2003 Indianapolis 500

The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 25, 2003.

[edit] Recap

The "curse of the Indy three-peat" prevailed again on lap 169, as pole-sitter and two-time defending champion Hélio Castroneves was held up behind lap car A.J. Foyt IV coming out of the second turn, allowing teammate Gil de Ferran to pull to the inside and pass for the lead. With downforce settings chosen throughout the race field for the day inhibiting passing with ease in the open, de Ferran was able to hold off his teammate to the end for the win, almost equalling the outcome of 1949, where Bill Holland, teammate to then two-time defending winner Mauri Rose, won a third straight race for their car owner, as de Ferran did for Roger Penske. Castroneves' second place tied Al Unser in 1972 for the highest place finish for a driver going for his third consecutive.

[edit] Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	C	E	Laps	Led	Status	Entrant
1	10	6	Gil de Ferran	228.633	10	P	T	200	31	Running	Team Penske
2	1	3	Hélio Castroneves (W)	231.725	1	D	T	200	58	Running	Team Penske
3	2	11	Tony Kanaan	231.006	2	D	H	200	2	Running	Andretti Green Racing
4	12	10	Tomas Scheckter	227.768	12	P	T	200	63	Running	Chip Ganassi Racing
5	7	12	Tora Takagi (R)	229.358	7	P	T	200	2	Running	Mo Nunn Racing
6	25	20	Alex Barron	227.274	15	P	T	200	0	Running	Mo Nunn Racing
7	8	32	Tony Renna (R)	228.765	8	D	T	200	0	Running	Kelley Racing
8	14	13	Greg Ray	227.288	14	P	H	200	0	Running	Access Motorsports
9	17	31	Al Unser, Jr. (W)	226.285	20	D	T	200	0	Running	Kelley Racing
10	11	55	Roger Yasukawa (R)	228.577	11	D	H	199	0	Running	Super Aguri Fernandez Racing
11	19	52	Buddy Rice (R)	226.213	22	D	C	199	0	Running	Team Cheever
12	26	22	Vitor Meira (R)	227.158	18	D	C	199	0	Running	Team Menard
13	32	18	Jimmy Kite	224.195	30	D	C	197	0	Running	PDM Racing
14	15	54	Shinji Nakano (R)	227.222	16	D	H	196	0	Running	Beck Motorsports
15	18	4	Sam Hornish, Jr.	226.225	21	D	C	195	0	Engine	Panther Racing
16	6	15	Kenny Bräck (W)	229.509	6	D	H	195	0	Running	Team Rahal
17	4	9	Scott Dixon (R)	230.099	4	P	T	191	15	Accident	Chip Ganassi Racing
18	23	14	A.J. Foyt IV (R)	224.177	31	D	T	189	0	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
19	5	26	Dan Wheldon (R)	229.958	5	D	H	186	0	Accident	Andretti Green Racing
20	9	8	Scott Sharp	228.756	9	D	T	181	0	Accident	Kelley Racing
21	21	91	Buddy Lazier (W)	224.910	26	D	C	171	0	Engine	Hemelgarn Racing
22	3	27	Robby Gordon	230.205	3	D	H	169	0	Gearbox	Andretti Green Racing
23	22	24	Robbie Buhl	224.369	29	D	C	147	0	Engine	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24	33	41	Airton Daré	223.609	33	P	T	125	0	Accident	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
25	31	44	Robby McGehee	224.493	28	D	C	125	0	Steering	Panther Racing
26	27	19	Jimmy Vasser	226.872	19	D	H	102	1	Gearbox	Team Rahal
27	13	7	Michael Andretti	227.739	13	D	H	94	28	Throttle Linkage	Andretti Green Racing
28	28	99	Richie Hearn	225.864	24	P	T	61	0	Accident	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
29	20	2	Jaques Lazier	225.975	23	D	C	61	0	Accident	Team Menard
30	30	5	Shigeaki Hattori	224.589	27	D	T	19	0	Fuel System	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
31	24	23	Sarah Fisher	224.170	32	D	C	14	0	Engine	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
32	29	98	Billy Boat	225.598	25	D	C	7	0	Engine	Panther Racing
33	16	21	Felipe Giaffone	227.210	17	P	T	6	0	Electrical	Mo Nunn Racing

(W) = Former Indianapolis 500 winner; (R) = Indianapolis 500 rookie

*C Chassis: D=Dallara, P=Panoz

*E Engine: C=Chevrolet, H=Honda, T=Toyota

All cars in the 2003 Indianapolis 500 used Firestone tires.

Failed to qualify:
#27 Bryan Herta (injured)
#20 Arie Luyendyk (injured)
#18 Scott Mayer (failed rookie orientation)