Rice wins the Indy 500

Rice, who was dropped from Eddie Cheever's team at the end of last year and got the call from Bobby Rahal to stand in for the injured Kenny Brack at the beginning of the season, won the race after fighting his way to the front following a stall during an early pitstop.

Twice delayed because of rain, it was perhaps appropriate that a race dominated by the weather ended 20 laps short because of another shower late-on.

If anyone questioned whether Buddy Rice was fastest in the 88th Indianapolis 500, it was answered by this observation: at one point, a bad pit stop dropped him from the lead to eighth place. Later, in the span of 19 laps, he went from seventh back into the lead.

Rice took the lead on the 151st lap, held it through a pit-stop cycle during which raindrops threatened to bring out the yellow flag at any time, and held on to win.

When asked if there was a moment in his career that could top winning the Indy 500, Rice couldn't help being a wiseguy. "Let me think about that for a second," Rice said with a grin. "No."

Kanaan finished second, his second consecutive close call at Indy. Last year, he finished third behind Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves. Kanaan also led a 2-3-4 finish by Andretti Green Racing, with Dan Wheldon finishing third and Bryan Herta fourth.

The win and the final boxscore also served as statements of strength by Honda in its battle with Toyota and Chevrolet. Honda didn't just win the 500 for the first time, it swept the top seven finishing positions after taking the top seven positions in qualifying for the race. Bruno Junqueira finished fifth, Vitor Meira sixth and Adrian Fernandez seventh.

Scott Dixon, who finished eighth, drove the highest-finishing Toyota. Alex Barron, 12th, drove the highest-finishing Chevy. Panoz G Force prevailed in the chassis battle with Dallara, putting seven cars in the top 11.

Kanaan admitted afterwards that his car didn't have enough to match Rice. "Great effort, not great enough," Kanaan said. "In my point of view, this race is supposed to be won by the best car and the best driver. I think that was the case today."

Rice, who was let go by Eddie Cheever Jr. with three races left last season, wondered about his future until Rahal contacted him and offered the chance to fill in until Brack returned. After winning the pole position at the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February, it became apparent that Rice would become a more permanent fixture with his new team.

Wheldon, who led three times for 26 of the 180 laps, agreed with Kanaan's assessment that Rice was the car to beat all month. From his pole-winning performance on May 15 to Sunday's impressive display, Rice had the competition's respect. "Buddy was just stellar all month," Wheldon said. "I can't think of a nicer guy outside of our team that I would want to win this race."

Rice took the lead from Kanaan just as Junqueira, who had been the leader, eased into the pits on the 151st lap. The leaders then began to cycle through their final pit stops as a few intermittent raindrops began to fall. First Kanaan pitted, then Wheldon, then Rice.

On the 167th lap, with Rice in the pits and Herta now in the lead, the rain began to steadily increase. When Herta pitted, Fernandez went to the lead. Still, the rain wasn't heavy enough to force a caution period. Finally, when Fernandez rolled into the pits in the 171st lap, Rice was back in the lead. Three laps later, the rain was heavy enough to bring out the yellow flag. Shortly after, with the car safely inside a dry garage, the team was holding a jubilant celebration as Rice climbed from the cockpit.

"He's a guy who people wouldn't give a break to, and here he is," team co-owner Bobby Rahal said. "I believe it's safe to say he was the dominant driver today."

Several drivers led the early portions of the race, which were delayed nearly two hours because of rain. For a time, Wheldon looked strong. For several segments, Sam Hornish Jr. appeared to have the car to beat. When Hornish was caught up in the spinning cars of Greg Ray and Darren Manning, he was officially out of contention.

"A bunch of cars slowed up coming out of four," Hornish explained. "Darren went to the outside of Ray, and Greg just came right up into him. That's the way it looked to me. I was right there with no place to go."

A speedway safety worker, David Stout, was taken to Methodist Hospital for X-Rays on a foot after being struck by one of the cars. The crash, which also ruined an excellent run by Manning, may have set the stage for Rice's return to the fore.

"I don't know what was going on with Greg," said Manning, who was third at the time. "It was almost like his spotter didn't tell him I was there. He kept coming and clipped my left rear. By that time, he should have seen me because I was right up next to him."

The incident also ruined what had, a few laps earlier, been a solid run for Hornish. A bad pit, in which his crew workers had trouble with the vent, forced him to pit twice and dropped Hornish from third to 19th.

"I knew I couldn't leave him out there," said Hornish's car owner, Roger Penske. "We knew there were parts still in there."

When P.J. Jones crashed on the 96th lap, Rice surrendered the lead to Wheldon by pitting. It took him another 93 laps top get back to the front, but he did the bulk of the work in 19 laps, vaulting from seventh to first. "We knew we had done what it takes," Rice said. "We knew we had the fastest car."