Rain stops Indianapolis 500 contest

Tony Kanaan was locked into first place when a crash brought out the yellow caution just past the midpoint of the Indianapolis 500. Five laps later, he headed back to his garage for a nervous wait after rain halted the race.

Photo: Rain stops Indianapolis 500 contest

The rain lasted 45 minutes, then the Speedway's fleet of service vehicles began circling the 2.5-mile (4.02-kilometer) track in hopes of drying it in time for a 6:30 p.m. EDT restart - the deadline set by the Indy Racing League.

If not, the race would be considered official, because at least 101 of 200 scheduled laps had been run. Drivers had completed 113 laps when officials stopped the race.

Kanaan, who settled for second place in 2004 when rain gave Buddy Rice the victory 20 laps short of the finish, was hoping for another rainout, which would give him his first win in six starts at Indianapolis.

"We want to win this thing," he said. "We have the car to do it, no matter what. So if it dries out, we're ready to go. If it doesn't, we're ready to take it."

Kanaan's car owner, Michael Andretti, however, was hoping for a restart. He led the race briefly but dropped to 18th after an ill-timed pit stop just before the rain.

"If it goes back green, I'd have a chance to win this race," Andretti said. "But 1-2-3 would be nice, too."

Andretti Green Racing teammates held the top three spots and four of the top five when the rain hit.

Michael's son, Marco, the runner-up to Sam Hornish Jr. last year, was running second, and teammates Danica Patrick and Dario Franchitti were third and fifth, respectively. Vitor Meira was in fourth place.

Helio Castroneves, Hornish's teammate and this year's pole-winner, dueled Kanaan for the lead early in the race but fell to 29th after he had trouble taking on fuel during a pit stop. He worked his way back up to sixth before the rain.

"We're back in the game," Castroneves said. "Right now, I'm not praying for rain, I'm praying for dry. Right now, it's just a matter of putting ourselves in position, where we are right now. We still have a lot of work, a lot of pit stops."

Marco Andretti took the lead under caution during a round of pit stops, but Kanaan passed him on the restart to take the lead when a crash by rookie Phil Giebler brought out the yellow on the next lap. The race continued under caution the next five laps and was red-flagged to a stop after the 113th lap - 282.5 miles (454.62 kilometers) - when the rain hit.