INDIANAPOLIS -- Sunday's Indy 500 is the weekend's main event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the race's 100th running will be hard-pressed to match the closeness of Friday night's Indy Lights finish.
Dean Stoneman edged out Ed Jones in the Freedom 100 in the speedway's closest finish, highlighting a Carb Day that drew an estimated crowd of more than 100,000.
Stoneman drafted off Jones down the backstretch of the final lap, then pulled around him on the outside as they entered Turn 3. They were side by side down the front-stretch, and not even Stoneman's car owner Michael Andretti was certain who had won until everyone started jumping up and down around him.
"Then I jumped up," Andretti said with a grin.
Stoneman won by 0.0024 seconds, breaking the speedway's record for closest finish of 0.0026 seconds, when Peter Dempsey beat Gabby Chaves to the line in the 2013 race.
Dalton Kellett was third and Shelby Blackstock was fourth, giving Andretti Autosport its first Freedom 100 victory as well as three of the top four finishers in the IndyCar feeder race.
"We've been trying so many years to win this and Dean finally brought it to us," Andretti said, "and to have three cars in the top four is a great day."
Andretti would love to see those kind of results replicated on Sunday.
One of his drivers, Carlos Munoz, was second-fastest in the final round of practice. Ryan Hunter-Reay was also in the top five, and Marco Andretti began to find some speed during Carb Day.
They'll have their work cut out for them matching the Indy Lights finish.
"I saw Ed was coming but it was a fantastic finish, right at the line," said Stoneman, who has won the past two Indy Lights races. "It was a great finish. I don't know what to say."
The Englishman joined Andretti Autosport for his first Mazda Road to Indy season this year. He had been competing in the World Series by Renault, FIA GP3, and Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain.
Jones had qualified on the pole and spent the entire race running up front.
"It's so frustrating to lose the race like that. We went back and forth," he said. "I got the lead into Turn 1 and thought I had the good run and was running away, and then the draft down the back straight and I made the decision to stay inside, and he got the momentum on the outside and he just beat me to the line.
"I blame myself for this one," Jones said. "You can't believe it."
Sports on 05/28/2016