427 replies to this topic

[JHS18]

Wow, what a finish. A shame it ended under caution, but wow. Sorry for Sato but he should have waited. He could have won that but he threw it away.

[JHS18]

Have to admit, that was pretty cool. Glad I didn't make the mistake of last year and decide not to watch, despite how nice the weather has been here lately.

[JHS18]

Tony Kanaan - class act.

[HandyNZL]

Indy is always worth watching - you never know what will happen.  Which is how all sport should be.

[HandyNZL]

They're not corporate up themselves - so that always helps

[JHS18]

I'm interested to hear what Eric thought of it...

[Massa]

Thirty-three drivers deserve congratulations for participating in what I believe to be the most challenging event a racing driver can partake in.  The heat, the mileage, the pressure...incredible.

And a further to the sixteen who completed the full distance.  Oriol Servià, his outside pass on Ryan Briscoe through the corners to take fourth, Tony Kanaan's incredible restarts all afternoon to take third, Scott Dixon's great drive to second.

And to one man who did not complete all 500 miles, but showed great bravery.  Takuma Sato, absolutely incredible courage.  That's Indy.  That is what these 426 posts are about.  There is no championship, there is no second, there's just Indy.  Winning Indy and Sato absolutely went for it, went for it on Dixon, and then went for the lead.  That's why Barrichello says these are among the four most difficult corners in the world.  You just go off the line, just a tiny bit, that will happen.  Sato wanted to win.  He had the hunger.  I'm so impressed that he tried it.  What a thrill.  What a competition, so worth winning to put yourself into the barriers in excess of 200 mph just to have a chance, just to have a tiny chance to make something stick.  That's Indy.  Sato gets it.  Sato's one of us.

But the supreme congratulations go to a driver who really defines his era, George Dario Marino Franchitti, three times a champion of the Indianapolis 500.  From the sixteenth starting spot, from being tagged by Viso early in the pit lane, to winning the Indy 500.  What a drive, what a day.  To win is to be a legened, and I can't really find a way to describe what it is to win thrice, but I hope, I really do hope, to see Franchitti and Castroneves back in 2013 both going for the all-time record of four.  Dario, Chip, the entire team, congratulations to them on their wonderful accomplishment.  Each of Dario's wins has been more impressive than the previous.  Credit to him, Dario Franchitti, our champion.

What a spectacle.  Every year, always is, what a great, great, great four and one half hours spent watching the Indy 500 broadcast.

The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.  Tremendous.

[Massa]

I've invested literal hours and hundreds of posts into this thread, and so I wondered how to close it now that the 96^th 500-mile race is over.

I figure this is the best way.  The master, fending off his aggressive nemesis after a journey from the rear of the field to duel with his teammate and his friend to get to this point:



The Indianapolis 500 championship, the greatest championship there is.