Dario Franchitti celebrates in front of the yard of bricks with… (Robert Laberge/Getty Photo )
8:58 p.m. EST, May 27, 2012|By Jim Peltz, Tribune Newspapers
INDIANAPOLIS — It would be convenient and sentimental to say that Dario Franchitti's third Indianapolis 500 win was a fitting end, seeing as it came with the race celebrating the late driver Dan Wheldon, who was one of Franchitti's best friends.
But appropriate or not, the outcome was in doubt until the final lap Sunday, when Franchitti prevailed only after a thrilling spree of lead changes among several drivers, the likes of which the legendary race hadn't seen for more than half a century.
Franchitti had to hold off one last pass attempt on the final lap, by Japanese driver Takuma Sato, who tried to slip past him on the inside of Turn 1 of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Sato, who drives for a team co-owned by 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal and comedian David Letterman, then was pinched to the track's edge as he pulled alongside Franchitti. Sato spun out and smacked the wall as Franchitti sped ahead.
That instantly brought out the caution flag, which froze the field, and Franchitti had his third Indy 500 victory to add to his 2007 and 2010 wins. He became the seventh three-time winner in the 96-year history of the event.
"It was a crazy race," said Franchitti, 39, who also is the reigning IndyCar Series champion. "I had a good car and was able to time the passes."
Scott Dixon, the Indy 500 winner in 2008 and Franchitti's teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, finished second after repeatedly swapping the lead with Franchitti over the final 40 laps.
Veteran Tony Kanaan, still looking for his first Indy 500 win, finished third after leading briefly near the end. Oriol Servia was fourth and pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe fifth.
Franchitti, a Scottish driver of Italian descent, also overcame an early problem in the pits when his car was struck from behind by E.J. Viso's. That sent Franchitti's car into the pit wall and crumpled its nose. Franchitti dropped out of the top 20 after repairs and had to fight his way back to the lead.
Wheldon, a stylish British driver who often wore white-framed sunglasses, won the Indy 500 for the second time a year ago, then was killed at age 33 in a crash in October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In his honor, this year's Indy 500 tickets featured Wheldon's image and the speedway handed out white paper sunglasses to the more than 200,000 spectators who endured a day when the temperature reached 91 degrees, one degree short of the race record.
Fans wore the sunglasses in tribute during a pre-race parade lap and on Laps 26 and 98 — the numbers of the cars Wheldon drove when he won his two Indy 500s.
Franchitti wore them, too, as he doused himself with the traditional bottle of milk in Victory Lane and kissed the yard of bricks — a holdover from the track's old surface — at the start-finish line.
"The thing that really got me was the love that the fans showed for Dan," Franchitti said, noting that Wheldon's widow, Susie, was in attendance.
"Vegas was the lowest of the low," he said. Then, after taking a deep breath, Franchitti added: "I think the reason we all got back in the cars ... is days like today. There's not a feeling like standing in Victory Lane."
Pit stops:Marco Andretti had one of the strongest cars in the first half of the race as he led a race-high 59 of the 200 laps. But he fell to 14th after a caution period came out immediately after the team made a pit stop. Then, with 13 laps left in the race, he spun and hit the Turn 1 wall and finished 24th. ... Will Power, who had won three races this season on street or road courses, crashed on Lap 80 Sunday and finished 28th. ... The race featured a record 34 lead changes, breaking the previous high of 29 set in 1960.
