Former race winner Dan Wheldon admitted that, while his Panther Racing entry had been strong throughout, it simply did not have the legs to run with Helio Castroneves' Penske example as the Brazilian checked out for
Indianapolis 500 victory.
The National Guard-backed Panther team combined with Wheldon to produce a dramatic climb from 18th on the grid to be bidding for the Briton's second 500 success at the race's eighth and final caution, but Wheldon admitted that, when Castroneves blasted away at the restart, he could not live with the pace. Indeed, the former series champion fell into the clutches of third-placed Danica Patrick - who had Townsend Bell closing rapidly in fourth - and was happy just to bring the #4 car home in second place, replicating predecessor Vitor Meira's achievement from 2008.
"I just didn't have enough for Helio, and I was also having to fight off Danica," the Briton confirmed, "It was just Helio's day today, he was incredibly quick, but, if we keep running like this, then things are going to go our way - and I can tell you that I'm already excited about coming to
Indianapolis next year with these guys.
"There's nothing more that we could have done in this race. I was still fighting a little bit of an imbalance in the race car, but I think everybody was - it was difficult conditions out there. Danica is just a formidable competitor that doesn't give up - although I wish she perhaps would have done so today because I was sweating with how loose I was. Otherwise, I would say this is exactly the same [as 2005], it's just the result wasn't there, but I'm not going to give up on this place until I win again, that's for sure."
Wheldon was quick to pay tribute to Panther's pit crew for keeping him in the hunt. Having started the race from the sixth row - just as he did when he won the 500 in 2005 - Wheldon's climb up the field was slow and methodical, but aided by six pit-stops that saw him gain positions on every trip to pit-lane. The Briton gained a total of nine positions on pit-stops alone, and improved a total of 16 spots in the race.
On the team's final stop, Wheldon jumped from fourth to third and remained there until second-placed runner Ryan Briscoe had to pit for fuel. The final restart of the race on lap 183 then saw Castroneves pull out a near two-second lead, leaving Wheldon to fight off Patrick and Bell.
"It was relatively non-eventful, and I didn't get into too many close calls, but I thought the guys did an absolute phenomenal job in the pits," he commented, "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. With that said, however, they were still able to make up a lot of spots each time.
"The crew was absolutely phenomenal today, and they certainly made my job a lot easier. They were the best crew in the field today and they should be very proud of this performance. 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."
The result propels Wheldon to seventh in the
IndyCar Series standings, just 16 points behind points leader Dario Franchitti.
"The execution of everything by the Panther team was spot on, and I'm not sure there is too much we could have done better," the Briton reflected, "Not many times in my
IndyCar career have I left the track and felt we executed everything perfectly, but today was one of those days."
