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Last updated on Monday, May 28, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Dario Franchitti survived an early pit incident to win his third Indianapolis 500.
Franchitti went to the back of the field during the first round of pit stops when his car was hit by the car of EJ Viso. Franchitti's Target car needed a new nose and front-wing assembly after the incident.
Franchitti, teammate Scott Dixon, Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan exchanged the lead over the final 33 laps with Sato crashing on the final lap trying to get past Franchitti. Dixon finished second with Kanaan, Oriol Servia and pole-winner Ryan Briscoe rounding out the top five. Sato finished 17th.
It was a record-setting day at the Indianapolis 500 with 34 passes for the lead. The previous record was 29 lead changes in 1960.
Dario Franchitti becomes the tenth driver to record three or more '500' wins and joins Helio Castroneves as an active three-time Indy winner. Franchitti tied Castroneves' record by needing just nine Indy starts to record three victories. All three of Franchitti's wins finished under caution.
The Target-Ganassi one-two finish gave Honda the top spots in Sunday's engine battle at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Chevrolet powered the next four finishers with Honda taking positions seven through nine.
The two cars powered by Lotus engines did not fare well. Simona de Silvestro and Jean Alesi were called to the pits by Race Control nine laps into the event because they were unable to keep up with the pack. De Silvestro finished 32nd with Alesi being credited with 33rd.
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