Ryan Hunter-Reay Scores Maiden Indianapolis 500 Victory By Just 0.0600sec

Two races from the prestigious ‘Triple Crown of Motorsport’ took place on Sunday. Nico Rosberg raced to the Monaco Grand Prix victory, while Ryan Hunter-Reay stormed to the Indianapolis 500 win.

The Andretti Autosport driver just managed to hold off Helio Castroneves by 0.0600sec – the second closest finish in event’s history – to score his first Indy 500 triumph. The margin was slightly larger than the gap between first and second in Saturday’s Indy Lights race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A red flag on lap 192, following a big wreck for Townsend Bell, produced an eight-lap sprint to the chequered flag. Hunter-Reay and Castroneves battled intensely in the final stages, but it was the former who eventually emerged in front – but only just.

Marco Andretti was third, with Carlos Munoz – who finished second as a rookie in 2013 – in fourth and the returning Juan Pablo Montoya in fifth. Kurt Busch impressed in his first Indy 500 after finishing sixth.

Busch attempted to become only the second driver to complete the ‘Double Duty’ – finishing the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 Nascar Sprint Cup race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway – but he retired from the latter after 274 laps with an engine failure.

The 98th running of the Indy 500 broke the record for the longest stretch before the first yellow flag. It was caution-free until Charlie Kimball made light contact with the wall and spun at turn two with 51 of the 200 laps remaining.

Scott Dixon was the next driver to find the wall after losing control at turn four on lap 168. Josef Newgarden, whom many regarded as a dark horse, was hit by Martin Plowman under the yellow flag and he was forced to retire.

The most controversial incident took place a few laps later. On the restart, James Hinchcliffe attempted to go three-wide into turn one with Ed Carpenter – who started the race on pole – and Townsend Bell. However, he made contact with Carpenter and both hit the wall.

Two of the three ‘Triple Crown’ races have been decided for 2014. The final event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, takes place from the 14-15 June.