Indy 500 Results: Tony Kanaan Wins First Ever Indianapolis 500
By Josh Hill
Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the place to be on Sunday if you are a fan of motor sports and the big race everyone was looking forward to failed to disappoint. This Sunday’s Indy 500 featured a record number of lead changes which meant right from the start it was anyone’s race, but Tony Kanaan ended up crossing the finish line in an amazing end to the race and rode right into Victory Lane.
Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti spent the first 29 laps of the race leapfrogging one another but they weren’t the only drivers in the race with a chance to win. Indiana’s own Ed Carpenter was at the front of the starting grid when the day began but he quickly fell back in the pack. Carlos Munoz was also at the head of the starting grid along with Andretti but it was a guy further back in the pack who crossed the finish line first.
The race will be remember by Kanaan forever as he stated before the race that it was his lifelong dream to win the Indy 500 and celebrate in Victory Lane and that dream has now come true.
Emotions ran high during Kanaan’s final lap as members of his race team from the car owner all the way down to his wife and especially best friend Helio Castroneves were overcome with happiness and joy at the victory by Kanaan.
“I got a little bit of luck today,” Kanaan said in Victory Lane to ABC Pit Crew reporters. “It’s for the fans, it’s for my day who’s not here. It was just unbelievable. … I can’t believe it.”
The day was a disappointing one for Marco Andretti who not only fell back and finished in fourth place and didn’t have any of the cars on his team win the race. But while losing was a disappointment for Andretti, second place wasn’t so bad for first timer Carlos Munoz. Racing in his first Indy Car race of his career and his first ever Indy 500, he nearly pulled off the huge win but finished just behind Kanaan.
“It’s all respect now,” he said after the race. “I know how hard this race is.”
But while he finished in second, we’ve hardly seen the last of the rookie driver who showed a ton of promise in his first Indy 500 race of his career on Sunday.
The Indy 500 has come and gone in Indianapolis this year, but they’ll be partying in Brazil tonight as Tony Kanaan has won his first ever Indy 500 and now joins the ranks of all the great drivers who came before him.
“We were known for not winning and now we’re known for winning,” Kanaan beemed in Victory Lane. “I can’t believe it.”