INDIANAPOLIS - Danica Patrick was the only driver met with a loud chorus of boos during yesterday's prerace introductions at the Indianapolis 500.
In the grueling race in sweltering heat that followed, Patrick was not victorious, but at least she felt vindicated by her performance.
Patrick, easily the most visible and well-known personality in the sport of open-wheel racing, had been the target of the fans' ire after her postqualifying comments were broadcast over the public address system at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, directing the blame for a poor performance at her crew and the setup on her car.
She was hit with a second and much more substantial wave of jeers yesterday, with the historic track packed with an estimated quarter of a million fans. Patrick, starting back in 23rd in the 33-car field, shook off the rebuff and toiled throughout the race to improve her position.
She survived and finished sixth, her fifth top-10 finish at Indy in six tries. A very diplomatic Patrick credited her Andretti Autosport GoDaddy.com team with the surprisingly strong run.
"I think that one of the strengths of this team is race strategy, pit stops, and just never stopping working at it," she said.
Patrick was the highest finisher of the record four women in the race. Indy veteran Sarah Fisher got collected in a crash in the latter stages of the race and finished 28th, while rookies Simona de Silvestro and Ana Beatriz were 18th and 21st, respectively.
"We just got shoved up high out there in turn four, with nowhere to go and hit the wall. There's really not a lot of room to pass here, and it's extremely difficult to find space," said Fisher, who made her ninth start at Indy, the most by any female. She started 29th in the field yesterday, but moved up as high as 15th before the crash that ended her day.
GANASSI DOUBLE: Dario Franchitti's win in yesterday's Indy 500 gave team owner Chip Ganassi a never before accomplished double - same-year victories in the top races in NASCAR and the IndyCar Series. Ganassi, whose Sprint Cup Series team won the Daytona 500 in February with Jamie McMurray driving, won his fourth Indy 500 yesterday. Ganassi and Roger Penske are the only team owners with wins in the two prestigious races.
RAHAL'S RUN: Graham Rahal, the 21-year-old son of former Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal, teamed up with his father for the first time yesterday, and at the end of an erratic day of racing, young Rahal finished 12th, his best showing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in three races. Rahal had failed to complete more than 55 laps in his previous two attempts.
"We went backward, forward, backward, forward again, and that was our day," Graham Rahal said.
He was black-flagged at one point for blocking and then spent 30 laps racing like crazy to keep eventual winner Dario Franchitti from putting him a lap down.
"That 30 laps we ran in front of Dario we were flying. For sure we were as quick as most of the guys, but we just needed to recover from too many mistakes."
FAST PACE: Robin Roberts, the host of Good Morning America on ABC, drove the pace car in yesterday's race - a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
"To know that you're setting the stage for the greatest race is unlike anything," Roberts said. "You can think all you want about how it's going to be, but until you're actually here experiencing it, it is the greatest spectacle."
CELEB WATCH: Three-time Academy Award-winning actor Jack Nicholson waved the green flag as the honorary starter of yesterday's race. Actor Mark Wahlberg rode with former IndyCar Series driver Michael Andretti in a custom built two-seater that joined the field for the start of the race. It was no joy ride, as the two-seater approached 200 miles per hour before cutting down pit road.
First Published May 31, 2010, 10:37 a.m.
