Indy 500 2015: Results, Top Finishers and Analysis from 99th Edition of Race
Juan Pablo Montoya won his second career Indy 500 on Sunday in epic fashion, returning from the back of the pack to beat Will Power and Charlie Kimball to the finish of the 2015 edition of the legendary race.
SportsCenter shared the news:
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The Colombian made his move with three laps to go, passing Power and Scott Dixon on his way to the finish line.
The 99th edition of the Indy 500 was every bit as exciting as fans were hoping for, and the drama didn't stop until the final lap.
Montoya started the race from the fifth row, and he needed to pit several times during an early caution after Simona de Silvestro made contact with his car, but he rode the perfect race to come away with the win.
Here are the top finishers from the 99th Indy 500:
| 1 | Juan Pablo Montoya | / | 9 |
| 2 | Will Power | 0.1046 | 6 |
| 3 | Charlie Kimball | 0.7950 | 6 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | 1.0292 | 6 |
| 5 | Graham Rahal | 2.3122 | 6 |
| 6 | Marco Andretti | 2.5388 | 6 |
| 7 | Helio Castroneves | 2.7821 | 6 |
| 8 | JR Hildebrand | 3.5631 | 7 |
| 9 | Josef Newgarden | 4.0281 | 6 |
| 10 | Simon Pagenaud | 4.2148 | 7 |
Unofficial results, courtesy of imscdn.com.
Analysis
Sunday's Indy 500 featured everything, from spectacular crashes to fantastic overtaking manoeuvres and a wild finish. The tone was set in the very first lap, as Takuma Sato and Sage Karam were involved in a crash that brought out the first caution.
A previous winner back in 2000, Montoya was seen as one of the outsiders for this year's race after showing significantly less pace than his main rivals during qualifying. An incident during the caution saw him move all the way to the back of the pack, but while it seemed his race was over, he slowly started to pick off the drivers in front of him, one by one.
The Orange Cone had to make this joke:
Penske Racing team-mate Power, Dixon and Kimball spent most of the race battling for the lead, along with former winner Tony Kanaan. The Brazilian crashed out of the Indy 500 late and told ESPN (h/t the Indianapolis Star's Zak Keefer) how he approaches any race:
Simon Pagenaud also spent the bulk of the race near the front of the pack but gave way late.
Three-time winner Helio Castroneves couldn't make his presence felt late, and last year's winner Ryan Hunter-Reay finished an anonymous 15th. But while those two were losing track of the drivers at the front, Montoya was advancing.
Driver Kenny Wallace couldn't contain himself:
A massive crash involving Jack Hawksworth, Sebastian Saavedra and Stefano Coletti shocked the crowd, and Saavedra was carried to an ambulance after the crew needed several minutes to liberate him from the wreck.
Once the race restarted, Dixon and Power traded blows as Montoya drew ever closer, and the final laps saw the three switch positions almost constantly. Montoya managed to pull off the decisive manoeuvre, giving Team Penske the Indy 500-Daytona 500 double after Joey Logano won the latter.
Driver Tony Stewart offered Montoya his congratulations:
Montoya and Power entered the Indy 500 ranked first and second in the IndyCar standings, respectively, and Sunday's result is yet another big win for Team Penske.
Kanaan and Hunter-Reay are the obvious losers of Sunday's race, and Castroneves won't be happy with the result, either. The Brazilian missed out on yet another shot to make history and had to watch Dixon grab more points as he tries to break up the Team Penske dominance at the top of the standings.
For all of his consistency and talent, Power can't seem to get over the hump and win the Indy 500, while veteran Montoya can celebrate arguably the biggest win of his career.
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