The 101st running of the Indianapolis 500, presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, definitely didn’t disappoint this year. Competitors from all around the world joined the currently famous names of the IndyCar Series to put on what has historically been a Memorial Day holiday tradition lo these many years.
The historic week leading up to this race would give one well-known legend of the IndyCar Series, and former RacingJunk Behind The Wheel feature driver, the pole win for this race.
Despite his good fortune, Scott Dixon would begin to see his luck change as race day approached. In fact, just hours after winning the pole both Dixon and former driver Dario Franchitti were held at gunpoint at a Taco Bell drive-thru just minutes from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While neither Dixon or Franchitti was injured during this incident Dixon would once again have another scare shortly after the wave of the green flag on Sunday.
While both Howard and Dixon would walk away, both would say goodbye to their opportunity to take the win. Instead, this race would continue leaving fans wondering who would kiss the bricks and take that famous drink of milk at the end of this race?
This question wouldn’t be answered until the final lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where 40-year-old Formula One driver Takuma Sato would hold-off three-time held off three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves by 0.2011 of a second to give Andretti Autosport its fifth Indy 500 win in its history.
“A big thank you goes out to Michael Andretti and his whole team at Andretti Autosport,” said Sato. “After missing my chance to win this race in 2012, I really needed to correct something that I left over. Today I was so happy that I made it and won in a good move.”
After his heroic last lap pass, Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti knew that he made the right decision in hiring Sato to compete for this team earlier this season. “We had the right guy doing it, for sure. He drove a superb race!”
While Sato and Andretti Autosports continued to celebrate this weekend, pole winner Dixon, who walked away from one of the scariest crashes in this race in recent history, would be left wondering how this crash would affect the remainder of his 2017 season.
While both Dixon and Howard were evaluated and cleared by IU Health during this race, Dixon returned to the medical center to obtain a walking booth due to pain that he continued to feel in his ankle. Dixon has continued to walk on crutches since this race and is currently being evaluated by his primary care doctor. RacingJunk will stay with this story to find out how this will affect this Chip Ganassi Racing drivers remaining season.
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