Vasser

	Brack

INDIANAPOLIS -- Roger Penske, Michael Andretti and Chip Ganassi were said to have the best teams at Indy this season.

And looking at the results, it turned out that way. Penske swept the top two spots with Gil de Ferran beating out teammate Helio Castroneves for the win. Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan was third, while his AGR teammates Dan Wheldon, Robby Gordon and Andretti all were strong before encountering various problems, be they mechanical or airborne.

Ganassi, meanwhile, placed Tomas Scheckter fourth. Scott Dixon, who already has a race win this season, was running sixth late in the race before hitting the wall and spinning on a restart.

All in all, it was a decent day for the super teams.

But for Team Rahal, it was a day of what ifs and coulda beens. Team co-owner David Letterman was on hand to watch the race from the pits, but he probably didn't find much humor in what transpired on Sunday.

The day did start well for Rahal's camp, as it didn't take long for CART regular Jimmy Vasser to move from his starting position of 27th to the front of the field. Vasser ran up front for much of the first half of the race, even leading the 100th lap of the Indy 500.

But a gear box failure just two laps later ended Vasser's day prematurely.

"The gearbox has a big hole in it, and we still aren't sure why," said Vasser, who ultimately finished 26th. "The car just popped out of fifth gear while I was running, and then the whole thing exploded. "

The mechanical failure was particularly disappointing for the only CART regular in the field, who said that this race car was the best he's ever had in eight career Indy starts. Vasser's starting position toward the back of the field on Sunday was only a reflection of the fact that he was a Bump Day qualifier. Vasser was competing in the Champ Car German 500 during Indy qualifying weekend.

"The Argent car was pretty good today, and I am still having a hard time believing that I am standing here right now," said Vasser, who has twice finished fourth here (1994, 2001). "Team Rahal did a great job and gave me a car that was capable of winning, and it is really unfortunate that it has to end like this."

Gear problems also plagued Vasser's Indy teammate Kenny Brack. The 1999 Indy 500 winner qualified well and started in the second row (sixth) on Sunday but encountered trouble early in the race.

"We had a good car today, but we lost first gear on first pit stop. We stalled on a several pit stops today. It was due to the idle on the engine being a little too high," said Brack, who kept pace for a while until the gear problem got worse. "Later (on Lap 128) the gearbox locked up, and we had to change all of the gears in the car. That cost us four laps."

Brack eventually finished 16th, five laps off the pace. But the result wasn't indicative of the strength of Brack's No. 15 Honda-powered Dallara.

"Who knows what would have happened today had we not encountered mechanical problems? We had one of the fastest cars in the middle of the race, but it doesn't mean anything if you can't be up front with the leaders," said Brack. "It's tough when you think you have a car to win and things go wrong at the beginning of the race. We fought hard to get back into the top 10 (from 19th to ninth), but when we had to change all of the gears, it was time just to collect points and stay out of the leaders' way."

Both cars apparently were strong enough to run with the leaders and possibly challenge for the win on Sunday. But before the race, Letterman wasn't sure he'd be able to handle one of his cars winning the 500.

Said Letterman: "I'd probably need another bypass."

Fair day

	Renna

	Unser Jr.

Another one of Indy's strong teams had mixed results on Saturday.

Kelley Racing runs cars for Scott Sharp -- who was the IRL points leader heading into Indy -- Al Unser Jr. and Tony Renna. Sharp and Renna started in the third row while Unser qualified 17th.

Sharp and Unser are this team's big guns, but the day belonged to Renna within the Kelley camp. In his first ever Indy 500 start, Renna completed all 200 laps and scored a seventh-place finish.

"It's very satisfying to give Kelley (Racing) their highest finish in the '500.' The guys have done a great job all month," said Renna, who was one of seven Toyota drivers in the top-10. "I'm really happy with the way things turned out. We just ran a consistent race and stayed out of trouble. It was a great time."

Renna was the second-highest finishing Indy 500 rookie on Sunday. Tora Takagi finished fifth.

"The guys gave me a great car. We just worked at it all race long to develop the car and bring it in," said Renna. "I'm quite pleased with where we're at. It's my first year here. For my first 500-mile race of my career, to finish here in the top 10 solidly, I'm pretty happy."

Sharp, who is still atoning for wrecking during the first turn after starting from the pole in the 2001 Indy 500, suffered a similar fate on Sunday -- albeit much later in the race. Sharp lost control of his No. 8 Dallara and brushed the wall on lap 180.

"We just struggled all day and didn't have a very good car in traffic," said Sharp, who was credited with a 20th-place finish. "In the end I was fighting a real tight condition and came out of Turn 4 and just pushed right up to the wall. It felt like I hit the wall with the right front, and it felt like I grazed it evenly."

At that point it appeared Sharp would recover and maintain control of his car. Not so -- Sharp's car went away from him the next lap, and the lap 181 wreck ended his day.

"I moved the car back and forth going down the main stretch and it seemed like it was OK. I backed a bit extra going into Turn 1, and it just snapped around on me."

Meanwhile, Unser Jr. had an uneventful day -- but a day which resulted in a top-10 finish.

"We've certainly had better days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but today my Corteco crew did a great job," said the two-time Indy 500 winner, who finished ninth on Sunday as the last car on the lead lap.

"(The team) got me in and out of the pits really quickly, and we were able to work our way up through the field," said Unser. "But I still couldn't do a full run wide open all the way. I would fall just a little short."

Unser now has 10 top-10 finishes in 16 Indy 500 starts. Sunday's ninth-place is his first top-10 since his win in 1994.