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Another brick in the wall Castroneves a two-time winner despite Team Green protestPosted: Sunday May 26, 2002 3:37 PMUpdated: Monday May 27, 2002 12:47 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- His lead evaporating with just over a lap to go, his mirrors and visor smeared with oil, Helio Castroneves saw a blurry yellow flash and feared the worst. Instead of a fuel light, though, it was a timely caution -- and prelude to victory. Castroneves became the first driver in three decades Sunday to win a second consecutive Indianapolis 500. Indy Racing League officials upheld Castroneves' victory after runner-up Paul Tracy had disputed the unofficial result of the race, insisting he passed Castroneves before a yellow flag was displayed after an accident on the 199th lap. Tracy's team immediately filed a formal appeal, and the Indy Racing League said a hearing would be held at 1 p.m. Monday. Tracy said he had seen replays of the pass, as well as some of the track data, and "I'm convinced I'm still the winner." "There's just no evidence worthy of overturning our original decision," said Brian Barnhart, vice president of operations for the IRL.
"What is just is just," Castroneves said. "I don't feel sorry for Paul Tracy, but I'd probably do the same thing if I was in his shoes." A review by IRL officials ended at 8:40 p.m. EDT -- 5 hours, 40 minutes after the race ended. The disputed finish was the first at Indy since 1995, when Scott Goodyear was penalized for passing the pace car on a late restart and Jacques Villeneuve won the race. "We're going to protest, unfortunately or fortunately, I have no evidence that we shouldn't," team owner Barry Green said. "We have footage, we have driver statements. We have IRL timing and scoring data. "My team, they worked their butts off this month. I owe it to my team and my sponsor," he said. "If it clearly was a draw, I would not want them to reverse the decision, but someone has to show me it was a draw," said Green, who won in 1995 with Villeneuve. Disputed though it was, this one was a victory for strategy and survival. First, he gambled he could finish the last 100 miles without stopping for fuel and fresh tires. Then, some savvy driving helped the 27-year-old Brazilian avoid the troubles that plagued leader after leader before him. And, finally, he won when fast-closing Tracy's pass on the next-to-last lap was disallowed because it came seconds after the final caution light froze the field in position. "I didn't have the best car out there and I was just trying to keep going, keep out of trouble, keep on the lead lap," Castroneves said. Castroneves, who never led until lap 177, might not have gotten the opportunity to repeat if Team Penske teammate Gil de Ferran hadn't had some bad luck, bringing out the caution on lap 176 when his left rear tire came off after leaving the pits.
Felipe Giaffone, Tracy and Michael Andretti, all ahead of Castroneves, pitted the next lap, leaving him at the head of the line for the restart on lap 182. Then, it was time for a fuel gamble by Penske team president Tim Cindric. "I couldn't believe everybody coming in," said Castroneves, who is the first driver ever to win his first two Indy 500 starts. "Cindric and I decided to stay out. I said, 'This is the chance I want.' I had 20 gallons in the car and like 22 laps to go." Castroneves admitted there was a question whether he would have enough fuel to get to the end. "I didn't know if I was going to finish or not," he said. "I was almost out of fuel. I couldn't do the victory lap." Added team-owner Roger Penske: "I was holding my breath, for sure." There was also the problem of racing around 2 1/2-mile oval almost blind at 215 mph after his No. 3 Chevrolet-powered Dallara was sprayed with oil. "I couldn't see in the mirrors because one guy blew an engine in front of me and they were completely covered in oil," Castroneves said. "When the yellow [light] came on, I thought I was running out of fuel. "The guys on the radio said, 'Yellow, yellow, yellow!' Then Tracy passed me and I was screaming. He passed me on the yellow." Tracy, driving at Indy for the first time in seven years, did pass Castroneves, but not until after Buddy Lazier and rookie Laurent Redon crashed on the 199th of 200 laps. "I think it's me that won," Tracy said. "I know I was ahead of him. I passed him, then the yellow came out." Under IRL rules, no passing is allowed after the yellow flag is displayed and the yellow lights come on around the track. The dispute was whether the caution had already begun before the pass. "The only reason he passed me is the yellow came on," Castroneves said. "I was protecting a position. He couldn't just pass me. I'm the one who lifted off because of the yellow." Tracy and Green disagreed adamantly. Asked when he first saw one of the lights around the track that indicate if the track is green or yellow, Tracy said, "I didn't see it until after I was ahead of him. So we're going go look at the tape, so in my mind I'm the winner. But we'll see how it comes out." Tracy's owner, Barry Green, met twice with IRL officials during the review, which included several videotaped angles of the disputed finish. Castroneves gave Penske his 12th Indy 500 victory and became the first driver since Al Unser Sr. in 1970-71 to win the world's biggest race in consecutive years. Before the crash, Castroneves did his best to block Tracy, but the Canadian driver, who took second place from Giaffone on lap 197, darted to the outside and drove past Castroneves in turn three just after Lazier and Redon crashed. The disputed finish was the first at Indy since 1995, when Scott Goodyear was penalized for passing the pace car on a late restart and Jacques Villeneuve won the race. Castroneves celebrated Sunday in his traditional way that has earned him the nickname Spiderman: scrambling out of his car on the main straightaway and running across the track to climb the catch fence. Unlike last year, the 64-year-old Penske joined him on the fence. Penske, a founder of the rival CART series, was one of the team owners who boycotted Indy after the IRL began competition in 1996. He returned to the Brickyard last year with Castroneves and de Ferran giving him a 1-2 sweep. This year, he withdrew his team from CART and brought his drivers to the IRL full time, bolstering the series founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George. The victory by Castroneves ended CART's Indy win string at two, with Tracy the highest finishing of eight CART regulars in Sunday's lineup.
Juan Montoya, now in Formula One, won Indy for CART team-owner Chip Ganassi in 2000. Tomas Scheckter, an Indy rookie who has yet to complete a race this season, appeared on the way to an unlikely victory. He dominated much of the race until his car suddenly slid up the track and slammed into the new energy-absorbing wall barrier on the 173rd of 200 laps. As several of the contenders pitted under the ensuing yellow, Castroneves stayed on the track, giving him the lead. The green flag waved for the start of lap 182 with Castroneves ahead of Felipe Giaffone and Tracy. Castroneves held his own and even increased his lead slightly, but Tracy finally passed Giaffone for second on lap 197 and quickly caught up. Giaffone, another of the seven Brazilians in the 33-car field, wound up third, followed by surprising Alex Barron, former race winner Eddie Cheever Jr., Richie Hearn and Michael Andretti, who again was denied an Indy victory despite a strong showing. Robby Gordon, trying to match Tony Stewart's 2001 feat of running both Indy and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day, finished eighth and immediately flew to North Carolina. The start of the 86th edition of the Indy 500 gave no indication of the strange events that were to thwart the leaders on a sunny, warm day. Pole-winner Bruno Junqueira led the first 32 laps but immediately knew he had a gearbox or clutch problem that eventually knocked him out of the race, while Tony Kanaan and Scheckter both crashed while out front.
Junqueira lost the lead to Scheckter during the pit stops that followed Greg Ray's crash on lap 30 and never got close to the front again. Scheckter, the 21-year-old son of 1979 Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, then waged a battle with fellow Indy rookie Kanaan and IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. until those two ran into problems. Following the second round of green flag stops, Kanaan was out front, just ahead of Scheckter and Hornish. Then, the 22-year-old IRL star slipped high on the slightly banked track coming off turn four and slapped the concrete with his right rear tire. The damage was severe enough to send Hornish to the garage area for lengthy repairs and relegate him to a 26th-place finish. Junqueira's car spewed smoke and fluids on lap 89, catching fire briefly as he pulled into the pits. Just as race officials were about to put out another caution, Kanaan slid through the fluid left on the track by Junqueira and hit the outside wall between turns three and four. Rookie Rick Treadway, well behind the leaders on the track, also hit the wall as cars slowed or tried to miss the debris from Kanaan's crash. |
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Castroneves enjoys his win and entertains comparisons to Spiderman. 
