The Craziest End to an Indy 500, Let Alone Race, Ever

First, as a disclaimer, I want to apologize if anyone made any bets on the race based on my predictions!

The 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500 saw the craziest end to a race I have ever seen. Not just among Indy 500s. Not just among IndyCar races. Nay, this was the craziest end to a race I've seen in the ten years I've been a racing fan.

The end of the race was actually getting rather dull. I was about falling asleep. Then two cautions came in the 160-numbered laps. The way they were placed, it was clear that the winner will have saved a LOT of fuel to make it to Victory Lane. Danica took the lead with about twenty laps to go, but was clearly off the pace in an effort to save fuel. Bertrand Baguette, a Belgian running for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, took the lead with about ten laps to go. I had no idea when the last time he had pitted, and wasn't sure if he needed fuel to make it to the end.

While Baguette was leading, Dario Franchitti started dropping through the field in order to save field, which gave JR Hildebrand the lead, an American rookie running for Panther Racing. All I wanted to see from this race was a car without Target sponsorship or run by Roger Penske to win the race, and it appeared I was about to get my wish.

On the last corner of the last lap, Hildebrand came up on the car of American rookie Charlie Kimball, who was way off the pace. Closing very quickly, he made the split-second decision to pass Kimball on the high side. Unfortunately, he got just a little too high, and caught the marbles above the groove (if you don't know, marbles are little chunks of rubber that come from the tires in the corners, and are in the gray area of the track above where the track is darker). This meant he lost grip, and wound up in the wall.

However, it seemed there was still a chance he could win the race! He hadn't stopped when he hit the wall, and continued skidding along the wall down the front straight. Just as I thought he had done it, I saw two cars passing him just as they got to the start/finish line. I figured they were lapped cars, as there was plenty of lapped traffic near the front since the race had been green for about thirty laps.

When you don't know the results of the race, it seems to take an eternity for the results to come on the scoring pylon. After what felt like a millennium in the stands, the results were on the scoring pylon, and I did not see the #4 of Hildebrand's car in spot one, but rather, the #98. I was very confused. Who was running the 98?

Then the message was on the video board: "Congrats Dan Wheldon!" I was in total shock! My arms were up above my head for the last four laps, and I could not believe that Wheldon had won the race! My brain needed so much extra blood to process this information that by hands became numb. Wheldon was running a one-off for the race for Bryan Herta Autosport. He is a former Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion, but after BHA's struggles last year at the 500, I did not anticipate Wheldon winning the race!

In the end, though, I got my wish. There was only one car (Scott Dixon) in the top ten that was run by Roger Penske or had Target sponsorship. I also walked away much less sunburned than I normally do, another added bonus!

With the disparity in the results this year, I am greatly looking forward to next year, the first 500 with the new IndyCar!

Two 2010 Seasons Conclude

This weekend saw the conclusion of both the regular season in MLB, as well as the final race of the year for the IZOD IndyCar Series. Seeing as these are two of my favorite sports EVER, naturally, I'm going to talk about it.

First, the MLB. My Cubs finished in 5th place in the NL Central. I was impressed, however. They only finished 12 games below .500, and had been as low as 22 games under. The youth of the team put together a really good streak toward the end, and I'm excited to see what they can do next year. I think that it was obvious the players had given up on Lou Piniella, as the team really excelled after Lou's departure. I hope that Ryne Sandberg is hired as the manager starting next year. He is a great baseball personality and a true student of the game. If the Cubs don't pick him up, someone else will, and it would be terrible for the Cubs to lose Ryno.

I'm thinking it's gonna be a Rays/Phillies World Series. After coming so close last year to winning, and due to the relative inexperience of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Phillies will come in and take the series in 6. That's about a month away though.

Saturday night saw the final race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. First off, it was immediately clear why the series will not be returning to Homestead next year, as there couldn't have been any more than 5000 people in the stands, and that is a VERY liberal estimate. You're only as strong as your weakest link, and Homestead has definitely been one of the weakest links for awhile.

I was disappointed with the way the season ended. Will Power entered the race with an 11 point lead over Dario Franchitti for the championship, and just had to finish ahead of him to ensure a championship, but could have been within a couple spots of Dario, depending on where he finished. Dario dominated the race, and wrapped up the two bonus points fairly early in the race for leading the most laps. Will, as he is seemingly prone to do, choked under pressure, got the car in the marbles, and hit the wall about two-thirds through the race. From there it was Dario's championship to lose, but he finished the race and brought home the championship.

First off, this is a great string for Dario. He has won the 2007, 2009, and now 2010 titles. These are the last three seasons he participated in, as he took a year off in 2008 to try his hand in NASCAR. When you consider the fact he's won the championship each of the last three years he's tried, it's quite an impressive feat.

I am also starting to fear for Will's racing career. He had a seemingly insurmountable points lead just one month ago, and Dario was able to topple it relatively easily. A couple years ago, Will was running away with the race at Surfers' Paradise, his home race in Australia, when he stuffed his car in the tire barrier. He really needs to gain composure under high-stress situations in the car. He has amazing talent and is quite possibly the best IndyCar racer since Rick Mears, but he doesn't have anything to show for it.

This leaves one year left with the current spec until the new car comes in 2012. While next season will surely be much of the same Penske and Ganassi domination, I am hopeful other teams could be more competitive. At the very least, there will hopefully be some new(ish) names up front. Graham Rahal has secured funding for a full season next year, and should be near the top, no matter which team he runs for. Justin Wilson also did a fantastic job making something of nearly nothing in his drive with Dreyer & Reinbold this season. No matter where he winds up next season, it should be a step up from where he currently is, and I look forward to seeing what he is capable with better equipment under him.