IRL upholds Castroneves as Indy 500 winner

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Posted 8:29AM on Thursday, July 4, 2002

INDIANAPOLIS - Five weeks after the checkered flag fell, another Indianapolis 500 victory finally goes to Spiderman. Indy Racing League president Tony George said Wednesday he had rejected an appeal of the disputed finish between Helio Castroneves and Paul Tracy and declared the Brazilian known as Spiderman the race winner. Castroneves celebrated his second straight Indy win by scaling the fences at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway twice - once after the race ended and again when the results were made official. Until George spoke, though, nothing was final. George said the split-second decision by IRL vice president Brian Barnhart - that Tracy's pass occurred after the yellow caution flag flew - was unappealable and that even if it was, Barnhart still made the right call. ``The evidence reviewed was based on Brian's determination,'' George said during the news conference. ``If he had called the race the other way, I would have had to stand by the rule the way it is written.'' George said several of the caution signals - including trackside and dashboard lights, a radio announcement and a flag closing the pits - were displayed before Tracy's pass. He also cited IRL rule 11.2, which prohibits appeal of a decision under the yellow flag. But George said he heard the case anyway because of the significance of the Indianapolis 500 and because he ``wanted the process to go forward.'' Tracy's car owner, Barry Green, wasn't pleased. At his own news conference, Green showed charts with two experts he'd hired to look at the tapes and figure distances. Green contended the evidence showed Tracy was ahead. And after spending ``hundreds of thousands of dollars'' to make his case, Green challenged George's interpretation of the rule and said he would meet with lawyers before deciding whether to pursue his appeal through the courts. Hearing administrator Dave Mattingly said last month that the two teams agreed George would have the final decision, and Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said he was not worried about Green proceeding through the courts. ``What rules are we racing under?'' Green asked. ``That's where my real concern is, my real disappointment. ``I still feel that we've won. I've got to feel sorry for Mr. (Roger) Penske because this race is not going to sit well with him. It cannot after what we had at the appeal.'' For more than a month, Green and Penske, Castroneves' car owner, have argued that their driver should be declared the winner. Green believed the pass came before the yellow appeared and it could be appealed. Penske believed the pass was late and also argued that Barnhart's judgment call could not be challenged. George agreed with Penske, who won his record 12th Indy title as an owner in May. ``Tony still took the time and effort to make sure nothing could have been missed,'' Cindric said. ``Helio's light was on in the car and that's what we could show.'' Neither the drivers nor representatives from either team attended the news conference, but Tracy did issue a statement. He was en route to CART's next race, this weekend in Toronto. ``What can I say? I'm disappointed but, honestly, not terribly surprised,'' Tracy said. ``My bank account may not show it, and my face may not be on the Borg-Warner Trophy - yet - but in my heart I know I won the race.'' The dispute began when Castroneves, leading the race on the next-to-last lap, was passed by Tracy at about the same time an accident behind the leaders brought out the yellow caution flag. Speedway officials ruled Tracy's pass came after the yellow was shown and put Castroneves back in the lead. He won under yellow. When Green protested the result, Barnhart upheld his own decision one day after the May 26 race. A week later, Green filed his appeal, which was heard by George on June 17. Both sides presented evidence and testimony in front of George, who waited until Wednesday to make his decision public. But Team Green never had a chance. ``That decision, under a yellow flag, is not subject to protest,'' George said. ``It may not be protested or appealed and the decision of the officials is final and binding.'' George said that's because the order of the cars must be made quickly on the track and that the official does not ``have the benefit'' of replay or telemetry data that could help make a decision. Castroneves, though, never doubted he would be the winner. ``As I've said many, many times, when I crossed the finish line and saw the checkered flag, I knew I was the champion, I knew I had won the race,'' he said from Miami. ``Today confirmed it.'' Castroneves' victory makes him the first back-to-back winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Al Unser in 1970-71. No Indy win has been overturned since 1981, when Bobby Unser crossed the finish line first, then was penalized one lap for passing cars under the yellow. Mario Andretti was then awarded the victory. But in October, 4 1/2 months after the race ended, the penalty was overturned and Unser was declared the winner. Unser also drove for Penske.