It is hard to explain what actually happened Sunday afternoon during the final laps of the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500.
An American rookie was a turn away from winning the biggest motorsport race in the world, when he made literally his ONLY mistake the entire month and slapped the wall to give the lead to a previous winner of the race.
But, there is no question that J.R. Hildebrand will get back in the saddle and continue to excel at his craft. It’s only a minor setback for him in the “grand scheme of things” (even though that crash cost him roughly $1.5 million dollars in the bank and a chance at racing immortality).
For Dan Wheldon, he was in the right place at the right time—again. He continues to put himself in these positions every time he is at Indy. Very few drivers can do that, which is a testament to his ability.
Everyone that witnessed this race at the Speedway will never forget it! It really reminded me of the 2006 finish and the drama that happened when Andretti and Hornish were battling for the win.
This one was different though. This one had EVERYTHING at the end…from Danica out front, to fuel strategy then becoming a factor, to BERTRAND BAGUETTE leading, then a rookie leading the race only to give it away to a great driver like Dan Wheldon on a small team. If that isn’t a run-on sentence, I don’t know what is. There was just that much going on in the final laps.
There was clearly more emotion at the outcome of this race than the 2006 one. Bryan Herta Autosport’s members showed so much of it after they realized they won. A lot of tears, let me tell you.
And the way J.R. Hildebrand handled himself was amazing. (I’m sure we all know how he was feeling inside.)
I don’t know if we will ever see a driver leading the 500 on the last corner again when he hits the wall. It was just so unbelievable!