94civicEX

• Honda-powered Ryan Hunter-Reay claims first Indy victory
• Second Honda Indy victory in last three years; 10th Honda Indy triumph since 2003
• Honda powers four of top-six finishers

Honda-powered Ryan Hunter-Reay won Sunday's 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, edging Helio Castoneves by six hundredths of a second in the second-closed finish in "500" history.
After running for the first 300 miles at the fastest pace in "500" history, a late-race red flag set up a six-lap shootout to the finish, with Hunter-Reay, Castroneves and the Honda-powered car of Marco Andretti in contention for the victory.
Hunter-Reay and Castroneves traded the lead repeatedly in the final six laps, with Andretti stalking less than a half-second behind.** Charging into the first turn at the start of the final lap, Hunter-Reay swept past Castroneves.** The pair ran nose-to-tail throughout the final three corners, but the Chevrolet-powered machine of Castroneves was unable to find the speed needed to complete the pass.
Hunter-Reay's victory was the first Indy 500 triumph in his IndyCar career, but the third for Honda in the last three years.** Honda's last win was in 2012 with Dario Franchitti.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (#28 Andretti Autosport Honda) 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner:** "This [Indianapolis] is American History, an American tradition. For me, this is more important than [winning] the championship.** I hope the fans loved loved the finish, 'cause I was on the edge of MY seat!** Thanks to my team, I love driving for these guys and thanks to Honda, we had an awesome engine today."
Art St. Cyr (President, Honda Performance Development) on today's race win:** "What a fantastic day, and an incredible finish.** I hope all the fans loved it as much as we did.** The entire HPD organization worked so hard to achieve this result – not just today, but starting months ago and all through the weeks here at Indianapolis.** Their effort has been outstanding, and today's victory is reward for all of their efforts.** This is our third win in a row, starting at Barber last month and the Grand Prix of Indy two weeks ago, and it feels like we on a roll.** So we're really looking forward to extending that streak to four- and five-in-a-row at the doubleheader in Detroit next week!"


More...