2011 Indy 500: Dan Wheldon Wins After Shocking J.R. Hildebrand Crash

Dan Wheldon won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in dramatic fashion when he sped past JR Hildebrand, who led most of the final five laps but crashed on Turn 4 of Lap 200. Wheldon raced to the finish line, drank some milk, kissed the bricks and collected a big fat paycheck.

That last one’s pretty important since, as of midnight Sunday night, Wheldon is officially out of a job.

Most of the race results as announced shortly after the Indianapolis 500 held true through a Sunday evening review of the caution situation surrounding near-winner J.D. Hildebrand’s last-corner crash, but the final and official box score did include one significant change.

Oriol Servia slipped from fifth to sixth, swapping spots with Scott Dixon. While Hildebrand’s crash put $1.5 million more in winner Dan Wheldon’s pocket than would’ve arrived otherwise, this post-race adjustment has a financial impact of its own.

Dan Wheldon appeared for all the world to have passed rookie J.R. Hildebrand and won the 2011 Indianapolis 500, but hold the phone, friends. Race officials deliberated for about an hour on whether Wheldon had passed Hildebrand after the yellow caution light went on around the track, eventually concluding that the pass was made in time.

If Wheldon hadn’t passed before the caution, Hildebrand would’ve wound up with the victory, as a yellow flag would’ve locked in the order of drivers for what would’ve been the very brief remainder of the race.

These things happen to everybody, but oh man. Take a look at the Facebook page of South Bend, Indiana’s ABC 57, a television station Indiana sports fans had entrusted with delivering Indiana’s premier sporting event. Make a reference to the Heidi game as soon as you can.

Apparently ABC 57 switched away from the ridiculous, action-packed finish of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 to air an emergency weather report. South Bend residents, catch up on what you missed here, including video of [SPOILER ALERT] J.R. Hildebrand’s crash and Dan Wheldon’s astounding victory.

For the second time in her IndyCar career, Danica Patrick took a late lead at the Indy 500 and needed fuel concerns to resolve themselves to have a chance at taking the checkered flag. And just like in 2005, Patrick’s 2011 Indy 500 bid literally ran out of fuel a little too soon, leaving her with a 10th-place finish.

Patrick’s day was a tedious drive to the front at first. She dealt with slowly wearing her car into tip-top shape and picking off drivers one by one through the first three quarters of the race, and eventually moved into the teens in the later goings. That only led to more Indy 500 frustration for the series’ most famous driver.

Dan Wheldon won the 96th Indy 500 this Sunday in dramatic fashion, but it was the dramatic dropoff of some drivers behind him that will leave a number of teams scratching their heads about the result.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon were the putative favorites heading into the Indy 500’s centennial running, and proved to be strong contenders throughout, combining to lead a majority of the laps. But Dixon was shuffled back to sixth by late cautions, and Franchitti faded all the way to 12th after moving up to second late.

The worst possible time for an IndyCar driver to crash into the wall: while closing in on an Indianapolis 500 victory. That happened at the 2011 Indy 500, and I still have no idea what to say about it. Rookie J.R. Hildebrand overtook Bertrand Baguette to take the white flag and rounded the final corner with a clear shot at the checkered, but couldn’t maintain control.

The video of Hildebrand’s crash:

Dan Wheldon has won the 2011 Indy 500, and he has done it in dramatic fashion. Wheldon sped by JR Hildebrand, who led most of the final five laps but crashed on Turn 4 of Lap 200, down the backstretch, to take the checkered flag in the 96th Indy 500.

After fuel-conservation strategies from Danica Patrick and Bertrand Baguette gave both drivers a chance to hold the lead late, Hildebrand, the fastest-qualified rookie this week, inherited the lead, and appeared well-positioned to take his car to Victory Lane. But Hildebrand came into Turn 4 too sharply, and slammed into the wall, damaging his right side severely enough for Wheldon to zip between Hildebrand and a lapped driver.

Dan Wheldon won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 thanks to a shocking crash by J.R. Hildebrand. Hildebrand ended up finishing second after having a victory all but assured. Hildebrand slammed into the wall while making his way through straggling traffic, with Wheldon cruising his way to a shocking Indianapolis Motor Speedway victory.

Hildebrand took the lead from Bertrand Baguette with about a lap to go, having become the new second-place racer after Danica Patrick turned over the lead to Baguette. Hilebrand made a run at Baguette with just a couple laps to go and overtaking the front position at the white flag.

More than three quarters of the 2011 Indy 500’s laps have been run, and only two drivers look likely to kiss the bricks at day’s end. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon have been dominant today.

Through 161 laps, and just before an accident collected Ryan Briscoe and Townsend Bell, Franchitti led, with Oriol Servia, Graham Rahal, Dixon, and Tony Kanaan rounding out the top five.

Through half of the 2011 Indy 500, teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti are looking like the class of the field.

Dixon and Franchitti have been running first and second, respectively, for much of the last 45 minutes or so at the Brickyard, and the Chip Ganassi teammates appear to have the two fastest cars on the track. Dixon, in particular, seems well-equipped to make a run at the second Indy 500 victory of his career.

Through the first 40 laps of the 2011 Indy 500, the running order closely resembles the starting grid: pole-sitter Alex Tagliani and Scott Dixon, who started second, have shared the lead thus far.

Tagliani consistently had the fastest car in practice, but was passed by Dixon on the first lap after a miscue at the green flag. Since, though, Dixon and Tagliani have traded off roles as the hunter and the hunted, leading every lap of the Indy 500 so far; after Lap 40, it was Dixon on top, with Tagliani second, Dario Franchitti third, Dan Wheldon fourth, and Townsend Bell fifth.

A hundred years is a long time. How long? When the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race was first held in 1911, the RMS Titanic was still under construction in Ireland, Orville and Wilbur Wright were touring the country and showing folks their newfangled “aeroplane,” and Yale University had America’s best college football program.

The racing machines that will tour the 2.5-mile rounded rectangle located at the crossroads of 16^th Street and Georgetown Road in Speedway, Indiana during this year’s Indianapolis 500 are a long way removed from the Marmon Wasp that Ray Harroun drove to victory in the first Indy 500 at a whopping 74.602 mph average speed. By comparison, Canadian Alex Tagliani drove his No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins Dallara-Honda to the top spot in qualifying with a four-lap average speed of 227.472mph, which is fast enough for a commercial airliner to get airborne.

Update: 2012 Indy 500 schedule is here.

After weeks of preparations, the Indianapolis 500 has arrived. On Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 33 of the best IndyCar drivers will take the track in one of America’s greatest races. Alex Tagliani has the pole and there will be plenty of pre-race ceremonies to mark the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500.

Update: Live Coverage from the 2012 Indy 500

Want to catch today’s Indy 500 without a TV? Fortunately, you can listen to the Indy 500 radio broadcast via the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. The broadcast will begin from the Brickyard at 11 a.m. Eastern and carry listeners through the checkered flag and beyond.

The Indy 500 begins on Sunday morning, but the action on the track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been non-stop for the last two-plus weeks. With testing, tuning and qualifying all in the rear-view mirror, all that’s left is the race itself as the field of 33 takes the track on Sunday for 500 miles of racing.

Rain dominated the early practice sessions as teams spent more time in the garage than on the track itself, cutting into valuable tuning time ahead of the two days of qualifying sessions. With the majority of the week leading up to qualifying rained-out, teams were flying blind ahead of qualifying, and it showed.

We’re a little more than 12 hours away from the start of the 2011 Indy 500 (noon Eastern, ABC), and the IndyCar Series’ finest racers are no doubt dealing with a mix of anxiety and excitement as they try to sleep.

33 drivers will hit the Brickyard on Sunday in the 96th Indy 500, and all of them will be looking to write their names in the history books. Pole-sitter Alex Tagliani has had the fastest car in practice, and looks to become just the second Canadian to win at Indy. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti have combined to win three of the last four Indy 500s; each man is looking to extend his prime in the sport with a return trip to Victory Lane. And three-time winner Helio Castroneves could tie the record for Indy 500 wins shared by A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Means.

In the weeks leading up to the Indy 500, it’s become clear Alex Tagliani has one of the fastest, if not the fastest, cars in the field. But having the fastest car in practices and qualifying means little and Tagliani is still unsure how he’ll run in traffic. As the pole-sitter for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, he’ll start in clean air and at the front of the pack after turning in the fastest lap during the first qualifying session, then besting his speed during the afternoon’s final session last Saturday.

Tagliani knows his car is fast but is also aware that running in turbulence and in the pack is a whole different ballgame. During Friday’s Carb Day, the goal wasn’t just to put up good numbers -- though he did have the second-fastest lap of the day. Instead, Tagliani was chasing traffic and getting a feel for his race-day setup, just like the rest of the field.

Simona de Silvestro has already won fans over at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and may just be the storyline of the weeks of practice leading up to the race. De Silvestro’s team had spent months outfitting her Indy 500 car with the latest and greatest equipment and massaging it to the fullest in an effort to give her the best chance in the IRL’s biggest race. But during a practice session on May 19, one of those expensive pieces of equipment snapped, triggering a horrifying crash that saw DeSilvestro hit the wall, get airborne and come to rest upside-down in a ball of fire.

De Silvestro escaped without major injury, but did sustain some serious burns on her hands. Since the accident, she’s been forced to wear heavy wraps under her gloves and has been subjected to periodic scrapings that remove the dead skin but leave her in pain. Yet here she is, ready to run in the Indianapolis 500 after overcoming the physical pain and mental barriers in the aftermath of the crash to qualify for the race last Saturday.

The 2011 Indy 500 doesn’t start until Sunday, but there is plenty going on in Indianapolis on the day before the race as well. Here’s a full schedule of the weekend’s events:

SATURDAY (A.J. Foyt Day)

8:45 a.m................ Chase Rookie of the Year Candidates Q&A (Coca-Cola Stage)

9 a.m..................... Indy 500 Full Field Autograph Session (Plaza)

9 a.m..................... Indy 500 Past Winners Autograph Session

(Hospitality Plaza)

9 a.m..................... Indy 500 Memorabilia Show (Hospitality Plaza)

9 a.m..................... A.J. Foyt Autograph Session Wristband Distribution (Plaza)

10 a.m................... Red Bull BMX Event (Flag Lot)

10:05 a.m.............. Indy 500 Participant Photo (Plaza)

10:30 a.m.............. Indy 500 Drivers’ Meeting (Watch from Tower Terrace)

11 a.m.................... Live Music from Nadine Bernecker (Coca-Cola Stage)

11:30 a.m...............Q&A with A.J. Foyt (Coca-Cola Stage)

11:55 a.m............... Exclusive Autograph Session with A.J. Foyt

(Wristband Recipients ONLY) (Hospitality Plaza)

Noon......................Virtual Indy 500 (MotoGP Garage 36)

Noon...................... Indy 500 Past Participants Autograph Session

(Hospitality Plaza)

3:30 p.m................Virtual Indy 500 vs. Drivers (MotoGP Garage 36)

The 2011 Indy 500 is the 95th running of the race, and it’s 100th anniversary, so it makes some sense that another centennial — the birth of Ronald Reagan — would be honored by one of the teams entered in the race, one of America’s most time-honored sports traditions. But it’s how Reagan’s centennial will be celebrated that’s sort of funny.

Yeah, uh, Wheldon’s British. And while it’s an arguably bizarre move to keep Reagan’s legacy alive by slapping his presidential seals on race cars — Reagan’s seal was on Clint Bowyer’s car at a NASCAR Sprint Cup race in March — it’s seems almost farcical to be putting it on a car driven by a subject of Queen Elizabeth II.

This season, IndyCar has introduced double-file restarts, and drivers are concerned about the potential effects. Obviously, this rule is in effect for the 2011 Indy 500, as it is an IndyCar series race, despite the fact that it feels like a separate event to many. Paul Tracy has a positive attitude, stating “They tell us what to do, and we do it,” but other drivers feel differently. Marco Andretti thinks IndyCar is trying to “imitate NASCAR,” Tomas Scheckter thinks “there’s probably gonna be some crashes,” and Alex Tagliani was the most blunt of all, calling the restarts “really stupid.”

So, why have double-file restarts in IndyCar? It’s possible that Andretti is onto something with his theory that they’re trying to imitate NASCAR, but according to IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, it was team owners who spoke up and fought for the change. There’s no way of knowing whether the move was a business decision or a purely competitive decision, but a couple of things are clear. These restarts are probably dangerous, and definitely unpopular.

Dario Franchitti enters the 2011 Indy 500 as the favorite, and with good reason: he’s got two Indy 500 titles already, both in the past four years, and is the defending champion at the Brickyard.

Only Helio Castroneves has more Indy 500 titles than Franchitti among active drivers, and while Franchitti will start ninth in this year’s running, Castroneves is 16th.

Danica Patrick only barely qualified for the 2011 Indy 500 field. But can she work her way from the back of the Indy 500 lineup to come up with the biggest win of her career?

Patrick has raced well at the Brickyard since joining the IndyCar Series to much fanfare in 2005. Patrick placed fourth at the 2005 Indianapolis 500, leading 19 laps and winning the Rookie of the Year award. She topped that performance in 2009, finishing third.