2006 Indianapolis 500
The 90th Indianapolis 500 was held on Sunday, May 28, 2006. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the race with the first final-lap pass for victory in race history, by overtaking, on the final straightaway, rookie Marco Andretti, whose father Michael Andretti finished third. The margin of victory was 0.0635 seconds, the second-closest finish in the history of the 500. Hornish had earned the pole in qualifying with a four-lap average of 228.985 mph. Although defending champion Dan Wheldon dominated much of the race, leading 148 of the race's 200 laps, a punctured tire forced him to make a final pit stop earlier than planned, dropping him too far in the standings to recapture higher than fourth position by race's end.
Qualifications
This was the second year in which a new qualifying procedure was in place for the Indianapolis 500: only eleven spots were to be open on each of the first three days of qualifying, thus allowing bumping (removal of entries which had qualified from the field due to faster qualifying runs by other drivers) on each day, and with all thirty-three cars potentially eligible to be bumped on the fourth and final day of qualifying. However, the first two days of qualifying (May 13 and May 14) were rained out, so all thirty-three spots were open on the first day qualification could be attempted (May 20).
Thirty-two drivers qualified on May 20. Sam Hornish, Jr., won the pole with the fastest four-lap qualifying speed of 228.985 mph; it was the tenth pole of his career. Only one driver, Dario Franchitti, did not qualify on his first attempt; he waved off a sub par performance in which he experienced engine trouble after three laps, but then qualified later in the day after changing the engine. Although the new qualifying rules allowed qualified cars to be withdrawn and re-qualified in hope of gaining a better starting position, with a maximum of three attempts per day, only one driver did so. Townsend Bell's qualification at 223.659 mph was withdrawn, and he achieved an average of 224.374 mph on his second attempt, but this improved his starting position by only one spot.
The final spot in the starting field was filled by Thiago Medeiros on May 21, the last day of qualifying. No other drivers attempted to qualify on that day.
Qualifying Chronology
| Saturday, May 13, 2006 no qualifications due to rain | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, May 14, 2006 no qualifications due to rain | ||||||||||
| Saturday, May 20, 2006 | ||||||||||
| Attempt | Time | Day | Car No. | Driver | Laps | Total Time | Speed (mph) | Result | Position | Rank |
| 1 | 12:03 | 1 | 92 | Jeff Bucknum | 4 | 2:42.5566 | 221.461 | Qualified | 22 | 22 |
| 2 | 12:07 | 1 | 90 | Townsend Bell | 4 | 2:40.9590 | 223.659 | Qualified; withdrawn | -- | -- |
| 3 | 12:12 | 1 | 4T | Vitor Meira | 4 | 2:39.1823 | 226.156 | Qualified | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | 12:16 | 1 | 31 | Al Unser, Jr. | 4 | 2:44.0925 | 219.388 | Qualified | 27 | 27 |
| 5 | 12:21 | 1 | 7 | Bryan Herta | 4 | 2:40.5859 | 224.179 | Qualified | 16 | 16 |
| 6 | 12:25 | 1 | 41 | Larry Foyt | 4 | 2:42.6519 | 221.331 | Qualified | 23 | 23 |
| 7 | 12:30 | 1 | 88 | Airton Dare | 4 | 2:45.0091 | 218.170 | Qualified | 29 | 29 |
| 8 | 12:34 | 1 | 55 | Kosuke Matsuura | 4 | 2:39.6431 | 225.503 | Qualified | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | 12:39 | 1 | 2 | Tomas Scheckter | 4 | 2:40.2431 | 224.659 | Qualified | 11 | 11 |
| 10 | 12:43 | 1 | 51 | Eddie Cheever, Jr. | 4 | 2:42.1420 | 222.028 | Qualified | 19 | 19 |
| 11 | 12:48 | 1 | 52 | Max Papis | 4 | 2:42.1198 | 222.058 | Qualified | 18 | 18 |
| 12 | 12:52 | 1 | 1 | Michael Andretti | 4 | 2:40.3505 | 224.508 | Qualified | 13 | 13 |
| 13 | 12:57 | 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 4 | 2:38.6457 | 226.921 | Qualified | 4 | 4 |
| 14 | 1:01 | 1 | 21 | Jaques Lazier | 4 | 2:42.7847 | 221.151 | Qualified | 24 | 24 |
| 15 | 1:06 | 1 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | 4 | 2:38.7471 | 226.776 | Qualified | 5 | 5 |
| 16 | 1:11 | 1 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | 4 | 2:40.3224 | 224.548 | Qualified | 12 | 12 |
| 17 | 1:15 | 1 | 8 | Scott Sharp | 4 | 2:39.7720 | 225.321 | Qualified | 8 | 8 |
| 18 | 1:20 | 1 | 15T | Buddy Rice | 4 | 2:40.4326 | 224.393 | Qualified | 14 | 14 |
| 19 | 1:24 | 1 | 26 | Marco Andretti | 4 | 2:40.0586 | 224.917 | Qualified | 9 | 9 |
| 20 | 1:29 | 1 | 91 | P. J. Chesson | 4 | 2:42.4724 | 221.576 | Qualified | 20 | 20 |
| 21 | 1:33 | 1 | 6 | Sam Hornish, Jr. | 4 | 2:37.2155 | 228.985 | Qualified | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | 1:38 | 1 | 12 | Roger Yasukawa | 4 | 2:44.5393 | 218.793 | Qualified | 28 | 28 |
| 23 | 1:42 | 1 | 10 | Dan Wheldon | 4 | 2:38.3543 | 227.338 | Qualified | 3 | 3 |
| 24 | 1:47 | 1 | 16T | Danica Patrick | 4 | 2:40.2319 | 224.674 | Qualified | 10 | 10 |
| 25 | 1:51 | 1 | 5 | Buddy Lazier | 4 | 2:42.9534 | 220.922 | Qualified | 25 | 25 |
| 26 | 1:56 | 1 | 17T | Jeff Simmons | 4 | 2:43.3785 | 220.347 | Qualified | 26 | 26 |
| 27 | 2:00 | 1 | 97 | Stephan Gregoire | 4 | 2:45.5723 | 217.428 | Qualified | 30 | 30 |
| 28 | 2:05 | 1 | 3T | Hélio Castroneves | 4 | 2:37.8893 | 228.008 | Qualified | 2 | 2 |
| 29 | 2:10 | 1 | 14 | Felipe Giaffone | 4 | 2:42.4973 | 221.542 | Qualified | 21 | 21 |
| 30 | 2:14 | 1 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | 3 | 2:02.1355 | 221.066 | Waved off | -- | -- |
| 31 | 5:27 | 1 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | 4 | 2:41.1857 | 223.345 | Qualified | 17 | 17 |
| 32 | 5:33 | 1 | 90 | Townsend Bell | 4 | 2:40.4466 | 224.374 | Qualified | 15 | 15 |
| 33 | 5:38 | 1 | 98 | P. J. Jones | 4 | 2:46.8091 | 215.816 | Qualified | 32 | 32 |
| 34 | 5:51 | 1 | 61 | Arie Luyendyk, Jr. | 4 | 2:46.3952 | 216.352 | Qualified | 31 | 31 |
| Sunday, May 21, 2006 | ||||||||||
| Attempt | Time | Day | Car No. | Driver | Laps | Total Time | Speed (mph) | Result | Position | Rank |
| 35 | 5:08 | 2 | 18 | Thiago Medeiros | 4 | 2:46.8763 | 215.729 | Qualified | 33 | 33 |
| REPORT | ||||||||||
Starting Grid
Race
After being led around the pace laps by pace car driver Lance Armstrong, all drivers successfully completed the first lap of the race, but on the second lap, Jeff Bucknum spun out in turn two and hit teammate P. J. Chesson, taking both of the entries from Hemelgarn Racing out of the race.
After the end of that caution period, an unusually long period of green-flag racing ensued, lasting 60 laps. During this period, Dan Wheldon dominated the race, briefly losing then regaining the lead during a round of green-flag pit stops around laps 36-39; by lap 64, Wheldon had built up a 19-second lead--nearly half a lap--over the next nearest competitor, and after 65 laps had lapped twenty-five of the other cars in the race, including all five of the other former 500 winners, leaving only eight cars on the lead lap.
Other competitors caught up to Wheldon during a yellow flag starting on lap 67 due to a crash by driver Tomas Scheckter (which sent debris into the inside grandstand, injuring five spectators, none seriously), but Wheldon continued to hold the lead through the pit stops, and did so until he pitted again under the green flag on lap 108, which allowed Scott Dixon to briefly take the lead.
On lap 110, Hélio Castroneves struck Buddy Rice from behind, taking out both cars. It was the first time two former winners had been involved in the same crash in the 500 since 1992.
Sam Hornish, Jr., took the lead from Wheldon on lap 130--the first time since lap 9 that anyone other than Wheldon had led, excluding periods when Wheldon had briefly lost the lead due to his pit stops. Wheldon, however, would regain the lead on lap 145 and hold it through lap 182.
Former winner Al Unser, Jr. precipitated a caution period beginning with lap 149 by spinning along the backstretch and crashing in turn 3. During this period, Jeff Simmons also crashed, eliminating him from the race. Also during this caution period, Hornish began to leave his pit with the fuel pump still attached to his car; he was penalized by race officials with a "drive-through"--being required to drive through pit road, obeying the pit road speed limit, on a future lap. Team owner Roger Penske accepted responsibility for the error, having told Hornish to go before the fueling was complete. But Penske then made a shrewd decision which salvaged the race for Hornish--just a few laps later he ordered another pit stop for fuel only, before Hornish served the drive-through penalty. Although the mistake and subsequent penalty dropped Hornish from second to eighth, he would not need to pit again for the rest of the race, while many of the drivers ahead of him would need another pit stop for fuel, allowing Hornish to pass them.
Tony Kanaan took the lead on lap 183; on lap 187, members of Andretti Green Racing held the top three spots (Kanaan, Michael Andretti, and Dario Franchitti).
A crash by Felipe Giaffone instigated another caution period on lap 191; fan favorite Michael Andretti, competing in his 15th 500 (and first since 2003), took the lead on lap 194, still under the yellow, when cars ahead of him made pit stops. Shortly after returning to green-flag racing, he was passed by his son, rookie Marco Andretti, only 19 years old and now leading the race with just a few laps to go. While this emotional family pass took place, another great story was being written as Hornish was charging back from his drive-through penalty.
Michael attempted to block Hornish as much as possible for his son, but Hornish got by and got to Marco with about 3 laps to go. At the end of every straightaway Marco put fantastic blocks to hold Hornish from completing his great comeback until he was finally able to pass him on the main straightaway of the final lap. Hornish won by just 0.0635 seconds, a distance of 15 feet. It was the second-closest finish in the history of the 500, behind only the 1992 race. It was also the first time that the driver leading on lap 199 had not won the race. Afterwards, Hornish commented on his last-second pass, "I figured I came all this way, I ought to give myself one more shot at it. I kind of looked at it as, I was going to drive over him if I had to."
Third-place finisher Michael Andretti had high praise for his son: "I felt so bad for Marco, but I'm so proud. He drove a hell of a race. I drove with him a hell of a lot in that race. He drove like a champion. He drove like he's been out there 10 years." But Marco wanted more: "Second's nothing," he said.
Full Race Results
*C Chassis: D=Dallara; P=Panoz. All cars in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 used Honda engines and Firestone tires.
(W) = Former Indianapolis 500 winner; (R) = Indianapolis 500 rookie
Race Leaders
Seven drivers led the race, with a total of fourteen lead changes.
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Caution Periods
There were five caution periods during the race, with a total of forty-four laps run under yellow.| Laps | Cause |
|---|---|
| 2-6 | Jeff Bucknum/P. J. Chesson crash |
| 67-75 | Tomas Scheckter crash |
| 111-122 | Hélio Castroneves/Buddy Rice crash |
| 149-161 | Al Unser, Jr. crash; extended by Jeff Simmons crash on lap 155 |
| 191-195 | Felipe Giaffone crash |
Notes
- For the first time, Honda was the sole engine supplier to the field. It is believed that for the first time in Indianapolis 500 history, that the race was run without a single engine problem during the entire month.
- In Hornish's seven tries at the Indy 500, this was the first that he had even completed 500 miles.
- It was the 14th Indianapolis 500 win for Roger Penske as an owner.
- This was the first Indianapolis 500 in which the leader of lap 199 did not win the race.
- The second- and third-place finishes by Marco and Michael Andretti were the 49th and 50th unsuccessful attempts to win the 500 by members of the Andretti family as drivers (Michael Andretti was a winning owner in 2005 and would be again in 2007) since patriarch Mario Andretti's sole win in 1969, extending what is popularly called the "Andretti Curse" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
- A few weeks after the race, Tom Carnegie announced his retirement after 61 years, making the 2006 500 his final race as track announcer.
- ABC Sports utilized Side-By-Side for the first time during the Indianapolis 500.
References
External links
See also
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday October 01, 2008 at 19:18:15 PDT (GMT -0700)
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