Indy 500 awards

Not pictured: Ashley Judd's hat, which won Biggest and Most Awesome Hat (Girl Category).

Last night was the Indianapolis 500 awards banquet. I didn't watch it, going instead with Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals (even though Indianapolis' WTHR tried really hard to get me to watch the banquet). Since I didn't watch it, I'm going to assume nobody actually watched the awards banquet. Never fear, though: I attended the race, and so I am more than qualified to dole out my own awards for the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

And I promise I won't ruin any important hockey games to do it.
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MVP: Dario Franchitti

This is a pretty obvious choice. Sorry, but I'd be an idiot to try to pick someone else. He led 155 out of the 200 laps, and he had leads of up to ten seconds at times over the second place car. He was so dominant that there were times where the sound of his engine would be gone by the time the next car passed.

I'm usually pretty upset when a race ends under yellow, because it deprives the fans of a close finish. That was definitely the case here, because as the race was ending the leaders were all running low on fuel, and in an attempt to conserve, Franchitti was slowing. Dan Wheldon had more than enough to finish, and was coming hard for Franchitti. If the race had finished under a green flag, it's hard to know what would have happened, but it's likely that Wheldon would have had a shot at the lead. But this time, I was actually okay with it. A battle to the finish would have been cool, but Dario Franchitti was so dominant over the course of the race that he deserved to win. Wheldon had been good, but not noticeable. Had he stolen the win, it would have ruined the race to an extent. I'm not really a huge Dario fan, but in that sense I'm glad that he won.

Most outstanding driver: Tony Kanaan

Kanaan had just about the worst month he could possibly have leading up to race day. He wrecked twice in less than 24 hours in the process of trying to qualify for the race, and had to scramble just to make the field. He qualified 31st, but started 33rd due to a car change between qualifications and the race.

Something about the new car (and Kanaan's considerable driving skill, obviously) was right, because he rose quickly. After half a lap, he'd already passed seven cars. After 30 laps, Kanaan was in 16th position. He was able to make it all the way to the second position and maintained that for much of the race, but he was never able to pass Franchitti. Still, though, it was a hell of a display of driving, and it was well-appreciated by the fans: our section on the main straightaway was probably about 75 percent Kanaan fans as he made his charge. He fell short of being the first to win the Indy 500 from the back row, but he was definitely the most impressive person on the track not married to Ashley Judd.

Biggest badass: Graham Rahal

There was a moment relatively early in the race where Rahal was black flagged, meaning that he had to serve a penalty of driving the length of pit lane. As he finished that penalty he was in danger of being lapped by the leader, who was Franchitti (like it was for almost the entire race). He got a blue-yellow flag, which is a signal to a slower driver that a fast car is approaching, and that s/he should get out of the way.

Graham Rahal did not get out of the way. In fact, he was able to hold Franchitti off for an extended period of time, and when the next yellow flag was waved, he got to move to the back of the line, putting him out of danger of falling a lap back. His highest position was fourth in the last quarter of the race.

This is all the more impressive if you know a bit about his story. He's a part of Sarah Fisher's team, which, unfortunately, is not very good. He got a ride with Rahal Letterman Racing (his father Bobby's team) for the 500, but his status for the rest of the IndyCar season was in doubt. In essence, Graham Rahal was driving for his job on Sunday. I don't own an open-wheel race car team, but if I did and I was looking for a driver, Rahal's performance in Indianapolis would make me a lot more interested in giving him a shot.

Best team: Andretti Autosport

Their cars started 16th (Marco Andretti), 17th (Ryan Hunter-Reay), 23rd (Danica Patrick), and 33rd (Kanaan). The team looked like a bit of a mess going into the race, to be perfectly honest. But something happened between Carb Day (the last practice day before the race) and the green flag. The team must have figured something out, because Kanaan and Andretti had two of the best performances of anyone on the track, and Patrick came out of nowhere to finish in the top ten. The team had four drivers in the top nine on lap 191. Circumstances intervened, but Andretti Autosport outperformed the starting grid, and honestly also the final results.

Most disappointing moment: Kanaan's pit stop on lap 196

Tony Kanaan drove a hell of a race, and was in position to have a shot at the win late in the day. If he'd pulled it off, it might have been the best single performance in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But unfortunately, like most of the rest of the race leaders, Kanaan was low on fuel. The last yellow flag had been on lap 161, and it came just after a round of green flag stops. There was a lot of uncertainty concerning how the race would end: would there be a rash of cars just stopping on the track, a la Michael Andretti in 1992?

That did not turn out to be the case, as most of the cars running low on fuel stopped to fill up. But on lap 196, I literally let out a yell of frustration when Kanaan did so, because it effectively shot down any chance he'd had of winning the race. In terms of team strategy, it was the smart thing to do - obviously, a driver gets more points for finishing 11th as Kanaan did than for not finishing at all (a distinct possibility without the pit stop). But to paraphrase Tom Crean, it's Indianapolis. Damn the points and go for the win. People won't remember IZOD IndyCar Series points championships for long, but winning the Borg-Warner Trophy lasts forever.

"I don't want to be a race car driver anymore" moment: Mike Conway and Hunter-Reay wreck on last lap

Watching Dario Franchitti win the race would make any kid want to drive a race car. As we discussed while leaving, any job that can cause a famous actress to sprint barefoot down a scalding asphalt road simply to get to you is a job that's probably worth having. (I'd make that more gender neutral, but Danica Patrick's husband looks like kind of a tool. Prove me wrong, Milka Duno.) However, the wreck between Conway and Hunter-Reay on the last lap was a reminder of how dangerous the sport is. Say what you like about football being a game of violence, but the day Bob Sanders experiences something like this on the field is the day I'll buy his jersey.



Conway is going to be out for at least three months with significant leg and back injuries, including a compression fracture to one of his vertebrae. He's had one surgery already and more will be needed, so hopefully Conway will recover fully.

But yeah, after seeing that, even a Judd won't get me into a race car.