Post-Race Thoughts on the 93rd Running of the Indianapolis 500

Yesterday was one of the more exciting Indy 500s I've seen in recent memory, ending with Helio Castroneves joining the elite three-time winner club.

Helio is definitely having the best month in recorded history.

First, he is acquitted on tax evasion charges, then he somehow gets past the rumor that he was having an affair with his Dancing With The Stars companion Julianne Hough, wins the pole for the 500, his team wins the pit competition, and finally he wraps up the month by winning the race.

Best month ever.

There were a lot of surprises for me yesterday.

The first one was how impressed I was by Danica Patrick's performance. She has claimed that she's changed and she's going to turn it around. If she and her team keep performing like they did yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised to see her win a few races this season.

Another surprise was Townsend Bell.

He qualified 24th and finished fourth. Bell has a half month contract with his current team, KV Racing. The deal only covered the Indianapolis race, so this could be the end for him this season.

While most think his strong showing will lead to him finding a ride for the rest of the season, Bell isn't as upbeat, believing that he shouldn't get his hopes up after being let down in the past.

Yet another one of the things that shocked me yesterday is that Milka Duno actually finished the race. Sure it was the last position still running at the end, but it was a finish nonetheless.

Although my prediction of her causing an accident was accurate...it wasn't big, but it occurred as she was acting as a moving chicane.

Duno, who was in the process of being lapped by Graham Rahal, didn't give Rahal the space to pass, and he was promptly sent into the fourth turn wall. Rahal described her actions as "clueless."

Clueless seemed to be a popular description as it was also the word that Marco Andretti used to describe Mario Moraes after a first lap, first turn crash took them both out of the race.

I have yet to see a replay of this crash, but regardless, this can be attributed to the Andretti Curse.

Also, Marco comes off as a spoiled brat who thinks that success should just be handed to him. While I like him and I love hot-headed drivers, his actions show that he needs to mature a bit more before he can become a dominant force in the IRL.

It is such a shame that a crash occurred though, as it took two of my predicted top five finishers out of the race.

Here was my predicted top five: Wheldon, Dixon, Castroneves, Marco Andretti, and Moraes

Actual top five: Castroneves, Wheldon, Patrick, Bell, and Power

Not too bad, I got two out of five and I picked two of the top three, just a tad out of order.

Also, if Dixon would have been able to pass Power in the waning moments of the race, I would have been 60 percent correct in my predictions.

Now the IRL turns its attention to Milwaukee for next Sunday's ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile.

It'll be interesting to see who builds off of their Indianapolis 500 performances and uses them to create a strong showing in Milwaukee.

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