|| *Comments on the 2003 Indianapolis 500:* View the most recent comment <#23> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Ryan posted: 01.31.2009 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Helio can blame AJ Foyt the IV for getting in his way towards the end of the race and allowing de Ferran pass him. Had Helio won it would have been an unprecedented third win in a row at Indy. At the same time I was happy for de Ferran. 2. Darrell posted: 01.31.2009 - 9:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last race for Tony Renna, whose life would ironically be claimed at this racetrack a few months later. 3. Darrell posted: 01.31.2009 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Failed to qualify: #27 Bryan Herta #20 Arie Luyendyk #18 Scott Mayer 4. RaceFanX posted: 02.01.2009 - 3:07 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) This race was well-hyped as being "Michael Andretti's last race" as it was his final event before retiring from driving (he'd make an Indy 500 comeback a few years later). Andretti ran strong early, leading 28 laps, but once again his Indy bad luck struck and knocked him out even before halfway. Also of an Andretti note, Mario Andretti came out of retirement to test Tony Kanaan's car for this race (Tony was out with injury) and had a major crash in which his car became airborne after hitting debris. The car did a double backflip in mid-air at a high enough height to clear the catch fence before landing rightside up. Mario got the message and never drove a race car again. 5. Ryan posted: 02.02.2009 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, I remember that crash. That was nasty. Kenny Brack crashed ahead of him, and no one radioed to Mario in time to slow down. Mario was very fortunate to walk away with just a nick on his chin, but at the same time the track has owed him and his family from their misfortune there. He was doing so well during testing, too. Here is the crash. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMeE9NAh60I 6. Indycar1 posted: 02.06.2009 - 11:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Penske's second one-two finish in the Indy 500, with Gil de Ferran getting his lone Indy win. Helio Castroneves finshed second, the first time he lost the 500 (the other one-two was in 2001 with Castroneves beating de Ferran.) Dan Wheldon in his Indy 500 debut flipped over in a lap 186 crash in turn 3. 7. Pacer posted: 04.21.2009 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pace car for this Indy 500 wasn't a car it was a Chevrolet SSR, a sporty convertible truck that GM made at the time. 8. RaceFanX posted: 05.03.2009 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Shinji Nakano's second and final IRL race 9. RaceFanX posted: 11.23.2011 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did not Qualify: Bryan Herta- #27 Archipelago / Motorola (Andretti Green Racing) Arie Luyendyk- #20 Meijer (Mo Nunn) Scott Mayer- #18 PDM Racing (Paul Diatlovich) Oddly among all three of the DNQ teams actually ran the race with different drivers required as Herta and Luyendyk were injured in practice crashes and replaced by Robby Gordon and Alex Barron for the rest of qualifying and the race itself. Jimmy Kite replaced Scott Mayer when Mayer failed his rookie orientation. 10. RaceFanX posted: 12.10.2011 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A mechanical failure less than 10 laps into this race put Billy Boat, doing a one-off for Panther, on the sidelines. This turned out to be the former IRL victor's final race in the series. 11. RaceFanX posted: 05.15.2012 - 12:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gil de Ferran wins the Indy 500 in his fourth and final try. He retired from IndyCar at the end of the 2003 season and has not returned to the Brickyard as a driver since. 12. Bob posted: 06.15.2012 - 2:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dixon led 15; not 25 laps. 13. Anthony posted: 02.17.2013 - 2:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) no Americans in the top 5 at Indy, so much for making the IRL a more Americas Series TONY GEORGE 14. We need more Onion posted: 11.29.2013 - 9:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor correction: #41 - Conseco 15. RaceFanX posted: 03.04.2014 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Robby Gordon does the Indy 500/Coke 600 double. He dropped out here, flew to Charlotte and finished 17th in a rain-shortened 600. 16. most posted: 07.09.2014 - 9:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There were actually rumors that Mario might go ahead and qualify the car and run the race if Kanaan wasn't able to compete. The deal was agreed upon if he actually had a competitive car which was why he was practicing it. After the crash, that ended any talk of Mario doing a 1 off ride... 17. Ed posted: 11.20.2015 - 12:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Scott Dixon got loose warming the tires on the front straightaway under the caution for Wheldon's flip, slapped the inside wall, and spun out, ending his day and lengthening the caution by two more laps 18. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 08.31.2016 - 1:05 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Tora Takagi, Roger Yasukawa, Buddy Rice, Vitor Meira, Scott Dixon, A. J. Foyt IV, and Dan Wheldon. Only Indy 500 start for Shinji Nakano. Last Indy 500 starts for Gil de Ferran, Robbie Buhl, Jimmy Vasser, Shigeaki Hattori, and Billy Boat. 19. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 08.31.2016 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) ...somehow I completely overlooked Tony Renna. This was Renna's only Indy 500 start, as he was killed in a horrible testing crash later that year at the Speedway not long after he had been signed to Chip Ganassi Racing. 20. RaceFanX posted: 10.19.2018 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This win with Roger Penske's team is the only Indianapolis 500 victory to date for Toyota as an engine supplier. This was the brand's first attempt at the 500, it initially launched its open wheel program in CART in 1996 just one year too late to have been at Indy. Toyota remained in the IRL through 2005 but this was its only 500 win at the Brickyard. 21. SweetRich posted: 02.26.2020 - 10:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Commentators For The Race Were Paul Page And Scott Goodyear. The Pit Road Reporters Were Jerry Punch, Jack Arute, Gary Gerould And Vince Welch. 22. Joe posted: 05.20.2020 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gil de ferran is one of only 5 drivers to won in his final Indy 500 23. Rich posted: 12.23.2020 - 6:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins was the studio host. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: