While Brazilian Helio Castroneves took his third ever Indianapolis 500 title, Team Penske earned by the same token an unprecedented 15th victory at the famous Brickyard.
Castroneves, who was starting from pole, led the way in the first few laps but had the relinquish the lead to the Ganassi duo formed by Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon who both exchanged a great part of the race.
Dan Wheldon made a stunning come back from 18th on the grid to second for Panther Racing as Danica Patrick, who finished third, became the first female driver to finish in the top three at Indy.
Townsend Bell took a remarkable fourth for KV Racing, with Penske's Will Power fifth in what could be his last appearance of the season.
Pitstop issues dropped Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, the winners of the last two Indy 500s, back to sixth and seventh.
Right from the start, the yellow flag was shown as Mario Moraes made contact with Marco Andretti and speared into the Turn 2 wall, ending both their races after just the first corner.
At the restart Franchitti went by one Penske immediately drafting past Castroneves to take the lead.
He held on to it through the first pitstops, which came early after Ryan Hunter-Reay's miserable month ended when he hit the Turn 4 wall on lap 20 and spun his Vision Racing Dallara into the pitlane.
Castroneves lost out to Briscoe in the stops, and was pushed back to fourth by Dixon shortly after the restart, as the Ganassi/Penske quartet were joined by Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green), Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and star rookie Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon) in a seven-car lead train through the next stint.
Just after quarter-distance, Graham Rahal's hopes of victory ended when he crashed into the Turn 4 wall while his team-mate Robert Doornbos did not last much longer before damaging his car in a contact with the wall.
Then things were bad for Penske when racing resumed after Rahal's incident, as Briscoe had to pit to replace a tyre that had lost pressure. Castroneves also lost ground allowing the Ganassi duo to hit the front and dominate the next segment of the race.
After another yellow, Castroneves was in front ahead of Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick at the restart and Castroneves surged away into a clear continuing to edge away for the remaining 17 laps and duly added a third Indy win to his 2001 and 2002 successes.
Indy 500 93rd Edition - Results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Helio Castroneves Penske 200 laps
2. Dan Wheldon Panther + 1.9819s
3. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 2.3350s
4. Townsend Bell KV + 2.7043s
5. Will Power Penske + 3.6216s
6. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 4.2988s
7. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 4.9159s
8. Ed Carpenter Vision + 5.5096s
9. Paul Tracy KV + 6.5180s
10. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 7.3312s
11. Alex Tagliani Conquest +10.5351s
12. Tomas Scheckter Coyne +10.9874s
13. Alex Lloyd Schmidt/Ganassi +11.1944s
14. Scott Sharp Panther +11.4259s
15. Ryan Briscoe Penske +12.6695s
16. AJ Foyt IV Foyt +15.4867s
17. Sarah Fisher Fisher +15.9774s
18. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold +16.3488s
19. John Andretti Dreyer & Reinbold/Petty +18.0868s
20. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap
21. Vitor Meira Foyt + 27 laps
22. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 27 laps
23. Justin Wilson Coyne + 40 laps
24. EJ Viso HVM + 61 laps
25. Nelson Philippe HVM + 70 laps
26. Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman +102 laps
27. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green +103 laps
28. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan +115 laps
29. Davey Hamilton Dreyer & Reinbold +121 laps
30. Marco Andretti Andretti Green +144 laps
31. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan +145 laps
32. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision +181 laps
33. Mario Moraes KV +200 laps
Castroneves, who was starting from pole, led the way in the first few laps but had the relinquish the lead to the Ganassi duo formed by Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon who both exchanged a great part of the race.
Dan Wheldon made a stunning come back from 18th on the grid to second for Panther Racing as Danica Patrick, who finished third, became the first female driver to finish in the top three at Indy.
Townsend Bell took a remarkable fourth for KV Racing, with Penske's Will Power fifth in what could be his last appearance of the season.
Pitstop issues dropped Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, the winners of the last two Indy 500s, back to sixth and seventh.
Right from the start, the yellow flag was shown as Mario Moraes made contact with Marco Andretti and speared into the Turn 2 wall, ending both their races after just the first corner.
At the restart Franchitti went by one Penske immediately drafting past Castroneves to take the lead.
He held on to it through the first pitstops, which came early after Ryan Hunter-Reay's miserable month ended when he hit the Turn 4 wall on lap 20 and spun his Vision Racing Dallara into the pitlane.
Castroneves lost out to Briscoe in the stops, and was pushed back to fourth by Dixon shortly after the restart, as the Ganassi/Penske quartet were joined by Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green), Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and star rookie Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon) in a seven-car lead train through the next stint.
Just after quarter-distance, Graham Rahal's hopes of victory ended when he crashed into the Turn 4 wall while his team-mate Robert Doornbos did not last much longer before damaging his car in a contact with the wall.
Then things were bad for Penske when racing resumed after Rahal's incident, as Briscoe had to pit to replace a tyre that had lost pressure. Castroneves also lost ground allowing the Ganassi duo to hit the front and dominate the next segment of the race.
After another yellow, Castroneves was in front ahead of Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick at the restart and Castroneves surged away into a clear continuing to edge away for the remaining 17 laps and duly added a third Indy win to his 2001 and 2002 successes.
Indy 500 93rd Edition - Results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Helio Castroneves Penske 200 laps
2. Dan Wheldon Panther + 1.9819s
3. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 2.3350s
4. Townsend Bell KV + 2.7043s
5. Will Power Penske + 3.6216s
6. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 4.2988s
7. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 4.9159s
8. Ed Carpenter Vision + 5.5096s
9. Paul Tracy KV + 6.5180s
10. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 7.3312s
11. Alex Tagliani Conquest +10.5351s
12. Tomas Scheckter Coyne +10.9874s
13. Alex Lloyd Schmidt/Ganassi +11.1944s
14. Scott Sharp Panther +11.4259s
15. Ryan Briscoe Penske +12.6695s
16. AJ Foyt IV Foyt +15.4867s
17. Sarah Fisher Fisher +15.9774s
18. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold +16.3488s
19. John Andretti Dreyer & Reinbold/Petty +18.0868s
20. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap
21. Vitor Meira Foyt + 27 laps
22. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 27 laps
23. Justin Wilson Coyne + 40 laps
24. EJ Viso HVM + 61 laps
25. Nelson Philippe HVM + 70 laps
26. Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman +102 laps
27. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green +103 laps
28. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan +115 laps
29. Davey Hamilton Dreyer & Reinbold +121 laps
30. Marco Andretti Andretti Green +144 laps
31. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan +145 laps
32. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision +181 laps
33. Mario Moraes KV +200 laps