2006 Indianapolis 500

Infobox Indy500
race_name = 90th Indianapolis 500
race_
location = Indianapolis Motor Speedway
date = May 28, 2006
winner = Sam Hornish, Jr.
mph = 157.085 mph
pole = Sam Hornish, Jr.
pole_speed = 228.985 mph
fast_time = Hornish, Jr.
rookie = Marco Andretti
leader = Dan Wheldon (148)
anthem = Members of U.S. Armed Forces
back_home = Jim Nabors
start_engines = Mari Hulman George
pace_car = Chevrolet Corvette
pace_driver = Lance Armstrong
honorary_start = Sugar Ray Leonard
attendance = 250,000 (estimated)
network = ABC
announcers = Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Rusty Wallace
rating = 5.0
share = 14
previous = 2005
next = 2007

The 90th Indianapolis 500 was held on Sunday, May 28, 2006. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the race with the first final-lap pass for victory in race history, by overtaking, on the final straightaway, rookie Marco Andretti, whose father Michael Andretti finished third. The margin of victory was 0.0635 seconds, the second-closest finish in the history of the 500. Hornish had earned the pole in qualifying with a four-lap average of 228.985 mph. Although defending champion Dan Wheldon dominated much of the race, leading 148 of the race's 200 laps, a punctured tire forced him to make a final pit stop earlier than planned, dropping him too far in the standings to recapture higher than fourth position by race's end.

Qualifications

This was the second year in which a new qualifying procedure was in place for the Indianapolis 500: only eleven spots were to be open on each of the first three days of qualifying, thus allowing bumping (removal of entries which had qualified from the field due to faster qualifying runs by other drivers) on each day, and with all thirty-three cars potentially eligible to be bumped on the fourth and final day of qualifying. However, the first two days of qualifying (May 13 and May 14) were rained out, so all thirty-three spots were open on the first day qualification could be attempted (May 20).

Thirty-two drivers qualified on May 20. Sam Hornish, Jr., won the pole with the fastest four-lap qualifying speed of 228.985 mph; it was the tenth pole of his career. Only one driver, Dario Franchitti, did not qualify on his first attempt; he waved off a sub par performance in which he experienced engine trouble after three laps, but then qualified later in the day after changing the engine. Although the new qualifying rules allowed qualified cars to be withdrawn and re-qualified in hope of gaining a better starting position, with a maximum of three attempts per day, only one driver did so. Townsend Bell's qualification at 223.659 mph was withdrawn, and he achieved an average of 224.374 mph on his second attempt, but this improved his starting position by only one spot.

The final spot in the starting field was filled by Thiago Medeiros on May 21, the last day of qualifying. No other drivers attempted to qualify on that day.

Qualifying Chronology

^*C Chassis: D=Dallara; P=Panoz. All cars in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 used Honda engines and Firestone tires.

(W) = Former Indianapolis 500 winner; (R) = Indianapolis 500 rookie

Race Leaders

Seven drivers led the race, with a total of fourteen lead changes. [cite web |title=Official Box Score |url=http://www.indy500.com/stats/box_scoreHTML.php?year=2006 |date=2006-05-28 |accessdate=2006-06-01 ]

Caution Periods

There were five caution periods during the race, with a total of forty-four laps run under yellow.

Notes

*For the first time, Honda was the sole engine supplier to the field. It is believed that for the first time in Indianapolis 500 history, that the race was run without a single engine problem during the entire month [cite web |title=Hondas Flawless and Hornish Wins A Thrilling Indy 500 |url=http://racing.honda.com/results/detail.aspx?date=2006_05_28 |date=2006-05-28 |accessdate=2006-07-16] .

*In Hornish's seven tries at the Indy 500, this was the first that he had even completed 500 miles.

*It was the 14th Indianapolis 500 win for Roger Penske as an owner.

*This was the first Indianapolis 500 in which the leader of lap 199 did not win the race. Davidson, Donald. (2007). "The Talk of Gasoline Alley" [Radio program] . "", May 3, 2007. Archived at http://media.wibc.com/av/audio/talk_gas/2007/may3.mp3, retrieved on May 9, 2007.]

*The second- and third-place finishes by Marco and Michael Andretti were the 49th and 50th unsuccessful attempts to win the 500 by members of the Andretti family as drivers (Michael Andretti was a winning owner in 2005 and would be again in 2007) since patriarch Mario Andretti's sole win in 1969, extending what is popularly called the "Andretti Curse" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

*A few weeks after the race, Tom Carnegie announced his retirement after 61 years, making the 2006 500 his final race as track announcer. cite web |title=Carnegie retiring after 61 years as Voice of the Speedway |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2006-06-14-carnegie-retirement_x.htm|date=2006-06-14 |accessdate=2007-05-10]

*ABC Sports utilized Side-By-Side for the first time during the Indianapolis 500.

References

External links

* [http://www.indy500.com www.indy500.com]

ee also

* Indy Racing League

Indy 500 Walker
Previous_race = 2005
Previous_winner = Dan Wheldon
This_race = 2006
This_winner = Sam Hornish, Jr.
Next_race = 2007
Next_winner = Dario Franchitti