DARIO FRANCHITTI/Chip Ganassi Racing won the 96th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday, giving Honda its first victory of the 2012 season. He remarked that all three of his wins at the Indy 500 were in Hondas. His previous victories were in 2007 and 2010, and all ended under caution. Sunday’s win was his thirty-first.
The Scott admitted he was angry after qualifying. “I think I was fairly honest and clear abut being upset with it. When we’re up against Chevy, who are smart people, what they did today, beating them, but the turnaround from last week is something very special, I think.”
Franchitti shared his victory lap with his wife, actress ASHLEY JUDD, and SUSIE WELDON, widow of DAN WHELDON, last year’s Indy 500 victor. “It meant a lot that Suze was able to come around with us today.” He, along with TONY KANAAN/KVR Technology and others wore white sunglasses in memory of Wheldon.
In Victory Circle, Franchitti dedicated his win “to two of Indianapolis’ finest, Dan Wheldon and MICHAEL WARNER, son of his team manager. What a race. I think D-dub (Wheldon) would be proud of that one.
“This means the world. This is Indianapolis. To be on this trophy on either side of Dan, that means more than anything.
“The last week I’ve been studying my buddy J.R.’s book. JOHNNY RUTHERFORD gave me his book with a wonderful inscription, and said he hoped to welcome me to the three-time club. To be in the company of guys like that means so much. What a great race today, to be able to come from the back of the grid after being in the pit lane and being spun.”
Franchitti started sixteenth, led seven times for 23 laps, and his average race speed was 167.734 mph.
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Team owner, CHIP GANASSI, and Team Manager, MIKE HULL, had media comments after the race, while awaiting Franchitti to arrive from all the Victory Circle celebrations and media obligations. One forgets just how much your life isn’t your own immediately following an Indy 500 win.
Ganassi called the race for Franchitti, and Hull did so for teammate, SCOTT DIXON.
Hull said it was a “blessing in the way we qualified so miserably. It makes you work really hard on your racecar. I’d say not qualifying well contributed most probably to what we did today.In Dario’s case, we have a guy that hasn’t reached his midlife crisis yet, that drives with the experience of his age, but comes to work every day with the enthusiasm and intent of an 18-year old. That’s a pretty tough combination to beat.” Franchitti turned 39 on Pole Day.
Ganassi said “We were last after that first pit stop. Oh, man. Nobody on the team said anything. Came in, went out. He said, All right. Before you knew it, he was 23rd, next thing he was 16th, next thing he was 10th, yeah. That’s the kind of guy you want in your car.”
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There was some joking about the emotions the two administrators had with their drivers running 1-2 at the end of the race. Hull said “We do not have a written rule, but a rule that if you did hit each other, you better make sure that the ride you get in that afterwards is in the Air-Vac ambulance. What’s really good about the two guys we have is they respect each other on the racetrack. Dario is overwhelmed by winning, and Scott Dixon is overwhelmed by losing, but they still pull for each other all the way to the end.”
Hull and Ganassi joked about who gets to win. Hull has been calling Dixon since 2003. Ganassi said every year he gets a call from Hull about what he – Chip – is going to do for the year.