Helio Castroneves wins Indy 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH/AP) - Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time. He beat 2005 winner Dan Wheldon by more than 2 seconds. Danica Patrick was third, the best finish by a woman in Indianapolis.

Castroneves, who started from the pole, had a half-second lead over teammate Ryan Briscoe before a hard crash by Vitor Meira and rookie Raphael Motos brought out the yellow caution with 26 laps to go. Briscoe had to come in for fuel, moving Wheldon up to second and Patrick third. Patrick's finish eclipsed her historic fourth-place finish as a rookie in 2005.

The 34-year-old Brazilian was charactaristically emotional after his win.

"This is incredible. I think my tears speak for everything. What a great team. I just have to thank, first of all, the Lord for giving me this opportunity, to be strong, to have a family that I have.

...And obviously the fans. You guys don't understand, you guys kept me strong. You guys are the best. I'm honored to have fans like you. Thank you so much. Let's celebrate now," said Castroneves.

The green came out after 183 of the 200 laps and Castroneves began pulling away for good.

Castroneves capped a perfect month of May with the biggest win of all, pulling away to capture his third Indianapolis 500 just 5½ weeks after being acquitted of tax evasion charges.

Castroneves, who hopped back in his Team Penske race car as soon as he was cleared of charges that could have sent him to prison for six years, became just the ninth driver to win the historic race three times — and he's only one win away from joining the most elite group of all: four-time winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears.

This day belonged to Castroneves, who pumped his fist all the way down the final straightaway.

"I want to climb the fence," said the driver known as "Spiderman," referring to his signature celebration.

Then he did just that, climbing out of his car after the victory lap and scaling the fence along the main grandstand with his pit crew.

"This is incredible," said Castroneves, who was sobbing as he got the trademark bottle of milk.

Roger Penske earned his record 15th Indy win as a car owner. When he leaned in to hug Castroneves in Victory Lane, the driver said, "Thanks for giving my life back."

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Hundreds of thousands of race fans packed the track for the 2009 Indy 500. All major routes coming into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were jammed with traffic Sunday morning. The gates opened at 6 a.m.