INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ireland’s Peter Dempsey beat Firestone Indy Lights points leader Carlos Munoz and three other drivers down the front straightaway Friday to win the closest oval race in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history by 0.026 seconds over Colombia’s Gabby Chaves.
Dempsey started to make an inside move, then steered outside as the cars came down the final straight four wide, overtaking the other three cars just yards from the finish. American Sage Karam, the pole-sitter, was third.
Munoz of Colombia took the lead at lap 13 and appeared headed to another Lights’ victory until the final yards. Munoz was trying to become the first driver to win both Memorial Day weekend races at Indy. He finished fourth Friday and will start second, the middle of the front row, in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. He’s the first Indy rookie to be on the front row since Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000.
