SPEEDWAY, Ind. — With a bold move on a teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya became a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
With three laps to go, Montoya made a pass on the outside of teammate Will Power going into Turn One and made it stick. Montoya then held on to win his second career Indy 500, having also won in 2000 as a rookie.
Montoya then left IndyCar racing to experiment in NASCAR. With Sunday’s win, his decision to return looks like a wise one.
HELIO: Never a contender for record fourth Indy 500 win
Montoya, Power and Scott Dixon traded the top three spots several times in a wild final 15 laps of the race. Power finished second, Charlie Kimball third and Dixon faded to fourth at the end. Graham Rahal finished fifth.
Power took the lead after a round of pit stops with 30 laps to go, then spent an extended amount of time running out front under caution after an accident with 25 laps to go required an extended amount of time to clean up.
STAYING GROUNDED: The race had several crashes, but none as frightening as the handful of airborne wrecks that brought safety scrutiny to Indy throughout the month of May. The biggest incident in the race came was with 25 laps to go, when Jack Hawksworth spun and clipped Sebastian Saavedra, touching off a chain-reaction crash that also collected Stefano Coletti. Hawksworth got out of the car right away. Saavedra remained in place for several minutes before also getting out and walking to a safety vehicle.
ANDRETTI: He finishes sixth
KANAAN, ALL OR NOTHING: Tony Kanaan saw his bid for a second Indianapolis 500 victory evaporate when he spun and hit the wall late in Sunday’s race.
The back end of Kanaan’s car hit the wall hard on lap 153. Kanaan, the 2003 Indy 500 winner and one of the Verizon IndyCar Series’ most popular drivers, was examined and released from the infield medical center.
“We were strong all day and it was the last stop and we were going to go for it,” Kanaan said in a television interview. “‘I’d rather get out of the race like this, trying, then to just sit back there. For me, it’s win or nothing at this place.”
CREW MEMBERS INJURED: Two pit crew members of the Dale Coyne Racing team were struck by a car on pit road, and one was transported from the scene by an ambulance during Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
One crew member was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital for a right ankle injury. Another was released from the infield medical center. The incident involved all three Coyne cars.
James Davison was leaving his pit stall when Pippa Mann’s car sideswiped him on pit road, sending him crashing hard into a pair of crew members working on Tristan Vautier’s car. Medical crews responded to the scene immediately, and an ambulance arrived soon after.
