IndyCar: Biggest heartbreak of the decade

By Asher Fair | Jan 6, 2020

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 29: A general view of cars racing during the IZOD IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 Mile Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 29, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

The 2010s decade of IndyCar competition featured a total of 169 races. From a competition standpoint (excluding fatalities), what was the most heartbreaking moment?

From the 2010 IndyCar season opener on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil to the 2019 season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the 2010s decade of competition in America’s premier open-wheel racing series featured 169 races, with between 15 and 19 races on the schedule in each of the decade’s 10 seasons.

The decade saw many memorable races, moments, winners and losers. In total, 24 drivers won at least one race and 18 of them won multiple races. Between seven and 11 drivers were victorious each season (average of 8.6), and six drivers were champions, including three who won multiple titles.

But while the decade was loaded with highlights for so many drivers, it also featured its lows and its heartbreaks for others.

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Excluding the two fatalities of Dan Wheldon (2011) and Justin Wilson (2015) and focusing solely on the competition standpoint of the last decade, what was the biggest heartbreak?

You could make a case for several instances, but there is one that stands out.

Leading the Indianapolis 500 by several seconds on the 200th and final lap of the 95th running of the race back on Sunday, May 29, 2011, 23-year-old rookie J.R. Hildebrand made his way into turn four of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.

To this day, he hasn’t won the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, or any IndyCar race for that matter.

Passing the lapped car of Charlie Kimball, Hildebrand got high and into the marbles in turn four, sending him into the wall and wrecking the right side of his #4 Panther Racing Honda, the machine that had secured the runner-up position in both of the previous two Indy 500 races with 2005 winner Wheldon behind the wheel.

Hildebrand, meanwhile, still led the race as he made his way to the checkered flag, and given how big his lead was over second place (although barely anyone really knew who, exactly, was in second at the time because of all the fuel-saving and late pit stops going on behind the leader), it was thought that he could literally win the Indy 500 in a smashed race car.

But just before the yellow light came on and just before Hildebrand made his way across the yard of bricks, it was Wheldon, who had not led the race all day, who passed him to win the Indy 500 for the second time.

Wheldon’s victory was the first of three of the decade earned by a driver who led only a race’s final lap. James Hinchcliffe pulled it off on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil in May of 2013 after passing Takuma Sato in the final corner and Graham Rahal nosed ahead of Hinchcliffe coming off the final turn to pull it off at Texas Motor Speedway in August of 2016.

Here is a video of this unbelievable finish (start at 3:02:00).

In eight chances at redemption at the Brickyard, Hildebrand has finished no higher than sixth place (2016). He has twice finished on the podium in IndyCar since then, both times in 2017 (third at Phoenix Raceway and second at Iowa Speedway), but he could not become a winner.

Among the other heartbreaks of the decade was Sato’s 2012 Indy 500 defeat, when he tried to take the lead from eventual and now three-time winner Dario Franchitti on the last lap but ended up crashing into the turn one wall. Fortunately for Sato, he made amends five years later, winning the race in 2017 by holding off three-time winner Helio Castroneves.

Also, Juan Pablo Montoya led the championship standings after each of the first 15 races of the 16-race 2015 season, and he ended up losing the title on a season wins tiebreaker to Scott Dixon after the season finale at Sonoma Raceway.

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

What does the 2020s decade of IndyCar competition have in store? Will anything top J.R. Hildebrand’s Indy 500 heartbreak on the list of heartbreaks? It would certainly take another massive letdown to say the very least.