The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page R7

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR INDYSTAR.COM MONDAY, MAY 25, 2009 R7 INDY 500 RESULTS Tagliani delivers strong rookie run SHOW DRAGS the right time and had a little bit of luck, but it was a good day. Everybody is pleased." Conway admitted he had butterflies going into the first turn. After that, he said, it was just racing. "It was good fun," Conway said. "You see a few people go off and a couple crashes looked a little nasty, but that's the Indy 500.

I've seen that a lot on TV. We're happy we were able steer clear of all that." Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. "It's disappointing because we lost nine positions. But you learn a lot. The car changes all the way through the 200 laps and you learn who you run with in traffic.

Lots learned. We can take that with us into next year." For Conway and Tagliani, it was a better Sunday than two weeks ago, when in separate accidents both rookies crashed in the second turn during practice. Tagliani considered it part of the learning process that left him smiling after Sunday's race. The Canadian driver was originally pleased just to be part of the 33-car lineup. Tagliani was bumped from the field last week by Ryan Hunter-Reay, the final qualifier.

But Conquest Racing team owner Eric Bachelart chose to replace Bruno Junqueira, who put the team's second car into the field, with Tagliani, who considered it "a fluke" that he was bumped. "We had a great team effort," Tagliani said. "We were in the right place at JUNE 12, 13 14, 2009 O'REILLY RACEWAY PARK INDIANAPOLIS Champ Car veteran starts 33rd and finishes 11th By Kyle Neddenriep kyle.neddenriepindystar.com With mayhem all around him, Indianapolis 500 rookie Alex Tagliani performed like a grizzled veteran. Quietly, the 36-year-old Champ Car veteran worked his way from the back of the field to an llth-place finish Sunday. Tagliani had the best result of the five drivers making their debuts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Just minutes after the race, Tagliani was already conferring with his team on possible adjustments for next May. "For us, it's like a win," he said. "We know we are a transition team from Champ Car to IndyCar and we have to make up some ground on ovals. This was a very big test and it was perfectly executed." While Tagliani made a steady push to the front throughout the afternoon, other rookies weren't so fortunate. Three of the five didn't finish.

Robert Doornbos crashed on the 86th lap and Nelson Philippe on the 131st. On his 174th lap, Raphael Matos saw his day end when he tangled with Vitor Meira in a fiery crash. "It was just an unfortunate accident," said Matos, who was running 20th at the time. "We had a good car, and the team had worked so hard. It was just unfortunate to end like that." Mike Conway was also disappointed with his finish.

The 25-year-old Brit lost seven spots because of a late stop for fuel. Conway was running as high as 10th with 21 laps to go, but ended up 18th. "It's a shame," said Conway, who started 27th for Dreyer Reinbold Racing. I MEMORIAL DAY SALE I OPEN 10AM-4PM I Special One Day Pricing! I OVER 400 VEHICLES I PRIUS COROLLA I 1 kvBB 'bsBBSb I 0APR 0APR QFM? I or GP $1000SS SMDS I CERTIFIED USED CAMRY 3.9 APR I (y TOYOTA E5Cicdi i I 2550 Shadeland I 351-7000 obrienauto.com 'Subject to credit approval. Some restrictions apply.

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