I'm not the world's biggest IRL fan but I can't help but take an interest in Britain's own Dan Wheldon. After winning tonight in Chicago all he has to do now is turn up to the final race of the season and the title is his. It makes him the first driver ever to win both the Indy 500 AND the IRL series championship in the same season. Tonight's win also means he has the highest number of race victories ever in one season.
It was probably the most exciting oval race I've ever watched (although tbh I haven't watched too many!). All the pre-race hype was about pole-sitter Danica "the Hype" Patrick. To be fair to her she had a decent race in finishing 6th, but she seems to make everyone VERY nervous around her in traffic. Her race-craft doesn't seem to be up to scratch IMHO. The first big moment though was the race having to be red-flagged after an horrific crash for Aussie Ryan Briscoe. It was worringly reminiscent of Kenny Brack's accident in '03 as his car was tossed upwards into the catchment fence above the wall, and the car was torn apart in a huge fireball. Thankfully he seems to have gotten off pretty lightly, just a pair of broken collar bones from his safety harness and a bit of bruising and concussion.
After the restart it was all down to the wheel to wheel racing. There were constantly drivers going 3 abreast and it was a miracle that there was no other serious contact. The spotlight was firmly on the battle between Wheldon and Kanaan for the title. Wheldon was well placed for a good points finish and looked comfortable, but he recieved a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane and ended up back at the very back of the pack. He quickly came storming through the field to lead the field by a country mile going into the final 10 laps, but a safety car was brought out for debris on track and his lead vanished. In a frenetic final few laps Wheldon held off the Team Penske drivers Castroneves and Hornish to win by a tiny fraction of a second.
Congrats to Wheldon, the first Briton to win the series, and he did it in style!
Brief highlights of the race, including the horrendous crash, can be found in the first clip on this page.
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