For most of the weekend at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, Dan Wheldon was having a miserable time of it. In the end, though, he turned out to be one of the lucky ones.
In a race that saw incident after incident, he survived relatively unscathed and was able to grab the final podium position following a last-lap incident involving his team-mate Scott Dixon, among others.
Prior to the race he had suffered through what he described as his worst-ever qualifying performance and then damaged his car in pre-race practice.
But Wheldon, who remains fourth in the series standings with 449 points, was considerably more cheerful afterwards, praising the race organisers and gently teasing rival Helio Castroneves, who will soon take part in the US version of Strictly Come Dancing.
“I think first and foremost that the race put on by Roger Penske and his group of people was just absolutely fantastic.
“I think the race was good for the fans – it was very entertaining. This is the kind of thing that IndyCar needs, along with Helio getting on Dancing with the Stars or that ballerina thing that he’s doing.
“From the standpoint of Target Chip Ganassi racing it was good in one aspect, finishing in the top three. It was a little unfortunate for Scott, but he’s still in a great position to be able to win the championship and that’s what we need.”