The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 78

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WWW.INDYSTAR.COM is? MONDAY, MAY 26, 2003 R13 RACE DAY REPORT Kanaan gets the points with 3rd mm i I flwir)oii PIT PASS ony Kanaan tried to look beyond the Indianapolis 500 that he didn't win Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Lotions Massage Oils Magazines MM EEMfMQ All DOs and Videos Lowest Free Membership fpri Prices in Town second). The previous best was set by Bill Holland, who finished second, second and first (1947-49) De Ferran became the 16th foreign-born driver to win the 500 and the fifth in a rpw. Brazilians have won the past three. Nine drivers finished on the lead lap. While the first three were Brazilians, the fourth was South African, the fifth was Japanese and the sixth was from the United Ninth-place finisher Al Unser Jr.

predicts Michael Andretti will come out of retirement to compete in the 500 again as Arie Luyen-dyk did. "Indy has a way of drawing people back in," he said. Tony Renna gave Kelley Racing its highest finish ever (seventh). Call Curt Cavin at 1-317-444-6409. Phillip B.

Wilson contributed to this report Allium inn if INDY 0 5 TITLES 500 5 DAYS SPECIAL 5 DOLLARS START YOUR ENGINES! Speedway. In short, he was pleased that his third-place finish carried him further along the long road to an Indy Racing League championship. Kanaan has a 14-point lead over Helio Castroneves after the first four races. Twelve races remain. "At the last restart, I saw (former points leader) Scott Sharp out, I saw Felipe (Giaffone) out, Kenny (Brack) out, a lot of people fighting for the championship with me," Kanaan said.

"And I saw the opportunity and I said look, third (place) is better than nothing. "I don't think I could pass those guys," he added about Castroneves and eventual winner Gil de Ferran. Sharp fell to third in points, 21 behind Kanaan. De Ferran, who missed last month's Japan race with two broken vertebrae and a concussion, is now 29 points back. Kanaan felt fortunate to col-, lect 35 points for third place, Gary Mook For The Star Maybe next time: Tony Kanaan (left) talks with his team owner, Michael Andretti, after the race.

Beck said. Notes There was no change in position among the top-five finishers in the final 31 laps. Fourth-place finisher Tomas Scheck-ter became the first driver since Frank Lockhart in 1926-27 to lead the most laps in his first two races. Scheckter led 63 Sunday. Castroneves established a new Speedway mark for finishes in his first three races (first, first, 6767 E.

38th St 1 4501 N. Keystone 1 2402 Lafayette Rd. 1 3580Lafayette Rd. 317-549-3522 1 317-549-6976 1 317-237-4192 1 317-388-9270 myad ultwarehouse.com iOLASER KT IUHIIMEIIT pgr TOPCOA T1 "1 IAm Curt Cavin in traffic," Ray said. "It was just one of those days.

We still played it pretty conservative." The Indianapolis-based team lacks the sponsorship of the larger teams. It does not have a backup car. Toyota prepares for more Toyota won its first Indy 500 and grabbed six of the top seven finishing spots. At one point late in the race, Toyota had nine of the top 10. Jim Aust, president and CEO of Toyota Racing Development, celebrated with winning team owner Roger Penske.

"Congratulations, Roger, on your 14th 500 victory," Aust said. "It's 13," Penske said. "Well, I guess I was looking ahead to next year," Aust said. Aust called the race virtually perfect for his manufacturer. "This couldn't be better," he said.

"Even though the skies are overcast, the sun is shining (at Toyota). It's a tremendous feeling to come here the first time and win." Aust stopped short of saying it was a dominating effort -by his organization over Honda and Chevy. "We would have liked to have been seven out of seven," he said. Barron limps home Alex Barron's two Indy 500s ended with a fourth-place finish last year and a sixth on Sunday. He was lucky with the latter.

"When you consider we had a totally flat (left-rear) tire for the last several laps, we should be happy to just finish in one piece," Barron said. Crew member fortunate Beck Motorsports crew member Doug Hardwick, who served as the vent man for rookie Shinji Nakano's car, escaped injury when the tire he was holding got shoved into his knee when Nakano hit it on pit entry. Hardwick was taken to Methodist Hospital for X-rays, which proved negative. "It turned out to be bumps and bruises to his knee, ankle and back," team owner Greg WWV miV ECrtM wttar Mihlnugcity fj.K i i iws i sim me Construction Lasers and Machine Control Systems Total Stations, Transits, Levels, Field Supplies j. GME Trench and Stone Boxes.

(TSffffl LIST PRICE SAIE PRICE $11,995 Wacker Tools Pumps and Compactors Stihl Saws Cut-Off and Chain 1 rr jl7 NiHon given the broken left arm and I lacerated leg he suffered in the Japan race, and the racing luck he enjoyed Sunday in the middle of the 500. The latter was what he called i "a wired move" around rookies Dan Wheldon and Tora Taka- gi on the outside of the first turn. "I just closed my eyes," he said. "When I opened them, I was in the middle of turn one. Today is my lucky day." Kanaan said he tried to protect his injured left arm by driving most of the way with only his right hand.

He still delivered the fastest lap of the race 229.187 mph on lap 100. Ray, Access strong again Greg Ray and the new Access Motorsports team have finished ninth and eighth in their first two IRL races together. The latter was Ray's first top-10 finish at the Speedway despite winning the pole in 2000. "We could do (competitive laps) all day long on our own, but we just weren't good enough IV Accurate Laser IS SL2" SYSTEMS, INC. www.accuratelasersvstems.com Free Leather Package 2.

Free Sunroof 1 Satellite Radio MUST PRESENT COUPON AT TIME OF SAIE u3aips 1' 1 '1 The Star invites you to celebrate wit On June 6, 1903, thousands of red stars fluttered down from Monument Circle as the first edition of The Indianapolis Star was sold on the street below. And for the past century, we've proudly served, you, our readers, and we've appreciated your support of The Star. We invite you to join us as we celebrate our first 100 years. Pack your lunch, bring a blanket and enjoy music, cake and ice cream on us! (We'll even have red star cookies I) The Indianapolis Star Birthday Celebration Friday, June 6 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

University Park Across from The Star building in Downtown Indianapolis Refreshments provided on a first-come, first-served basis. -1 1 5 wm mm 1 i cn wrrm r'w CM (4 1 4 rr cm r-! Btri irf.fc;. I'iMilW'KtOfllii' Hi (A nMMnMHItl'AI mi Him mmHWii li IK UX II 4 I Ml HUB HI OBI RS CI fc'A ST? Refreshments provided courtesy of: JndvAnnas Box Lunches to Banquets 1J www.lndyunim.com ri L. I 5 Revel in the fury of the games. Feast at one of eight incredible restaurants.

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