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| Dan Wheldon of Great Britain takes a drink of
milk after winning the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500 at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, in Indianapolis.
(AP) | Dan Wheldon overcame an electrifying
run by Danica Patrick and ended 35 years of fabled
Andretti bad luck to
win the Indianapolis 500 Sunday.
Wheldon took team co-owner Michael Andretti with
him to Victory Lane, ending years of frustration
for the Andretti family, which last got a
taste of the Indy winner's jug of milk when Michael's father, Mario, won
in 1969.
Wheldon is the first Englishman to win at Indy since Graham Hill in
1966. To do it, he had to overcome one of the greatest rookie runs in the
89 years of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the 23-year
old Patrick overcoming two big mistakes to lead the race with just eight
laps to go.
"It feels as good as if I won myself," said Michael, who retired from
the cockpit in 2004 after leading more laps at Indy than any other
nonwinner. "I finally won the Indy 500. No more curse."
Andretti gave all the credit for the win to the 26-year-old Wheldon,
who now has won four of five Indy Racing League events this year.
"I'm just so happy for him," Michael said. "I think this is the first
of many for him."
Wheldon, who said after winning the season-opener at Homestead, Fla.,
that his major goal in racing was to win Indy, was in tears after getting
out of his car.
"This has been a dream come true for me. I've loved the Indianapolis
500 ever since I was a young kid," he said. "I came here and watched it
for the first time in 1999. I'm having an emotional moment. I'm so proud."
Patrick, running out of fuel in the waning laps, held on to finish
fourth, helped by a crash by fellow rookie Sebastien Bourdais one lap from
the end. Wheldon ran out of fuel on his cooldown lap.
The best previous finish by a woman was 9th by Janet Guthrie in 1978.
The story at Indy all month has been Patrick, only the fourth woman to
race at Indianapolis, and Sunday was no exception.
After starting fourth and becoming the first woman
to lead a lap at Indy on lap 57, she stalled the engine in the pits
on her Honda-power Panoz on lap 79, falling to 16th, last on the lead
lap.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2005-05-30 11:18
