Wheldon wins Indy 500; Patrick finishes fourth

INDIANAPOLIS - Englishman Dan Wheldon spoiled Danica Patrick's big day, passing the only woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 in the final laps and holding on for his fourth victory of the season.

Vitor Meira was second, Bryan Herta was third and Patrick finished fourth after she ran out of fuel on the final lap.

"This has been a dream come true for me," said Wheldon, the IRL points leader, who passed Patrick for the lead with six laps remaining. "I've loved the Indianapolis 500 since I was a kid. The best drivers, the best teams in the world.

"I'm having an emotional moment," he said, pausing.

The win was the first for team owner Michael Andretti. Meira and Patrick are teammates with Rahal Letterman Racing.

"I think I showed I was a rookie with some of the things I did, but I think I showed my on-track performance is there," Patrick said. "I'm proud. I'm proud of the team."

It was the best finish among the four women who have raced at Indianapolis.

Patrick seemed to have a good shot at winning the race when she passed Wheldon for the lead on a restart with 10 laps to go, but she couldn't stay in front as Rahal's gamble on fuel failed and she slowed as she began running out of gas.

Still, it was an impressive comeback for Patrick, who dropped to 11th after damaging her car's nose cone with just over 100 miles to go.

Sam Hornish Jr. had led 77 laps but went out of the race in a crash just before that. During that caution, Dario Franchitti led teammates Wheldon and Tony Kanaan before all three leaders made pit stops. During the shuffle, Wheldon came out first, followed by Meira and Franchitti.

Patrick, who dropped to 16th after stalling during an earlier pit stop, had worked her way up to seventh before making contact with Tomas Scheckter and then Tomas Enge. She came into the pits for a new nose cone and remained on the lead lap but in 11th place after 160 laps.

Kanaan, the runner-up last year, was leading Hornish by less than one second at that point.

Patrick took her first lead on the 56th lap when the three drivers ahead of her made their second pit stops before she did. She was running fourth at the time but stayed on the track and led for one lap.