number of laps led by an eventual race winner of the Indy 500. … Wheldon is the 18th driver to win the Indy 500 multiple times. … This race was the first time since 1992 that all Penske cars finished outside of the top-ten. Will Power finished 14th as the highest finishing Penske driver. … This is the second time that a driver has lost first place on the final lap. Rookies have been the victim both times, Hildebrand this year and Marco Andretti in 2006.
IZOD IndyCar Series
100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS – Results Sunday of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (6) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
2. (12) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
3. (29) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
4. (22) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
5. (2) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
6. (3) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
7. (14) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
8. (21) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
9. (27) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
10. (25) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
11. (8) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
12. (9) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
13. (28) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
14. (5) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
15. (11) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
16. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
17. (16) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
18. (7) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
19. (30) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
20. (31) Pippa Mann, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
21. (32) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
22. (17) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
23. (33) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
24. (15) Davey Hamilton, Dallara-Honda, 193, Running
25. (24) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 175, Running
26. (4) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 157, Contact
27. (26) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 157, Contact
28. (1) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 147, Contact
29. (13) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 99, Contact
30. (20) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 60, Contact
31. (23) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 44, Handling
32. (18) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 27, Contact
33. (10) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 20, Contact
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 170.265
Time of Race: 2:56:11.7267
Margin of victory: Under Caution
Cautions: 7 for 40
Lead changes: 23 among 10 drivers
Lap Leaders: Dixon 1-7, Tagliani 8-26, Dixon 27-33, Tagliani 34, Dixon 35-60, Franchitti 61, Carpenter 62-64, Franchitti 65-72, Dixon 73-98, Franchitti 99, Hildebrand 100-103, Franchitti 104-112, Servia 113-128, Franchitti 129-137, Hildebrand 138, Baguette 139-140, Franchitti 141-163, Servia 164-165, Rahal 166-171, Dixon 172-178, Patrick 179-188, Baguette 189-197, Hildebrand 198-199, Wheldon 200.
Point Standings: Power 194, Franchitti 178, Servia 150, Kanaan 135, Dixon 129, Rahal 120, Briscoe 117, Hildebrand 113, Tagliani 110, Mike Conway 102.
