Danica Does Not Qualify

Danica Patrick finally silenced the critics last weekend with her victory in the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. Ever since her arrival onto the IndyCar scene in 2005, it was not if she would win but when.

She finally took the checkered flag in dramatic style. She used a risky fuel strategy to pass Helio Castroneves with three laps to go as Castroneves was running low on fuel.

Patrick’s victory is ground-breaking in terms of IndyCar, but a female winning a professional auto race is nothing new. Patrick’s victory did nothing but sell tickets for upcoming events on the IRL’s schedule, including this weekend’s race at Kansas where she will receive all the media attention – win or lose.

And then comes the Indianapolis 500. Patrick is a consistent top-runner at Indy. In her three starts, she has a fourth-place finish to go along with a pair of eighth-place finishes.

With the Indy Japan 300 victory under her belt, does Patrick now have the confidence and killer instinct to win the Indy 500? That question will be answered on May 25.

As great an achievement as it was for Patrick to win her first race, it has been difficult to tell this week if she is a race car driver or a democratic presidential nominee based on all of her media attention. She grabbed every headline in every major newspaper. She has appeared on talk show after talk show. Just for winning a single race?

Let’s set the record straight. Patrick is a race car driver. She gets paid to win races. Why does she deserve a parade thrown in her honor just because she lacks the traditional genitals?

Patrick’s victory, although historic in every sense of the word, does not fall into the realm of historic.

So, without further ado, here are the five most significant, newsworthy, and ground-breaking races and performances in the history of the IRL.

5. Hornish, Jr. Upsets Helio

Heading into the 2002 IRL series finale at the Chevy 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway, two drivers were left standing. In one corner, we had Sam Hornish, Jr., the reigning IRL series champion. In the other corner, we had the two-time reigning Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves, who was finishing up his rookie season in the IRL.

Hornish, Jr. vs. Castroneves.

Panther Racing vs. Penske Racing

David vs. Goliath.

Any non-observant race fan would pick Castroneves to capture the championship 10-out-of-10 times simply based on Penske’s history, reputation, and obsession with championships.

How could Hornish, Jr., driving for a low-funded and under-sized team manage to compete with the open-wheel monopoly that is Penske Racing?

Forget sponsors. Forget money. Forget history. Forget experience.

Hornish, Jr. – with the chips stacked against him – flopped a straight flush and got the job done. He passed Castroneves with just a handful of laps remaining in the Chevy 500 and held on for the victory as David defeated Goliath.

The victory proved that IRL founder Tony George’s vision for the series was still intact; a small and low-budgeted team had equal opportunity for success as a well-funded and experienced team did.

Unfortunately for the IRL, this was the end of an era. Fellow power teams from the rival CART series – Target Chip Ganassi, Andretti-Green, Rahal-Letterman – have staggered into the IRL and have since dominated the series.

Despite Hornish, Jr. being the last driver from a non-power team to win the series championship, he still went toe-to-toe with Goliath and slayed the great giant.

4. IRL Races With Heavy Hearts

When the sun set on March 27, 2006 after a beautiful, sun-filled day in Homestead, FL, the flags flew at half-mass.

A day that started with optimism ended with sadness.

The 2006 IRL season was lost before it even started.

Paul Dana’s death during a morning practice crash on March 27, 2006 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway forced his fellow IRL competitors to race with heavy hearts on that sunny afternoon.

Dana was killed when he slammed head first at 175 mph into an already-wrecked Vision Racing car driven by Ed Carpenter. Dana’s machine snapped in half and he was pronounced dead in a hospital two hours later.

To race or not to race?

Dana’s car owner, Bobby Rahal, withdrew his two remaining cars driven by Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice, but the remaining teams decided the best way to honor Dana was to put on the best show they could.

And what a show it was.

Reigning Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon impressed new car own Chip Ganassi by nipping two-time Indy 500 Helio Castroneves at the finish line by 0.0147-seconds, which was the ninth closest finish in IRL history.

After the close and inspiring finish, Wheldon was unable to celebrate the victory with his new team. Instead, he joined his fellow competitors in grieving the loss of their friend and brother, Paul Dana.

3. Michael Andretti Finally Swigs Milk at Indy

The Andretti name is historically a synonym for heartache, frustration and disappointment.

Michael Andretti competed in 16 Indianapolis 500s with a best finish of 2nd in 1991, but the disappointments overwhelm the achievements.

Four times (1989, 1992, 1995 and 2003) Andretti dropped out of the Indy 500 while leading. In 1992, he led a race-high 160 laps before his fuel pump malfunctioned with just 11 laps to go.

The Andretti family suffered double-heartache in 2006 when Michael returned from a two-year hiatus to be a teammate and mentor to his 19-year-old rookie son, Marco.

The storybook ending was in place. The Andrettis – Michael and Marco - were running first and second with four laps to go. Would this be the year the Andretti curse ends?

Marco passed his father on a late restart to take command of the race, only to lose to Sam Hornish, Jr. by 0.0635, the second closest finish in history. The Andrettis went from first and second to second and third in a matter of minutes.

The curse had struck again.

In 2005, Michael Andretti was finally on the other end of the spectrum. His prized fighter – Englishmen Dan Wheldon – was tearing up the IRL, winning three of its first four races of the season heading into Indy.

A poor qualifying run forced Wheldon to start in the middle of pack. Instead of charging to the front from his sixth-row starting position, he laid low and waited for the perfect opportunity to make his move.

The first three-quarters of the race were dominated by Hornish, Jr. and Wheldon’s teammates, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti. When Hornish, Jr. hit the wall and Kanaan and Franchitti sputtered, it was Wheldon’s time in the spotlight.

Wheldon’s pass of rookie Danica Patrick on a restart with a handful of laps left propelled both Wheldon and car-owner Michael Andretti into Victory Lane, where alas, Michael swigged the milk.

2. Disney World Host Inaugural IRL Race

The Indy Racing League was born on January 27, 1996 at Disney World in Orlando, FL.

IRL founder Tony George opted to establish his own open-wheel racing series instead of abide by CART’s sanctions and rules.

The premier teams opted to remain with CART; the IRL was stuck with what was left.

George was blamed by drivers, car owners, and the media for the decline in popularity of open-wheel racing.

11 years later, the teams that originally opted for CART have since stabilized the IRL while CART changed names a handful of times and eventually filed for bankruptcy.

All hail King George.

IRL’s inaugural race did not include the Andrettis or Unsers that open-wheel fans had become accustomed to cheering for. Instead, the Disney World Speedway was populated by such drivers as Mike Groff, Johnny O’Connell, and John Paul, Jr, but that did not deter the quality of racing.

Two relative unknowns competed down to the wire; each wanted to be crowned champion of the inaugural IRL race. Buzz Calkins and Tony Stewart’s battle brought back memories of Mears and Johncock in 1982 and Unser, Jr. and Goodyear in 1992. When the smoke cleared, Calkins was the IRL’s first winner.

Many of the IRL’s initial entries have since dissipated, but the career of Tony Stewart was launched. Stewart lost the inaugural race, but he rebounded to capture the series championship in 1997 before moving onto NASCAR in 1999, where he done a decent job of making a name for himself.

Stewart was NASCAR’s rookie of the year and won a pair of series championships, but his career – as well as the career of the IRL – was born at Disney World.

And the top ground-breaking race in the history of the IRL……

1. CART Invades & Dominates the 2000 Indy 500

The 2000 Indy 500 turned out to be the IRL’s worst nightmare. For four years, the IRL followed through on Tony George’s vision for the Indy Racing League; cheaper budgets, more American drivers and races, and increased competition.

When Target/Chip Ganassi Racing broke the open-wheel barrier and invaded the 2000 Indianapolis 500 with his primary CART drivers, he left little doubt as to which series had the superior equipment, sponsors, and talent.

The IRL’s finest were in for a long, painful month as soon as Juan Montoya arrived at Gasoline Alley. Montoya outshined the field from the track’s opening ceremonies until the checkered flag waved on the 84th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Montoya was consistently atop the speed charts in practice and had his Target-sponsored machine on the pole for the majority of Pole Day, until Greg Ray edged him in a late attempt.

Montoya was joined by CART teammate Jimmy Vasser, who at the time had four Indy 500 starts under his belt. Vasser and Montoya were the odds-on-favorites to take the top two finishing spots with the edge going to Vasser based on experience.

When the race started, Montoya laid low as a rookie should. Instead of being overly-aggressive, he allowed the race to come to him. Ray commanded the race for the first 26 laps before giving way to Montoya, who did nothing but lead 145 of the next 148 laps without so much as a challenge.

After the final round of pit stops, Montoya reclaimed the lead from teammate Vasser on lap 179 and cruised to a 7.184-second victory to become the first rookie to win the Indy 500 since Graham Hill in 1966.

It is difficult to put into words the flawless performance by Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. The last time a single team dominated Indy in such a manner was in 1994 when Penske Racing’s dream team of Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser, Jr. combined to lead an astonishing 193 laps. Montoya and Vasser combined to lead 172 laps.

The Target/Chip Ganassi invasion of the 2000 Indy 500 opened the floodgates for fellow CART teams to follow in their footsteps. The following year, Target/Chip Ganassi was joined by Penske Racing and Michael Andretti from CART, who claimed the top six positions with rookie Helio Castroneves climbing the fence in victory.

In fact, since Montoya’s jaw-dropping performance in 2000, every team to win the Indy 500 was originally a non-IRL team. Perhaps the powerful CART teams smelled blood in the IRL and wanted to attack the defenseless prey.

Montoya’s dominance shaped the future of the IRL. Without Montoya’s invasion, the power teams probably remain in CART and the IRL struggles with sponsors and finances and would have been forced to file for bankruptcy.

Thank you Chip Ganassi and Juan Montoya. Your 2000 invasion saved the IRL and Indy 500.