INDY 500 \ News and notes

May 25, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Recovery: Vitor Meira will need some time to recover from the Indianapolis 500.

The 2008 runner-up survived a dangerous fire in the pits and later broke two vertebrae in his lower back during a frightening crash in Sunday’s race. IndyCar officials said he will spend the next two days at Methodist Hospital, where doctors plan to fit him for a back brace. He does not need surgery. “It was just an unfortunate incident,” rookie Raphael Matos said after colliding with Meira. “We had a good car, and the team had worked so hard. It was just unfortunate to end like that.” The Meira-Matos incident was the most serious crash on a day full of them. In all, 10 cars went out of the race in accidents, and an 11th, Marco Andretti’s No. 26, eventually left because of handling problems after returning from an earlier crash.

Not enough: Former Indy winner Dan Wheldon didn’t quite have enough to join the two-time winner club. Although he finished second, moving up 14 spots from his qualifying position, Wheldon acknowledged he was too busy trying to hold off Danica Patrick for third to chase down Helio Castroneves for the win. “I’m incredibly excited,” the 2005 winner said. “I have to say there have not been many races where the team has executed 100 percent, and they did it today.” With Patrick closing in at the end and Castroneves pulling away for a 1.98-second win, Wheldon simply didn’t have enough to catch him. “It would be more frustrating if I had something for Helio, but I really didn’t,” he said.

Fast mover: A week ago, Alex Tagliani didn’t even think he’d be in the race.On Sunday, after starting from the last spot, No. 33, he finished 11th — the biggest mover of the day.

Associated Press