Dario Franchitti Wins Indy 500 Race

Dario Franchitti claimed his second win in the famous Indy 500 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the Scot dominated the event from beginning to end for Ganassi Racing. He jumped from 3rd to 1st in the early stages of the race and then led the field through the majority of the laps, scoring multiple fastest laps and benefiting from a 10-second lead at some point.

Once fuel gamble started to become a viable strategy towards the end, Franchitti made his last pit stop approximately 20 laps from the end and emerged in 5th place on the track. However, knowing that all the drivers in front of him would have to pit for refuel sooner rather than later, the Ganassi driver kept his cool and focused on keeping Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan on his tails.

Having started from 33rd on the grid, the Brazilian driver emerged on a remarkable 2nd place until 4 laps to go, when his lack of fuel-preserving run throughout the race obliged him to make one last stop in the pits. He eventually finished in 11th place, leaving Dan Wheldon in a huge runner-up spot for Panther Racing.

The race did not end on a positive note however, as Mike Conway's late contact with Andretti's Ryan-Hunter Reay led to the last caution of the day, under which Franchitti was actually crowned Indy 500 champion once again. Conway's car touched the rear of Hunter-Reay's and rolled over it, flying into the fence and being pushed back onto the track.

The incident had serious repercussions for the Dreyer & Reinbold driver, who was immediately taken to the hospital with an injured leg.

Third place in the Indy 500 was surrounded by controversy however, as Dale Coyne Racing's Alex Lloyd completed the 1-2-3 all-British finish with a pass under yellow flag over Marco Andretti. The move is still being investigated by the officials. Andretti dropped 3 positions before the yellow flag was waved, with Scott Dixon – who had previously lost a front wheel in the pit stop – and Danica Patrick making the best of the yellow flag confusion and scoring Top 5 performances.

Justin Wilson ended the race in 7th place, ahead of Team Penske's duo Will Power and Helio Castroneves. Both had immense pit stop problems though the race, with the former leaving the pits with the fuel hose attached to his car and the latter stalling his car in the pits. The Top 10 was completed by Fazzt's Alex Tagliani, who managed to keep Kanaan outside Top 10 following his pit stop.