Today is Memorial Day in the United States so we are all honoring our armed forces. Memorial Day weekend is also special in this country for two prestigious auto races, the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, North Carolina, near Charlotte. There is also a third race in Europe, the Monaco Grand Prix.
One of the biggest stories yesterday was NASCAR driver Kurt Busch making his open-wheel racing debut at Indianapolis yesterday, and attempting to complete all 1,100 miles of racing in Indianapolis and Charlotte. Busch finished sixth in the Indy 500, but blew his engine with less than 200 miles remaining in the Coke 600, leaving him with just over 900 miles completed.
The Indy 500 went green for the first 149 laps before a series of late-race crashes. After the last crash, which happened right after a caution for debris, the race was red-flagged in an attempt to ensure a green-flag finish. The race did end under green, with Ryan Hunter-Reay holding off three-time winner Helio Castroneves to win.
About three hours later, the Coke 600 started. Danica Patrick was a favorite after qualifying fourth, but she quickly fell back and eventually suffered from a blown engine, like teammate Kurt Busch. Polesitter Jimmie Johnson went on to claim his first win of the season after passing Matt Kenseth with less than ten laps left. Most of the cautions in this race were for debris.
In conclusion, there was some great racing action yesterday, ending with some very happy drivers.
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