Montoya wins the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500

SHARE Montoya wins the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Juan Pablo Montoya wins the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Montoya held off Penske Racing teammate Will Power over the final two laps Sunday to win his second Indianapolis 500.

After watching Power jockey for the lead with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon for several laps, Montoya went high into Turn 3 to take over second place, then darted right past Power on the front stretch to take the lead. He pulled away from there to win IndyCar’s showcase race.

Montoya rallied after a bizarre start to the race. Following an early caution, Simona de Silvestro ran into his rear, causing damage to his wing. Montoya’s crew managed to fix it under caution, and the 2000 Indy 500 champion methodically worked his way back to the front.

Power finished second, followed by Charlie Kimball. Dixon was fourth and Graham Rahal fifth.

Rival owners Rick Penske and Chip Ganassi shared a hug after an Indy 500 duel for the ages.

Four cars separated from the rest of the field in the closing laps Sunday, the two Penske cars of Montoya and Power and the two Ganassi cars of Kimball and Dixon.

Montoya, Power and Dixon took turns swapping the lead several times after a restart with 15 laps to go, but it was ultimately the Penske cars that won the day.

Montoya was chased across the line by his teammate to give Penske his 16th victory in the Indianapolis 500.

“Great day for Team Penske,” the team owner said.

Graham Rahal finished fifth, a solid run for the team part-owned by David Letterman. Marco Andretti was sixth, followed by Helio Castroneves, JR Hildebrand, Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud, who was strong all day before a wing problem shuffled him back late.

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