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Tora-iffic Takagi honored as top rookie at Indy 500 banquetPosted: Tuesday May 27, 2003 1:01 AMINDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- While Gil de Ferran was honored for his victory in Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Tora Takagi of Japan was named the Rookie of the Year after his fifth-place finish for Mo Nunn Racing. Takagi started seventh in a G Force/Toyota and his month-long performance earned him the award plus a $25,000 check. "I am very happy with this result in my first Indy 500 race," Takagi said at the annual Victory Awards banquet. "My car was always fast this month. I wish I could have finished about two places higher, because I think we were capable of finishing at least third. But overall, I am happy with being the highest-finishing rookie in the race. That is a great honor." Takagi, a former Formula One driver from Shizuoka, Japan, received a check for $363,515 at the annual Victory Dinner. His winnings included $25,000 as rookie of the year. Buddy Lazier, the 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner, was awarded the Scott Brayton Driver's Trophy, presented since 1997 to the driver who exemplifies the character and racing spirit of the late Scott Brayton. De Ferran earned $1,353,265 from a record Indy 500 purse totaling $10,151,830. That purse is comprised of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League awards, and other designated awards. The previous record event purse was awarded in 2002, when the Speedway presented the 33 drivers and teams of the starting field with $10,028,580, the first time the purse surpassed the $10-million mark. The 2003 Indianapolis 500 finish was the closet 1-2-3 finish in event history, with de Ferran beating third-place Tony Kanaan to the line by only 1.2475 seconds. Helio Castroneves flashed across the start-finish line only .2990 of a second behind de Ferran, the third-closest margin among the top-two finishers in Indianapolis 500 history. Castroneves won $739,665 for his runner-up performance in the race, which included $100,000 for winning the MBNA Pole Award. He fell just short of becoming the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 three consecutive times. Kanaan took home $486,465 for finishing third. In addition to the close margins at the end, there were 14 lead changes among eight drivers. Nine cars were on the lead lap and 16 cars were running at the finish. Tomas Scheckter, who finished fourth in his second race, led the most laps with 63. Last year he also led the most laps with 85. He joins Frank Lockhart as the only driver to lead the most laps in each of his first two starts. "It was a pretty good day for us," Scheckter said. "We led a bunch of laps and gave ourselves a chance to win. Team Target did an unbelievable job all month. Obviously, it would have been great to win, but I'm happy with our day." Lockhart led 95 laps en route to victory in a 400-mile, rain-shortened race in 1926 and led 110 laps in 1927 before falling out of the race after 120 laps with a broken rod and finishing 18th. The performance by Castroneves marked the eighth time in Indianapolis 500 history that the defending champion finished second. It marked the second time in three years Penske cars have finished 1-2 at Indianapolis. In 2001 Castroneves won the race and de Ferran finished second. De Ferran's win also gave owner Roger Penske his 13th victory at Indianapolis, extending his record. Penske has won the last three Indianapolis 500s, finally equaling Lou Moore as the only owner to win three races in a row. Moore scored victories in 1947-49 with Mauri Rose winning in 1947-48 and Bill Holland winning in 1949. Penske had scored back-to-back victories in 1984-85 (Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan), 1987-88 (Al Unser and Rick Mears) and 1993-94 (Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr.), but he had failed to score three consecutive victories until this year. "One of the things I pride myself in is getting here and staying connected," Penske said. "I spent more time here than I ever did. Because Gil [de Ferran] was coming back, I wanted to be sure that he had the support he needed. With Helio winning twice, I knew that he was going to get a lot of coverage, because he had 'three-peat' potential." Penske Racing has now won five consecutive Indianapolis 500s in which Penske-owned cars have qualified. Emerson Fittipaldi won in 1993, and Al Unser Jr. won in 1994. The team failed to qualify in 1995 and did not enter the race from 1996-2000. Helio Castroneves won in 2001-02, and de Ferran won this year. Since 1979, when Penske Racing scored its second victory, the team has won 12 of the 19 races in which it qualified. © 2003 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP
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