INDY ROUNDUP News and notes

No problem: All week long, race teams wondered how the high-tech Indy cars would perform in the near-record heat. Sunday was every bit as warm as expected, but the hottest Indianapolis 500 since 1953 didn't add up to the most feared factor of the day -- tire wear. With air temperatures at 89 degrees and track temperatures soaring to 126, most drivers avoided any trouble with the tires Firestone officials promised could hold up on surfaces as hot as 180. "Heat wasn't a factor at all," former IRL champion Scott Dixon said after finishing sixth Sunday. On the race's first crash, Jeff Bucknum slid down onto the slippery white line and went spinning into the outside wall. The hit took out rookie P.J. Chesson and some chalked it up to tires that actually weren't warm enough. "I spun, and I'm not sure why," Bucknum said. "It snapped around the back end, and I'm not sure how it happened." Cold tires have caused chaos in the past. Pole-sitter Scott Sharp crashed on the first turn of the race in 2001. In 1992, the Indianapolis 500 was marred by seven wrecks, many attributed to the failure to properly warm up the rubber. Hot days create other problems such as blistering, uneven wear or faster wear. This year's drivers mostly stayed out of trouble. Of the five cautions, Bucknum's crash was the only one even considered a result of tires. In fact, unscheduled pit stops to add fresh tires were nonexistent among the top contenders. But there was one major exception. Defending champion Dan Wheldon had to pit early with about 20 laps when he punctured a tire -- something not caused by the heat. "We had a good car," said Wheldon, who finished fourth after leading 148 laps. "It was very comfortable and good in traffic, so it [the heat] wasn't a problem. It was just incredibly disappointing to lose a race like that."
Oh, Helio: Two-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves was more upset about his 25th-place finish messing up his average here than the crash that took him out of the race on lap 110. "I guess my average at Indy is going to go high now," said Castroneves, who had never finished worse than ninth in five previous starts. The Brazilian driver was one of the prerace favorites, along with Marlboro Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr., who won; and 2005 winner Dan Wheldon, who finished fourth on Sunday. Castroneves led the first nine laps before handling problems began his downfall. He slid steadily back, but had just made up a lost lap when he collided with the lapped car of Buddy Rice, sending both into the wall. "I need to know what happened," Castroneves said. "It is frustrating." "We didn't give him a good car," Penske team president Tim Cindric said. Rice took the blame. "I had no idea Helio was there," the 2004 race winner said. "At the last second, I hear 'Inside," but it was already too late."
Associated Press