2005 Indianapolis 500

The 89th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 2005. It was the premier event of the 2005 IndyCar Series season, and the tenth Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. Dan Wheldon won the race under a yellow flag.^[1] Wheldon became the first British-born winner since Graham Hill in 1966.^[2] It was the first of two victories for Wheldon at Indy (2011).

Rookie Danica Patrick, who qualified fourth and finished fourth, became the first female driver in Indy history to lead laps during the race. Patrick led three times for a total of 19 laps, and won the Rookie of the Year award.^[3] Considerable media hype and attention was focused on the race and on Patrick in particular during the month,^[4]^[5] giving birth to the term "Danica Mania."^[6]^[7]^[8] Her 4th place starting position broke the record set by Lyn St. James (6th in 1994) and her 4th-place finishing position broke record set by Janet Guthrie (9th in 1978).

The increased attention going into the race helped register a 6.5 Nielsen rating, the highest since 1996.^[9]

Background

Over the offseason, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was milled and repaved in asphalt. Selective diamond grinding was done in an effort to smooth out bumps in the turns. On April 5, 2005, a private test session saw four teams (AGR, Ganassi, Rahal, and Panther) test for Firestone. The session was cancelled, however, when the inconsistent pavement in the turns created an unsuitable dual level of grip in the corners. A week later, the entire track was diamond ground to cure the problem.

The schedule for the month of May was slightly retooled for 2005. The annual rookie orientation program was moved to opening day, as well as the second day of official activity. Previously, in most cases rookie orientation was held prior to the traditional "opening day" of practice, often in April. Veteran practice would commence on Tuesday, the third day overall.

Carb Day, the traditional last day of practice before the race, was moved from its familiar Thursday slot to Friday of race weekend. After four years of having three days of time trials scheduled (2001–2004), time trials reverted to four days, and a new format (dubbed "11/11/11") was introduced.

After they were first allowed in 2004, single-point refueling rigs were made mandatory for 2005.^[10]

After several decades of the race traditionally starting at 11:00 a.m. local time (EST), the start time was moved to 12:00 p.m. EST (1:00 p.m. EDT).

Team and driver changes

Among the numerous team/driver changes for 2005 included Rahal Letterman Racing. Defending Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice returned, and was joined by rookie Danica Patrick. Newman/Haas Racing returned to the Indy 500, entering Sébastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira.

Two-time winner Al Unser, Jr. took a brief retirement from driving for 2005, and did not enter. With him along with others such as Michael Andretti, and Arie Luyendyk on the sidelines, no participants from the 1980s would qualify for the field, the first time ever.

Race schedule

Race schedule – May 2005
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6	7 Mini-Marathon
8 ROP	9 ROP	10 Practice	11 Practice	12 Practice	13 Practice	14 Time Trials
15 Time Trials	16	17	18 Practice	19 Practice	20 Practice	21 Time Trials
22 Bump Day	23	24	25	26	27 Carb Day	28 Parade
29 Indy 500	30 Memorial Day	31

Color	Notes
Green	Practice
Dark Blue	Time trials
Silver	Race day
Red	Rained out
Blank	No track activity

* Includes days where track activity
was significantly limited due to rain

ROP – denotes Rookie Orientation Program

Practice (week 1)

Sunday May 8

Opening day of practice focused on rookie orientation. The coveted first driver on the track was Danica Patrick.^[11] Among the top drivers of the day were Patrick (221.463 mph), Ryan Briscoe, and Patrick Carpentier. Seven out of the nine drivers participating completed their required rookie test.

Monday May 9

The second day of rookie orientation saw Danica Patrick again set the pace. She set the fast lap of the month thus far at 222.741 mph. Sébastien Bourdais completed his rookie test, while Jeff Ward completed a refresher test.^[11]

Tuesday May 10

The first full day of veteran practice saw heavy activity. Dan Wheldon led the speed chart at 226.808 mph, and no incidents were reported.^[11]

Wednesday May 11

Defending Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice suffered a significant crash at 12:16 p.m. The car spun in turn 2 and made heavy contact to the rear of the car. Kosuke Matsuura spun to avoid the crash, but received minimal damage. Rice was transported to Methodist Hospital with a concussion.^[11]

Rain ended the day about a half hour early, with Tony Kanaan fastest of the day, and fastest of the month thus far, at 227.453 mph.^[11]

Thursday May 12

Darren Manning and Paul Dana both suffered single-car crashes during the session, but neither were seriously injured. Tony Kanaan led the pace early over 227 mph, but late in the day, Danica Patrick upped the speed to 227.633 mph. It marked the fastest lap thus far during the month, and the first time a female driver had led the speed chart on a full day of practice (without a rain delay) since 1977.^[11]

Friday May 13

"Fast Friday" practice saw cloudy skies, and warm terperatures. Paul Dana wrecked his backup car, the second day in a row crashing. Exiting turn two, Dana spun and hit the outside wall, and slid down the back stretch. Sam Hornish, Jr. hit a piece of debris from the wreck on the back stretch, and did a full flip. The car came down upright, but continued to spin and came to a rest overturned. Hornish was uninjured, but Dana was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.^[11]

Tomas Scheckter turned the fastest lap thus far around 1 p.m., at 227.804 mph. Rain began to fall shortly after 2 p.m., and closed the track for the day.^[11]

Time trials (weekend 1)

Saturday May 14

Rain fell overnight and into the morning, preventing any track activity. A new qualifying format was put into place for 2005, providing that only the top 11 cars would secure positions on pole day, and bumping would then occur. Track officials decided to cancel activities for the day at 12:15 p.m., and postpone pole qualifying until Sunday.^[11]

Shortly after the official postponement, the rain stopped and blue skies emerged.^[12] Some complained that qualifying could have been held after all, but head official Brian Barnhart still felt there would not be sufficient time to finish the qualifying order.^[12]

Sunday May 15 (Pole day)

Cool temperatures in the mid-50s were observed for morning practice. Danica Patrick set the fastest lap of the entire month during the morning session at 229.675 mph. The lap made her a favorite for the front row. Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan were close behind on the speed chart.^[11]

Due to the rainout on Saturday, 22 positions were to be filled on Sunday. After the field filled to 22 cars, bumping would begin.

At noon, Scott Sharp was the first car to make a qualifying attempt. He placed himself in the field with a speed of 227.126 mph. Moments later, Tony Kanaan put himself on the provisional pole position with a speed of 227.566 mph.^[11]

At 12:45 Danica Patrick took to the track. On her first lap, midway through turn 1, the back end of the car wiggled a bit, and slowed her exit from the turn. The first lap was a disappointing 224.920 mph. The second lap, however, increased to 227.638 mph. her fourth and final lap was run at 227.860 mph, the fastest single lap of the day. The final four-lap average of 227.004 mph put her in the fourth starting position. Many feel that if not for the mistake on the first lap, her speed would have been sufficient to secure the pole position.^[11]

Later in the day, Sam Hornish, Jr. bumped his way onto the front row. Helio Castroneves withdrew his earlier speed, but ended up losing a position when he requalified. The field filled to 22 cars, and the day ended as Jaques Lazier was "bumped."^[11]

Practice (week 2)

Wednesday May 18

Rahal Letterman Racing named Kenny Bräck as the replacement for injured Buddy Rice. Brack was the 1999 winner, but sat out the 2004 season recovering from a massive crash in October 2003 at Texas.

Nearly 2,500 laps were run during the afternoon, with Dan Wheldon fastest at 227.320 mph. The fastest non-qualified car was Kenny Bräck, already up to 225.774 mph.^[11]

Thursday May 19

Rain washed out all practice for the day.^[11]

Friday May 20

Another busy day of practice saw 2,228 laps completed incident-free. Dan Wheldon remained on top of the speech chart at 226.399 mph, until Tony Kanaan (226.490 mph) bumped him off in the final hour.^[11]

Arie Luyendyk Jr., attempting to complete his rookie test, suffered gearbox trouble, then later blew an engine.

Time trials (weekend 2)

Saturday May 21

The third day of time trials saw the field fill to 32 cars. In the first hour, Ryan Briscoe, Marty Roth and Kenny Bräck completed runs. Bräck qualified at 227.598 mph, the fastest qualifier in the field.^[11] Though he qualified faster than polesitter Tony Kanaan, as a third day qualifier, Bräck would be required to start 22nd.

After blowing an engine earlier, A. J. Foyt IV put a car in the field, and the field finished the day with one grid position open.^[11]

Sunday May 22 (Bump day)

With one position open, very few teams in the garage area were prepared to make a qualifying attempt. Most teams used the morning and afternoon sessions for practice. Arie Luyendyk Jr. was the only entry going into the day confirming an intent to qualify.

At 3:10 p.m., Luyendyk, Jr. completed a run at 215.039 mph, and filled the field to 33 cars.^[11] Luyendyk, Jr. was the slowest car in the field, and on the bubble. However, it appeared that Luyendyk would be safe, with no other teams preparing to qualify.

Shortly after the run, A. J. Foyt Racing announced that they had signed veteran Felipe Giaffone, and he would attempt to qualify. Giaffone had been shopping with his wife at Babies "Я" Us when he got a telephone call to run over to the Speedway.^[11]^[13] Within two hours of being at the store, Giaffone was suited up and ready to drive. In less than 45 minutes, he was up to speed and ready to qualify.

At 5:36 p.m., with less than 25 minutes left in the day, Giaffone took to the track and easily bumped Luyendyk, Jr. from the field.^[11] Luyendyk's team quickly scrambled his car to go out one final time. With one minute remaining before the 6 o'clock gun, Luyendyk entered the track. His speed was slow, and he fell more than 7 mph shy of bumping his way into the field.

Starting grid

Row	Inside	Middle	Outside
1	Tony Kanaan	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Scott Sharp
2	Danica Patrick (R)	Hélio Castroneves (W)	Dario Franchitti
3	Vitor Meira	Kosuke Matsuura	Buddy Lazier (W)
4	Tomáš Enge (R)	Tomas Scheckter	Bruno Junqueira
5	Scott Dixon	Adrian Fernández	Sébastien Bourdais (R)
6	Dan Wheldon	Roger Yasukawa	Bryan Herta
7	Darren Manning	Richie Hearn	Jeff Bucknum (R)
8	Alex Barron	Kenny Bräck (W)	Ryan Briscoe (R)
9	Patrick Carpentier (R)	Ed Carpenter	Jaques Lazier
10	A. J. Foyt IV	Marty Roth	Larry Foyt
11	Jeff Ward	Jimmy Kite	Felipe Giaffone
Official report^[14]

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

Alternate

First alternate: Arie Luyendyk Jr. (R) (#98) – bumped

Failed to qualify

Paul Dana (R) (#91) – injured during a practice crash; replaced by Jimmy Kite
Buddy Rice (W) (#15) – injured during a practice crash; replaced by Kenny Bräck
Scott Mayer (R) (#48) – failed to complete rookie orientation; replaced by Felipe Giaffone

Carb day

For the first time modern scheduling, Carb Day was moved to the Friday before the race (May 27). Previously it was held on a Thursday. The final practice session was also trimmed back to one hour.

All 33 qualified cars took to the track. Nine minutes into the session, Buddy Lazier wrecked coming out of turn four, sliding along the outside wall down the front stretch. Lazier was not seriously injured, but the car would have to be repaired before Sunday.

Danica Patrick led the speed chart at 225.597 mph, and no other serious issues were reported.^[11]

Later in the afternoon, Penske Racing with driver Sam Hornish, Jr. won the Checker's/Rally's Pit Stop Challenge. They defeated Andretti Green Racing (Bryan Herta) in the final round.^[11]

Race summary

Honorary starter Reggie Miller in the starter's stand

Start

Race dawn emerged warm and sunny, with temperatures in the mid 70s (°F), and no chance of rain. Speedway chairperson Mari Hulman George gave the command to start engines at 11:58 a.m. (EST). The field assembled for two parade laps and one pace lap behind the Chevrolet Corvette C6 pace car, driven by Colin Powell.

At the start, a very well-aligned field saw polesitter Tony Kanaan take the lead into turn 1. The field circulated safely through the first lap. In the third turn, Sam Hornish, Jr. passed Kanaan for the lead, and led the first lap. Kanaan re-took the lead on lap 3. The duo traded the lead once more before Larry Foyt crashed on lap 18, bringing out the first caution.

Most of the leaders pit under the yellow, and Kanaan won the race off of pit road.

First half

Sam Hornish, Jr. took the lead on lap 38, and the race began to settle into a pace. On lap 55, a series of green flag pit stops shuffled the field momentary. Hornish ducked into the pits first, followed by Kanaan. The shuffle brought Danica Patrick to the lead on lap 56. It marked the first time in Indy 500 history that a female driver led a lap in competition. She pitted the next time around, and Hornish emerged once again as the leader.

On lap 78, Bruno Junqueira went to pass the lap car of A. J. Foyt IV in turn 2. The two cars touched, and Junqueira crashed hard into the outside wall. He suffered a concussion and fractured vertebrae.

Kenny Bräck headed for the pits on lap 82 with mechanical trouble. The car eventually dropped out due to a broken wishbone suspension.

As they approached the halfway point, Hornish and Kanaan again battled back and forth for the lead.

Second half

On lap 114, Richie Hearn and Scott Dixon tangled and crashed in turn one. On the restart, Kanaan and Dario Franchitti passed Hornish on the front stretch, and pulled away from the field.

On lap 147, Sam Hornish, Jr. went to pass Sébastien Bourdais on the outside of turn one. He slid high, and smacked the outside wall. The leaders pit on lap 149, which meant that only one more fuel stop would be required for each car. Exiting the pits, Bryan Herta was penalized for speeding on pit road, and was moved to the rear of the field for the upcoming restart.

On 155, the field prepared to go back to green. Accelerating in the north short chute, Danica Patrick, running 8th, did a half-spin, and tagged Tomáš Enge. Tomas Scheckter spun to avoid the crash, and wrecked into the inside wall. Jeff Bucknum, Patrick Carpentier, and Jaques Lazier also got caught up in the melee. Patrick damaged her nosecone, and ducked immediately into the pits. The team replaced the nose of the car, then a second pit stop (lap 159) saw her change tires and top off the fuel. Patrick dropped to 11th, the last car on the lead lap. Just before the restart on lap 161, Bryan Herta ducked into the pits, and topped off the fuel. The team intended to go the distance without another pit stop.

Finish

With 30 laps to go, Dan Wheldon led Vitor Meira. Roger Yasukawa brought out the yellow when his car blew an engine down the front stretch. All of the leaders except Patrick and Herta went to the pits. Staying out, Patrick and Herta shuffled up to the front of the field. Patrick took the lead for the second time of the day on lap 172, and led Herta on the lap 173 restart. To the delight of the crowd, Patrick pulled out to a 1-second lead. Her crew instructed her to dial down the fuel mixture (in an effort to make it to the finish), and her lead began to dwindle. Dan Wheldon caught her on lap 186, and took the lead. At the same time, Kosuke Matsuura hit the wall in the exit of turn four.

With ten laps to go, the green flag came back out. Patrick darted around Wheldon, and took the lead into turn 1. She held the lead for three laps. With seven laps to go, Wheldon passed her once again, and pulled out to a lead. With less than three laps to go, Vitor Meira and Bryan Herta managed to get by Patrick, while Wheldon continued to pull away. Down the back stretch with less than 1½ laps to go, Buddy Lazier passed Sébastien Bourdais on the outside for 5th place. Bourdais got loose in turn 3, and crashed into the outside wall. The yellow and white flag were displayed, and one lap later, Dan Wheldon won the race under caution.

Bryan Herta's fuel strategy worked out, and he came home third. Danica Patrick held on to 4th place, beating Janet Guthrie's Indy 500 record (9th place in 1978) for the best finish by a female driver. Buddy Lazier finished a strong 5th, despite nursing a broken front wing after contact by Scott Sharp.

Box score

Finish	Start	Car No.	Driver	C^*	E^*	Qual	Rank	Laps	Status	Team
1	16	26	Dan Wheldon	D	H	224.308	17	200	Running	Andretti Green Racing
2	7	17	Vitor Meira	P	H	226.848	8	200	Running	Rahal Letterman Racing
3	18	7	Bryan Herta	D	H	223.972	20	200	Running	Andretti Green Racing
4	4	16	Danica Patrick (R)	P	H	227.004	5	200	Running	Rahal Letterman Racing
5	9	95	Buddy Lazier (W)	D	C	226.353	10	200	Running	Panther Racing
6	6	27	Dario Franchitti	D	H	226.873	7	200	Running	Andretti Green Racing
7	3	8	Scott Sharp	P	H	227.126	4	200	Running	Fernandez Racing
8	1	11	Tony Kanaan	D	H	227.566	2	200	Running	Andretti Green Racing
9	5	3	Hélio Castroneves (W)	D	T	226.927	6	200	Running	Team Penske
10	24	33	Ryan Briscoe (R)	P	T	224.080	19	199	Running	Chip Ganassi Racing
11	26	20	Ed Carpenter	D	T	221.439	25	199	Running	Vision Racing
12	15	37	Sébastien Bourdais (R)	P	H	224.955	16	198	Crash T3	Newman/Haas Racing
13	22	51	Alex Barron	D	T	221.053	27	197	Running	Team Cheever
14	14	5	Adrian Fernández	P	H	225.120	15	197	Running	Fernandez Racing
15	33	48	Felipe Giaffone	P	T	217.645	36	194	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
16	27	21	Jaques Lazier	P	T	221.228	26	189	Running	Playa Del Racing
17	8	55	Kosuke Matsuura	P	H	226.397	9	186	Crash T4	Super Aguri Fernandez Racing
18	17	24	Roger Yasukawa	D	H	224.131	18	167	Mechanical	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
19	10	2	Tomáš Enge (R)	D	C	226.107	11	155	Crash T4	Panther Racing
20	11	4	Tomas Scheckter	D	C	226.031	12	154	Crash T4	Panther Racing
21	25	83	Patrick Carpentier (R)	D	T	222.803	22	153	Mechanical	Team Cheever
22	21	44	Jeff Bucknum (R)	D	H	221.521	24	150	Crash T4	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
23	2	6	Sam Hornish, Jr.	D	T	227.273	3	146	Crash T1	Team Penske
24	13	9	Scott Dixon	P	T	225.215	14	113	Crash T1	Chip Ganassi Racing
25	20	70	Richie Hearn	P	C	222.707	23	112	Crash T1	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
26	23	15	Kenny Bräck (W)	P	H	227.598	1	92	Mechanical	Rahal Letterman Racing
27	31	22	Jeff Ward	D	T	218.714	34	92	Handling	Vision Racing
28	28	14	A.J. Foyt IV	D	T	220.442	28	84	Handling	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
29	19	10	Darren Manning	P	T	223.943	21	82	Mechanical	Chip Ganassi Racing
30	12	36	Bruno Junqueira	P	H	225.704	13	76	Crash T2	Newman/Haas Racing
31	29	25	Marty Roth	D	C	219.497	32	47	Handling	Roth Racing
32	32	91	Jimmy Kite	D	T	218.565	35	47	Handling	Hemelgarn Racing
33	30	41	Larry Foyt	D	T	219.396	33	14	Crash T2	A.J. Foyt Enterprises

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

^*C Chassis: D=Dallara; P=Panoz.

^*E Engine: C=Chevrolet; H=Honda; T=Toyota.

All cars in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 used Firestone tires.

Race leaders

Seven drivers led the race, with a total of twenty-seven lead changes.^[15]

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1–2	Sam Hornish, Jr.
3	Tony Kanaan
4–7	Sam Hornish, Jr.
8–25	Tony Kanaan
26	Dario Franchitti
27–37	Tony Kanaan
38–54	Sam Hornish, Jr.
55	Dario Franchitti
56	Danica Patrick
57–58	Bruno Junqueira
59–97	Sam Hornish, Jr.
98–100	Tony Kanaan
101–111	Sam Hornish, Jr.
112–115	Tony Kanaan
116–119	Sam Hornish, Jr.
120–122	Tony Kanaan
123	Dario Franchitti
124–135	Tony Kanaan
136–143	Dario Franchitti
144–145	Tony Kanaan
146–149	Dario Franchitti
150–161	Dan Wheldon
162–164	Vitor Meira
165–171	Dan Wheldon
172–185	Danica Patrick
186–189	Dan Wheldon
190–193	Danica Patrick
194–200	Dan Wheldon

Total laps led
Laps	Leader
Sam Hornish, Jr.	77
Tony Kanaan	54
Dan Wheldon	30
Danica Patrick	19
Dario Franchitti	15
Vitor Meira	3
Bruno Junqueira	2

Cautions: 8 for 46 laps
Laps	Reason
18–24	Larry Foyt crash
77–86	Junqueira, Foyt IV contact
114–119	Dixon/Hearn crash
147–154	Hornish crash
155–161	Enge, Scheckter, Patrick, Bucknum crash
171–173	Yasukawa car smoking
187–189	Matsuura crash
199–200	Bourdais crash

Aftermath

The massive media attention going into the race delivered a high television rating,^[9] and brought the IndyCar Series back into the limelight after several slumping years. Dan Wheldon rode the wave of success to six total victories in 2005, and clinched the 2005 IndyCar Series championship.

Danica Patrick, however, emerged from the race as the biggest star.^[16] She was interviewed on Good Morning America the morning after the race, and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Patrick became a household name nearly overnight,^[17] and became a "watercooler" topic.^[18]

Two weeks after the race, other drivers in the series started to embrace and make light of the attention. Race winner Dan Wheldon wore a t shirt stating "I actually 'won' the Indy 500." Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 winner sported a shirt saying "Danica's teammate," while Vitor Meira, who finished second wore a shirt with "Danica's other teammate."^[19]

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. Mike King served as chief announcer. Pancho Carter served as "driver expert," a role he also participated as in 1988.

The four turn reporters remained the same from the previous year. In the pit aream Kim Morris and Jim Murphy departed. Joining the crew were Nicole Manske and USAC Midget champion Kevin Olson. During the pre-race, Olson interviewed David Letterman, a segment of the broadcast that would become a fixture in subsequent years.

Among the special guests interviewed in the booth were former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the recently elected Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels. Sponsor guests interviewed in the booth included Tim Manganello (BorgWarner), Keith Sirios (Checkers and Rally's), Al Spire (Firestone), John Middlebrook (GM), and Keith Newman (Jim Beam).

Indy Racing Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Mike King Driver expert: Pancho Carter Historian: Donald Davidson Color analyst: Dave Wilson Commentary: Chris Economaki	Turn 1: Jerry Baker Turn 2: Adam Alexander Turn 3: Mark Jaynes Turn 4: Chris Denari	Dave Argabright (north pits) Nicole Manske (center pits) Kevin Lee (south pits) Kevin Olson (garages/hospital)

Television

For 2005, ABC Sports replaced veteran announcer Paul Page with Todd Harris.^[20] Harris had previously covered the World's Strongest Man competitions, and worked as a sideline–pit reporter. However, he was inexperienced in anchoring live sports, and did not personally pursue the role.^[21] Harris was joined by analyst Scott Goodyear in the booth. Gone from the broadcast was veteran Paul Page, who had covered the 500 on television or radio dating back to 1974.

Also new to the broadcast was Brent Musburger, who took over the host role.

The "Wide World of Sports" telecast opened with the pre-race billed as "Firestone Race Day." The opening teaser entitled "Speed City," created by Brice Bowman of Earshot Audio Post, would eventually earn a Sports Emmy for "Outstanding post-produced audio/sound."

ABC Television
Booth Announcers	Pit/garage reporters
Host: Brent Musburger Announcer: Todd Harris Color: Scott Goodyear	Jack Arute Vince Welch Dr. Jerry Punch Jamie Little Penn Holderness

Controversy

Going into the race broadcast, one of the most significant stories of the month was Danica Patrick qualifying 4th, and having a legitimate chance to win the race. ABC Sports planned to focus considerably on Patrick during the pre-race and race running.^[20]^[22] Many felt that ABC was ignoring the other drivers, including polesitter Tony Kanaan and eventual winner Dan Wheldon.^[23] In the days after the race, ABC, and Harris in particular, were largely criticised by columnists and bloggers for poor coverage, and for biased and subjective coverage of Patrick.^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28]

It was pointed out that despite the close attention, neither Harris nor Goodyear noticed that Patrick had taken the lead during a sequence of pit stops on lap 56.^[25]^[26] Nine laps later, as ABC returned from commercial, Harris mentioned Patrick having taken the lead for the first time.^[25]^[29] His comments were criticised as he said she "...turned the trick..."^[23]^[25]^[29] (usually a sexual reference), and that "Fifty years from now you will remember where you were when Danica Patrick made not only motorsports history, but she joined the likes of Amelia Earhart and Sally Ride in a barrier-breaking performance..."^[29]^[30] Of which Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel wrote "I seriously doubt it, Todd."^[28] Greene also wrote that Harris "said many stupid things Sunday because of Ms. Patrick's efforts."^[28]

Richard Sandomir wrote that Harris and Goodyear faltered in three distinct instances late in the race.^[27] With 13 laps to go, they closely examined Dan Wheldon taking the lead by the nose of the car at the line repeatedly when a caution came out. It was portrayed as if they were racing back to the caution. However, such was not allowed under Indy Racing League rules. It was later observed that the caution light did not turn on until the cars were in turn 1 (well after Wheldon had completed the pass), and the attention focused at the start–finish line was misguided, misleading, and irrelevant.

Three laps later, Harris awkwardly waited ten seconds before noting that Patrick had re-taken the lead on the restart.^[27] When Wheldon took the lead for good on lap 193, Harris again hesitated, and waited 20 seconds to report the move, and another 30 seconds to report that Patrick had dropped to 4th place.^[27] Sandomir also criticized a perceived "softball" post-race interview of Patrick by Jerry Punch.^[27]

Houston Chronicle writer David Barron said during the pre-race show and the race's first 90 minutes, he "counted an average of one Patrick reference every five minutes, and each reference went on for some time." Others blogged that ABC was intentionally bringing attention to Patrick's looks, at the same time trying to downplay them.^[31]

With all the hoopla regarding Danica Patrick it was also seen as interesting by some that the song that was played during the closing credits of the broadcast was a song by the title "Luckiest Man Alive" by the Finn Brothers. Some felt that while jumping on the Danica hype for all it was worth this pointed to ABC never really taking the idea seriously that she might actually win. Of course there could've been another version of the closing credits with another song available if she had won but no one at ABC has ever commented on it.

At the end of the 2005 season, Todd Harris was removed from the booth, and replaced with veteran Marty Reid.

Gallery

2005 Chevrolet Corvette pace car

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2005 Indianapolis 500.

References

↑ "Wheldon Wins 89th Indianapolis 500". Indy500.com. 2005-05-28. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ Caldwell, Dave (2005-05-30). "Dan Wheldon Wins Indy 500; Patrick Finishes in 4th Place". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "Wheldon Earns $1.5 Million From Record Purse; Patrick Top Rookie". Indy500.com. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "At Indy, Danica won race for media buzz". CNNMoney.com. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "Danica Patrick Aims to Make Indy 500 History". NPR. 2005-05-27. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "'Danica Mania' Drives Brisk Merchandise Sales At Indy". Indy500.com. 2005-06-07. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "'Danica mania' stole Wheldon's thunder". ESPN.com. 2005-10-20. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "Top 10 Autos stories of 2005". St. Petersburg Times. 2005-11-26. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
1 2 "Indianapolis 500 TV Broadcast Scores In Major U.S. Markets". Indy500.com. 2005-07-14. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "Single Point Fueling to Be Mandatory in 2005". Trackside Online. 2004-09-07. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "2005 Indianapolis 500 Daily Trackside Report" (PDF). Indy500.com. 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
1 2 Graves, Gary (2005-05-14). "Rain gives Indy qualifying double-or-nothing Sunday". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
↑ "Giaffone Bumps Arie Jr.; Field Of 33 Set". Indy500.com. 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
↑ "Starting Grid for the 2005 Indianapolis 500". 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ "Official Box Score". 2005-05-29. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
↑ "Wheldon feeling his victory". OCRegister.com. 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "Water Cooler column". Auto Racing Daily. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "Danica Patrick: "This Reaches Outside Racing"". Pittsburgh Gazette. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ Bernstein, Viv (2005-06-13). "AUTO RACING; Humbled, Patrick Steers Focus to Veterans". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
1 2 "ABC hopes Patrick sparks Indy interest". USAToday.com. 2005-05-27. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "New team sees rising tide". TampaBay.com. 2005-04-01. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "ABC leans on Patrick". TampaBay.com. 2005-05-27. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
1 2 3 "Danica Third Loser; ABC/IRL Threaten Suicide". HolyCoast.com. 2005-05-29. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
↑ "MH - ABC Comes in Last at the 500". Our Word. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
1 2 3 4 "ABC needed some directions for Indy". OCRegister.com. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
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Works cited

2005 Indianapolis 500 Daily Trackside Report for the Media
Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site

2004 Indianapolis 500 Buddy Rice	2005 Indianapolis 500 Dan Wheldon	2006 Indianapolis 500 Sam Hornish, Jr.

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race

Track and race information

Track

Statistics

Drivers

Sanctioning bodies

AAA Contest Board (1909–1955)
FIA (1950–1960)
USAC (1956–1997)
INDYCAR (1998–present)

Ownership

Officials

Broadcasting

Radio	Bill Slater Sid Collins Paul Page Lou Palmer Bob Jenkins Mike King Donald Davidson

Television	Jim McKay Jackie Stewart Chris Schenkel Chris Economaki Sam Posey Jack Arute Jim Lampley Paul Page Bob Jenkins Todd Harris Marty Reid Allen Bestwick

Other	Tom Carnegie Robin Miller Ron McQueeney

Related events

Month of May	Mini-Marathon Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis Indy Lights road course Freedom 100 (Indy Lights oval)

Crown Royal 400	Crown Royal presents the Your Hero's Name Here 400 Lilly Diabetes 250

Other	U.S. Grand Prix Red Bull Grand Prix Triple Crown of Motorsport Brickyard Grand Prix Brickyard Sports Car Challenge IROC at Indy

Non-racing	Comfort Classic 500 Festival Open 500 Ladies Classic

Related area

Lore

Notable races

Indianapolis 500 race summaries and box scores

1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 ~~1942~~ 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

There were no races in 1917 & 1918 due to WWI and from 1942 to 1945 due to WWII.

IndyCar Series

Seasons

Indianapolis 500

Champions

Tracks

Ovals	Indianapolis Iowa Pocono Texas Phoenix

Road courses	Barber Indianapolis Mid-Ohio Sonoma Road America

Street courses	Detroit Long Beach St. Petersburg Toronto

Former	Atlanta Baltimore Charlotte Chicagoland Dover Edmonton Fontana Gateway Homestead Houston Kansas Kentucky Las Vegas Louisiana Michigan Milwaukee Motegi Nashville Nazareth New Hampshire Pikes Peak Richmond São Paulo Surfers Paradise (exhibition) Walt Disney World Watkins Glen

Cancelled	Boston Qingdao Brasília

Road to Indy

History of IndyCar racing • All-time winners • Races • Drivers • Teams

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