Young drivers finish strong in star-studded Indy 500 field

He came close to victory at the Indy 500 in 2012, but he wrecked on the final lap, allowing Dario Franchitti to take the win that year.

“To drive around Monaco for a sixth place, seventh place, even a fifth place”. Despite consistently shuffling places, the Spaniard was in the top six throughout most of the 150 opening laps. In the late stages of the race, Alonso was forced to retire due to a blown engine. He was ultimately classified 24th.

The Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award has been given out every year since 1952 and is voted for by members of the media.

The decision rankled some in Formula One, but Alonso a two-time victor at Monaco, had no regrets.

The race was eventually won by Alonso’s Andretti Autosport team mate Takuma Sato, himself a former Formula 1 driver.

“Taku did an awesome job”, Andretti said. “There’s always great opportunity, and Honda is committed for this series, and I’m here to help anything”.

But as the race progressed, Sato ended up mid-pack, bringing to mind the fact that he very almost managed to win the Indy 500 back in 2012, had it not been for an ill-fated move on Dario Franchitti that would see him crash out of the race.

On the restart, Max Chilton was out front chased by Sato, Jones, Castroneves and JR Hildebrand.

Sato went through all the usual post-race traditions, drinking the milk and kissing the bricks and snapping pictures in his auto.

“I can’t begin to thank the Japanese fans”, he said. The organisation is unbelievable.

“I knew I could do it but I was waiting for the moment and the last few laps there was a moment”, said Sato, who also once drove in the Formula One series.

Five years ago Sato came close to the title, but crashed out while jostling with eventual victor Dario Franchitti. But my manager said, “Come on, you’ve got five minutes to go for the interview.’ OK, so now it’s real”. “So I was pleased, very pleased, that competing at the Indy 500 was his dream, it’s been part of McLaren’s history”.

“It’s so important to build a auto for your liking and then prepare for the last 50 laps when you really need to attack”.

“Detroit is pretty much a normal street course set up where you need a lot of stability and traction, but you don’t want to give up too much front grip so you still need good front end turning in the corner”, Sato said. “I had huge ambition and I had to try”.

It started out as a great afternoon with Alonso leading the race on several occasions. His Chip Ganassi Racing team mate Scott Dixon earned $446,629 after winning pole position for the race.

James Davison, driving the Geico Racing Honda for Dale Coyne Racing and associated with Danville sports agent Doug Barnette, wound up 20th in Sunday’s race when he was involved in a Turn No. 2 accident with 16 laps remaining.