One hundred and sixty-six IndyCar races were held over the 2010s in four different countries, 19 states, two provinces on 14 ovals, ten permanent/natural-terrain road courses and eight street/temporary courses.
There were some remarkable moments over these 169 races and a few events standout above others. The 2010s came us some moments we are going to talk about for years to come from some of IndyCar's most famed venues to other course that will only be in IndyCar's history book from this point onward.
We are going to look back at the ten best races from this decade.
10. 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
What Happened: Every Chevrolet team took a ten-spot grid penalty for engine changes after the new twin-turbo Chevrolet V6 engine had shown some problems in test. These penalties led to one of the most mix grids in IndyCar history.
Ryan Briscoe and Will Power qualified first and second and started 11th and 12th.
Honda was spotted the first ten spots on the grid. Dario Franchitti qualified fourth and rolled off from first position. Franchitti was the only driver from the six drivers to make the final round of qualifying not to serve a grid penalty. Josef Newgarden moved up to second on the grid from eighth in qualifying.
What saw the driver responsible for the three previous IndyCar championships starting next to an American hopeful making his third IndyCar start led to a turn one accident after slight contact from Franchitti put Newgarden into the barrier.
The race saw a variety of strategies due to early cautions. Justin Wilson took the lead from Franchitti, Takuma Sato took the lead from Wilson when Wilson made a pit stop under the caution for a Sébastien Bourdais accident. Chevrolet would not lead a lap until lap 28 when Ryan Hunter-Reay clicked across the first during pit stops under the caution for the Marco Andretti-Graham Rahal incident, which saw Andretti get airborne.
These cautions played into the hands of the Chevrolet teams as the final 56 laps were under green flag conditions.
The rotation of leaders saw Will Power take the top spot with 15 laps to go after Simon Pagenaud mad his final stop. Power was stretching his fuel, as was Sato. Pagenaud meanwhile made the late charge to try and get back to the top spot. The Frenchman made significant ground on Power but the Australian beat him to the line by 0.868 seconds.
Hunter-Reay and Sato got together on the final lap. This earned Hunter-Reay a 30-second penalty, dropping him from third to sixth with James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan and J.R. Hildebrand moving ahead of Hunter-Reay.
Chevrolet took five of the top six with Pagenaud being the lone Chevrolet in the mix.
How is it remembered: The race where the entire starting grid was shaken up and it ended up putting on a great race. There are people that look back on the grid penalty period in IndyCar and look at it with disgust but I don't think it was that bad and it added another layer to some of the events.
IndyCar needed a cost preventive measure to de-incentivize engine changes on a regular basis and it was a competitive balance. A team could not qualify on pole position and put in a fresh engine and get a leg up on the field. If you took a new engine you had to take a penalty. I don't think that was a bad thing.
Grid penalties gave us an unpredictable race like this one. When more than half the cars are going down the starting order the final result is not going to look like the starting result. There was a lot of movement and the Chevrolets worked to the front.
I think this was the race that eased some of our concerns about the DW12 chassis. It was not a processional race where those that took an engine penalty could not recover. Most of them did recover from starting further down the field. Power got the victory. Hunter-Reay was competitive. Seven of the top ten finishes started outside the top ten. Four of those seven started outside the top fifteen and three of those four finished in the top five.
This was also the race where any questions about Simon Pagenaud were answered. Outside of a few substitute appearances in 2011, Pagenaud had been out of single-seaters in 2007 and for almost five years was largely the dream hire for any car on the grid. He found great success in sports cars with the Acura LMP2 program and the Peugeot LMP1 program. He stepped back into a single-seater and showed not rust with Sam Schmidt's team, a relative IndyCar unknown.
9. 2018 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race II at The Raceway on Belle Isle Park
What Happened: This race had an early caution when Spencer Pigot and Santino Ferrucci got together on lap one but the final 67 laps were run under green flag conditions and led to an interesting outcome.
It was the battle of the two-stoppers vs. the three-stoppers and Alexander Rossi led the two-stoppers from pole position, only passing up the lead during the pit cycles. This race was the long game and it was about what was going to happen at the end.
Ryan Hunter-Reay started tenth and after the three-stop strategy was erased in the Saturday race due to untimely cautions, Hunter-Reay had a second chance to make the three-stop strategy work and he stopped from the lead with 18 laps to go, returning to the racetrack eight-seconds behind his teammate Rossi.
Hunter-Reay proceeded to set fastest lap after fastest lap and run down his teammate, getting to Rossi's rear wing with ten laps to go. Under pressure, Hunter-Reay forced a mistake and Rossi locked up his tires into turn three, allowing Hunter-Reay to take the lead. Rossi blew a left front and had to limp back for a tire change.
Hunter-Reay cruised to victory, leading the final seven laps and finishing 11.355 seconds ahead of Will Power and Ed Jones. Other notable runs saw Tony Kanaan go from 22nd to seventh and Charlie Kimball go from 21st to seventh.
How is it remembered: Ryan Hunter-Reay's pace in the final stretch forcing Alexander Rossi into a costly error.
This was an incredible street course race when you consider some of the street course races IndyCar had seen at the start of the decade. It was also Belle Isle, a track people reviled. The 2010s should be remembered for a change in perception for Belle Isle. I am not saying every race is guaranteed to be tremendous but it is not the street course we saw in the CART days and in 2007 and 2008. It is a track where we see plenty of passing and we have seen some mixed up results with winners coming from out of nowhere.
You could not ask for more from this race. You had the conservative two-stop strategy vs. the aggressive three-stop strategy and in the closing laps they ended up nose-to-tail battling for the victory. This is what you want. You want multiple strategies bringing drivers to the same place.
In this case, Hunter-Reay forced a mistake and it was the behest of Rossi's 2018 season. There were many races in 2018 where he coughed up points. This one results did not cost him the championship but it did not help him in the end.
8. 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore Presented by SRT at Baltimore Street Course
What Happened: The penultimate round of the 2012 IndyCar season brought the series to the streets of Baltimore and Ryan Hunter-Reay looked to keep his championship alive. Entering 36 points ahead of Hunter-Reay, Will Power was posed to take clinch the championship one race early and he started on pole position while Hunter-Reay was starting from tenth position.
The race started dry but a quick shower forced the cars to pit for wet tires, immediately throwing all strategies up on the air. Hunter-Reay stayed on the slick tires a little longer than Power and some of the other leads and made up ground.
Takuma Sato led a good portion of the race during the wet conditions but the race went through various cycles of leaders. After Sato, Simon Pagenaud took control on the lap 36 restart, going from sixth to first, and it appeared he would get his first career victory. Power retook the lead for a moment during the pit cycle. Ryan Briscoe took the lead on lap 58 and a caution came out on lap 65 to bunch up the field.
On the lap 69 restart, Hunter-Reay took the lead from Briscoe on a blindingly quick restart. Hunter-Reay had to hold on for one more restart with three laps to go and he not only took the victory but cut the deficit to Power down to 17 points after the Australian finished sixth.
How is it remembered: If you still had concerns about the DW12 chassis on street courses after Long Beach, this Baltimore race was fantastic and should have given you a sigh of relief.
Pagenaud's move from sixth to first, aided because IndyCar still used double-file restarts was a terrific move. If anything to make those moves Pagenaud made with so many other drivers around him in such a confined space is stunning. He kept it clean. He did not bump a fellow competitor or put anyone in the wall.
And Pagenaud didn't even win.
Hunter-Reay was a little more aggressive in a race where he had to be aggressive. He had to do all he could to make sure he was in striking distance at Fontana. He rolled the dice in the drizzle and gained some ground and when he had a chance to take the lead he attacked and put himself into the top spot.
7. 2016 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway
What Happened: Weepers pushed the race to Sunday and at the end of the first stint saw a collision between Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden in turn four. The accident broke Newgarden's clavicle and wrist and brought out the caution.
As cars cycled behind the pace car, rain clouds moved in and the rains returned. With rains scheduled for the rest of the day and most of Monday, and with a few teams and drivers needing to get to Le Mans, the race was pushed to August 27th, an open Saturday night.
The race restarted with James Hinchcliffe in the lead and the Canadian dominated most of the night. The restarted race had a 139-lap run that saw Ed Carpenter running down Hinchcliffe but Carpenter and Scott Dixon got together in turn one. Dixon's day was over but Carpenter continued. Carpenter challenged for the lead on the restart but Hinchcliffe would retake the point while Carpenter fell back. A bobble in turn sent Carpenter around ending his race.
The final caution for Jack Hawksworth and Mikhail Aleshin getting together set up a nine-lap sprint for the victory between Hinchcliffe, Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan and Simon Pagenaud. All the drivers diced in the closing laps and an fake to the outside opened the inside for Rahal to get ahead of Hinchcliffe into turn three.
In the dash to the line, Rahal held off Hinchcliffe by 0.008 seconds, the fifth-closest finish in IndyCar history, and 0.0903 seconds covering Rahal to Kanaan in third.
How is it remembered: This is the race that will remember for taking over two months to complete but it was a breath-taking event in August.
Hinchcliffe led a significant portion of the race but there was plenty of passing throughout the field. Hinchcliffe was always going to be in the fight for the victory but it was a matter of who would be the challenger. It could have been any one of seven or eight drivers. It could have been Hinchcliffe vs. Dixon vs. Castroneves. It could have been Hinchcliffe vs. Carpenter vs. Kanaan.
In the end it was Hinchcliffe vs. Rahal vs. Kanaan vs. Pagenaud and in that closing dash, where any of those four drivers could have put a wheel wrong and this race could have ended under caution, these four danced around each other. It was a respectful finish. One driver was not going to be muscled out of the way but rather opened up and exposed.
That is what Rahal did in the final lap. He got Hinchcliffe to guess incorrectly and open the bottom. This allowed Rahal to irk out a victory at the line.
It should be noted that Hinchcliffe's car failed post-race inspection for being too low.
6. 2017 ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway
What Happened: A stunning race that started with Tony Kanaan going from fourth to first at the start and allowed him to lead the first 11 laps. The first of 42 lead changes, a Pocono record, occurred on lap 12 with Alexander Rossi taking the top spot.
There was constant passing in this race. No driver led more than 24 laps at a time. From lap 133 to lap 144, Kanaan and Graham Rahal alternated leading lap in what was a scintillating back-and-forth.
Though it seemed to be a revolving door at the front, it always appeared either Rossi or Ryan Hunter-Reay would come out on top but in the closing stages an alternate pit strategy allowed Will Power to leap to the front in what was an otherwise ho-hum race for the Australian.
During the final round of pit stops, Rossi and Newgarden cycled to the lead and Marco Andretti tried to stretch his fuel and end up in the fight. Andretti's strategy was blown in the pit stall when the fuel nozzle did not engage cleanly. This set up a ten-lap battle between Power, Newgarden and Rossi.
Power made sure to break the draft from his teammate and Rossi could not get around Newgarden. After 500 miles, 0.877 seconds covered the top four of Power, Newgarden, Rossi and Simon Pagenaud.
How is it remembered: Mesmerizing.
The way this race was run it was a thing of beauty. The passes were artistic to watch. Every move was timed out. It was easier to make a move into turn one. It is wide and you had a 0.75-mile runway into the corner but the passes into turn three required much more skill. It is a shorter straightaway and a tighter, less-banked corner but drivers still made it work.
The Kanaan-Rahal battle was incredible. How many consecutive laps could they trade the lead? It was like a rally in tennis, the kind where the crowd looses it in what should otherwise be elegant atmosphere. You were rooting for it not to stop. You wanted it to continue for every lap.
This was also a race where Team Penske stole it because Team Penske is the best team on the grid. Will Power wasn't having a great race but found an audible to victory. The strategy choice inserted him into the battle and provided a three-way fight with Newgarden and Rossi. Rossi appeared to have the most pace of the three but struggled to get ahead of Newgarden and Newgarden could not capitalize on the draft to take the lead from his teammate.
5. 2013 Indianapolis 500
What Happened: A record-obliterating 68 lead changes and a record speed of 187.433 MPH.
It was a race where anyone of ten drivers could have won, from pole-sitter Ed Carpenter to IndyCar debutant Carlos Muñoz, and those two drivers were the top two starters. It was a race of constant lead changes and moves throughout the field.
There were three single-car incidents in the first 56 laps but 133 consecutive green flag laps followed. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti each led their fair share of laps. Though he started 12th, Tony Kanaan quickly found himself mixing it up with the leaders.
A.J. Allmendinger was in the mix in his Indianapolis 500 debut. Allmendinger's race was upended with a loose seatbelt. It set him back and he recovered to finish seventh, the second-best Team Penske entry on the road, one spot behind Hélio Castroneves but Allmendinger was the top Penske car all race.
In the final 100 miles, there was no clear favorite to take the victory. It was anyone's race between the likes of Hunter-Reay, Andretti and Kanaan. Graham Rahal brought out the caution on lap 194 with Hunter-Reay in the lead. On the restart with three laps to go, Kanaan and Muñoz both bounced and got ahead of Hunter-Reay. Moments later, Dario Franchitti was in the turn one barrier and the race would not be restarted.
Tony Kanaan got his elusive Indianapolis 500 victory ahead of debutant Muñoz, Hunter-Reay, Andretti and Justin Wilson, the top Honda finisher in fifth.
How is it remembered: It is the race that shattered our expectations of what an Indianapolis 500 could be.
It is the fastest Indianapolis 500 in the event's history. It has 68 lead changes, the most in Indianapolis 500 history. We had never seen a race like this. Not even the Hanford Device-era Michigan and Fontana races held a candle to this.
This was Indianapolis. It is a place of speed but never before this level of passing. We had seen the record for most lead changes in Indianapolis 500 history fall the year before, a record that had stood for 52 years, but this race has turned a 30-lead change race into the norm at 16th and Georgetown, which is dangerous in terms of perception, but it is what the DW12-era has been from day one.
It is a race no one could have predicted in their wildest dreams. I think we all expected the 2013 race to match the 2012 race. I think if you had offered the fans a race that had 40 lead changes they would have taken it but 68? The record was doubled in one year.
Every race in the DW12-era has at least matched the pre-DW12-era record of 29 lead changes set in 1960.
And to have this race also break the 23-year old record for the fastest Indianapolis 500 to boot almost set the tone of what this decade was going to be. This race surpassed the speed of a time that a large following adores. People long for the days of track records and hold the 1990s as some lost time period as if every year since 1996 has been part of a de-evolution of the series.
This race showed there was a path other than this lost idea of an IndyCar that remained unified through the 1990s and into the 21st century.
And this was race that fan favorite Tony Kanaan took the victory. Kanaan was a modern-day Sam Hanks and Tom Sneva, driver that had long had success at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but had yet to make it to victory lane. It was Kanaan's finest hour.
4. 2013 Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 Presented by Nestlé at São Paulo Street Course
What Happened: IndyCar found one of the greatest street courses ever created in São Paulo and it produced frenetic races. The 2013 affair was no different.
The race started with Ryan Hunter-Reay and the beloved Tony Kanaan trading the lead back and forth in the early laps. A few cautions cycled a few different drivers to the lead, including Sébastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato, before Hunter-Reay and Kanaan got back to the front.
It appeared the race would be one of Hunter-Reay or Kanaan taking the victory and Marco Andretti was lurking as a potential spoiler. Unfortunately for Kanaan, his engine expired on the front straightaway, bringing his car to a halt in front of the 40,000 adoring and heartbroken fans.
This engine failure mixed up the field and another caution for a Justin Wilson accident set up for Sato and Josef Newgarden to be the top two drivers with 17 laps to go. James Hinchcliffe ran in the top five all race and clawed his way into the fight.
Newgarden appeared to have a stronger car than Sato but could not get ahead of the Japanese driver. Sato did not make it easy for Newgarden into the final hairpin corner with what appeared to be constant blocks but no penalty was called from race control. Newgarden's tires were shot after multiple attempts and it allowed Hinchcliffe to take second.
Hinchcliffe found the same difficulty getting ahead of Sato and the final lap started with Sato, Hinchcliffe and Newgarden all under a blanket. Hinchcliffe fended off Newgarden and turned his attention to Sato. Getting back into range, Hinchcliffe again made a run on Sato into the run hairpin but out maneuvered Sato with an over under move to take the lead and yank a victory out of Sato's hands. Behind them, Marco Andretti and Oriol Servià charged down Newgarden and took third and fourth.
How is it remembered: One of the greatest street course races on one of the greatest street courses ver produced.
At the time, we didn't know this was going to be São Paulo's final time on the IndyCar schedule but what a way to go out on a bang.
It felt like a MotoGP race with three or four competitors fighting for it in the end and when one attempt didn't pay off it allowed for another driver to end the fight and take it to the leader.
This was Newgarden's first great race. His rookie season was rough; as he did not pick up a top ten finish despite showing tons of pace. Newgarden really needed to show us something and he fought Sato lap after lap. This was after Newgarden started 25th out of 25 cars. It was definitely our first glimpse that Newgarden was going be a competitive IndyCar driver even though it did not pan out into a podium finish on this day.
Was Newgarden unfortunate that Sato did not get called for a block? Probably but if IndyCar had told Sato to move over, à la what IndyCar did at Belle Isle in 2008 when Hélio Castroneves was told to move aside after blocking Justin Wilson and Wilson went on to take the victory, Newgarden might have won instead of finishing fifth but this race isn't in the top ten races of the decade if that happened. This race might not even be in the top half of the races of the decade.
How much race control gets involved in a race is up for debate but race control's inaction even if it should have stepped in allowed for the finish we saw, the three-way battle between Sato, Newgarden and Hinchcliffe.
It ended with a tremendous over-under move to give Hinchcliffe the victory. The Brazilian contingent went bonkers. Even Sato was enthusiastically applauding Hinchcliffe's move on the cool down lap. What a sign of respect from a fellow competitor and Hinchcliffe deserved it. He had one final chance to get a pass done and made it stick without running Sato into the barrier. Hinchcliffe had better grip on exit and left Sato in his dust.
It was a great treat and it is sad that it is our last memory of São Paulo.
3. 2019 Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
What Happened: A caution-free race with an alternate tire that would not last for all but one driver and it allowed for an incredible 90 laps with an ending that did not disappoint.
Will Power led from the start but the decision to use a two-stop strategy and go from alternate tires to primary tires backfired. On top of that, Felix Rosenqvist ended up being quicker and took the top spot. He even called an audible and switched to a three-stop strategy when he had gotten the most out of the alternate tire. The switch did take Rosenqvist out of the lead but it was a better position than if he was a two-stopper.
Scott Dixon was the one driver to make the alternate tire work over an entire stint. Dixon started on primary tires and it moved him up the order. With the alternate tire working for Dixon he ended up taking the lead and opened a gap to make his final stop without pressure from behind. Dixon's team made the decision to double up on the alternate tire to end the race and while the second stint worked, the third stint saw Dixon struggle and Rosenqvist went on a hunt.
The closing laps saw the gap between the Ganassi teammates vanish and on the final lap, Rosenqvist had a chance to make a run. The two drivers nearly got into each other in the keyhole but both stayed on the road. Rosenqvist remained in the wake of Dixon's skating Dallara through the final corners. The Swede made one final move for the lead coming to the checkered flag but Dixon held on for victory by 0.093 seconds.
Behind the leaders, lapped traffic allowed Josef Newgarden to make a move on Ryan Hunter-Reay for third into the keyhole but that move did not pay off from Newgarden and he spun into the gravel, dropping him to 14th. Elsewhere, Spencer Pigot and Graham Rahal used the three-stop strategy to get top ten finishes and Sébastien Bourdais climbed up to 11th after a spin early from contact with Colton Herta.
How is it remembered: Almost being the changing of the guard.
Dixon isn't going anywhere but Rosenqvist showed why Chip Ganassi Racing is set up for the 2020s. Dixon will soon leave us. He turns 40 next years. We are watching the final days of Scott Dixon. I could go until he is 50 but I am not expecting to see Dixon in an IndyCar come 2030.
Rosenqvist is waiting in the wings for that top seat. He has what it takes to live up to the championship culture at Ganassi. He might have lost on this day to Dixon but he showed it will not be long until he is a regular resident on the top step of the podium.
Look... the top three finishers started eighth, sixth and tenth. It was a caution-free race. The margin of victory was less than a tenth of a second. And this all happened at Mid-Ohio! There are certain races that do not need a long explanation as to why they are great.
If I had told you in 2010 that all the above would happen in one Mid-Ohio race you would not have believed me. This race encapsulates what the DW12 has done to IndyCar. It has turned Mid-Ohio into a spectacle.
2. 2015 MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway
What Happened: A historic race that saw 80 lead changes and there was not a moment of idleness in this race.
There was action from the drop of the green flag with drivers moving up and down the field every lap. The width of Fontana allowed cars to run three lines, and sometimes four and other times five lines, into the corner and down the straightaways.
It was a rotating door at the front of the field and at any one point another two or three drivers were the clear front-runners but it never lasted for long. Early, it seemed like Tony Kanaan or Marco Andretti were going to be the best of the field. A little later Sage Karam climbed up there and appeared to be positioned for a stunning result.
A little after 100 miles, it was Takuma Sato out front. The Penske cars of Will Power and Hélio Castroneves traded the lead after that. Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe were running at the front.
Graham Rahal wasn't mentioned until lap 90 and he took the lead for a moment under caution. Kanaan and Andretti found themselves back at the front with Juan Pablo Montoya. Simon Pagenaud started on pole position and didn't lead a lap until lap 154. After three laps in front, Carlos Muñoz took the lead from Pagenaud. Ryan Hunter-Reay cycled to the front at lap 203.
It was anybody's race.
The first 135 laps were run under green flag conditions before a few cautions. Castroneves spun off exiting turn two after Power and Briscoe squeezed Castroneves. The Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing cars of Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden got together exiting turn four not long after that. There were two cautions for debris that kept long green flag runs from developing.
The first debris came from Rahal after he left with the fuel nozzle still in the car. However, this did not lead to a penalty for Rahal.
These shorter green flag runs increased the intensity and the urgency. From the green flag on lap 199 to the caution on lap 221 for debris, the lead changed 14 times in 22 laps.
With ten laps to go, Power and Sato made contact and both cars were eliminated. Power had been leading four laps before the accident and his exit saw Briscoe, Rahal, Andretti and Kanaan at the front. Rahal had taken the lead from Briscoe just before the caution for the Power-Sato accident.
The red flag came out to preserve a chance to get one final restart and it came with three laps to go. Rahal had to hold off Kanaan and a late charge from Andretti, who took tires before going green. Coming to the white flag, Hunter-Reay was pinched between Karam and Montoya and Hunter-Reay spun into Briscoe sending Briscoe into a somersault and nosedive into the infield grass. Both drivers were unharmed.
Rahal took his second career victory over seven years after his maiden triumph in the wet at St. Petersburg.
How is it remembered: It is mistakenly remembered as a pack racing but after going back and watching it that was far from the case.
What people remember are the final restarts and in a three-lap dash or nine laps of green flag racing the field was tight but for the 135-lap green flag run the field did spread out. There was close racing and drivers could slipstream up on another but it wasn't pack racing in the way that IndyCar raced at Chicagoland, Texas and other 1.5-mile ovals with the previous Dallara chassis.
I remember I wrote at the time that it was a race that didn't feel like it was approaching the record for most lead changes and it was and did break it. It wasn't comical. Sometimes we worry about passing being too easy and 80 lead changes is quite a bit but I think what took our attention away from the number of lead changes were passes everywhere else in the field. There was passing everywhere and guys coming and going. One driver would get to the front and 15 laps later would be in eighth after running second. You really had to stay on it.
This falls in the same category as São Paulo in that it is unfortunate this was the final hooray for Fontana. If Fontana could have found a steady date it would still be on the schedule. The racing was superb and the crowds in 2012 and 2013 were encouraging but moving the race into the heat of the summer turned people away.
1. 2014 Indianapolis 500
What Happened: Arguably, one of the greatest IndyCar races ever. The first 149 laps were under green flag conditions and it was like having a gun to the back of your head and a knife to your throat simultaneously.
While only having 34 lead changes compared to 68 lead changes the year before, the 2014 race was just as thrilling.
It was a race that started with it looking like one of James Hinchcliffe or Ed Carpenter taking the victory. Then Will Power entered the fray and Hélio Castroneves made it feel like we were watching his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory.
Ryan Hunter-Reay started 19th but it did not take long for him to get into the top ten. Hunter-Reay made it to the lead on lap 100 and this is where the race turned into mostly a Hunter-Reay/Castroneves affair. There were some other drivers in the mix. Carpenter didn't fall out of contention. Juan Pablo Montoya was hanging around. Marco Andretti led a good chunk of laps.
The first caution came out when Charlie Kimball spun in turn two and it created a frenetic ending. A few laps later, Scott Dixon spun in turn four and simultaneously Josef Newgarden was hit from behind when Martin Plowman lost focus for a second. The race restarted with 25 laps to go and the early front-runners Carpenter and Newgarden got together in turn one.
Hunter-Reay, Andretti and Castroneves traded the lead before the final caution for a Townsend Bell spin with nine laps to go.
The Bell incident brought out an unprecedented red flag to guarantee a finish. The race went green with seven laps to go and it became a one-on-one battle between Hunter-Reay and Castroneves for the victory. The pair of yellow machines weaved into each corner and slingshot one another at every chance. Hunter-Reay made a daring pass on the inside of Castroneves into turn three and for the final four laps the American successful defended the Brazilian.
At the line, Hunter-Reay won the Indianapolis 500 by 0.060 seconds over Castroneves.
Down the order, Andretti was third ahead of the Colombians Carlos Muñoz and Juan Pablo Montoya. Kurt Busch was the sixth place finish in his Indianapolis 500 debut, the top rookie but the rookie that drew more attention was Sage Karam, who went from 31st to the top ten and then had to go from outside the top twenty back to ninth. Jacques Villeneuve returned to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in 19 years and finished 14th.
How is it remembered: I think it is one of the greatest IndyCar races of all-time.
I went back-and-forth between this and the Fontana race above being the best of the decade. Both were 500-mile races with long green flag runs to start. What makes this one stand out is those 149 laps of green flag racing were dazzling. For a moment, it felt like we were going to have a caution-free Indianapolis 500.
It was kind of like watching nine minutes of continuous play in a hockey game. In that time there are going to be impressive saves, odd-man rushes and it is going to be end-to-end play.
There was not a dull moment over those 149 laps, 372.5 miles. When that first caution came out the entire field deserved a round of applause. You saw 33 drivers run flat out at speeds over 210 MPH and it took about two hours before anyone made a significant mistake. It was a remarkable display of racing and ability and all 33 drivers should be commended for what they did that day.
We were only 45 seconds away from this being the fastest Indianapolis 500. The late cautions slowed it up but it was a phenomenal affair and it ended with a tremendous finish.
The Hunter-Reay-Castroneves battle is up there with Wilbur Shaw vs. Ralph Hepburn, Jim Rathmann vs. Rodger Ward, A.J. Foyt vs. Eddie Sachs, Gordon Johncock vs. Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi vs. Al Unser, Jr., Unser, Jr. vs. Scott Goodyear and Sam Hornish, Jr. vs. Marco Andretti.
It was two great drivers going at it and matching each other's move. Both drivers kept it clean. There was no chop blocking. Neither driver put the other in a dangerous situation.
It is the most complete race of the decade. It had everything you could ask for.
Coming up later this week, we will look at the best IndyCar drivers of the decade.
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