The 90th running of the Indianapolis 500®-Mile Race was won on May 28, 2006 by Sam Hornish Jr. from a field of 33 competitors.
Taking the lead in the final 300 meters, he crossed the finish line .0635 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, earning him the traditional honor of a drink of milk in the Victory Lane ceremony. The lead changed 14 times during one of the most exciting races in history.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway® features a 2.5 mile (4 km) oval track that is banked 9˚12’ at each of the four turns. The fastest official Indy 500® qualifying lap speed is a blistering 237.498 mph (384 km/hr) set by Arie Luyendyk in 1996.
Characteristics of IndyCar® Series race cars include
· 3.5 liter, 650+ horsepower, 8 cylinder engines running at a 10,300 rpm limit
· Tire temperatures that reach the boiling point of water, resulting in a tar-like tread surface
· At 220 miles per hour, a maximum downforce of the wings strong enough to drive the racer upside-down on an inverted track
An environment-friendly innovation for 2007 is the change to 100% ethanol fuel. Ethanol is produced from corn, grain sorghum, and other agricultural feed stocks. It is a clean-burning, renewable fuel that has the potential to replace petroleum-based fuel in automobiles.
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