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The 89th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 2005. It was the premier event of the 2005 IndyCar Series season, and the tenth Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. Dan Wheldon won the race under a yellow flag. Wheldon became the first British-born winner since Graham Hill in 1966. Rookie Danica Patrick, who qualified fourth and finished fourth, became the first female driver in Indy history to lead laps during the race. Patrick led three times for a total of 19 laps, and won the Rookie of the Year award. Considerable media hype and attention was focused on the race and on Patrick in particular during the month, giving birth to the term "Danica Mania." Her 4th place starting position broke the record set by Lyn St. James (6th in 1994) and her 4th-place finishing position broke record set by Janet Guthrie (9th in 1978). The increased attention going into the race helped register a 6.5 Nielsen rating, the highest since 1996. ==Background== Over the offseason, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was milled and repaved in asphalt. Selective diamond grinding was done in an effort to smooth out bumps in the turns. On April 5, 2005, a private test session saw four teams (AGR, Ganassi, Rahal, and Panther) test for Firestone. The session was cancelled, however, when the inconsistent pavement in the turns created an unsuitable dual level of grip in the corners. A week later, the entire track was diamond ground to cure the problem. The schedule for the month of May was slightly retooled for 2005. The annual rookie orientation program was moved to opening day, as well as the second day of official activity. Previously, in most cases rookie orientation was held prior to the traditional "opening day" of practice, often in April. Veteran practice would commence on Tuesday, the third day overall. Carb Day, the traditional last day of practice before the race, was moved from its familiar Thursday slot to Friday of race weekend. After four years of having three days of time trials scheduled (2001–2004), time trials reverted to four days, and a new format (dubbed "11/11/11") was introduced. After they were first allowed in 2004, single-point refueling rigs were made mandatory for 2005. After several decades of the race traditionally starting at 11:00 a.m. local time (EST), the start time was moved to 12:00 p.m. EST (1:00 p.m. EDT). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2005 Indianapolis 500」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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