Indy 500 notebook
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Andretti Green drivers went on a wild ride Sunday at the Indianapolis 500. Neither liked the final result.
Marco Andretti nearly ended the race upside down, and Tony Kanaan was inches from ending his day by backing into the pit lane wall.
Andretti crashed on lap 162, flipped, spun and came to a rest in the infield after contact with Dan Wheldon on the backstretch. It brought out the final caution before the race was called because of rain after 166 laps.
“I’m going to be bruised, but to come out of that bruised, I’m going to be happy. I’m very lucky for sure,” Andretti said. “I was upside down for a long time. I’m so lucky.”
Michael Andretti, his father and team owner, said he didn’t know what happened.
“I just knew he was involved in an accident,” Michael said. “Barry (Green) was on the radio telling me, ‘Marco is fine, Marco is fine. He’s talking on the radio.’ ”
Kanaan has led in each of his first six races at Indy but has failed to finish in Victory Lane. After swerving to avoid Jaques Lazier on lap 157, who had crashed into the wall in turn 4, Kanaan slid sideways then corrected, then spun down pit lane, narrowly barely missing the wall. He led 83 of 166 laps.
“We’ll get another chance,” he said. “And hopefully we’ll get (the win).”
He was penalized for making a pit stop while the pits were closed and he finished 12th.
One good Dan deserves another
Second-year Champ Car driver Dan Clarke was at Indy on Sunday but not in his race gear. Instead, Clarke watched the race from the media center and was cheering on his fellow Englishman Wheldon.
“He should’ve won last year. Last year was my first 500, and I kind of got hooked on that,” Clarke said. “I’ve been living in Indianapolis for the last two years, and so I just came down here because I had to see what it’s all about.”
Wheldon was involved in the accident with Marco Andretti and finished 22nd.
Clarke said he’d like to race at the Brickyard someday. But few Champ Car teams have run at Indy since the split in 1996.
“I’ve got nothing against the Indy 500,” Clarke said. “But I can’t speculate either.”
Rookie woes
Neither rookie in the field finished the race. Milka Duno crashed on lap 66 when she got caught up behind lapped traffic in the first turn. Duno also was penalized on lap 56 for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. The Venezuelan moved up to 22nd at the time after starting 29th.
“I was passing a car in Turn 1 when my car spun,” she said. “It was a fantastic day.”
Phil Giebler crashed on lap 107 in Turn 1. He finished 29th after starting 33rd.
“We were out there on cold tires, and I went into Turn 1, and the cars in front of me checked up, so I had to brake as well,” he said. “The car had a pretty bad push, and the car just snapped on me.”
Celebrity sightings
As usual, many celebrities came out for the pre-race festivities. But this time, some new faces were at the track.
NASCAR legend Richard Petty attended his first Indianapolis 500. He was a guest of John Andretti, who races for Petty Enterprises in Nextel Cup.
“I’m here to give him moral support,” Petty said.
Andretti lost one of his mirrors on lap 11 and later crashed when he got out of the racing groove in Turn 2 on lap 99.
Patrick Dempsey of TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy” drove the pace car for the start of the race. He was at Indy last year riding in one of the pace cars before the race.
“I’ll never get the opportunity to race here, so this is the closest I’ll come,” he said. “This means so much to me. This is my fourth year here, but I’ve been watching it for as long as I can remember.”
Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning waved the green flag to start the race, in addition to riding in a pace car before the race started. Pro football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and actor/musician Ludacris also rode in ceremonial pace cars.
Contact Nate Bloomquist at (563) 383-2201 or e-mail nbloomquist@qctimes.com.