Indianapolis 500 goes to Dario Franchitti

Dario Franchitti conserves enough fuel to take the checkered flag at the Indianapolis 500.

Mike Groll / Associated PressDario Franchitti, his wife, Ashley Judd and car owner Chip Ganassi celebrate at the start-finish line after Franchitt's victory in Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Indianapolis -- Dario Franchitti dominated the 94th Indianapolis 500, leading 155 of 200 laps, but during the final 25 miles there was a real question whether he had enough fuel to make it to the finish.

"Up until 10 laps to go I was pretty relaxed," Franchitti, 37, said. "Then all hell broke loose."

Thanks to some gas-saving fuel strategy and a dramatic car-shattering crash in his mirrors, Franchitti made it to the finish Sunday with his wife, actress Ashley Judd, alternately holding her hand over her mouth in amazement and waving to the Scotsman as he drove by.

Franchitti won his first Indy 500 in 2007 in the rain, and this one under a caution that came out on lap 199, but they both count. The native of Edinburgh, Scotland started on the outside of the front row beside Will Power and pole-sitter Helio Castroneves. Franchitti showed his stuff right from the start, letting team owner Chip Ganassi know his goal of becoming the first owner to win NASCAR's Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 in the same season was within reach.

"The good thing was, at the start of the race Dario asserted himself," Ganassi said. "He got by Will going into [turn] one, and then he passed Helio coming off [turn] two before it went yellow. That kind of set the stage, pounding his fist and staking his claim."

In the end he was never challenged on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"What an awesome car he had," Castroneves said. "It was the car to beat today."

Yet Franchitti knew there would be at least one challenge, and where it would likely come from.

"I had a dream last night that TK and I were going to fight to the finish," Franchitti said. Chris Howell / Associated PressIndy 500 winner Dario Franchitti feared Tony Kanaan would rally from his last-place starting spot to battle for the win. Instead, Franchitti, rear, ended up getting a congratulatory hug from Kanaan, who had to make a late stop for fuel.

TK would be Tony Kanaan, who would, indeed, have an impact on the race.

From the start almost all the drama was behind Franchitti, most of it provided by his former teammate, Kanaan. The popular Brazilian, racing for Andretti Autosports, started last but didn't stay there long as Kanaan was a master moving through traffic. While Franchitti was jumping from third to first on the first lap, Kanaan was jumping eight cars at the same time, moving up to 25th before a first-lap yellow flag came out.

The track went green again on lap five, and inside three laps Kanaan was up to 19th. By lap 35 he was up to 11th. The yellows continued to drop and Kanaan continued on the hunt. Meanwhile, through the first 150 laps, Franchitti was on a relative Sunday drive.

But the last 25 miles gave Franchitti more excitement than he wanted.

Ragged pit stops by the Roger Penske race team put his hopes for a 16th Indy 500 win in jeopardy. But there was one last chance as Castroneves was one of four drivers -- Mike Conway, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal were the others -- who skipped a late-race pit stop to rotate into the top four spots. All four were hoping for a caution to come out, which would allow them to zip into the pits for a splash of fuel and hold on to their positions on the track..

Conway was followed by Wilson, Castroneves and Rahal when the green flag dropped on lap 166. All had last pitted on lap 154 or earlier. Franchitti was right behind them, but now Franchitt was being hounded by his dream. Kanaan was the first car in his mirrors.

And everybody was hoping for a caution, a pit stop, and a dash to the finish.

It didn't come in time for most of them. First Conway went into the pits on lap 178, giving the lead to Wilson. In an effort to conserve fuel, drivers throttled back and speeds dropped. Wilson had to pit on lap 190, giving the lead to Castroneves. But on lap 192 Castroneves and Rahal had to stop, giving the lead back to Franchitti . . . with Kanaan still trailing.

"I wanted to get away from TK so he couldn't draft [off] me and save more fuel," Franchitti said. "But I kept looking and he was still at a similar distance. I thought, 'Man, if he's saving as much fuel as me he's going to make this a difficult last five laps.' Then he pitted."

Kurt Bauer / Associated PressMike Conway's car gets airborne on lap 199, bringing out a yellow flag that clinched Dario Franchitti's victory in the Indianapolis 500. Conway, who led 15 laps, suffered only leg injuries in the spectacular crash.So with four laps remaining, Franchitti was cruising, even as Dan Wheldon rotated into contention. But Wheldon's threat was halted by a spectacular crash on lap 199 when Conway touched wheels with Ryan Hunter-Reay, hit the wall and went airborne before landing and splintering his car into pieces. He only suffered leg injuries.

Wheldon would finish second and Marco Andretti third. Andretti was initially listed as finishing sixth, but he filed a protest and a review showed Alex Lloyd, Scott Dixon and Danica Patrick had passed Andretti under caution, allowing him to move up three spots.

But none of that mattered to Franchitti. He was on the gas all day and still had more when it counted.

"There was 1.6 gallons left," he said.