Dario Franchitti Wins Indianapolis 500 For Third Time

Dario Franchitti held off Japanese competitor Takuma Sato on Sunday to claim his third Indianapolis 500 victory after Sato attempted to make a last minute costly move that sent him veering into a wall.

The 39-year-old Franchitti won the Indy 500 in 2007 and again in 2010, this time beating his Target Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon under caution. The caution was one of only eight for 39 of the races 200 laps.

Finishing in third-place was Tony Kanaan who has attempted to take 1st place in the race 11 times.

During the race a record 35 lead changes were completed. Race fans during the Indy 500 were treated to redesigned cars taht were named after Dan Wheldon, the 2011 Indy 500 champion who was killed in an accident in Las Vegas last October.

Talking about the conclusion of the race Franchitti spoke about Wheldon’s likely reaction to the finish:

“I think D-Dub would have been proud of that one.”

Franchitti averaged 167.734 miles an hour.

Dario Franchitti became only the 10th driver to win at least three Indy 500s and all three of those victories have come under caution.

Franchitti, apparently adjusting to the new car design struggled through the first four races of the season before finally matching Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy on the all-time wins list.

Finishing in fourth place was Oriol Servia of Spain while pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe finished in fifth.

In the meantime racers competed not only against one another but also against mother nature as temperatures reached 91-degrees, just one degree cooler than the races 1937 record of 92 degrees.