The 89th indy 500 car race held 29may2005(art 11)

My race report on the latest indianaplolis 500 car race ...Wow what a great race took place on sunday 29th may 2005 the band 3 doors down sang live before the start to help get things started, sam schmidt was interviewed about the team he now runs having been paralised in a testing accident a few years ago proving racing really is in the blood and then the race began at 6pm uk time general colin powell drove the pace car! i kid you not,and a stealth bomber aircraft flew by from the 509th bomb wing what an awesome aircraft, then the racing began most laps ran at 215-230 miles per hour a very fast pace tony kanaan led much of the early laps.Lap 18 larry foyt car 14 crashed rearwards into the outside wall,under yellow scott sharp ran over the lady driver danica patricks air hose for changing her wheels but i dont think he was penalised.In this race you can be told to pull up if your too far off the pace!.The cars hold about 35 gallons of methanol which they burn up at about 1 gallon per 2.5 mile lap...thirsty beasts under yellow flags when not racing they get 11 mpg. Later sam hornish took the lead in the marlboro team penske car( remember smoking causes impotense and cancer..im not promoting marlboro cigarrettes).Russell crowe the actor was watching wearing a toronto maple leaf cap..a canadian ice hockey team i believe. Bruno junqeira crashed bigtime he got clipped by a slower car that was 5 laps off the lead who obviosly didnt see bruno dive down inside him.danica patrick stalle don lap 80 in pit under yellow taking her from 4th to 16th place..maybe a slipping clutch or a simple error. The firestone tyres being used have technology that ends up on road car tyres..but remember speeding kills and is bad for the environment.helio castr neves did amazing job to miss l.foyts crash, lap 88 greenflag racing again, david letterman talk show host team boss with bobby rahal has cars 15 16 and 17 in the race.kenny brack is out by lap 109 with suspension problems.Lap 113 crash of richie hearn and scott dixon..hearn pinched down on dixon both hit the wall backwards.Dixons from auckland new zealand.1hour 40 mins into the race lap 116 theres mass pitstops under yellow.These cars when doing 200mph travel the length of a football pitch in just 1 second!, but in the pitlane they can only do 60mph.Scott dixond crash helmet designed by leukemia sufferers.Danica had big wiggle on lap 125 she told her team.Lap 129 aj foyt 4 went back out for some reason..probably for exposure for his sponsors.matsura and danica touch on lap 132.Lap 147 sam hornish jnr hits wall with right front of car he got off racing line trying to pass bordouis.The tyres they use run at 200 degrees farenheit.back on lap 56 danica became the first woman to ever lead a lap at indionapolis in the indy 500 a great achievment, but later she crashed under yellow as cars were concertinering up behind the pace car and she had to swerve to avoid the car in front of her..scott sharp who seemed to suddenly slow and swerve! so i wouldnt put any blame on her, 30r 4 cars ended up crashing in avoidance including thomas sheckter( missed out on a formula1 seat a few years ago for being a very bad boy in england). 40 laps to go 2hours 40 into the race, lap 162 greenflag dan wheldon leads but yellowflag on lap 171 because yosuke matsura putting oil onto the track from a leaking engine so most cars do a slash and go..take on fuel but dont chage tyres so most cars will be able to run full rich to the end now.Lap 173 danica leads under yellow then lap 174 greenflag racing again, scott sharp gets black flag drive through penalty for blocking.Danica lead 14 of 184 laps so far.Lap 187 crash car 55 kosuke matsura, wheldon lead danica by a nose length going over the line before the yellow came out but danica in better position on resart a shell be able to get a toe from the car in front.Lap 190 greenflag danica slides to 4th with 2 laps to go because of falling fuel pressure..she was just a little to short on fuel to last to the end..a real shame as she may well of won this great race on her debut aged just 23!. a crash with just 1 lap to go meant the race finished under yellow so dan wheldon won. miera was 2nd herta was 3rd danica patrick was a fine 4th bordouis was 5th and franchitti 6th, wheldon ran out of gas after his victory donught spin out so had to be pushed back to victory lane for thr milk and huge trophy, hes the 3rd englishman to win this race, he now lives in st petersberg florida, and will get around $2 million for winning the 89th indy 500. honda got first to 4th place another good event for the japanese make.Danica patricks 4th bettered the 9th place janet guthrie got in 1978 and lyn st james 11th in 1992 and her 13th place in 1997.Ive never been to see this race live but i must go this truly was a really good race way better than many of the indycar series processions theres been over the last few years in their championship races, i cant wait for the 90th indy 500 bring it on!

Now ill leave you with a brief rundown of the entrants. and any sponsors i spotted on their cars.row 1 was tony kanaan car 11 the 7 eleven andretti green honda+hersheys and cocacola, sam hornish jnr car 6 was marlboro penske team,scott sharp car8 delphi fernandez team+ futaba atandt bryant,row2 dario franchitti car27 andrettigreen team honda, helio castro nevez marlboro penske the 2003 winner and 2001 winner when a rookie, danica patrick aged 23 in the rahal letterman team sponsored by targent bosch pioneer using honda power shes from rosco illinois.row 3 7th place start vitor miera menards rahal letterman bea,kosuke matsura car 55,buddy lazier car95 panther racing,bruno junqera centrix newman haas team(paul newman the actors team). thomas scheckter platinum penzoil,thomas enge,row 5 sebastien bordouis car37, adrian fernandez, scott dixon trget toyota fujifilm nicorette(helps you stp smoking) hes from auckland new zealand.row 6 dan wheldon andretti green racing honda klein tools jim beam,roger yasakawa,bryan herta car 7 xm sattellite radio andretti green racing honda airtran.row 7 jeff bucknan, richie hearn car 70 sam schmidt racing,darren manning target chip ganassi team microsoft minor sponsor of this car. row 8 ryan brisco whos australian,kenny brack car 15 argent mortage honda, alex barron redbull toyota cheever team.row 9 j lazier.ed carpenter, patrick carpentier,row 10 l foyt car 41,marty forth,aj foyt 4 car 14 abc, row 11 giafone, j kite car 91 and jeff ward car 22