NOTES

It wasn’t exactly like the old days, before the Indy Racing League was built around the 500, effectively excluding CART drivers who had dominated for 20 years, but a lot of the old-time feeling was back.

So were the fans. The race that, in its heyday, had drawn 400,000 or so every May, suffered noticeably in drawing power in its first three runnings under IRL auspices.

For Sunday’s running, though, the seats were full and fan congestion before, during and after the race was at near pre-split levels, which meant probably 350,000 people. Actual attendance is not released.

“It’s a shame there wasn’t a lot of people here today,” wryly commented A.J. Foyt, the winning car owner who ranks as the IRL’s leading CART hater.

*

Although the starting field was listed as the traditional 33 cars, only 31 were on the track for the green flag.

The car driven by Jack Miller started, but kept stalling when he tried to get it in gear. It finally was pushed down the main straightaway and behind the pit wall.

Scott Sharp’s car started on schedule and made the first parade lap but was seen spraying something and had a radio problem as well. He was in the pits when the rest of the field started.