The 95th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 29, 2011. The race was part of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The track opened for practice on May 14 and time trials were held May 21–22. Alex Tagliani won the pole position, and the race was won by Dan Wheldon. It was his second Indy 500 victory (2005, 2011) and the final win of his racing career. It was the first of two Indy victories for car owner Bryan Herta (2011, 2016).
Differing strategies from the frontrunners led to one of the most unexpected finishes in race history. Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti combined to lead 124 laps, but pit stop strategy late in the race foiled both drivers. As the leaders were cycling through pit stops, rookie J. R. Hildebrand of Panther Racing took the lead with two laps to go. Hildebrand was nursing a car very low on fuel, and was attempting to stretch his tank to the finish line and hold on for a surprise victory. It would have been the first Indy win for Panther Racing, after three consecutive runner-up finishes, and two series championships. On the final turn of the final lap, Hildebrand went high to pass the slow car of Charlie Kimball. He drifted wide and crashed into the outside wall. As his wrecked car coasted down the front straight, Dan Wheldon slipped by in the final 1,000 feet to take the victory. Hildebrand slid across the finish line to place second. It was the second Indianapolis 500 that ended in a last lap pass after the 2006 race, and the only time to date that the race winner led only the final lap. Four months later, Wheldon was fatally injured in a crash in the IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The race was the culmination of the three-year-long Centennial era, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the track (1909) and the 100th anniversary of the inaugural race in 1911. Throughout May, the race was advertised as the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 and the Centennial Indianapolis 500. Since the race was suspended during World War I and World War II, the 100th running of the "500" would not be held until 2016.
Event news
On February 21, the Speedway announced the start time for the race would be 12 noon EDT (UTC−04), one hour earlier that it had been scheduled from 2006 to 2010. The 100th anniversary Indy 500 Celebration of Automobiles was held the weekend of opening day. It was a classic/antique car show and contest featuring automobiles linked to race and to the city of Indianapolis from 1911 to 1961. Staind headlined the annual Carb Day concert on Friday May 27, with special guest Papa Roach. On April 5, Donald Trump was named the driver of the Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car. However, after mounting criticism of Trump, and a Facebook campaign to oust him from the position, he announced he was stepping down from the honor due to business and time constraints. He was replaced by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A. J. Foyt. On the morning of the race, a special auto stunt was performed in the infield. For "IZOD Presents Hot Wheels Fearless at the 500", a mystery stunt driver (later to be revealed as Tanner Foust) from Team Hot Wheels sped down a 90-foot ramp, suspended on a 10-story high door and jumped across the track's infield inside the fourth turn. The national anthem was performed by Seal and Kelly Clarkson, accompanied by David Foster on piano. All of the 269 living Indy 500 veteran drivers were invited to attend the race. At least 161 attended during race weekend (including the 28 veteran drivers that qualified for the race)"The Talk of Gasoline Alley" - May 3, 2012 and upwards of 175 attended throughout the entire month of May."The Talk of Gasoline Alley" - May 5, 2012 A total of 21 of the 27 living winners of the Indianapolis 500 attended the race. Those in attendance included: Dario Franchitti, Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, and Buddy Rice who drove in the race A. J. Foyt, Bobby Rahal, Rick Mears, Arie Luyendyk, and Mario Andretti who were team owners or had team-related duties Johnny Rutherford and Al Unser Jr. who worked as officials Eddie Cheever and Kenny Brack who worked in broadcasting Gil de Ferran, Buddy Lazier, Emerson Fittipaldi, Tom Sneva, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, and Parnelli Jones also attended, taking part in various special pre-race activities. Danny Sullivan made an appearance at the track during May but had to leave prior to race day due to a previous commitment. Those not attending included Juan Pablo Montoya, who was at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, Sam Hornish Jr., who was also in Charlotte for the Nationwide Series race; Jim Rathmann, who was in poor health and could not travel; Gordon Johncock and Jacques Villeneuve. In the days leading up to the race, a special list entitled The Greatest 33 was compiled from a panel of experts and fan voting, to establish the best drivers of the first century of the event.
Rule changes For the first time, double-file restarts were used. At the conclusion of yellow caution periods, the pace car would pull off in turn one, and the field would align in rows of two down the backstretch. The race leader paced the restart, and the entrance to turn four was the designated restart zone. Passing prior to the start/finish line was allowed if the green flag was waving, except on the first lap. The Honda overtake assist system ("Push-to-pass") was utilized. Each car was permitted 15 presses (18 seconds in duration) with a 10-second recharge time.
Schedule + Race schedule — May 2011SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 1São Paulo 2São Paulo 3 4 5 6 7Mini-Marathon 8 9Testing10 11 12ROP13 14Practice15Practice16Practice17Practice18Practice19Practice20Practice21Pole Day22Bump Day23 24 25Comm. Day26 27Carb Day28Parade29Indy 50030Memorial Day31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where track activitywas significantly limited due to rain
ROP — denotes Rookie Orientation Program
Comm. Day — denotes 500 Festival Community Day
Other events May 7 – Hot-air balloon festival / Emerging Technologies Day May 13 – Freedom 100 testing May 14 – 100th Anniversary Indy 500 Celebration of Automobiles May 26 – Freedom 100 practice and time trials May 27 – Freedom 100 race, Carb Day concert May 28 – Public Drivers Meeting, Memorabilia Show, Autograph sessions, 500 Festival Parade
Entry list See Team and driver chart for more information
On April 15, 2011, the Official Entry List was released, featuring 83 cars for 42 entries. As of April 15, thirty-five car/driver combinations had been announced. On May 9, a revised version of the entry list was released. The entry from China Racing was withdrawn. The final list includes 79 cars for 41 entries.
Confirmed former winners entered include Dario Franchitti, Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, and Buddy Rice.
Rookie orientation
Pre-Indy oval testing Since the Indy 500 was the first oval race of the 2011 season, per IndyCar regulations, rookies who have not competed on an oval were required to take part in Pre-Indy Oval testing. Scott Speed and Ho-Pin Tung, along with Wade Cunningham (who didn't race Indy but participated at Texas) completed the test at Chicagoland Speedway on May 9. Speed was legally exempt from this test because of previous high-speed oval experience in ARCA and NASCAR, but chose to test with his teammate to learn the car.
Thursday, May 12 – Rookie Orientation Program Weather: , overcast Practice summary: Seven rookies participated in the rookie orientation program. For 2011, the session was open to rookies only in order to pass the four-part rookie test. There would not be any refresher tests (phases three and four) for part-time veteran drivers as had been in years past. The drivers included: J. R. Hildebrand, James Hinchcliffe, James Jakes, Charlie Kimball, Ho-Pin Tung, Pippa Mann and Scott Speed. Six drivers completed all four phases, while Jakes completed three. Jakes can complete the fourth and final phase at any time prior to time trials on May 21. J. R. Hildebrand () turned the fastest lap of the day, and no incidents were reported. An eighth Indy 500 rookie is entered, Jay Howard, who is an IndyCar Series veteran (four starts in 2010). He failed to qualify for the Indy 500 in 2010, however since he passed all four phases of the rookie test, and has other oval experience from 2010, he was exempted from participating.
+ Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeam14 J. R. HildebrandPanther Racing221.53328 Ho-Pin TungDragon Racing220.477306 James HinchcliffeNewman/Haas Racing219.602OFFICIAL REPORT
Practice
Saturday, May 14 – Opening Day Weather: , overcast/ rain Practice summary: On opening day, 32 cars took to the track, completing 669 laps with no incidents reported. Ed Carpenter led the speed chart at . Around 3 p.m., rain halted the session, but the track dried, and practice resumed for a short time. At 5:30 p.m., rain returned and the session came to a close.
+ Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeam167 Ed CarpenterSarah Fisher Racing 224.78629T Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing 224.49134T J. R. HildebrandPanther Racing 224.433OFFICIAL REPORT
Sunday, May 15 Weather: , rain Practice summary: Rain washed out practice for the entire day.
Monday, May 16 Weather: , partly cloudy/ overcast Practice summary: In the first full practice for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 (1,379 total laps run), Alex Tagliani of Sam Schmidt Motorsports ran the fastest lap of the day, and of the month so far, at 225.878. The top three rounded out with former winner Scott Dixon coming in second and Graham Rahal finishing third on the day. A total of 39 drivers took to the track, on a cool, windy afternoon. No incidents were reported.
+ Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeam177 Alex TaglianiSam Schmidt Motorsports225.87829 Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing225.124338 Graham RahalChip Ganassi Racing225.071OFFICIAL REPORT
Tuesday, May 17 Weather: , overcast/ rain Practice summary: Cold temperatures delayed the start of practice until 1:12 p.m. Firestone requires the ambient and track temperature to be over before cars are allowed to enter the track. Only two drivers (teammates Marco Andretti and Mike Conway) managed to take laps, and few teams left the garage area. Lingering moisture kept the yellow light on most of the afternoon, and the track closed officially for the day at 4:05 p.m.
+ Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeam 126 Marco AndrettiAndretti Autosport220.656227 Mike ConwayAndretti Autosport219.910OFFICIAL REPORT
Wednesday, May 18 Weather: , overcast/ rain Practice summary: Rain washed out practice for the entire day.
Thursday, May 19 Weather: , partly cloudy Practice summary: After two consecutive rainouts (and three overall), the cars took to the track for a full day of practice. At 12:25 p.m., Simona de Silvestro's car lost control in the north chute after leaking fluid, causing her to spin and flip up into the catch fence. The car came to a rest upside-down, with flames coming from the sides, but she climbed from the car and walked to the safety truck. She was transported to Methodist Hospital with second degree burns on her right hand. Following the accident, practice resumed uninterrupted for the rest of the day with Will Power taking the top position, putting up the fastest speed of the month to date. Power was followed by Alex Tagliani and teammate Ryan Briscoe in the top speed charts.
+ Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeam112 Will PowerTeam Penske227.778277 Alex TaglianiSam Schmidt Motorsports227.65236 Ryan BriscoeTeam Penske227.217OFFICIAL REPORT
Friday, May 20 – Fast Friday Weather: , sunny/ partly cloudy