INDIANAPOLIS
This wasn’t the kind of comeback to the Indianapolis 500 the Greenwood-based Byrd brothers were hoping for.
James Davison, who was driving the Foyt with Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi Jonathan Byrd’s 502 East Chevrolet, was fighting handling problems and was hit by defending champion Takuma Sato on the 46th lap, knocking both out of the race.
Davison placed last among the 33 racers.
“James and I have working on this since last June to find the right situation and we found it with the Foyt team,” David Byrd said. “There was a lot of confidence going into (the race).”
The last time the Byrd Brothers raced at the 500 was in 2016, when the late Bryan Clauson finished 23rd. Clauson was killed in a race later in the year and the Byrd team took a year off before coming back this season.
Davison was suffering from understeer and was at times one of the slower cars on the track. The Australian struggled to gain speed while trying to steer clear of faster traffic.
“We were fighting the same battle that everybody’s been fighting the last two weeks,” Byrd said. “We got to our first (pit) and got new tires on and were running decent laps, but I don’t know. Takuma didn’t have any room to get by and ran into James.”
Byrd and his brother Jonathan Jr. plan to return to the race and continue the Jonathan Byrd Racing name, provided the opportunities are there.
The team finished fifth with Buddy Lazier back in 2005.
“Somebody’s got to be last, so unfortunately it has to be us,” Byrd said. “That’s the way it goes.”
Danica fizzles in final 500
And that’s the way it went for Danica Patrick.
The popular driver ended her career earlier than she would have liked, losing her car in a spin and hitting the wall on Lap 67.
Patrick, who has six top-10 finishes, including a best of third in 2009, wound up 30th on Sunday, her worst Indy 500 finish.
“Definitely not the way I wanted it to end,” said Patrick. “Being the last one makes it a lot worse.”
Thunder from Down Under
Will Power powered to his first Indianapolis 500 win, but he wasn’t even the first Aussie to win a race on Sunday. Compatriot Daniel Ricciardo had earlier won the famed Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1.
Power’s victory was the 34th of his career win. It was also the 17th 500 win for team owner Roger Penske and the 201st IndyCar win overall for the team.
Australians finished first (Power) and last (Davison) in the race.
A diverse field
The field of 33 had the usual diversity and in several different forms.
Eleven countries were represented, with the United States having the most with 14 drivers. The other countries with drivers in the field were Great Britain (4), Brazil (3), Australia (2), Canada (2), Columbia (2), France (2), Japan (1), New Zealand (1), Spain (1), and the United Arab Emirates (1).
There were six former Indianapolis 500 winners in the field and 17 IndyCar race winners competing. Three drivers have had Formula 1 experience (Sebastien Bourdais, Alexander Rossi and Sato).
Mixed results for former champs
Speaking of Sato, it wasn’t a great day overall for a few of the past winners of the race.
In addition to Sato, three-time champion Helio Castroneves and 2013 winner Tony Kanaan crashed out during the race.
Nobody was hurt in the accidents, except for bruised egos.
Former winners Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay had a better day than those three. Rossi and Hunter-Reay as both led at some point in the race while Dixon was a threat until the end, taking third place. Rossi and Hunter-Reay finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Disappointing day for Reinbold
Mixed results can best describe the race for Greenwood business owner Dennis Reinbold and his Dreyer-Reinbold Racing team. J.R. Hildebrand finished 11th, while Sage Karam finished 26th after hitting the wall on Lap 154.
The two Americans had both run in the top 10 during the race and it looked to be a promising finish, but unless sponsorship materializes for a full-season effort, the popular team owner will have to wait another year to race again.
