NYSE 2006 Indianapolis 500 May 28th 2006
Marco Finishes a close second in photo finish at 90th running of Indianapolis.

Marco Andretti, making his first Indianapolis 500 appearance, nearly completed the storybook ending as he piloted the #26 NYSE car to a second-place finish in the second-closest finish in '500' history Sunday afternoon at the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Andretti, starting the event from outside of Row 3 on the starting grid, wasted little time in showing that the #26 NYSE car was fast as he moved into the top three just 30 laps into the event. Never falling back farther than seventh during the event, he was poised to make history when a late-race caution flag flew on Lap 190. When the track went green, the younger Andretti found himself in second place, trailing only his father with four laps remaining. Two laps later, Marco took the lead, making an outside move around his father as the two went through Turn 1. Sam Hornish Jr. also passed the senior Andretti and set his sights on the NYSE car, making a last-second pass just before the pair crossed the finish line with the finishing margin being just .0635 of a second.

Hornish took the victory with Jim Beam/Vonage driver Michael Andretti third, Dan Wheldon fourth and Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan fifth.

Next up for Andretti and the entire IndyCar Series will be the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, June 4. The event will be televised live by ABC Sports, beginning at 3:30 p.m. (EDT). It can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers by tuning into XM channel 145.



•The margin of victory was .0635 of a second, the second-closest finish in Indianapolis 500. The closest was the .043 of a second in 1992 when Al Unser Jr. edged Scott Goodyear.

•Marco Andretti became the third-youngest driver to start the Indianapolis 500 at 19 years, two months and 15 days. He is the youngest since A.J. Foyt IV, who turned 19 when he made his first start in 2003.

•This was the best finish by a member of the Andretti family in their rookie year at Indianapolis, as Marco Andretti finished second. Mario Andretti finished third in 1965, Michael Andretti fifth in 1984, Jeff Andretti 15th in 1991 and John Andretti 21st in 1988.

• Marco Andretti became the 55th driver to lead the Indianapolis 500 in his first start.

•During the last eight laps of the 2006 Indianapolis 500, there were four different lap leaders: #11 Tony Kanaan (Laps 183-193), #1 Michael Andretti (194-197), #26 Marco Andretti (198-199) and #6 Sam Hornish Jr. (200). Also, there were three lead changes among the four drivers in the last seven laps of the race. This is the greatest number of different drivers and most number of lead changes in the last 10 laps of an Indianapolis 500-Mile Race that went the full distance.

•When #26 Marco Andretti passed his father, #1 Michael Andretti, for the lead on Lap 198, it marked the first time that a father-son combination had traded the lead since 1992, when Mario Andretti passed his son, Michael, on Lap 7 and Michael re-passed his father subsequently on Lap 8.

•Michael Andretti led four laps of the 2006 event. This raised his career lap leader total to 430 laps, which moved him past Rick Mears (429 laps) for ninth place on the all-time lap leader list. Michael Andretti's 430 laps led represent the most laps led by a driver who has never won the Indianapolis 500.

•Today’s race was the eighth Indy 500 that Michael Andretti has led, tying him with Arie Luyendyk, Tom Sneva, and Al Unser Jr. for seventh on the all-time list for most races led. A.J. Foyt has the record with laps led in 13 races.

"The NYSE boys did an awesome job all month. I came into this race thinking that I could win it and we nearly did. I don't like finishing second. Hornish just had too much speed at the end. I guess I could have been really dirty and driven low on the straightaway, but I didn't want to do it that way. I was really hoping on the restart that Bryan (Herta) would have been between dad and Hornish and then we would have had a '1-2'. It’s a shame that we have to wait a year to come back here."
Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"It's hard to think that Marco has just turned 19 and has very little experience in these cars. He drove like an absolute professional out there all race long, didn’t make or put a foot wrong. The NYSE car was in the hunt all day long. We got some bad breaks in traffic here and there that dropped us back a bit. But, he kept a calm head, stayed focused and almost won it and arguably deserved to. (Sam) Hornish had a great race, as well, but I think America should be proud. I think there’s a rising star and it’s another Andretti."
Eddie Jones, Race Engineer, #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"I’m just so proud. I’m so proud. I think this race lasted three days. It was so awesome to watch these guys. I’m so proud of them." (About the Andretti family): "We just love to drive. We love race cars. We just love to do it. We were born to do it, I think." Mario Andretti, post race.

"I almost won this thing. I don’t want to wait until next year. I wish it was today. I knew I had a shot at it, I really did. I don’t like to go into a race thinking I don’t have a shot at it. That’s what I wanted, on the last lap. I don’t know where Penske came from, but I guess they were saving it.

"I thought it if I defended my line that I might have had it. I don’t know where they came from. It’s a bummer. I’ve got to take advantage of every shot I get out here. I really do, because second is nothing."
Marco Andretti, post race.

"I just knew he was going to surprise a lot of people. He didn't surprise me. I was just a little surprised by how fast he got here. In a couple of days, I'll probably sit back and think, `Oh Wow!' I thought he had won. It was a fairytale, a dream."
Michael Andretti, post race.

Indy Qualifying Facts

Marco recorded a four-lap average speed of 224.918 miles per hour (2:40.0856 seconds) in the #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone
during qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday and will start from the ninth position for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Marco on final practice:
"Today was really our last day to work on finding a good race setup for the #26 NYSE car. Fortunately we were able to run a lot of laps and try some different things to see how the car would respond.

We try to gather as much data as possible for as many different scenarios as we can; things like how the car responds to different track temperatures, wind speed and directions, anything that we might encounter on race day."

Marco on Qualifying: "Qualifying was just what I thought it was going to be, there were no real surprises. Don't get me wrong, those were definitely the longest four laps of my career. It was nervewracking, but the NYSE guys did a great job and gave me a great car. In a way, I sort of knew what the #26 NYSE car was going to do but it doesn't matter. You still have to make it work.

I'm a little disappointed with my times; they could have been a little better but they could have been a lot worse. It just feels great to be done with it.

"I definitely felt a lot of pressure but I got some great advice from Tony (Kanaan). He just told me to put the helmet on, flip the visor down and go. There are a lot of people that try to tell you to act a certain way out there, but others tell you to just be yourself and drive the car
and that's what I try to do."

- Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone