Guest
The 97th Running of the Indianapolis 500 was held on Sunday, May 26, 2013 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tony Kanaan, a native Brazilian and IndyCar fan-favorite, drove to victory in the 200-lap race and became the fourth Brazilian driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” In a race that featured an astonishing 68 race-record lead changes among a race-record 14 drivers, Kanaan cruised to the checkered flag in front of more than 300,000 of his new-found closest Twitter friends and a global TV/radio audience. Kanaan, who completed the straight flush with the victory (he's finished first through fifth), wiped tears from his eyes as he guided the Chevrolet-powered No. 11 Hydroxycut KV Racing Technology/SH Racing car to the waiting Bog-Warner Trophy. “That last lap was the longest of my life,“ said Kanaan, who started 12th and led 34 laps. “I got a little bit of luck today and this is for the fans. I was looking at the stands (on the cool-down lap) and it was unbelievable. “I am speechless. I made it, and now I get to put my ugly face on that trophy. We were known for not winning (the race) and now we are known for winning. Everything was so smooth. (Race strategist) Jimmy (Vasser) was calm. I was calm. But out of the 11 times I have been here it was exactly the same, so when it was six laps to go and it went yellow I wasn't in the lead I said, 'This might be the day. Today might be the day.' “I was in Ryan (Hunter-Reay's) position many times and then I knew I had to get the lead on the restart because it could be a yellow, which had happened to me plenty of times here. And it did. How life is funny, the yellow was my best friend.“
