toledoblade.com --

INDIANAPOLIS - The cruel mistress that is the Indianapolis 500 broke a few more hearts yesterday.

Tony Kanaan, seemingly in position to finally win here after coming oh so close the last four years, got tangled up with another car on a restart late in the rain-shortened race and limped in at 12th.

On the other side of the emotional world, Dario Franchitti fooled fate by staying out on the track when most of the leaders made a frantic final pit stop, and then had a second round of heavy rain gift-wrap his victory.

Franchitti became just the second native of Scotland to win here, the first since Jim Clark in 1965.

"I was doing everything I could to save fuel, just hanging on out there," Franchitti said. "Tony led for so many laps (83) . . . I just can't believe it. Who would have thought it would work out like that. I think I've kind of got half an idea what it means to win this race now."

Franchitti started third in the race, alongside Kanaan, his Andretti Green Racing teammate. Kanaan was second here in 2004 when rain ended the race 20 laps short of 200 and sent Buddy Rice to victory. A torn Kanaan tried to be philosophical about the frustrating end to his day.

AP VIDEO

Franchitti Wins Indy 500; Andrettis Denied Again

AP VIDEO: Scotland's Dario Franchitti is celebrating his first Indianapolis 500 victory, a rain-shortened race that was called after 166 of the 200 laps. There were nine different leaders and 24 lead changes.

"If I could pick anybody besides me to win, I'd make it Dario," he said. "It's Indianapolis, so it hurts, but one of my best friends won. My day will come, if it's meant to be."

On a day when eight crashes gave the race a herky-jerky flow, and the intervention of rain seemed imminent and inevitable, Franchitti needed speed, timing, and some good fortune with the weather. A cut tire had sent Franchitti to the pits earlier than most of the rest of the field, and ultimately gave him the strategical edge.

"Our roll of the dice proved to be a lucky one," Franchitti said. "We knew the rain was coming, and we just hoped we had enough fuel to win."

Polesitter Helio Castroneves had difficulty starting his car for the parade lap, then an incident with the fuel hose on an early pit stop knocked him from the front to 29th. The two-time Indy 500 champion worked his way back to third when the rain ended the race.

"You want to finish the race, and you want to finish under green," Castroneves said. "For everything that happened, third is fantastic. We were running good up front, then went back to last and started our quest. With a lot of patience, we were able to recuperate, be patient, pass big, and put ourselves in a very good position. It was such a shame not to be able to finish under green. That's the worst situation, but rain sometimes does that."

Kanaan and Castroneves swapped the lead through the first 40 laps, and after challenges from Marco Andretti and Scott Dixon, who finished second, defending Indy 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. went out into the lead for a couple of laps. Hornish, who had started from the fourth position, was running third when he got clipped by Tomas Scheckter on the frontstretch on lap 83, cutting a tire and forcing an unscheduled pit stop that pushed him to the back of the field.

"We battled back, and we were fortunate to get another shot," said Hornish, who finished fifth.

Franchitti's first lead came on lap 74, but Kanaan was back in front when rain first halted the race on lap 113.

After a three-hour delay, the pace got even more hectic as foul weather loomed in the distance again.

Kanaan had Andretti teammate Danica Patrick right behind him as he led on lap 120, and when most of the leaders pitted around lap 135, Kanaan had a three-second lead over second-place Hornish at that point. Another round of pit stops followed Marty Roth's impact with the wall on lap 150, but Franchitti, who had been 20th on the previous restart after dealing with the cut tire, stayed out on the track this time and assumed the lead.

Kanaan got hit from behind by Jaques Lazier in the mad scramble on the restart and had to pit again for tires and repairs.

The rain was just a few blocks away when the green flag came out the last time, but a backstretch melee involving Buddy Rice, Marco Andretti and Dan Wheldon quickly brought out the caution, and the rain closed the curtain on the race moments later.

"We wanted the race to go to the end, and things were coming to us," Dixon said.

"It was such a strange day. No comments on what to say about it. I think we had enough speed to get Dario, but 'he said, she said doesn't work. This race means so much to us, if you come away with less than a first place, you feel incomplete."

"It's still about winning," said Franchitti's team owner, Michael Andretti, who was 13th in what was likely his final Indy 500. "That's why we had five cars out there. We are all about the win, and Dario deserves it. He helped build this team to what it is today."

Patrick finished eighth for the Andretti team, which has won two of the last three Indy 500 races.

"This race means so much to everyone. "I'm so happy to get it for the team. It was going to come down to a dogfight, so I was really hoping for the rain," Franchitti said.

Franchitti's wife, actress Ashley Judd, said her husband's good fortune at a place that can be so unforgiving was well-deserved.

"He raced like a gentleman, picked 'em off one by one, and won in style," Judd said.

Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.

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