Diecast Diaries
08 Feb 2019
IndyCar diecast – Greenlight 1:18 – Credit: Dominik Wilde
This week’s Diecast Diaries is the first IndyCar entry into the series, and looks at the links between the 2005, 2011, 2016, and 2017 Indianapolis 500s.
All four of those editions of ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ are linked in a few unique and interesting ways, but those connections often go unnoticed.
Starting with the 2005 edition of American open wheel racing’s crown jewel event, which was won by Dan Wheldon. The British driver began the season in fine form, winning three of the first four races driving for Andretti Green Racing, the precursor to the modern-day Andretti Autosport.
Wheldon drove the #26 Honda to a dominant victory at the first round of the year in Miami, before taking his first street course win nearly 300 miles further north in round three in St. Petersburg. The fourth event of the season was at Motegi in Japan, and there he took his second win in as many years at the Honda-owned track.
Dan Wheldon won the 2005 Indy 500 in the #26 Andretti-Honda – Greenlight 1:18 – Credit: Dominik Wilde
The strong start to the year set him up nicely for the Indy 500. Wheldon hadn’t won the race before, despite a reputation as something of an oval specialist. His best finish from his previous two starts was third in 2004. With just seven laps of the 200 remaining, Wheldon passed Danica Patrick for the lead, and he went on to become the first British victor in the race for nearly 40 years.
Wheldon’s second victory in the Indy 500 came six years later. At the start of the 2011 season he was unable to find a ride after being dropped by Panther Racing (who he had driven for in 2009 and 2010), but managed to secure a one-off outing driving the #98 Honda for friend and former team mate Bryan Herta.
Like in 2005, Wheldon’s move for victory came late on – only this time, it was much later. JR Hildebrand was driving the same Panther Racing entry vacated by Weldon, and was leading on the final lap until he collided with the wall at turn four while attempting to pass backmarker Charlie Kimball.
Wheldon’s second Indy 500 win came in the race’s centenary year – Greenlight 1:18 – Credit: Dominik Wilde
Wheldon slid past the wounded Hildebrand to drink the milk for a second time, in what was the 100th anniversary of the race. Because of a lull during the second world war, the 2011 race wasn’t the 100th running of the Indy 500. That came in 2016.
In the second 100th birthday party for the legendary event Formula 1-exile Alexander Rossi was behind the wheel of the same Herta-owned, Honda-powered #98 entry that had carried Wheldon to victory five years previously, and once again a Canadian was on pole – James Hinchcliffe repeating the feat of Alex Tagliani in 2011. Also like Wheldon, Rossi was seen as something of an outsider for victory on that day.
The #98 won again at the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016 – Greenlight 1:18 – Credit: Dominik Wilde
Rossi was the top rookie in qualifying (11th), despite it being just his second-ever oval race. He moved to the front around halfway through the race, then led in its final stages after outlasting his rivals on fuel mileage. Rossi was victorious, and the #98 Herta-Honda had won another ‘100th’ Indy 500.
One year later there was a similar coincidence when another former-F1 driver, Takuma Sato, made it to victory lane in the 500. As well as entering IndyCar with a comparable CV to Rossi, he also won the race driving a Honda-powered car – this time an Andretti-entered car adorned with the #26, just like Wheldon 12 years before. A year after Sato’s win, a Penske driver (Will Power) raced to victory in the 500, as in 2006 (when Sam Hornish Jr. won the race 12 months after Wheldon’s first triumph).
Just like we’re apparently no-more than six connections away from one another, these four Indy 500 wins share a similarly intriguing family tree.
Sato’s win in the #26 Andretti-Honda came 12 years after Wheldon’s first victory – Greenlight 1:18 – Credit: Dominik Wilde
Wheldon passed away following an accident at another wildcard appearance at the 2011 IndyCar season finale in Las Vegas. He was helping develop the car that was to be used by the series from 2012 onwards at the time. Rossi and Sato’s wins came while driving the Dallara DW12 chassis that was named in honour of the Brit.
#26 Andretti-Honda – 2005* (Wheldon), 2017* (Sato) Indy 500 wins
#98 Herta-Honda – 2011† (Wheldon), 2016† (Rossi) Indy 500 wins – 100th anniversary and 100th running of the event.
* – Followed by a Penske victory
† – Race started with a Canadian on pole
Diecast Diaries is a regular series where I tell the real-world stories of the cars in my personal collection of diecast racing cars.
