June 1, 2011
(John Cotes/IMS)
Dawn breaks over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on race day morning.
(Daniel Incandela/IMS)
The famed pagoda awaits on Sunday morning.
(Shawn Gritzmacher/IMS)
JR Hildebrand's crew going through their pre-race check list on Sunday morning.
(Ron McQueeney/IMS)
Longtime Indianapolis Motor Speedway photographer Ron McQueeney standing in the flag stand.
(Dave Edelstein/IMS)
No picture can do justice as to the impact and sheer presence of the majestic B2 stealth bomber. Simply an incredible sight.
(Chris Jones/IMS)
Our American armed forces were well-represented at The Speedway during pre-race activities.
(Jim Haines/IMS)
Parnelli Jones takes Ray Harroun's 1911 Indy 500-winning Marmon Wasp around The Speedway during pre-race activities.
(Chris Jones/IMS)
Mario Andretti at the wheel of Wilbur Shaw's Indy 500-winning Maserati 8CTF "Boyle Special" Sunday morning. Shaw took back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940 in this beautiful machine.
(Ron McQueeney/IMS)
A.J. Foyt leads the field in the Chevrolet Camaro pace car before the start of the 2011 Indianapolis 500.
(Robert Ellis/IMS)
Down on his luck and with only a one-off ride for this year's "500," Dan Wheldon qualified well and then ran a superb race in his No. 98 William Rast-CURB/Big Machine car for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/Agajanian to be in position for the win at the end, the second Indy 500 victory of his career.
(Jim Haines/IMS)
The front row gets ready for the start. The pole-sitter Alex Tagliani (No. 77) scrubbed the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 147, ending his day. Scott Dixon would run a foul of the Ganassi team's fuel strategy and finish 5th, and Oriol Servia would lead 18 laps in the middle of the race and come home 6th.
(Jim Haines/IMS)
JR Hildebrand (No. 4 Panther Racing Dallara-Honda) and Bertrand Baguette (No. 30 Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing The RACB/Aspria Special Dallara-Honda) battle it out early in the race. Hildebrand would meet his date with destiny at the end, while the Belgian driver in his second year at The Speedway drove an excellent race only to have to pit for fuel with three laps to go. He would finish 7th. Hildebrand earned $1,064,895 for his heartbreaking second place finish. He also won the prestigious Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year Award, which includes a $25,000 bonus and the Chase Rookie of the Year Trophy.
(IMS)
Graham Rahal, shown here after qualifying, delivered an outstanding performance to finish third in the Indy 500. "It feels great, to be honest," Rahal said afterward. "My Service Central guys did a fantastic job all day staying level headed. We went down a lap with 70 laps to go, got the wave-around. That took us from fifth back to 17th. We worked our way all the way back up. I mean, it feels really good to be sitting where we are right now." Rahal earned $646,945 for his career-best Indianapolis 500 finish.
(Robert Ellis/IndyCar)
Tony Kanaan finished a strong 4th, earning $438,745 for charging from his 22nd starting position in his No. 82 GEICO KV Racing Technology-Lotus. It was the fourth top-five finish at Indianapolis for the 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion.
(Mike Harding/IMS)
Chip Ganassi's Target-sponsored team could have and should have won the race. Dixon (No. 9) and Franchitti (No. 10) could run out front at will but the team gambled on the fact that there would be several yellows in the last 25 laps and that they'd have time to add fuel during a caution. And they lost. Franchitti would fade to 12th at the end. Not good.
(Dana Garrett/IMS)
Will Power gets pit service from his Team Penske crew. It was a disastrous day for Roger Penske's famous 15-time Indianapolis 500-winning team as a wheel came off Power's Verizon-sponsored car during his first stop and he ended-up 14th, Helio Castroneves finished 17th in his Shell-Pennzoil car, while Ryan Briscoe ended-up 27th after tangling with Townsend Bell in Turn 1.
(Ron McQueeney/IMS)
Marco Andretti finished 9th and Danica Patrick finished 10th salvaging what was basically a miserable Indy for Andretti Autosport. Here they flank Ryan Brisoce at driver introductions.
(LAT Photo/Levitt)
After doubts about the future direction of his racing career surfaced, Dan Wheldon delivered another huge win. We can't imagine that the winner's milk could have tasted any better to him than it did on Sunday. And kudos must go out to Bryan Herta as well for the biggest win he has ever been associated with.
(Jim Haines/IMS)
Dan Wheldon on the morning after his second Indianapolis 500 victory.
(Bret Kelley/IMS)
His wife stuck by him when his career options became limited, and his mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but through it all Dan Wheldon persevered, never doubting himself for an instant. And now? He's a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion.
(Jim Haines/IMS)
Dan Wheldon, the 2011 Indianapolis 500 champion. Wheldon earned $2,567,255 from an overall purse of $13,509,485 for his victory Sunday.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: For more on Dan Wheldon's Indy 500 win with Bryan Herta's "one-off" team, check out Gordon Kirby's in-depth piece here. - PMD.
(Mike Young/IndyCar)
Josef Newgarden (No. 11 Copart/Score Big/Robo-Pong/SSM) won the Firestone Freedom 100 at The Speedway. It was the second career Firestone Indy Lights victory for Newgarden, he also won the 2011 season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. Newgarden, from Hendersonville, Tenn., is the first American driver to win the Firestone Freedom 100 since Ed Carpenter won the inaugural event in 2003.
(Ford)
The Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) / Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Fiesta RS WRC flies at the 2011 Rally Argentina. Sebastien Loeb (France) won the event for the sixth time in his Citroen, finishing just ahead of Hirvonen. Third place went to Sebastien Ogier, also in a Citroen. It was the 65th series victory for Loeb, who is the seven-time defending world rally champion. Loeb leads the season standings with Ford’s Hirvonen in second and Ogier in third. This was Loeb’s third win of the season following victories in Italy and Mexico. He leads Hirvonen by 13 points through six of 13 events.
An Autoextremist Exclusive: Editor-in-Chief's Note: We have it on good authority that Mercedes-Benz will become the official vehicle of The Circuit of the Americas, the formal name for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix circuit outside of Austin, Texas. Not only that, but Mercedes will make the track the official home of its high-performance driving experience for its U.S. customers and the track will also become the official home of its AMG performance division here in the U.S. - PMD
This weekend’s 59th Coppa InterEurope Storica Event of the FIA Historic Formula One Championship Series at Monza will mark one of the first this year to recognize the 50th anniversary of Phil Hill’s F1 World Championship, when he became America’s first F1 Champion. Derek Hill will be racing an AC Cobra in the GTSCC category as well as awarding “The Phil Trophy” to the 1.5-liter Grand Prix winner. The above photo shows Phil at Monaco in 1962, while below are some of the vintage racers that will be on display during the event.
(McLaren)
As the featured marque, McLaren Automotive will present the 2012 McLaren MP4-12C - alongside a number of historic McLaren race cars and the iconic McLaren F1 - at the Second Annual Sonoma Motorsports Historic Festival at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on June 4-5. The 12C is scheduled to go on sale in North America in the fall 2011. A number of historically significant McLaren racing cars can also be viewed in the McLaren display area including a 1967 McLaren M5A; 1985 McLaren MP4/2B – FIA Formula One Constructors Championship winning car driven by Alain Prost, FIA Formula One Drivers’ Champion; 1967 McLaren M6A – Can-Am Championship winning car driven by Bruce McLaren; 1971 McLaren M8F –1971 Can-Am Championship winning car driven by Denny Hulme; 1972 McLaren M20 and a 1995 McLaren F1. In addition to the McLaren vehicle display, the event features more than 400 historic-car entries from around the world, 26 of which are McLarens. The weekend’s festivities at the Second Annual Historic Motorsports Festival will also include the Historic Race Car Festival in the Sonoma Plaza Saturday evening benefiting Speedway Children’s Charities.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD
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