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2018 Indy 500 countdown: 3 years ago – 2015 Indianapolis 500

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 23: A general view of the start of the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 23, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 23: A general view of the start of the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 23, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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With just three days to go until the 2018 Indianapolis 500, let’s take a look back at the 2015 Indy 500, which took place three years ago.

The 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2015 was the first Indy 500 of the new aero kit era during which Chevrolet and Honda manufactured their own aero kits for their teams. The race was dominated by the Chevrolet drivers, but that didn’t keep it from being exciting.

After it had not happened since 2005, the winners of the last three Indy 500 races coming into the 2015 Indy 500 had won IndyCar‘s most famous race after starting in 12th place or lower. Juan Pablo Montoya became the fourth driver in a row to pull it off in 2015 after he started in 15th.

Montoya fell all the way back to 30th place early in the race after he was hit by Simona de Silvestro during a caution flag period, but he rebounded to win the race by just 0.1046 seconds over Will Power in second.

Here is a video of that exciting finish.

Montoya led only nine of the race’s 200 laps around the four-turn, 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana, but he led the lap that matters most to win the Indy 500 for the second time in three attempts.

Aside of Montoya, a total of nine other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Race polesitter Scott Dixon led a field-high 84 laps, and the other eight lap leaders combined to lead the other 107 laps.

Those other eight drivers were Will Power, Charlie Kimball, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Alex Tagliani, Carlos Munoz, Justin Wilson and Tony Kanaan.

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The race featured a total of 37 lead changes, which was good for the second highest lead change total in Indy 500 history at the time, among 10 drivers, and it featured a total of six caution flag periods for 47 laps. Of the 33 drivers who started the race, 22 finished it. Of the 22 drivers who finished it, 20 finished it on the lead lap.

Ryan Briscoe advanced a field-high 19 positions throughout the race even after he was involved in an accident on the first lap of the race. He started the race all the way back on the inside of the 11th and final row on the starting grid in 31st place before going on to finish it in 12th.

Here is the full broadcast of the 2015 Indianapolis 500.

Next: Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time

Tune in to Beyond the Flag tomorrow at 10:00 am ET for a recap of the 2016 Indianapolis 500, the 100th running of the race, from only two years ago since there will only be two days to go until this year’s running of the famed event at that time. This year’s running of the Indy 500 is set to be broadcast live on ABC starting at 11:00 am on Sunday, May 27.