Sam Hornish Wins 90th Indy 500 In Thrilling Finish Over Marco Andretti, Father Micheal Andretti Finishes 3rd After Coming Out of Retirement

Indianapolis, IN– A number of years ago an Andretti name at the end of race was just as historic as the Indy 500 race itself and today’s finish of the 90th Indy 500 was another classic finish that involved another Andretti, Marco as he battled Sam Hornish Jr. to the end with Hornish taking the checkered flag in one of the best finishes in Indy 500 history. Today almost marked a day in history had the father son combination taken first and second in the race, insteadMichael Andretti who came out of retirement at age 43 to race with his son for another try at racing’s biggest prize, was third, 1.0087 seconds behind his son Marco. “Second place is nothing,” Marco said. “They don’t remember people who finish second here. They really don’t. You gotta take advantage of every shot. How many times did my dad finish second? He never won it and neither did I.” Hornish swung low, pulled alongside and nosed ahead at the checkered flag. In 90 runnings of the Indianapolis 500, the only closer finish was in 1992, when Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds.

Defending champion Dan Wheldon, who looked to be the favorite for most of the race dominated the track again, leading 87 of the first 100 laps and 148 overall, but a tire puncture forced him to pit earlier than planned.

Wheldon wound up fourth, followed by Tony Kanaan, Dixon, Dario Franchitti and last year’s rookie sensation, Danica Patrick, the only woman in t he 33-car field.

For Hornish the victory today is nothing less than amazing after taking a penalty late in the race and then later using the penalty a green-flag drive through the pits on lap 163 — to add a few gallons of fuel for an all-out run to the finish.

“It was a great team effort today. I could have not done it without the support of Team Penske, Roger has a winning attitude that always works well with his drivers. I just listened to what he said and drove as hard as I could for the final laps. You have to give a lot of credit to Marco for pushing me on that final lap,” said Hornish.

Three former Indy 500 winners failed to finish. Two-time winner Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002) and 2004 winner Buddy Rice crashed together on lap 110. This was the first time in six Indy 500 starts that Castroneves did not complete the full race distance, ending his string of consecutive laps completed at 1,089. Two-time winner Al Unser Jr. (1992, 1994) crashed in turn three after he ran over something coming out of turn two that either cut a tire or damaged his car.