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• Each year, the Indianapolis 500, the crown jewel of the Indy Racing League, is characterized by several crashes. Since 1919, ten Indy 500 crashes have resulted in the deaths of 14 drivers.

  The 2009 Indianapolis 500 was held on Sunday, May 24, 2009. Mahalo provided live coverage of the event.

• Fast Facts

  1. First race held in 1911
  2. Held each Memorial Day weekend
  3. Distance: 500 miles
  4. Number of laps: 200
  5. Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  6. Location: Speedway, Indiana
  7. 2009 Indy 500: May 24, 2009
  8. 12 drivers eliminated due to crashes on race day in 2008
  9. No injuries were reported in 2008
  10. 2008 average race speed: 143.567 mph

• 2009 Crashes

  • 4:07 PM Raphael Matos hits Miera and the wall, out of race
  • 4:07 PM Vitor Meira hits the wall, out of race
  • 3:53 PM Justin Wilson hits the wall, out of race
  • 2:49 PM Tony Kanaan hits the wall, out of race
  • 2:31 PM Davey Hamilton hits the wall, out of race
  • 2:06 PM Graham Rahal hits the wall, out of race
  • 2:04 PM Robert Doornbos bumped the wall in lap 51
  • 1:24 PM Ryan Hunter-Reay crashes into the wall during lap 21, out of the race
  • 1:14 PM Marco Andretti hits Mario Moraes, Moraes out of race

• 2008 Crashes

  At the 2008 Indianapolis 500, there were seven notable crashes, which caused a yellow caution flag to be displayed for 61 of the 200 laps.

  Danica Patrick was eliminated after 171 laps when her car was clipped by Ryan Briscoe as he came out of his pit road. Patrick jumped out of her car and began storming towards Briscoe's pit area, at which point she was restrained by race security.

• 1964 Crash

  In one of the more notable crashes, in the second lap of the 1964 Indianapolis 500, there was a major crash, causing a large fuel spill and resulting fire. A total of seven cars were forced out of the race and two drivers, Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs, died from their injuries. The backlash from the incident caused the United States Automobile Club to limit the maximum amount of fuel each car could carry. Several racing leagues also banned the use of methanol fuel, the kind used in the crash, after the incident.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Indianapolis 500 2009 | Indianapolis 500 | Indy Racing League | Danica Patrick | How to Watch the Indy 500 Online | Indianapolis 500 Live Coverage

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