SPORTS

Juan Pablo Montoya: 'There's only one way to win' Indy 500

Blake Schuster
  • Race results are at the bottom of the file
Juan Pablo Montoya celebrates following his win in the 99th Indianapolis 500.

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Juan Pablo Montoya has won the 2015 Indianapolis 500 — his second career victory.

Montoya overcame a lackluster week of practice and a rough start to the race -- he fell back as far as 30th -- to power his way up to the front and stay there. With 10 Laps to go, Will Power and pole sitter Scott Dixon were battling up front with Montoya sitting in third. After a few failed attempts to get around Dixon, Montoya finally found an opening and moved past both, gaining the lead on Lap 198.

It's Team Penske's 16th Indy 500 victory.

Juan Pablo Montoya: "There's a 100 ways to throw this away, there's only one way to win it. The guy who makes the fewest mistakes is going to win. ... If you're going to make a mistake, make it early."

On being with Team Penske: "I told Roger, as long as you want me, I'll be here."

Team owner Roger Penske, on running 1-2 with a couple of Chip Ganassi-owned cars in third and fourth: 'You want to go as hard as you can but when a Ganassi car is running third, you can't give that win away.'

Will Power on Montoya leaving IndyCar in 2000: "He'd have been pretty successful (if he hadn't left). He's very strong this year. His plan was to win this race and win the championship. I'm very determined to make sure he doesn't do that. I think it's going to be a team battle."

UPDATE: Sebastian Saavedera has a contusion on his right foot and will need to be re-evaluated before he is cleared to drive. Saavedrea was injured during a crash late in the race.

3:32 Ten laps to go and we've got a great finish developing. Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power keep attacking each other.

3:26 p.m. -- Jack Hawksworth and Stefano Coletti have been checked, cleared and released.

3:15 p.m. -- Major crash as the pack exited Turn 4. Jack Hawksworth and Sebastian Saavedrea clipped each other with rookie Stefano Coletti rushing in behind them. Coletti couldn't avoid the two and smacked right into them sending debris flying all over the track. Saavedrea clearly took the worst of the hit, which left him along the wall and needing help from emergency crews. He remained in his car until being carried out and to an ambulance. He was conscious.


3:13 p.m. -- News on the injured Dale Coyne Racing crew members: Daniel Jang has been transported to IU hospital for further evaluation of a right ankle injury, and Greg Senerius has been checked and released.

2:46 p.m. -- Tony Kanaan had been one of, if not the best, driver all race. It's all for nothing now. On the ABC broadcast Chip Ganassi said the team made a front wing change to help with downforce. Kanaan spun out going into Turn 3 shortly afterand he couldn't get it back. He was in the top five before the crash. Yellow flag on Lap 154. Kanaan has been checked, cleared and released from the medical center.

2:13 p.m. -- A couple of scares on the track all in a few moments. First Ed Carpenter and Oriol Servia collided and spun heading into Turn 1, forcing Carpenter into the wall. The crash looked a lot like what happened to Carpenter last year when he crashed with James Hinchcliffe. This time, Carpenter tried to pass Servia on the inside and hit his front right tire on the back of the No. 32 car on Lap 112. Both drivers were checked, cleared and released from the medical center.

After the yellow flag came out, an incident on pit road left two crew members for Tristan Vautier injured. Pippa Mann looked to exit pit road but couldn't avoid the car of James Davison in front of her. Davison's car knocked into two right front crew members for Vautier. Emergency workers were on the scene immediately and an ambulance was called over for one of the injured pit road workers who left on a gurney, according to the ABC broadcast. A tough situation for Dale Coyne Racing, which owns all three cars involved.

2:00 p.m. -- Things are getting intense up front on Lap 97. Tony Kanaan and Simon Pagenaud had been going at each other for the last few laps before Kanaan went for a pit stop. Scott Dixon and Will Power have been close behind. One driver no one has really mentioned today, Helio Castroneves, has been relaxing in the top 10. Look for him to get busy soon. Just about halfway through the race.

1:55 p.m. -- The old IndyStar boss is calling us out. We're going with 220,000 on the advice of Curt Cavin.

1:29 p.m. -- Bryan Clauson is the latest to hit the wall. He got offline and crashed in Turn 4. The Nobelsville native got out of his car shortly after. Yellow flag on Lap 66. And while we wait to find out more about his crash, here's video from the Turn 1 crash on Lap 1.

The No. 88 of Noblesville's Bryan Claussen hits the wall in Turn 3 of Lap 64 of the 2015 Indianapolis 500.

1:22 p.m. -- Mr. Chaves might be in some trouble when he gets off the track...

1:20 p.m. -- The first round of scheduled pit stops just ended. Aside from a Juan Pablo Montoya gaffe, everything seemed to go as planned. Montoya overshot his pit and ran over the air hose. His crew had to push him back before they could get to work on the car. It cost Montoya five extra seconds. Dixon is back in first with Pagenaud and Kanaan close behind. We're through 52 Laps.

1:00 p.m. -- Tony Kanaan with the best car by far early on. Through Lap 24 he's jumped from fourth to first. Dixon and Pagenaud behind him.


12:53 p.m. -- We did it! One full lap green-flag lap! Dixon in first, followed by Power and Pagenaud.

12:43 p.m. -- Karam has been checked, cleared and released from the infield medical center. Sato has been moved to the back of the field.

12:35 p.m. -- One turn, one crash. Sage Karam and Takuma Sato made contact in the corner, sending Karam into the wall. Ryan Briscoe, driving for James Hinchcliffe caught the debris and got a piece of James Davison. Under caution now as crews clean it up.

Karam has been checked by medical personnel, cleared and released.

12:30 p.m. -- Trouble already for Alex Tagliani and Conor Daly and we haven't even started the race.

KV Racing driver Stefano Coletti (4) gets airborne after an incident in turn 4 involving Chip Ganassi Racing driver Sebastian Saavdra and A.J. Foyt Enterprises driver Jack Hawksworth (41) during the 2015 Indianapolis 500, May 24, 2015.

PRE-RACE

Well, it only took me 2.5 hours to get to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Carmel this morning.

It must be the Indy 500.

Traffic usually is an issue on race day, however today seemed a little more congested than usual. But, I made it and am locked in ready to get started for today's live blog.

Here's what we've got ahead of us:

12:04 p.m.: National anthem

12:13 p.m.: 'Back Home Again in Indiana,' Straight No Chaser

12:15 p.m.: Command to start engines

12:21 p.m.: 99th Indianapolis 500

****

12:12 p.m. -- Post-anthem fly over at the Speedway never gets old.

Noon -- It's a great turnout for today's 500.

11:55 a.m. -- Driver intros are always a nice way to gauge who are the fan favorites. No surprises today.

11:16 a.m. -- NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon admitted he wishes he could've run in the Indy 500. It didn't happen for lack of trying. Early his career, before he found stock cars, Gordon looked to IndyCar. (via Blake Schuster)

11:20 a.m. -- This guy has a little more free time these days...

Team co-owner David Letterman in his garage area before the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday May 24, 2015.

On Wednesday, the Indianapolis native wrapped up 33 years in late-night talk. Today, the words "Late Show with David Letterman" decorate the side of an Indianapolis 500 car.

"Everything that's happened, that's the highlight of my career," Letterman said during a pre-race interview. "It's like Andrew Luck wearing 'Letterman' across his jersey. You know, it's crazy." (via David Lindquist)

11 a.m. -- Here's an update on that aforementioned traffic around the Speedway.

10:54 a.m. -- Oriol Servia's ride has some new paint on it. You just knew Letterman was going to be well represented here today.

10:32 a.m. -- Pacers star Paul George just landed on the infield in a helicopter to deliver the green flag for today's race. George was joined by Riley kid Tori Gwynn and Colts punter Pat McAfee, who has lived out here at the track this month it seems.

Yesterday, George participated in the 500 Festival Parade and posted a video to Instragram that should make Pacers fans smile:

"The love was insane! Looking forward to bringing a parade to you in June Indy! #Motivated #Indy500."

• Not going to make it to the track today? Well then you know by now you, you won't be able to watch the race live today in Indianapolis. And that blackout has IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel a little ticked off.

• There's been quite a bit of fluctuation with the starting grid for today's race. Scott Horner has you covered with what you'll need to know about the 33 Indy 500 drivers.

RACE RESULTS

1. (15) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

2. (2) Will Power, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

3. (14) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

4. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

5. (17) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

6. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

7. (5) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

8. (10) J.R. Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

9. (9) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

10. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

11. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

12. (31) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

13. (24) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

14. (23) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, Running.

15. (16) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

16. (26) Gabby Chaves, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

17. (20) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

18. (19) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

19. (18) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

20. (11) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running.

21. (6) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running.

22. (25) Pippa Mann, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running.

23. (27) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevrolet, 175, Contact.

24. (28) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 175, Contact.

25. (29) Stefano Coletti, Dallara-Chevrolet, 175, Contact.

26. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevrolet, 151, Contact.

27. (33) James Davison, Dallara-Honda, 116, Mechanical.

28. (32) Tristan Vautier, Dallara-Honda, 116, Mechanical.

29. (13) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 112, Contact.

30. (12) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 112, Contact.

31. (30) Bryan Clauson, Dallara-Chevrolet, 61, Contact.

32. (21) Sage Karam, Dallara-Chevrolet, 0, Contact.

33. (22) Conor Daly, Dallara-Honda, 0, Mechanical.

———

Race Statistics

Winners average speed: 161.341.

Time of Race: 3:05:56.5286.

Margin of Victory: 0.1046 seconds.

Cautions: 6 for 47 laps.

Lead Changes: 37 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: Dixon 1-18, Kanaan 19-20, Dixon 21, Kanaan 22-25, Dixon 26-34, Pagenaud 35-36, Power 37-38, Montoya 39-40, Dixon 41-66, Pagenaud 67-70, Dixon 71, Pagenaud 72, Kanaan 73-74, Dixon 75, Kanaan 76-97, Pagenaud 98-99, Castroneves 100-101, Pagenaud 102-123, Power 124, Pagenaud 125, Dixon 126-127, Pagenaud 128, Dixon 129-148, Pagenaud 149-150, Kimball 151-152, Tagliani 153-154, Kimball 155-162, Dixon 163-164, Montoya 165-166, Dixon 167-169, Munoz 170-172, Wilson 173-174, Power 175-186, Dixon 187, Power 188-191, Montoya 192, Power 193-196, Montoya 197-200.

Points: Montoya 272, Power 247, Dixon 211, Castroneves 206, Rahal 204, Newgarden 173, Bourdais 161, Kimball 160, Andretti 151, Kanaan 147.