INDIANAPOLIS — Dario Franchitti stamped his name in the record books, the latest three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.
Franchitti won a wheel to-wheel, last-lap battle Sunday, sailing away to the checkered flag when Takuma Sato spun out trying to make one last pass on the inside and slammed into the wall. Franchitti’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon crossed the finish line right behind the Scotsman.
Third went to Tony Kanaan, making it a podium sweep for Dan Wheldon’s three close friends in the IndyCar series. Wheldon, the defending race winner and a two-time champ, was killed in the October season finale.
“What a race! What a race!” Franchitti said. “I think D-dub would be proud of that one.”
Kanaan, who used a bold move on a late restart to dart from fifth to first, couldn’t hold off Franchitti and Dixon on the last restart. It left him winless in 11 career attempts at Indy, but he was OK with the final result.
“Actually it was good for Dan, his three best friends fighting for the win,” Kanaan said. “Danny, wherever he is right now, I think he’s extremely happy. His three best friends in the top three.”
Wheldon’s wife, Susie, went to Victory Lane to congratulate Franchitti. She sat next to Franchitti’s wife, actress Ashley Judd, in the backseat of the convertible - the same seat she had a year ago for Wheldon’s victory - for the victory lap around the 2.5-mile oval.
Honoring Wheldon was the theme of the day, beginning with car owner Bryan Herta driving a single parade lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the car Wheldon drove to victory last year.
It was Susie Wheldon’s first trip to any race track since her husband’s Oct. 16 death, and she watched from Dixon’s pit stand with his wife, Emma. It was the Dixons who relocated after the accident to St. Petersburg, Fla., to provide comfort and support for Susie and her two sons in the months after the accident.
Ten drivers swapped the lead 35 times, shattering the record of 29 in the 1960 race won by Jim Rathmann. Until the last lap, when Sato made his move for the victory, the race was close but uneventful.
The only multicar accident came when a spin by Mike Conway collected Will Power, who came into the race as the series points leader and winner of the last three races this season. It was a somewhat frightening accident as Conway, who broke his front wing when he hit one of his crew members on pit road, hit the outside wall and his car tilted on its side before coming to rest. And Helio Castroneves had to deftly maneuver past a bouncing tire that still grazed one of his own wheels.
Besides that, though, the race was slowed by just eight cautions - including the one on the last lap - for 39 of the 200 laps.
Marco Andretti, who went into Sunday believing the race “is mine to lose,” was strong at the start, but a series of adjustments were not to his liking before spinning to bring out the final caution with 13 laps remaining.
Franchitti and Dixon battled back and forth in the final third of the race, with Sato consistently in the mix. Then came Kanaan, but he was unable to hang on to the lead on the restart after Marco Andretti’s crash brought out the yellow with 13 laps to go.
After the restart with six laps remaining, Franchitti pulled past Dixon for the final time. Sato went with him and slid in front of Dixon to split the Ganassi teammates. The Japanese driver then went for the lead going into the first turn, pulling even with Franchitti. “Job done,” he said he thought, but he went in too low, the tires appearing to touch.
“It looks like he didn’t give me enough room to go there,” Sato said. “I was a little below the white line. I had nowhere to go.”
Sato said the cars never actually hit but the white line marking the inside of the track “was less than touching my own car - so, you know, I mean almost on the grass.”
Franchitti coasted across the line under a yellow caution flag to become the 10th driver to win at least three Indy 500s. All three of Franchitti’s wins have ended under caution.
This was the second year in a row that a crash on the final lap affected the outcome. In 2011, rookie JR Hildebrand was leading going into the final turn when his car slammed into the wall, allowing Wheldon to cruise past and take the checkered flag.
“I was side by side with Takuma,” Franchitti said. “We hit and I managed to keep it out of trouble.”
It snaps a disappointing start to the season for Franchitti, who has won the last three championships but seemed stumped by IndyCar’s new car through the first four races. In breaking out Sunday for his 31st victory, he’s now in a tie with Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy on the all-time wins list.
One more win will move Franchitti into seventh place in the record books. The only drivers ahead of him? The giants of open-wheel racing: three Unsers, two Andrettis and A.J. Foyt, the all-time wins leader.
Race Statistics
WINNERS AVERAGE SPEED: 167.734 mph.
TIME OF RACE 2:58:51.2532.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: Under Caution.
CAUTIONS 8 for 39 laps.
LEAD CHANGES 34 among 10 drivers.
Sports, Pages 17 on 05/28/2012