Dario Franchitti drives a flawless race to win the Indianapolis 500

Dario Franchitti was finally first after 500 miles in the Indianapolis 500, even though he was already an Indy 500 champion in 2007.

Franchitti's victory three years ago came in a race shortened by rain and flagged after 166 laps.

There was no chance of rain today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Franchitti drove a flawless race, dominating by leading most of the race before having to conserve fuel to make it to the finish.

The race ended with a spectacular crash between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mike Conway in the north chute between Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Conway's car went airborne and ripped into the fence before landing upside-down on the race track in one of the most spectacular crashes in recent Indy 500 history.

Conway was able to get out of the car and wave to the crowd of over 300,000 fans afterward.

Meanwhile, Franchitti was able to celebrate his second Indy 500 win in victory lane.

"The milk tastes just as good the second time around here," Franchitti said. "I just needed to know what the other guys were doing with fuel. There was a gap behind them and a lot of confusion. This means so much after coming back when I went away for a year in 2008 and to come back win a championship and win the Indianapolis 500."

Dan Wheldon finished second for Panther Racing for the second year in a row.

IndyCar officials changed the order of finish, moving Marco Andretti from sixth to third place.

Alex Lloyd moved down one spot to fourth. Scott Dixon moves from fourth to fifth, and Danica Patrick drops from fifth to sixth.

The top two places did not change.

The decision comes more than two hours after the race ended. Video review showed three cars passed Andretti after the caution flag came out on Lap 199.

Dale Coyne, who owns Lloyd's car, said his team would not protest the revised finish order.
Officials also flipped the order of 13th and 14th. Mario Romancini moves up one spot to 13th, while Simona de Silvestro falls to 14th.

Patrick started 23rd. She drove underneath Conway's car while it was airborne.


"I knew the strength of the team would be in the race," Patrick said. "I had faith in that. The pit stops were great. It was a little tough to pass but between pit stops and strategy it was a great race. I hope Mike Conway is not hurt. That could just as easily be me one of these times.

"It's been an exciting month. I'm a little relieved."

John Andretti was 30th. He crashed on the 62nd lap after being blackflagged.

From the Associated Press