Indy 500 Full Results: Dan Wheldon Wins As Dario Franchitti Fades, Danica Patrick 10th

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.

Danica Patrick did well to move up from her 26th place starting position and finish 10th, but she and seventh-place finished Bertrand Baguette both led in the final 20 laps; if caution flags had flown late, one or both might have been factors on the final lap.

Maybe most disappointingly, pole-sitter Alex Tagliani, who appeared to have one of the field’s fastest cars early, faded in the middle of the race, and eventually got mixed up in an accident that left him in 28th and with the race’s biggest fall from a starting position.

Patrick was the highest-finishing woman. J.R. Hildebrand, who came within one clean final turn of winning, finished second as the highest-placing American and rookie. Graham Rahal, who started 30th, made the greatest gain in the race, moving up 26 spots to fourth.

The full 2011 Indy 500 results are as follows.

For more on the race, stay with our 2011 Indy 500 StoryStream. Be sure to head over to Pop Off Valve for all things IndyCar, including the three excellent Indy 500 resources: The Indy 500 experience, Indy 500 traditions and the history of the Indy 500 and the Brickyard.