INDIANAPOLIS - Michael Andretti propped himself up on the pit wall, staring glumly at the storm clouds collecting overhead.
Another Indy heartbreak? You bet.
Another case of the abysmal "Andretti Luck?" Michael wasn't buying it.
"It's not like luck beat us," Andretti said Sunday, conducting a familiar postrace losing interview in his garage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "When you get beat fair and square, you can accept it. When you dominate the race and something stupid happens, that's when it's hard to accept."
In his first year as a full-time car owner, Andretti watched his four drivers run near the front all day at the rain-plagued Indianapolis 500. But they weren't strong enough to hold off Buddy Rice, who now has as many wins at Indy as the entire Andretti clan.
Rubbing a little salt in the wound, Andretti Green Racing cars were in the next three spots when a line of severe thunderstorms wiped out the final 20 laps of 200 scheduled. Tony Kanaan could only follow Rice across the finish line, about half a car length behind, as yellow and checkered flags waved above them. Dan Wheldon and Bryan Herta coasted across in the next two spots.
The fourth Andretti Green driver, Dario Franchitti, had a punctured tire late that knocked him back to 14th.
Michael's father, Mario Andretti, won at Indy in 1969, then spent the next quarter-century in a futile quest to take another sip of milk in Victory Lane. He led 556 laps in his career but was taken out time and time again by various misfortunes. Michael's Indy career took a similar path - 426 laps led - minus the victory.
PENSKES FADE: Helio Castroneves and new teammate Sam Hornish came up well short of giving car owner Roger Penske an unprecedented fourth straight Indy victory - and 14th win at the Brickyard - in part due to mistakes in the pits.
Castroneves stopped short of his stall and had to be pushed by his crew. A piece of fuel hose broke off in Hornish's car during one stop and the two-time Indy Racing League champion had to come back in several times for repairs before being caught up in a crash involving Greg Ray and rookie Darren Manning coming off Turn 4.
ROOKIE LUCK: Kosuke Matsuura, one of the fastest drivers all month, finished 11th, the best of eight rookies in the 33-car field. Six of the first-year drivers were involved in crashes, including Larry Foyt, Ed Carpenter, Mark Taylor, Marty Roth, PJ Jones and Manning. The only injuries were to Taylor, who limped away from his crash and was taken to a hospital for further examination, and safety worker David Stout, who was taken to a hospital for examination of a possible foot injury.
