Andretti promotion prevents British Indy sweep
An unprecedented British podium sweep at the Indianapolis 500 was undone hours after the race finished Sunday as Alex Lloyd was demoted for an illegal passing maneuver.
Scotland's Dario Franchitti won the race ahead of England's Dan Wheldon, with England's Lloyd originally awarded third.
But IndyCar officials later ruled that Lloyd was one of three drivers who illegally passed Marco Andretti as the race finished under a caution, and the official results made Andretti third.
Lloyd ended up fourth, although his team owner Dale Coyne argued in vain that Andretti's car was not keeping pace and appeared to have run out of fuel.
IndyCar president of competition and racing operations Brian Barnhart said Andretti maintained a constant speed of 64mph all the way to the finish.
"The only way you can pass under caution is if a car is stopped on the track, if they wave you by or they're not maintaining caution speed," Barnhart said.
Barnhart said Andretti's speed was commensurate with that of the pace car leading the field during the caution.
"That's fast enough," he said.
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