Will Power wins 102nd Indy 500; Danica Patrick crashes in final race

Jim Ayello | USA TODAY Network

Show Caption Hide Caption Getting to know IndyCar driver Will Power Get to know IndyCar's Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Toyota for Team Penske.

INDIANAPOLIS — This was the win Will Power's been waiting for. After more than 30 IndyCar victories, more than 40 poles and an IndyCar championship, there was only one thing Power had yet to accomplish in his phenomenal IndyCar career.

He changed that Sunday.

Power won the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, giving his boss, Roger Penske, his 17th 500 victory.

Power took the lead with five laps remaining when race leaders Stefan Wilson and Jack Harvey were forced to pit because of low fuel.

"I just can't believe it," an elated Power said after climbing out of his car. "I got to thank Roger Penske, Verizon, and my parents for allowing me to get to this point. I can't describe it. I feel like collapsing. I want to cry. I couldn't stop screaming.

"I always wondered if I was going to win it, and thoughts went through my mind, in my career. I've had so many wins, and so many poles, but everybody always talked about the 500. I just couldn't imagine winning a race in front of a crowd like this. It's just amazing. What an event. I love it."

Ahead of the Sunday's "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" all involved promised a race of attrition, and that's exactly what the hundreds of thousands of fans at IMS saw. Seven crashes peppered the race, including those collecting popular drivers Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and last year's winner Takuma Sato.

Of the 33 cars that started the race, only 24 finished on the lead lap. The 102nd running of the Indy 500 was about survival of the fittest, and on Sunday with temperatures in the 90s, Power was the fittest.

WATCH: Will Power celebrates his Indy 500 victory

RESULTS: How every driver finished in the 2018 Indy 500

DANICA PATRICK: Ends her racing career with Indy 500 crash

See you in the winner's circle: For Power, the win was a perfect exclamation mark on a nearly perfect month of May. Power dominated the week of practice ahead of the IndyCar Grand Prix, won the pole and won the race. Then, after showing off a rocket ship of a race car during Indy 500 practice, he put his car on the front row before winning Sunday's race.

Though there is technically no podium at the Indy 500, Ed Carpenter joined Power in the top three. The pole-sitter and last remaining team owner/driver finished runner-up, easily the best 500 performance of his career.

Rounding out the top three was Scott Dixon. The Ice Man returned to Indy after a horrific crash in last year's race that would have kept less courageous men from coming back. But come back he did, and he picked his fourth top-3 finish of his Indy career.

You must remember this: Love Danica Patrick or not, it was a shame her trailblazing racing career came to an end in a Lap 68 crash into the Turn 2 wall.

Not only did she possess a car capable of something special, but she was fast all month. Though she joked returning to IndyCar after six years away wasn’t like riding a bike at all, she made it look it pretty easy after earning a spot on Row 3 during qualifying. Unfortunately for Patrick and her fans, there looked like little she could do as her car wobbled, then spun into the Turn 2 wall.

PATRICK: Bids farewell to racing with no regrets

While it was appropriate for Patrick’s career to come to an end at the place where her star was born, the 30th-place finish was not befitting of her long history of success at IMS. Sunday was just the second time in eight tries Patrick did not finish in the top 10.

Given her polarizing status within the world of motor sports, her last line during her post-race news conference seemed appropriate: "Thank you for everything. I'll miss you. ... Most of the time. Maybe you'll miss me."

Drive another day: Let’s hope Chip Ganassi Racing sophomore Ed Jones is OK after being taken to IU Methodist Health following a Lap 58 crash in Turn 2. IndyCar reported that before he was transported to the hospital, he was complaining of a headache and neck pain.

Jones like Patrick and later Castroneves, lost control of his car before slamming into the track SAFER barrier.

CRASHFEST: Here's what happened in every Indy 500 wreck

INDY 500 ON ABC: Top moments in the network’s 54-year run

Quote of the day: He didn't wait long to start petitioning for another shot at No. 4. Just a few minutes after crashing on Lap 146, Helio Castroneves walked back through pit lane — where the crowd showered him with a raucous ovation — and sent a message through the TV broadcast to his boss and team owner: "Please, Roger (Penske). I want to come back."

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner turned sports car driver returned to Penske's IndyCar stable for the month of May. He finished sixth at the IndyCar Grand Prix before finishing 27th Sunday. Despite his time away from the series and the crash Sunday, Castroneves proved all month that he still has the speed it takes to win at Indy. Now it's up to Penske to see if he gets another crack at No. 4.

Championship update: With the win in this double points race, Power surges to the top of the championship standings with 274 points. Josef Newgarden's eighth-place finish gave him 263 points, enough for a comfortable hold on second place heading into the Detroit doubleheader. Dixon's third-place finish and Alexander Rossi's fourth-place finish put them in a two-way tie for third-place with 243 points.

Ayello writes for The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.

INDIANAPOLIS 500 RESULTS

Sunday from the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway (starting position in parentheses):

1. (3) Will Power, Chevrolet, 200, Running

2. (1) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 200, Running

3. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running

4. (32) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 200, Running

5. (14) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 200, Running

6. (2) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running

7. (21) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 200, Running

8. (4) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running

9. (18) Robert Wickens, Honda, 200, Running

10. (30) Graham Rahal, Honda, 200, Running

11. (27) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 200, Running

12. (12) Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running

13. (11) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 200, Running

14. (22) Gabby Chaves, Chevrolet, 200, Running

15. (23) Stefan Wilson, Honda, 200, Running

16. (31) Jack Harvey, Honda, 200, Running

17. (26) Oriol Servia, Honda, 200, Running

18. (15) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 200, Running

19. (13) Zachary Claman De Melo, Honda, 199, Running

20. (6) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 199, Running

21. (33) Conor Daly, Honda, 199, Running

22. (20) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 198, Running

23. (25) Zach Veach, Honda, 198, Running

24. (28) Jay Howard, Honda, 193, Running

25. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 187, Contact

26. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 154, Contact

27. (8) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 145, Contact

28. (5) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 137, Contact

29. (17) Kyle Kaiser, Chevrolet, 110, Mechanical

30. (7) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 67, Contact

31. (29) Ed Jones, Honda, 57, Contact

32. (16) Takuma Sato, Honda, 46, Contact

33. (19) James Davison, Chevrolet, 45, Contact

–––

Race Statistics

Winner’s average speed: 166.935 mph.

Time of Race: 2:59:42.6365.

Margin of victory: 3.1589 seconds.

Cautions: 7 for 41 laps.

Lead changes: 30 among, 15 drivers.

Lap Leaders: Carpenter 1-30; Newgarden 31; Pigot 32-34; Carpenter 35-50; Claman De Melo 51-55; Carpenter 56-62; Kanaan 63-64; Carpenter 65-72; Kanaan 73-89; Carpenter 90-91; Power 92-94; Servia, Oriol 95; Bourdais 96; Rahal, Graham 97-105; Claman De Melo 106-107; Power 108-128; Hunter-Reay 129; Bourdais 130-132; Newgarden 133-134; Rahal, Graham 135-137; Munoz, Carlos 138-140; Power 141-170; Carpenter 171-172; Rossi, Alexander 173; Pagenaud, Simon 174; Munoz, Carlos 175; Servia, Oriol 176-177; Wickens, Robert 178-179; Servia, Oriol 180-192; Wilson, Stefan 193-195; Power 196-200.

Point standings: 1, Power 243; 2, Rossi 241; 3, Newgarden 233; 4, Dixon 218; 5, Hunter-Reay 186; 6, Rahal 183; 7, Wickens 178; 8, Bourdais 168; 9, Pagenaud 155; 10, James Hinchliffe 144.