The Proposed Iowa Double-Header for 2012.

As of right now I don't think I like the proposed IndyCar Double-Header that is set for Iowa in 2012. Before I go right into my reasoning, here is a little background info that has been given out about the plan.

The IndyCar Series has proposed a plan to run a night race on a Saturday, and then run a day race during Sunday on that same weekend at Iowa Speedway. From Curt Cavin's article Randy Bernard says "a potential Iowa double-dip would cut down costs for fans, possibly expand TV opportunities and balance the schedule between road and oval courses. The series will run nine races on road/street courses this season and eight on ovals such as Iowa in 2011." Randy Bernard has also discussed the plan with Iowa Speedway President Jerry Jauron about the idea, and Jauron likes the plan.

 I feel that the first race will be sold out and attended by the most people, but I don't think the second race will get even half as many people in attendance and the TV Ratings will not be as good for the second race. Most people will not be able to stay for both races, many have too much to do with there lives during the weekends. Although there aren't many hotels, this event could turn into a spending fiasco, paying for hotel rooms, food, gas, and tickets. I don't feel that some people are willing to spend a ton of money right now. As I said I don't think this is a good idea right now, but my opinion on this can change.

Iowa Corn 250 Recap.

Overall Iowa was a great race and it never fails to succeed to do so!

For the first 150 laps the race was marked by plenty of crashing, and both of Ganassi's Target cars were dominating the race. One of the many drivers that were involved in a crash was IndyCar Series Championship contender Will Power crashed just 90 laps into the race in turn 2. Earlier in the race while pulling out of the pits Power hit Charlie Kimball(R), and sustained some damage. This may have been the reason why he just lost it, and ended up going backwards into the wall. Power has a mild concussion from the crash, and will have to pass a test to drive in Toronto in 2 weeks. Will Power ended up finishing 21st, and is now 20 points behind points leader Dario Franchitti.

I would like to point out that Will Power wasn't just the only driver who crashed because of a minor bump in turn 2. Will Power, Takuma Sato, James Jakes(R), Sebastian Saveedra(R), and Ana Beatriz(R) all crashed in turn 2. If I were the IndyCar Series I would pressure the track to get that fixed by next year.

Chip Ganassi Racing as a whole did real well again with Dario Franchitti leading most of the race up until around lap 172 when Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti took over. Scott Dixon did real well moving from his starting position of 23rd, and finished 3rd. Where did the other Ganassi drivers finish? Dario Franchitti-5th Graham Rahal-15th Charlie Kimball(R)-22nd

Right after Dario's lead faded Tony Kanaan, and Marco Andretti put on a great show fighting for first place for the rest of the race. Tony put up a good fight with Andretti up until about 18 laps left of the race when TK tried to go under Marco, and then Marco pulled down right in front of TK. Right then TK had to fall back, and was a good 4 car lengths behind Marco in second during the rest of the race.

Marco celebrating his win. From:indycar.com

Tony Kanaan congratulating Marco for his race win. From:indycar.com

During the end of the race when Marco was celebrating TK went up to Marco to say congrats, and said he would have done the same thing to win the race if he were in that position. TK didn't even act like he was a on a different race team. This shows why TK is such a class act, and why he is still a fan favorite.

This was Marco's first win since his first win at Infineon Raceway in 2006. This win shows Andretti Autosport can still win, and that Marco can win by himself. Also he makes it look like getting on the pole is nothing when he won the race from a starting position of 17th.

Other drivers that had a good run during Iowa was Panther Racing's JR Hildebrand(R) which finished 4th, and even led a couple laps in the middle of the race. Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe stayed in the top 10 all night. They finished 6th and 7th. Also Newman/Haas Racing's James Hinchcliffe(R) had another good finish of 9th.


The whole race was a success with Iowa showing their love for Open Wheel Racing with an official race attendance of 35,118.


 Official Iowa Corn 250 results.

1. (17) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
2. (3) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
3. (23) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
4. (4) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
5. (6) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
6. (10) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
7. (13) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
8. (8) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
9. (7) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
10. (2) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
11. (14) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
12. (12) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
13. (22) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
14. (11) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running
15. (20) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running
16. (15) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running
17. (19) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 239, Handling
18. (16) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 227, Handling
19. (1) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 182, Contact
20. (25) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 114, Contact
21. (5) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 89, Contact
22. (21) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 62, Mechanical
23. (18) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 44, Contact
24. (9) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 44, Contact
25. (24) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 22, Contact

Iowa Corn 250 Preview.

The Iowa Corn 250 will be an interesting race to say the least. Takuma Sato is on the pole which is the first pole for KV Racing since 2005. Danica Patrick will start second which is an impressive starting spot for her, with an off and on season so far. Tony Kanaan will start third and rookie JR Hildebrand will start 4th.

During the second practice after qualifying yesterday night Takuma Sato, and Alex Tagliani collided into each other and crashed. Which just left KV Racing's and Sam Schmidt Motorports' crews with a little more work to do to get ready for today's race.

Yesterday IndyCar officials said that the race is set to be sold out tonight. So expect a good crowd.

 Iowa Corn 250 starting grid.
1. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 180.375
2. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 180.210
3. (82) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 179.833
4. (4) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 179.569
5. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 179.474
6. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 179.474
7. (06) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 179.385
8. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 179.305
9. (27) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 179.185
10. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 178.771
11. (2) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 178.742
12. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 178.631
13. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 178.570
14. (67) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 178.510
15. (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 178.426
16. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 178.365
17. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 178.165
18. (24) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 177.821
19. (59) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 177.680
20. (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 177.509
21. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 177.280
22. (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 177.257
23. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 175.784
24. (18) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 173.365
25. (34) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, no speed

The Versus live coverage starts tonight at 6:30pm ET with the Indy Lights race aired live. IndyCar Central starts at 8pm ET. The Iowa Corn 250 will start at 9:00pm ET. 

500 Miles' Week in Review

Let's explore the multitudes of things that happened in the past week!

Dan Wheldon with his Bryan Herta Autosport Indy 500 winning car.

Current Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon will be testing the new IndyCar prototype chassis with Bryan Herta Autosport. Testing of the prototype is scheduled to take place in August and September of this year, it is not clear what track this will take place at. Teams are scheduled to get their equipment by December 15th.

Simona de Silvestro has been denied to race tonight at Iowa due to post-concussion symptoms from the crash during qualifying last weekend in Milwaukee.

Nick Snyder has been named the new lead engineer for Alex Tagliani who drives for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

Circle K joined Andretti Autosport as a marketing sponsor, and will be the major associate sponsor for Ryan Hunter-Reay's #28 car.

Milwaukee 225 Thoughts and Reactions.

Although Milwaukee was somewhat entertaining to most including myself, I thought it was pretty much a crash fest with Ganassi dominating for the most part again.

HVM Racing/Simona de Silvestro.

First of all if none of you are fans of Simona by now, I don't know when you will be.  My reasoning is simple, because even after six stitches on one knee, a bad bang to the head, and a broken rib, Simona de Silvestro attempted the next day to get in that ancient car and win a race. Although she wasn't out but maybe 10 laps she showed nothing will get in her way of trying to get out there and race. I will also give a thumbs up to HVM Racing because, even after everything that has happened during the crashes, that whole team works so hard in example the whole team worked non stop from the time of the crash to the early morning hours on that Sunday the Milwaukee 225 was held on.

On another positive note I would like to point out how well Newman-Haas Racing finished during the race with Oriol Servia in 3rd, and James Hinchcliffe(R) in 6th. Although the broadcast for the race actually ran over on ABC, I would have liked to seen Oriol's interview after the race instead of Dario's griping.

Ton Kanaan at Milwaukee. From:sports.yahoo.com

KV Racing had some good luck that quickly turned bad late in the race. E.J. Viso was safely in the top 5 for a good part of the race until he crashed on lap 163.  Also Tony Kanaan looked like he was going to win the race after leading 33 laps, but just lost it going into the front straightaway and crashed. Takuma Sato also had a good race until he had to serve a drive through penalty for hitting a crew member while pitting. How did they all finish? Kanaan-19th Viso-20th Sato-8th

Penske racing had a good turn out as usual with Helio Castroneves having some late race bad luck, with a tire loosing too much pressure. So under caution he had to go in for a pit stop, losing his first place position over Dario Franchitti. Also Helio led 31 laps. Will Power finished 4th, Helio finished 9th, and Ryan Briscoe finished 11th.

Graham Rahal, Dario Franchitti, and Oriol Servia celebrating on the podium after the Milwaukee 225.

Ganassi is still dominating. Dario Franchitti led the majority of the race with 161 laps. The big controversy belongs with Ganassi and Penske during some pit stops Dario hit the front right tire and crossed the pit box line of Will Power. Race Control gave no penalty to Dario, but many fans including me feel that he should have received that penalty for crossing Penske's pit box and hitting Penske's equipment. Dario went on finishing first, and Dixon finished 7th. Graham Rahal had a good race, staying in the top 10 the whole race and ended up finishing 2nd. Charlie Kimball finished a lap down in 14th.

Other interesting things to note.
The race attendance was horrible with an estimated attendance of around 13,000. I think IndyCar needs to come back next year, but not on Father's Day weekend, and they need to find a better event promoter.

The TV ratings for ABC's live telecast were at 0.9. At least it was higher than the ratings with Versus.

Dario Just Continues to Whine.

I just don't understand it, Dario is now tied with Will Power in the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship Points Standings for first and he just won the race, but he continued to complain after the race while being interviewed. All the stuff he was complaining about was uncalled for especially by saying that Penske needs to watch out next time he is pulling into the pits. In my opinion he should have been penalized for hitting Will Power's right front tire changer. Dario has made sure that his whining after each race has been consistent to. It is unsportsmanlike, and not everybody gets their way all the time. Dario please stop acting like the world revolves around you, because it doesn't! Your also not making a good example for the IndyCar Series either, so just please stop.

Milwaukee 225 race Preview

Dario Franchitti. From:indycar.com

Dario Franchitti is on the pole for today's race. Surprisingly Will Power will have to start 17th today will a bad qualifying run yesterday. KV Racing also did a good job qualifying with Tony Kanaan starting in 4th, Takuma Sato in 5th, and EJ Viso in 6th.

Simona De Silvestro

Simona de Silvestro has been cleared to race today after a bad crash while qualifying yesterday. She crashed into the SAFER barrier on turn four and made contact on the wall a second time. She was released from the hospital at around 10 p.m. on Saturday. She met with the track's medical team this morning and was cleared to drive.

Attendance is set to be around 20,000 today. The Milwaukee facility is trying to get back some much needed fans by offering a 2 for 1 deal for buying tickets.

It rained this morning in West Allis, WI, but it is supposed to be clear for the rest of the day. The race will be aired live on ABC 3:30pm ET.

Milwaukee 225 Starting Grid

The Milwaukee 225 will be on ABC today at 3:30 ET.
1.  (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 170.841
2.  (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 169.999
3.  (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 169.582
4.  (82) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 169.365
5.  (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 169.308
6.  (59) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 169.082
7.  (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 169.014
8.  (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 168.598
9.  (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 168.456
10.  (2) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 168.320
11.  (24) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 167.863
12.  (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 167.674
13.  (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 167.621
14.  (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 167.162
15.  (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 166.779
16.  (06) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 166.558
17.  (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 166.248
18.  (4) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 166.070
19.  (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 166.031
20.  (27) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 166.003
21.  (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 165.592
22.  (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 165.375
23.  (18) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 164.814
24.  (34) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 164.440
25.  (67) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 163.304
26.  (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, no speed

500 Miles' Week in Review

Some big news has appeared out of nowhere in the last few days in the IndyCar Series world.  Let's see what came up.

Pippa at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From:speedtv.com.

Pippa Mann has a ride with Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan Racing for Loudon, Kentucky, and Las Vegas. This is great news for the driver which had only planned to run in the Indy 500 this year. Also it is great news for a team that is wanting to come back, and run a full season in the IndyCar Series next year.

In other news it has been reported by Randy Bernard on Trackside Live this week that he has been trying to contact Bryan Sperber, the president of the Phoenix International Speedway, but has had no luck with getting a hold of him. Sounds like Randy Bernard tried to get Phoenix back on the schedule for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season, but Mr. Sperber does not want to deal with the IndyCar Series.

Texas Twin 275's Recap.

The Texas Twin 275's race format was interesting to say the least. For the most part I liked it, but there needs to be some tweaking to do if this format comes back next year. Many things happened before and after the Texas race lets see what happened.

Dario celebrating his race win. From:speedtv.com

In race 1 Alex Tagliani started out on the pole, but Dario Franchitti dominated by leading virtually every lap and winning the race. The only crash that happened during this race and all of Saturday night was when Wade Cunningham(R), and Charlie Kimball(R) hit each other and were knocked out of race 1. Overall race 1 was a flop, Tagliani didn't fight for the lead for long at all, and Franchitti led for most of the race. Both of the Target cars finished well with Franchitti first and Dixon second.

Will Power doing his signature move. From:speedtv.com

Race number 2 had some more action to it with Tony Kanaan on the pole. For the first 40 laps Tony Kanaan and Will Power battled for the lead, until on lap 41 when Will Power took over for the rest of the race and won race 2. Once again Scott Dixon finished second, and Kanaan ended up finishing 5th. The problem everyone is pointing out about this race is that Dario Franchitti started 28th, and moved up to 7th by the end of the race. Franchitti has complained that if he didn't have to start in the back of the field, that he would have been a contender for first position.


Dario Franchitti definitely didn't hold back voicing his opinion on the random draw that caused him to start in the very back of the field. He has said that if they continue to have the two race set up at Texas that the plans need to be redrawn. Even Randy Bernard has said that he agrees with Franchitti on tweaking the two race setup. Although I kinda enjoyed the whole thing, I think they need to take the 70 minute break in between and cut that in half. Also for the whole setup I kinda like Dan Wheldon's idea he he gave the next day on twitter "My idea. Twin 275's - first race regular points, 2nd race, random draw, no points, $1,000,000 for winner!!! That's what is should be!!!"

Dan Wheldon as a race commentator?
I liked Dan Wheldon's position as a commentator during the race he added some much needed personality, and we need someone that's new and fresh.

Did the new Texas Twin 275s setup spark up better TV ratings? 
Well kinda. The overnight Versus overnight TV ratings were at a .38, which is up 12% from last year. I think if they would cut down on the amount of time between the races the ratings would be so much better.

Texas Twin 275's

First of all this new race format for Texas will be just awesome from my point of view! The races will keep people standing on their feet the whole time! Lets discuss what happened this week in the IndyCar world, and lets talk about the Texas Twin 275s!

First what happened this week?
-Alex Tagliani's engineer Aleen McDonald left to go back to Andretti Autosport as a part of their rebuilding. Alex Tagliani didn't have to search for long for a new one, because he found Todd Malloy the next day.

From:http://www.autoracing1.com/Images/2002Misc/OvalCrash2.jpg

-I would also like to note that this will be Davey Hamilton's first race at Texas since his almost career ending crash in 2001. 
-During a fitness promotion JR Hildebrand injured his knee on a hurdle last Thursday. He said, that his knee will have no affect on him while driving in the race. 


Everything is Big in Texas. 
The 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway has offered some of the best IndyCar racing around, I think with the two separate races that track's racing will just get better. Lets go over the rules for the Twin 275s. 
-Points and prize money will be divided in half for each race. 
-Each team is allowed to bring two cars per driver, in case they crash in the first race, they can use the (T) car. 
-The teams will be allowed to work on the cars in the hour break between the races. 
-The starting position of each driver for the second race will be decided with a random draw with each driver pulling their position. 
-Each race will be 114 laps(275 kilometers). There will be a hour break between the first and second race. 
Texas Twin 275s race one starting order.

Pos  Driver               Team               Speed
 1.  Alex Tagliani        Sam Schmidt        215.186
 2.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi            214.801
 3.  Will Power           Penske             214.716
 4.  Takuma Sato          KV                 214.470
 5.  Ed Carpenter         Sarah Fisher       214.373
 6.  Tony Kanaan          KV                 214.252
 7.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi            214.021
 8.  Wade Cunningham      Sam Schmidt        214.013
 9.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske             213.891
10.  Danica Patrick       Andretti           213.850
11.  JR Hildebrand        Panther            213.458
12.  Vitor Meira          Foyt               213.429
13.  Helio Castroneves    Penske             213.232
14.  Oriol Servia         Newman/Haas        213.023
15.  James Hinchcliffe    Newman/Haas        212.970
16.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti           212.938
17.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi            212.797
18.  Davey Hamilton       Dreyer & Reinbold  212.555
19.  EJ Viso              KV                 212.494
20.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi            212.404
21.  Paul Tracy           Dragon             212.305
22.  Mike Conway          Andretti           212.260
23.  Marco Andretti       Andretti           212.223
24.  Ana Beatriz          Dreyer & Reinbold  212.221
25.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne         212.091
26.  Sebastian Saavedra   Conquest           212.033
27.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold  211.762
28.  Jay Howard           Rahal/Schmidt      211.691
29.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                210.855
30.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne

The Texas Twin 275s coverage will be on Versus and it will start on 8pm ET. 

The Sidenote.  

Remember the big controversy over the Delta Wing project for the new 2012

IZOD IndyCar Series race car?  Well there is an announcement that has been made 

that the Delta Wing will be allowed to race in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 

program which is called Project 56, will be ran by Highcroft Racing. 
The Delta Wing Le Mans Prototype. From:Delta Wing

The Weekend Recap

Although there wasn't a race this weekend, many things still pop up throughout the IndyCar world.What Happened?

First of all the Indianapolis 500 winner should at least have a ride for the Texas Twin 275's, but never was asked to do so. At least Dan Wheldon will be at the Texas Twin 275's as a Versus TV analyst during the broadcast of the race. So with this conclusion, Dan Wheldon is still trying to find a ride for the rest of the season.

The IndyCar Series will not be racing at the oval in Motegi, instead they will be using the 2.98 mile natural terrain road course during the final year at the Twin Ring Motegi motorsports facility in Japan. The race is scheduled to be on Sept. 18th.

After successfully completing her test last week in Milwaukee, Simona de Silvestro feels that she is a fast healer, and will be at the Texas Twin 275's. Even with her hands burnt up.

From: indycar.com

Finally I count that there will be 31 drivers with Jay Howard announcing he will race with Rahal/Letterman this week for the Texas Twin 275's. Remember only the top 26 driver's will receive official IZOD IndyCar Series Championship points. The race will be on Saturday at 8 pm ET on Versus.

Indianapolis 500 Recap

I know this last weekend was full of great racing with F1 at Monaco, Nascar at Charlotte, but I think the good old Indianapolis held up to be the most exciting! The 2011 Indianapolis 500 was probably the most exciting Indy 500 since 1989, when Al Unser Jr. crashed on the last lap, and Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead and won the race. Many events that just continued to happen over the course of the day just made this an exciting race.

Starting with the fact the Penske had no affect on the outcome of the race at all. In fact all Penske drivers finished a lap down, or more. Let's see where they finished Power in 14th, Castroneves in 17th, and Briscoe in 27th. They fouled up on many things for instance when Will Power left the pits on a caution, and lost a tire, so he lost some track positions while having to go back in. Let's face it even IndyCar's powerhouse can have a strenuous Indy 500!  If nothing like that happened at the Indianapolis 500 people would never pay attention to it. I'm sure Roger Penske isn't too happy, and someone will be fired for sure. Also noticing the fact that Andretti Autosport's old team manager Tom Anderson was working for Sam Schmidt Motorsports on Sunday. Andretti Autosport had problems just getting into the race with Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay not even fast enough to do just that on Bump Day. So Michael Andretti(team owner) that Sunday afternoon decided to make a deal, and  buy Bruno Junqueira's ride. Even with all the trouble Danica Patrick ended up leading some laps near the end of the Indy 500.

With a couple of the biggest teams going down the hill for this years Indy 500 lets talk Ganassi. As usual they are expected to dominate the Indy 500, and yes they did for the most part. They led 141 laps as a team, but could not market off of anything with a bad fuel strategy for the race with Dario Franchitti having to go in for a pit stop with just a couple laps left of the race. Where did they finish? Rahal- 3rd, Dixon 5th, Franchitti 12th, and Kimball(R) 13th.

Out of all the race teams up near the front all season I've noticed that Newman/Haas might actually have caught to Penske and Ganassi. Oriol Servia led a couple laps and stayed up near the front all day, and was even a threat during qualifying for the Pole Position. He ended up finishing 6th for the Indy 500. Servia is also third in the 2011 IndyCar Series Point Standings, only 44 points behind leader Will Power.

Simona signing autographs with her burnt hands. From:http://www.speedtv.com/

Simona de Silvestro of HVM Racing has proven herself to hold up to her new nickname the "Swiss Missile" during the race. On Thursday May 19th, she hit the wall on turn three and flipped over going into turn four. She suffered from second degree burns on her left hand and third degree burns on her right hands. Even after all that she got back into the car and qualified 24th with burns on her hands. She survived the first couple laps of the race, but ended up brushing the wall on lap 3 and tearing up part of her suspension. She continued to stay in the race up until about lap 40, but could not continue with her car tore up.

What happened at the very last lap of the Indy 500 was what really blew everybody's mind. When J.R. Hildebrand(R) leading the race hit the wall on turn four, allowing Dan Wheldon to pass him for his second Indianapolis 500 win. What happened to Hildebrand? His spotter said that Wheldon was close enough to pass him so Hildebrand went up into the marbles to pass Charlie Kimball. Going up into the marbles is what caused Hildebrand to loosed traction and finish second after hitting the wall. Hildebrand will be thinking about this the rest of his life, but it was his spotter's call to send him up there and crash. Wheldon was nowhere close enough to attempt to pass Hildebrand for the lead. 

Team owner Bryan Herta with race winner Dan Wheldon.

Dan Wheldon's win without a doubt was a huge one with this being the only planned race for him this year. Will they race any more races in 2011? Well Bryan Herta thinks so, but at the moment he is not sure which ones. This summer they are supposedly set to be the team to test the 2012 Dallara IndyCar. Herta even said the prize money is enough to run the rest of the season, but originally had planned to start up in 2012 when the new cars come out. Well let's wait and see maybe William Rast will come back as the teams main sponsor for the season.