Juan Pablo Montoya. Photo by Pablo MatamorosJuan Pablo Montoya/No.2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet won the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500, after starting fifteenth. This was his second such victory. He said “It’s been 15 years since the first one.”
Second through fifth were Will Power/No.1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet-who led 23 laps; Charlie Kimball/No.83 Novo Noradisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet; Pole Sitter Scott Dixon/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet; and the top Honda of Graham Rahal/No.15 Steak n’ Shake RHL Racing.
Gabby Chaves.No.98 Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda was the top Rookie, finishing sixteenth after starting twenty-sixth. He raced for Bryan Herta Association with Curb-agajanian, a single car team.
Power said “Montoya got into the lead and maybe I was to nice to him. It was a lot of fun finishing 1-2. Congrats to Juan.”
This was definitely not a parade, with many lead changes and passes. Not boring. Difficult to keep up wit the lead changes.
Ten different leaders, eight of whom were Chevrolet drivers from a big, multi-car team. Alex Tagliani/No.48 ALFE Heating System Special Honda was the first Honda to lead, on Lap 154, during pit stops during the caution brought out by the single-car crash of Tony Kanaan/No.10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. The second Honda to lead was Justin Wilson /No.25 Andretti Autosport Honda. Neither Honda, each from a multi-car team, led for long.
Eight drivers did not finish: Conor Daly/No.43 Fueled by BACON Schmidt Peterson Honda; Sage Karam/No.8 Comfort Revolution/Big Machine Records Chevrolet; Bryan Clauson/No.88 Jonathan Byrds/Cancer Centers of America Chevrolet; Ed Carpenter/Fuzzy’s Vodka CFH Racing Chevrolet; Oriol Servia/No.32/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda; Tristan Vautier/No.18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, James Davison/No.19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda; and Kanaan.
There were six cautions for 47 laps of the 200 lap race. One was for debris, and the rest were for crashes.
The average race speed was 161.341 mph.
The worst incident happened in Pit Lane involving all three of the Dale Coyne Racing Hondas and two unfortunate over-the-wall crew guys- both of whom were taken away in medical vehicles. All but one driver in all the crashes are alright, physically. Several are upset and one is distraught. Sebastian Saavedra/No.17 AFS Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was treated in the IU Health Emergency Medical Center for a contusion to his right foot. He will require further evaluation before being cleared to drive.
Both over-the-wall crew members on No.18 Honda were transported to hospital. The right front tire changer was checked, treated and released for left foot injury. The rear tire changer is being further evaluated for right ankle injury.
MORE TO COME