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Los Angeles, CA. - "The Greatest
Spectacle in Racing"--the Indianapolis 500 at the 2.5-mile
"Brickyard--lived up to its billing this year. It gave racing
fans another reason why many people say they would watch the
Indy 500 if they could only watch one race a year. I agree. The May
28, 2006 race was an instant classic as ESPN Sports Center reported
after the race. The ESPN Classic Channel even showed a two-hour
version of the 2006 Indy 500 with different announcers (Gary Lee and
Larry Rice) Friday, June 2 from 6:00-8:00 p.m PDT. Daily newspapers,
including the Los Angeles Times, put the Indy 500 story and close
1-2 finish photo on sports page one.
The thrilling final four green flag laps of the
200-lap race had more story lines than a TV soap opera. Hard-luck
Michael Andretti led at the lap 197 green flag in his comeback after
a two-year absence from the field. He was attempting to win his
first Indy 500 as a driver in his 15th try. He had the most laps led
(426) for a non-Indy winner; he added four more laps (194-197) to
that total. He had a shot at a popular and long-overdue victory and
his 19-year old son Marco, a 500 rookie driving a strong race, was
second. Michael led lap
197 by ten yards over Marco. Michael watched Marco pass him on the
outside entering the first turn on lap 198. It was reminiscent of
Michael's pass of Rick Mears in the 1991500. Sam Hornish took second
from Michael on the backstretch during lap 198. Sam attempted to go
under Marco in turn three but Marco closed the door and Sam
"shifted from fifth to third" and wisely regrouped instead
of forcing the issue. Marco led laps 198-199 and had about a 30-yard
advantage over Sam as they started the final lap. He appeared to
have the 500 victory as a rookie, a feat Graham Hill accomplished in
1966.
Sam closed quickly on Marco through turns three
and four on lap 200. On Marco's tail leaving T4 Sam caught the
draft, feigned right and shot to the left about 200 yards from the
finish line for the second closest finish in Indy history. It was
0.0635 officially, second only to the 0.043 victory by Al Unser, Jr
over Scott Goodyear in 1992. It also was reminiscent of the Rick
Mears/Gordon Johncock 1982 close finish. Sam's thrilling pass was
the first time in 90 Indianapolis 500s that the lead had changed
hands on the final lap. The feel-good story of a Michael, or Marco
Andretti Indy 500 victory was replaced in a
heartbeat by a first-time Indy winner in the person of Hornish, who
had not finished higher than 14th in his six prior 500s. The
two-time IRL series champion realized his long-held dream, an Indy
500 victory. That was another feel-good story. He became the 65th
different Indy 500 winner. The finish had USA-born drivers in the
first three finishing positions. Sam overcame a lap 150 refueling
mishap that dropped him from second to seventh. It altered his race
strategy to one of saving fuel and it resulted in victory.
Sam had said he would gladly give up
championships and his other victories for the prestige and status of
an Indy 500 triumph. He now will have a likeness of his face
engraved on the Borg-Warner trophy. The "baby Borg" that
Sam will receive will be the most cherished trophy in his
collection, long after his share of the million-plus purse is spent.
He will wear his Indy 500 winner's ring with pride. Hornish, 26, is
a deserving Indy winner and the tenth different winner for Roger
Penske, who has 14 Indy 500 triumphs as a car owner. Winning the
Indy 500 was the reason Sam gave for leaving Panther Racing for
Penske in 2004. He felt Penske precision gave him his best chance
for a 500 victory
and he was correct.
Sam was five-mph faster (219 to 214 mph) than
Marco on the final lap. "I had a tall gear and benefited from
the draft," Sam said. Marco undoubtedly thought he had victory
in his grasp and entered turn three conservatively. He was surprised
he lost, but to his credit Marco said, "Second is
nothing." That is the statement of a real racer who is happy
only with first place. However, Marco will realize that second at
Indy pays much better than victory at other IRL tracks. Marco also
said he could've blocked Sam but they both would've crashed. With
amazing Marco and 2005 sensation Danica Patrick leading the way as
new, fan-popular IRL stars, the series should attract more
spectators in 2006
than last year.
The 2006 Indy 500 field contained six past Indy
500 winners and five rookies. The race had seven different leaders
and 14 lead changes. There were 20 of the 33 starters still racing
at the finish (61%) and thankfully the race ended under the green
flag. Sam raced from fourth place to first during the final four
laps. Ten drivers finished on the lead lap with all ten on the front
straight after the L 190-196 yellow flag. That was reminiscent of
the 1997 race with many front runners on the front straight at the
checkers. Marco had the
best rookie month-long performance since his grandpa Mario in 1965
and Parnelli Jones in 1961. Marco deserved the 2006 Indy rookie of
the year honor that he received. Marco was the third youngest driver
to start an Indy 500. Only A. J. Foyt IV and Josele Garza were
younger. Marco celebrated his 19th birthday on March 26. His mother
Sandy and 15-year old sister Marissa were in his pit during the 500.
Sandy has been divorced from Michael many years. One wonders what
she was thinking as her son and ex-spouse raced one-two. Marco made
a great save caught by his on-board TV camera when a car blocked
him. He also shook his fist. That shows the confidence of a veteran,
not a timid rookie. Mario, when asked before the race, said he
wanted his son Michael to win and grandson Marco to finish second.
He almost got his wish. A third and second is close.
Dan Wheldon, the personable 2005 Indy 500 winner
and IRL champion from England, led 148 laps, but he finished fourth.
He had a lead of 13-14 seconds over Hornish at the quarter-way mark,
but the yellow flag is the great equalizer that wipes out huge
leads. His teammate, Scott Dixon, was the hard-luck driver of the
race. IRL penalized him for blocking challenging Tony Kanaan and
gave Dixon a drive-through penalty, which could have cost him a shot
at victory. Danica had a solid day, starting tenth and finishing
eighth. In fact, her second Indy 500 could be better than her rookie
year in 2005 when she started and finished fourth and led the race
late. Last year she stalled her car in the pits and spun sideways in
a turn and took out two Panther Racing cars and her nose cone. This
year she drove the less than ideal Panoz chassis and had no errors
for an impressive race and lead lap finish.
The sunny, near record hot day, 89-degrees at the
start, climbed to 96 according to TV, with the track temp in the
125-130 degrees range. There were crashes, but no injuries. Jeff
Bucknum spun into his Hemelgarn brash, friendly teammate P. J.
Chesson on lap two, causing them to finish 32-33. Tomas Scheckter
spun from turn four into the pit attenuator. Past winners Helio
Castroneves, in ninth spot, got into lapped Buddy Rice in traffic at
turn four and they both slammed into the wall. Past winner Al Unser,
Jr collected the turn three
wall after running over debris in turn two. Jeff Simmons got into
the turn 3-4 wall during a five-car wave-around. Felipe Giafffone's
second turn wall contact resulted in the final caution. When Jaques
Lazier struck debris from Scheckter's crash, TV caught the debris
being tossed into the pit side grandstand where five spectators were
hit with no serious injuries.
Interestingly, eight drivers in the 2006 500 had
been absent from Indy competition for years. They were (with
starting position, age, last year in Indy 500 field and 2006 finish
in parenthesis): Michael Andretti (13th, 43, 2003, P.3); Max Papis
(18th, 36, 2002, P.14); Eddie Cheever (19th, 51, 2002, P.13); Jeff
Simmons (16th, 29, 2004, P.23); Al Unser, Jr (27th, 44, 2004, P.
24); Airton Dare (29th, 28, 2003, P.18); Stephan Gregoire (30th, 37,
2001, P. 29); and P. J. Jones (32nd, 37, 2004, P. 19). They all
performed admirably when you consider their being out of Indy Car
racing so long and for how hot it was race
day. Five past Indy 500 winners had sons in the 2006 500: Mario
Andretti (son Michael and grandson Marco), Parnelli Jones (P.J.), Al
Unser, Sr (Al, Jr), Arie Luyendyk, Sr (Arie, Jr) and A. J. Foyt (son
Larry). That had to be a record.
The record Indianapolis purse was $10,518,565 and
Hornish won a near record $1,744,855. He didn't lead as many laps as
the all-time winning share driver. Marco won $698,505 for his
"nothing" runner-up finish. His employer/father Michael
collected $480,105 for third. Indy 500 crowd estimates ranged from
300,000 to 400,000. With the track having about 235,000 seats and
with vacant seats visible in the third turn grandstand, it would
appear a crowd of 225,000+ would be more accurate. Still that is
impressive. Month-long attendance at Indy was way down from its
heyday, but race-day crowds still know the greatness of the classic
race. The great 2006 Indy 500 should help IMS fill every seat next
year.
The Nielson overnight TV rating was 5.2 with a 13
share, the second highest for the race since 2001. The Indy 500
telecast had the highest motor sports TV rating for the weekend.
Take that NASCAR Charlotte 600. The Indy 500 head-on shots on the
long front and back straights and shots in the turns are unique, as
are the overhead views from the blimp. The ABC telecast had new IRL
anchorman Marty Reid, who did a solid, low-key job, along with
veteran analyst Scott Goodyear (who predicted a Wheldon victory) and
newcomer Rusty Wallace (who predicted a Dixon victory).
Surprisingly, ex-Penske NASCAR driver Wallace did not pick one of
the two favorites-Penske's Hornish and Castroneves. Rusty got to see
first hand why the Indianapolis 500 is the best race in the world.
It's a shame the Charlotte 600 and F.1 Monaco GP fall on the same
day, but the three races combine to make the Memorial day weekend
the biggest racing weekend of the year. Kudos to USA TODAY for its
special racing section on May 26 and to local newspapers for
expanded print and photo coverage of the Memorial Day
weekend races. The Indy 500 radio broadcast (on 1540 AM in So.
Calif.) had Mike
King, Davey Hamilton, Dave Argabright, Donald Davidson and Chris
Economaki
imparting information. Both TV and radio had the usual group of
reliable pit reporters.
The annual Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade on
Saturday. May 27 received same-day national television coverage from
3:00-4:30 p.m PDT with Bob Jenkins the lead broadcaster. The parade
had the traditional all 33 Indy 500 drivers in convertibles in 11
rows of three. The street reporter interviewed one driver from each
row. The one-hour pre-race Indy 500 telecast had solid versions of
the National Anthem and taps for Memorial Day. It showed US troops
in Baghdad gathered to watch the Indy 500 in one of Saddam Hussein's
ex-palaces. Jim Nabors sang his usual outstanding version of
"Back Home Again in Indiana". Introductions of all past
Indy 500 winners present and introductions of the 33 starters in
rows of three were well done. Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour
de France bicycling champion, did a nice job as driver of the
Chevrolet Corvette pace car after coaching by three-time Indy 500
champion Johnny Rutherford. So
with those comments I'll put the Indianapolis 500 to bed for another
year. I can hardly wait for the next edition of "The Greatest
Spectacle in Racing".
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