2006 Indianapolis 500.html



90th Indianapolis 500

Location	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Date	May 28, 2006
Winner	Sam Hornish, Jr.
Average speed	157.085 mph
Pole position	Sam Hornish, Jr.
Pole speed	228.985 mph
Fastest qualifier	Hornish, Jr.
Rookie of the Year	Marco Andretti
Most laps led	Dan Wheldon (148)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Members of U.S. Armed Forces
Back Home Again in Indiana	Jim Nabors
Starting command	Mari Hulman George
Pace car	Chevrolet Corvette
Pace car driver	Lance Armstrong
Honorary starter	Sugar Ray Leonard
Attendance	250,000 (estimated)
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Rusty Wallace
Nielsen Ratings	5.0
Market share	14
Chronology
Previous	Next
2005	2007

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

Starting Grid

²

Row	Inside	Middle	Outside
1	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Dan Wheldon
2	Scott Dixon	Tony Kanaan	Vitor Meira
3	Kosuke Matsuura	Scott Sharp	Marco Andretti
4	Danica Patrick	Tomas Scheckter	Ed Carpenter
5	Michael Andretti	Buddy Rice	Townsend Bell
6	Bryan Herta	Dario Franchitti	Max Papis
7	Eddie Cheever	P. J. Chesson	Felipe Giaffone
8	Jeff Bucknum	Larry Foyt	Jaques Lazier
9	Buddy Lazier	Jeff Simmons	Al Unser, Jr.
10	Roger Yasukawa	Airton Daré	Stephan Gregoire
11	Arie Luyendyk, Jr.	P. J. Jones	Thiago Medeiros

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. ³

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. ^{3 4 5 6}

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. ^{3 7}

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. ^{3 8}

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. ³

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. ^{3 7}

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). ³

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." ^{3 7 9}

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. ^{9 10}

Full Race Results

¹¹

Finish	Start	Car No.	Driver	C*	Laps	Time/Retired	Team	Points
1	1	6	Sam Hornish, Jr.	D	200	3:10:58.7590	Team Penske	50
2	9	26	Marco Andretti (R)	D	200	+0.0635	Andretti Green Racing	40
3	13	1	Michael Andretti	D	200	+1.0087	Andretti Green Racing	35
4	3	10	Dan Wheldon (W)	D	200	+1.2692	Chip Ganassi Racing	32+3
5	5	11	Tony Kanaan	D	200	+1.6456	Andretti Green Racing	30
6	4	9	Scott Dixon	D	200	+3.0566	Chip Ganassi Racing	28
7	17	27	Dario Franchitti	D	200	+5.6249	Andretti Green Racing	26
8	10	16	Danica Patrick	P	200	+5.7263	Rahal Letterman Racing	24
9	8	8	Scott Sharp	D	200	+11.1252	Fernandez Racing	22
10	6	4	Vitor Meira	D	200	+17.9554	Panther Racing	20
11	12	20	Ed Carpenter	D	199	+1 lap	Vision Racing	19
12	25	5	Buddy Lazier (W)	D	199	+1 lap	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	18
13	19	51	Eddie Cheever (W)	D	198	+2 laps	Team Cheever	17
14	18	52	Max Papis	D	197	+3 laps	Team Cheever	16
15	7	55	Kosuke Matsuura	D	196	+4 laps	Super Aguri Fernandez Racing	15
16	28	12	Roger Yasukawa	P	194	+6 laps	Playa Del Racing	14
17	24	21	Jaques Lazier	P	193	+7 laps	Playa Del Racing	13
18	29	88	Airton Daré	P	193	+7 laps	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	12
19	32	98	P. J. Jones	P	189	+11 laps	Team Leader Motorsports	12
20	16	7	Bryan Herta	D	188	+12 laps	Andretti Green Racing	12
21	21	14	Felipe Giaffone	D	177	Accident	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	12
22	15	90	Townsend Bell (R)	D	161	Suspension	Vision Racing	12
23	26	17	Jeff Simmons	P	152	Accident	Rahal Letterman Racing	12
24	27	31	Al Unser, Jr. (W)	D	145	Accident	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	12
25	2	3	Hélio Castroneves (W)	D	109	Accident	Team Penske	10
26	14	15	Buddy Rice (W)	P	108	Accident	Rahal Letterman Racing	10
27	11	2	Tomas Scheckter	D	65	Accident	Vision Racing	10
28	31	61	Arie Luyendyk, Jr. (R)	P	54	Handling	Luyendyk Racing	10
29	30	97	Stephan Gregoire	P	49	Handling	Team Leader Motorsports	10
30	23	41	Larry Foyt	D	43	Handling	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	10
31	33	18	Thiago Medeiros (R)	P	24	Electrical	PDM Racing	10
32	22	92	Jeff Bucknum	D	1	Accident	Hemelgarn Racing	10
33	20	91	P. J. Chesson (R)	D	1	Accident	Hemelgarn Racing	10

^*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. ¹²

Caution Periods

There were five caution periods during the race, with a total of forty-four laps run under yellow. ³

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 month¹³.

• In Hornish's seven tries at the Indy 500, this was the first that he had even completed 500 miles. ⁹

• It was the 14th Indianapolis 500 win for Roger Penske as an owner. ⁹

• This was the first Indianapolis 500 in which the leader of lap 199 did not win the race. ¹⁴

• 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. ^{9 10}

• A few weeks after the race, Tom Carnegie announced his retirement after 61 years, making the 2006 500 his final race as track announcer. ¹⁵

• ABC Sports utilized Side-By-Side for the first time during the Indianapolis 500.

References

1. ^ "Indy Racing League Timing and Scoring Report: Qualification Results - Bump Day" (PDF) (2006-05-21). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
2. ^ "Starting Grid for the 2006 Indianapolis 500" (2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Race Breakdown", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R8. 
4. ^ "Wheldon dominates, but fails to duplicate win" (2006-05-28). Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
5. ^ "'Almost' doesn't cut it for Wheldon", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R7. 
6. ^ "Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Scorecard", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R9. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Sam's the Man", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R2. 
8. ^ "Champs take each other out", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R13. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d e} "0.0635 Seconds", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. A1. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "More Frustration for Andrettis", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R3. 
11. ^ "Official Results", The Indianapolis Star (2006-05-29), p. R9. 
12. ^ "Official Box Score" (2006-05-28). Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
13. ^ "Hondas Flawless and Hornish Wins A Thrilling Indy 500" (2006-05-28). Retrieved on 2006-07-16.
14. ^ Davidson, Donald. (2007). "The Talk of Gasoline Alley" [Radio program]. [[WIBC (FM)|]], May 3, 2007. Archived at http://media.wibc.com/av/audio/talk_gas/2007/may3.mp3, retrieved on May 9, 2007.
15. ^ "Carnegie retiring after 61 years as Voice of the Speedway" (2006-06-14). Retrieved on 2007-05-10.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

2006 Indianapolis 500

• www.indy500.com

See also

• Indy Racing League