Sports
Brickyard Hits Redwood Grad Hard at Indy 500
J.R. Hildebrand's day ends early, while Tony Kanaan drinks the winner's milk in the Indianapolis 500. Los Gatos native AJ Allmendinger finishes seventh.
INDIANAPOLIS — The 97th Indianapolis 500 wasn't so spectacular as Sausalito's J.R. Hildebrand had hoped. Hildebrand's run ended after he crashed on the fourth lap Sunday and then he could only sit and watch as Tony Kanaan raced to victory.
“I just got loose, and I was trying to stay on the outside while giving (James Hinchcliffe) enough room to pull out. I just got loose and saved it once. But couldn't save it twice, and at that point, it just went around," said Hildebrand, a Redwood High grad.
"I feel terrible for the guys. We worked really hard on having a race car that we thought we could run up to the front with. We needed to get through the first stint to see that happen. I'm not sure, given the situation, there was much I was going be able to do at that point. It's so unfortunate, obviously here on Memorial Day weekend with the National Guard. We were set up for a good day. Just really disappointed.”
Kanaan earned the victory at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway to realize a dream that began decades earlier that took him from Brazil to Europe to America. His average speed of 187.433 was the fastest Indianapolis 500.
The race featured an astonishing 68 race-record lead changes among a race-record 14 drivers.
The popular Brazilian cruised to the checkered flag under caution when three-time champion Dario Franchitti's No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car collided with a barrier on a Lap 197 restart.
First-time Indy 500 competitor AJ Allmendinger of Los Gatos placed seventh.
The IndyCar Series returns to Northern California for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Aug. 23-25.
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