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Wheldon Spectacular Last-Lap Victor In The Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis, Ind. – Dan Wheldon did the unbelievable in the 100th anniversary edition of the Indianapolis 500, winning the famed race on the last lap, or more specifically the last 300 yards, after leader J. R. Hildebrand crashed. Seated in second place entering the final turn, Wheldon saw the rookie’s plight and charged forward to take the checkered flag by a margin of 2.1 seconds.

With his stricken car still running, Hildebrand nursed it across the finish for second place.

This was the second time that a driver lost the lead of the Indianapolis 500 on the last lap. Rookies were victims both times – Marco Andretti in 2006 and now Hildebrand.

For Wheldon, he won for the second time in six years to become the 18th multiple winner and the first multiple winner from England. He also became the only winner to lead just one lap. The previous record was two, set by Joe Dawson in 1912.

For second-year owners Bryan Herta and Steve Newey, it marked their first triumph. The No. 98 car is fielded by Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/Agajanian and is known as the William Rast-CURB/Big Machine car. Coming into the race, the team only had funding for the Indianapolis 500. The Herta team also receives support from Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

This is the third time that car No. 98 has won the Indianapolis 500. The other two drivers and years were with Troy Ruttman in 1952 and Parnelli Jones in 1963.

Said Wheldon, “This is a phenomenal feeling for me and the entire team. We were right there the whole day, which turned out to be an amazing one. I was pushing hard at the end, as I have been so close to winning the last two races (finishing second in 2009 and 2010). And this was to be my only race of the year. It has been an unbelievable day, and I love the Indianapolis 500 and the energy of the fans.

“With 20 to go, my team told me that some people were going to make it on fuel and I needed to get everything out of the car. I said to myself, ‘I am going to maximize everything,’ and they said there was one person that could make it, so I started pressing the overtake button. As I got underneath Bea (Ana Beatriz) exiting the fourth corner, I saw J. R. (Hildebrand) hit the fence, so I carried on by and knew it was mine, as you have to make it to the bricks with a car that can go forward.

“I knew when I started this race that I wanted to do everything in my power to deliver a win for such a great group of people. We took on the Ganassi and Penske organizations, and we had a very quick car all month. It is tough to beat these big teams, and this is a Cinderella story.”

Herta applauded Wheldon for giving the team a winning attitude. “On paper, we had no business believing we could win this race, but Dan (Wheldon) believed we could. He made the crew guys and outsiders believe it. We knew we wanted to give this guy enough fuel to race to the end; we wanted to go race those guys. Somehow, it all worked out.”

Hildebrand slid down the track to finish second, climbing dejectedly from the battered National Guard Panther Racing car.

After being checked out at the medical center and having time to compose himself, the Californian met with the media to discuss the outcome. “We were on a fuel and tire strategy game, trying to get the car to the end,” he said. “We were okay on fuel but having to run a slower pace to keep the mileage where we needed to be. On the last lap, I caught one of the many cars leaving the pits and I quickly decided to go to the high side. With the tires worn, I hit the marbles on the outside and there wasn’t much I could do. It was a helpless feeling and my mistake.

“Losing the race is not about me. I am disappointed for the team and the sponsors. We knew we had a fast car – possibly a top three or five one. As a rookie driver, I am smart enough not to think I am going to win the Indianapolis 500 on my first try. As it turned out, we certainly were and probably should have.”

For Panther Racing, it scored its fourth consecutive runner-up finish.

Third went to Graham Rahal, who had the best finish for Chip Ganassi Racing. “I feel great about third place,” the second-generation driver said. At the same time if it were two laps longer, I’d probably be drinking milk right now. Someone told me we passed 67 cars today and didn’t win. We knew we probably had one of the best cars out there. I didn’t have the pace out front, but in traffic, I was as good as anybody.”

Tony Kanaan blazed through the field twice to garner fourth place with front-row started Oriol Servia ending up fifth.

Sixth through 10th were Scott Dixon, Bertrand Baquette, Tomas Scheckter, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick.

Dario Franchitti, a contender for the win through along with teammate Dixon, ran out of fuel near the end and garnered 11th place.

Dixon led 73 laps and teammate Franchitti 51, or 124 of the 200 laps.

“Between Dario and myself, we had this one pretty well covered,” Dixon said. “This is one of those place where it’s tough to win. We went on a fuel run late in the race, as it paid off for us last year. We short-fueled, but I don’t know why. My car was pretty quick, but we were burning the left front tire off early in the race. It didn’t go our way, and I definitely leave here thinking that I should have won my second ‘500.’”

Stated Franchitti, “I thought our Target car was as good as anything out there today. The engineers made good calls and the pits stops were fantastic. As sad and disgusted as I feel right now, I have to say congratulations to my old teammates, Dan Wheldon and Bryan Herta. That’s pretty cool.”

For Team Penske, Will Power was the highest-finishing driver, in 14th. The last time the legendary team had all its cars finish outside the top 10 was in 1992.

Twenty-five cars were running at the end.

Wrecks and wall contacts consumed 40 laps with 10 cars involved. No injuries were sustained.

There were 24 lead changes among 10 drivers.

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