Wheldon’s Indy 500 win under review
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| The orange arrow shows clearly the green light was still on when Wheldon passes Hildebrand |
| Mike Levitt/LAT USA |
Dan Wheldon has been declared the official winner of the 2011 Indy 500. The green light was still on when Wheldon passed Hildebrand.
IndyCar says Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was not expected to stay behind runner-up JR Hildebrand when the rookie slammed into the wall on the final turn of Sunday's race. IndyCar president of competition and racing operations Brian Barnhart says he gave that explanation to Panther Racing team manager Chris Mower, avoiding a protest of the finish.
Barnhart says Mower wanted to make sure IndyCar looked at everything. Barnhart added that "it would be impractical" to stay behind cars involved in accidents.
05/29/11 Dan Wheldon's victory in the 100th Anniversary of the race is being reviewed by IndyCar Series officials because Hildebrand's car was able to cross the start/finish line under its own power.
The rules state that once the yellow light is turned on, the field is frozen. That means Hildebrand would still be the leader at the time of the caution period and because his car made it across the finish line, Wheldon's race-winning pass could be wiped out.
But for now, Wheldon is the driver celebrating the victory in one of the most stunning final laps in the 100-year history of the Indy 500.