Tony Kanaan Wins Indy 500

26 May, 2013

Brazilian Tony Kanaan won his first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday to end a decade of disappointment at the famed Brickyard.

The former IndyCar champion captured the crown jewel of North American motor racing in his 12th attempt to complete his resume, taking the checkered flag under caution after defending champion Dario Franchitti crashed with just over two laps to go.

“This is it man, I made it,” Kanaan said before he dumped the traditional winner’s bottle of milk over his head. “Finally I am going to put my ugly face on that trophy.”

Colombia’s Carlos Munoz crossed the finish line second in his IndyCar racing debut followed by American Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Marco Andretti, grandson of former Formula One champion and Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti, finished fourth in a furious and frenetic race that featured a record 68 lead changes, double the previous mark set in 2012.

One of IndyCar’s most popular figures, Kanaan had known nothing but bad luck at the sprawling 2.5 mile oval speedway, coming close but never able to reach Victory Lane.

Kanaan, who ran at or near the front most of the afternoon, holding the lead 15 times, was sitting second behind Hunter-Reay with six laps left when a caution flag came out after Graham Rahal slammed into the wall.

On the restart, Kanaan blew past Hunter-Reay when his luck took a dramatic change as Franchitti’s crash further back in the field brought out the yellow, allowing the 38-year-old Brazilian to coast unchallenged to the checkered flag.

“I have to say, the last lap was the longest lap of my life. I wanted the pace car to hurry up so bad,” said Kanaan. “I got a little bit of luck today.”

The day featured just five cautions and the low number of yellow flags helped make it the fastest Indy 500 ever with Kanaan posting an average speed of 187.433 mph.

Reuters

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