Dan Wheldon makes no secret of his love for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but even he would have thought twice before predicting a legitimate shot at victory with Panther Racing, particularly as finishing second to Helio Castroneves put him ahead of the Ganassi team he left at the end of 2008.


Pat Sullivan - MC
Let's welcome the gentleman who ran second, Dan Wheldon. Looks like Dan and Danica Patrick were trading notes on the last run. That was pretty exciting stuff....

Dan Wheldon:
Yeah, she's certainly a tough competitor. I think she's like a lot of those troops, she never gives up. So all credit to Danica. But I have to say I'm incredibly proud of the Panther Racing National Guard Team, and in my IndyCar career there's not many races where I've honestly left the track feeling that we've executed everything perfectly. And I have to say, I thought they did an absolute phenomenal job. The pit-stops were just first class. I didn't have to do too much work on track because they kept making me spots up. It was one of those things at the end where I just didn't have enough for Helio. I was toward the end having to hold off Danica. But they should be incredibly proud of the job they did. Honda and Firestone yet again gave everybody very consistent engines and tires, and it was a good day.

Q:
Can you guys even begin to imagine what Helio's emotions have been like this month-and-a-half, what he's gone through?

Dan Wheldon:
I can't imagine, to tell you the truth. You know, he's a first-class individual at the racetrack. You know, I don't really know him aside from that, but I think the best thing about it is obviously that's over and the guy has won his third Indianapolis 500, which is no mean feat. This race is incredibly difficult. You know, it's not just it looks obviously very individualistic with just the driver in the car, but there's so much effort that goes in. Even to the, you know, the families of the guys back at the race shop, you know, there's so much preparation that it's difficult, and he's handled himself very well in difficult circumstances. I've been very impressed with the way Roger Penske has handled the whole situation. I think that's why he's one of the most respected individuals, if not the most respected individual in the IndyCar Series and, you know, I think in business, in general.

So he was, I think, the deserved winner of this race certainly from what I saw. I didn't see how Scott and Dario were up close, but certainly at the end I didn't have anything for him. So he should be very proud, but that's taking away nothing from the team that I drive for. Like I said, I think they executed everything perfectly.

Q:
What does the meaning of the 100-year anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway mean to you?

Dan Wheldon:
Yeah, I think that's a nice question to ask. I think the value of what this race means to everybody is I think primarily based on the number of fans, but also the history and tradition. There's, I don't think, any greater... I'm biased obviously, but there's no greater sporting event because of that. I think it makes it truly very special. I think when you consider the great names who have won this race, certainly coming second, third, fourth, fifth, whatever, it's a very, very tough event. Like I said, there's so much that goes into it that, you know, it makes it very special. But I think primarily, it's the fans that make this race. I really do when you consider how many there were today. I haven't seen it this busy since I've been an IndyCar driver. So I think that's a great kind of thing that's happening for the IndyCar Series, in general, right now. But it's an event that I'm very proud to be part of. I love it. I can't wait to come back next year.

Q:
Dan, I know throughout the month the car wasn't necessarily ideal, that you worked, worked, worked toward it. Compare maybe even to your win, was what you did today the amount of work, the extra whatever you had to do because the car perhaps didn't start out, you know, exactly in the ideal position, if you could just talk about your drive.

Dan Wheldon:
Yeah, it was relatively non-eventful. I didn't get into too many close calls. Like I say, I thought the guys did an absolute phenomenal job in the pits. It's so important even with, you know, we didn't qualify as well as we would have liked, and that puts you in a difficult position in terms of your pit position. You know, with that said, they were still able to make me up a lot of spots each time. Actually to be fair to Townsend, I think he must have overtaken me about five times this race, but every time I came into the pits the guys put me back in front of him.

But I would have to say we did, I think there's nothing more that we could have done in this race. I was, you know, still fighting a little bit of an imbalance in the race car, but I think everybody was. It was difficult conditions out there. Actually one of the races that I think we did execute perfectly on was back in 2005 and, you know, I would say this is exactly the same. It's just unfortunately the result wasn't there, but I'm going to be -- I'm not going to give up on this place until I win again, that's for sure.

Q: