Montoya Wins Indianapolis 500

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Juan Pablo Montoya won the 99th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday afternoon.

Montoya picked up his second career Indianapolis 500 victory 15 years after winning his first.  Montoya said the victory was a big one.

“This is too much, it’s pretty unbelievable,” Montoya said.  “That was awesome.”

 

Photo courtesy Andrew Weber/USA Today

Montoya was running in the back of the pack early in the race, and had to fight his way back to the front.  At one point, Montoya was as low as 30th after having to make multiple pit stops under the first caution to replace a rear right wing.

“This Chevy was good all day,” Montoya said.  “Team Penske did an amazing job.  When we came through the field we had a really good car.”

Montoya raced hard with Scott Dixon and teammate Will Power over the final 15 laps.  Montoya made the final pass for the lead with a daring move on Power with three laps to go.

“That fight at the end was hard,” Montoya said.  “This is what racing and IndyCar is all about.  It’s awesome racing all the way down to the wire.”

“It’s pretty awesome.”

Unofficial results:

1. Juan Pablo Montoya

2. Will Power

3. Charlie Kimball

4. Scott Dixon

5. Graham Rahall

6. Marco Andretti

7. Helio Castroneves

8. JR Hildebrand

9. Josef Newgarden

10. Simon Pagenaud

11. Sebastien Bourdais

12. Ryan Briscoe

13. Takuma Sato

14. Townsend Bell

15. Ryan Hunter-Reay

16. Gabby Chaves

17. Alex Tagliani

18. James Jakes

19. Simona de Silvestro

20. Carlos Munoz

21. Justin Wilson

22. Pippa Mann

23. Sebastian Saavedra

24. Jack Hawksworth

25. Stefano Coletti

26. Tony Kanaan

27. James Davison

28. Tristan Vautier

29. Oriol Servia

30. Ed Carpenter

31. Bryan Clauson

32. Sage Karam

33. Conor Daly