BREAKING: Indy 500 Winner Happens On Turn Four Of Lap 200

Danica Patrick led with 13 laps left in the centennial Indianapolis 500, but was passed by Belgium's Bertrand Baguette to cycle through on the last round of pit stops...

Baguette had not raced in the IndyCar series in 2011 having worked with the Dallara chassis folks in a simulator to prepare for the race. Dario Franchitti was paying attention to his fuel numbers and had clocked laps in the 204-MPH range.

Baguette had to pit with four laps left giving rookie JR Hildebrand the lead with Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, and Franchitti behind...

The 23-year-old from Sausalito, California looked like he was going to bring the National Guard-sponsored machine home for Panther Racing, but he hit the wall in turn four and ended up in the gray- which is disaster...

Wheldon survived for his second career win at Indy...
Hildebrand crossed the finish line against the wall...

You've got to be kidding all of us... and Wheldon does not have a ride for the rest of the IndyCar year... the HQ thinks that's short-term...

Here's the finish...
((HT: ESPN on ABC/IndyCar/MT89Motorsport2))

DEVELOPING: Freedom 100 Has a Smashing Close At IMS...

((HT: IndyCar/Versus/MT89MotorSport2))

Josef Newgarden won the Indy Lights Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the set-up for this weekend's 500-miler.

Newgarden took the checkered under caution as two drivers ended up heading to Methodist Hospital for evaluation. Esteban Guerrieri was second and Victor Garcia was third.

With six laps left, Jorge Goncalvez lost control of his car between turns 1 and 2, smacked into the interior wall, bounced back into traffic, and slid down the track upside down before uprighting. It was a part of the track without any kind of SAFIR barrier.

Nearly half of the 18-car field failed to finish the race, and the HQ feels without the experience of most races that this is a precursor of what will happen this weekend.

Here's the wreck...

Michael Andretti buys Ryan Hunter-Reay a ride from A.J Foyt

Michael Andretti

This is just plain weird. We'd say that something like this wouldn't be legal in most Sports, but this is Indy Car racing and they quite honestly do bizarre things sometimes.

Apparently, coming off a disappointing qualifying week for the Indy 500, a couple of "Big Name" car owners pulled off a swap. Ryan Hunter-Reay, a driver for Michael Andretti, who didn't qualify for the race when he was bumped on the final qualifying run by teammate Marco Andretti, will still get to race.

The reason...his team owner, Michael Andretti, bought him a spot driving a car for A.J Foyt's team, bumping the driver of that car, Bruno Junqueria from that ride.

This, needless to say, isn't going over really well in, well, nobody likes the smell of it.

Bob Kravitz of IndyStar.com says this sets "A Dangerous Precedent", read about it RIGHT HERE

And Kravitz is right. Really, what is the point of qualifying if you can just buy a ride? That's pretty much what happened here.

The fact that Andretti's cars were horrible in qualifying, that's their own fault. There should be no allowance for anyone trying to buy a ride.

It's things like this that took the fun out of the Indy 500, many years ago. When we were young, it was a great specatcle on Memorial Day weekend. Must watch TV on Sunday's. Now, it's gone. Done. The rest of the racing world passed it by 20-years ago.

Sure, a large part of that was the incompetence and over-sized ego of Tony George who split the Indy Car series in two with some ridiculous rules, chasing some of the best drivers away from the series, but it was also some really odd decisions within the series itself.

This was supposed to be the 1st year of reconciliation at the 500, when all the best drivers would be there. And most of them are. But it really takes some of the seriousness or legitimacy out of it when you hear about stories like this. The series should be ridiculed over this and for me, I really haven't watched or considered this a big event in many, many years.

The TV story from WISH-TV in Indianapolis, where the race is still considered a big deal:

Indy 500 Bump Day Leaves Casualties

((HT: Versus/IMS/msnbc.com))

Bump Day at Indy is just as frantic as it always has been...

Weather was the big culprit this time- sun, rain, and then sun again for the last 75 minutes- and the drivers needed it.

Especially, Danica Patrick...

She was waiting in the queue as the last rain fell on the speedway just to get a qualifying run. She would get one and would end up 25th overall and bump out Alex Lloyd...

Here's Danica's 10-mile run for her spot in the field...
Bob, Wally, Jan, and Dan Wheldon are in the booth...

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

But it got better...

Alex Lloyd went for broke and found some speed- knocking out Marco Andretti and putting Ryan Hunter-Reay on the bubble...

James Jakes tried to knock out Hunter-Reay, but his attempt was waved off after two laps by the IndyCar folks for not having enough speed.

That left Marco as the final qualifier. The gun went off to end the session about 45 seconds into his run, but with an average speed of 224.628 mph, he jumped to the inside of Row 10 and Hunter-Reay was out of the field altogether.

That left three cars in for Andretti and two out. Michael Andretti said it was the worst day he's ever had, emotionally, as a car owner.

DEVELOPING: De Silvestro Injured In Indy Crash

((HT: WXIN-TV Indianapolis))

IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro was injured in a crash at IMS this afternoon...

Her top speed during practice this afternoon was 221-plus MPH, but according to the Indy Star's Phillip Wilson, something broke on the de Silvestro machine sending it airborne before it came to rest in turn four at the speedway.

She was taken to Methodist Hospital and released about four hours later with burns to her hands and a second-degree burn to her right hand. IMS medical personnel have not given a final say on de Silvestro's condition as drivers are qualifying for the pole position this weekend...

Here's the crash, at about the :45 mark...


More when we know more...

IMS Holds Memorial For Tom Carnegie

((HT: WXIN-TV Fox 59/Indianapolis))

Everyone who could get near the doors of Indianapolis Motor Speedway paid tribute to Tom Carnegie, who was the voice of the track for more than six decades.

Race drivers including Sarah Fisher, Ed Carpenter, Carnegie's co-workers and members of the Hulman George family shared their memories and stories.

Speedway historian Donald Davidson recalled how Carnegie's voice stirred up the crowd, even for something as trivial as a sound check. Carnegie died Friday at age 91.

A special area in the museum will be set aside through the end of February to celebrate Carnegie's life as he worked at the speedway from 1946-2006.

Here's Fox 59's Larry Hawley outside the memorial at the Speedway...
 

Tom Carnegie Passes At 91

((HT: WISH-TV Indianapolis))

Every time the HQ and Associates have made the trek to the Brickyard, we always heard the voice of Tom Carnegie. Every new track record came over the public address with an authoritative bass and a voice of comfort.

You knew where you were and it was Memorial day again...

The 500 miles won't be the same...
Scott Sander reintroduces us to the voice of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Tom Carnegie, 'Voice of IMS' dies at 91: wishtv.com

Dario Takes the 500 Under Yellow... Still Counts As A Win

Dario Franchitti survived the last lap with a huge crash to win at the Indianapolis 500 Sunday.

Franchitti held on with 1.6 gallons of fuel left in the tank...

"Still running," the winner told his crew over the radio as he crossed the finish line.

The victory made Franchitti's boss, Chip Ganassi, the first owner to win Indy and NASCAR's Daytona 500 in the same year ((Jamie McMurray)).

Here's the last lap where Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay caused a lot of a stir when they collected each other and caused a yellow-flagged finish...
((HT: ABC/IndyCar Series))


Conway complained of a left leg injury following the wreck. He was immediately taken to Methodist Hospital for evaluation. He was flown because of the heavy post-race traffic.

Kanaan Problems Continue On Bump Day

((HT: IndyCars/IMS))

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Andretti Autosports...

Tony Kanaan crashed for the second day in a row as he tries to qualify his machine for the Indianapolis 500.

Here's the crash...


AA spokesperson Al Larsen says the team is taking part of Kanaan's backup car, the one he drove in Sunday's 1-hour practice session, and will piece it together with parts from Kanaan's primary car and the 17th-place qualified car of Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Talk about a jigsaw puzzle...

If that idea doesn't work, they may even go to a back-up car of one of the already-qualified Andretti machines. The team has until 6PM eastern time to qualify.

Castroneves Takes Indy Pole, Danica Booed...

((HT: WXIN-TV Indianapolis))

The format is a little different, but it seems the results are the same for Indy qualifying in Indy...

Castroneves and Team Penske are littered all over the leaderboard at the Pagoda.

Helio averaged just under 228 miles-per-hour on his four lap average, and as a part of the new format, the drivers who were 2 through 8 got a chance to shuffle the deck in their own practice period.

Here's your top seven...

1. Helio Castroneves 227.970
2. Will Power 227.682
3. Dario Franchitti 226.990
4. Ryan Briscoe 226.554
5. Alex Tagliani 226.390
6. Scott Dixon 226.233
7. Graham Rahal 225.519

Danica Patrick qualified 23rd at 224.217 and will start behind two other women -- Brazil's Ana Beatriz and Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro, who were 21st and 22nd.
She called out her team on the public address after her run and got booed by the crowd...

Here's when Fox59 caught up with her...
 

Gone..or is he?

A report by Speed TV's Robin Miller (article here ) Indianpolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George has apparently been voted off the island. However, according to this story in the Indianapolis Star here, that story is completely untrue.

It's no secret that like any family, the George's and the Hulman's who hold a "Vise-like" grip over the speedway and quite honestly, most of open wheel racing have some issues that need to be worked out. The question here is: Who do you believe?

George (pictured here Courtesy: Gavin Lawerence/Getty Images), who has been running the Speedway since 1990 also, is the President of the Indy Racing League and Hulman and Company, along with running his own racing team on the IRL circuit. Not to say that is a conflict or anything...but.

Most race fans will tell you that the Indy 500 has never been the same since George's power play in the early 90's when it became 2 groups, the IRL and CART. The CART drivers were not allowed to race at Indy for years and...well, when they left, so did a majority of their fans.

We don't know how this will play out or for that matter how much of it is true...it will be interesting to see if for no other reason than the 500 has begun to regain some of its luster, it remains to be seen how long that will hold.

Here is the man himself, Tony George ((Courtesy: WISH-TV))follow the video link here .

Vitor Meira's Long Day

((HT: ABC/IndyCar Series))

Vitor Meira's day in the Indy 500 was one of the weirder in recent history...
Raphael Matos and Meira got tangled together in Turn 1 with 25 laps to go. Meira ended up on two wheels, hugging the wall for the better part of a quarter-mile.

But this was his first brush with the camera close-up...
Catching on fire in the pits will do that for you during a fuel stop...