INDIANAPOLIS — Midway through the 200-lap Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, defending champion Scott Dixon had the lead.

Dario Franchitti was second, followed by Helio Castroneves, Rafael Matos and Will Power. Danica Patrick was sixth.

Tony Kanaan was running third when he crashed out of the race on lap 98.

Jim Nabors had barely finished singing the traditional "Back Home Again (in Indiana)" when two drivers made a quick exit from the race.

After the original start of the race was waved off because the field wasn't bunched, the cars of Mario Moraes and Marco Andretti made contact in the very first turn. Moraes' car was taken back to the garage area on a wrecker; Andretti's was receiving repairs in the pits.

“The kid doesn’t get it; he never will,” Andretti said of the 20-year-old Moraes. “All the work, all the hopes, it’s over just like that. This place can just be so hard on you.”

Moraes and Andretti started the race in the third row, having qualified seventh and eighth, respectively. But they never got up to speed on Sunday. “It’s so disappointing,” said Andretti. “The guy (Moraes) is clueless.”

Said Moraes: “I was in front, I was holding my line, and he just hit me.”

Andretti was hoping to win the race on the 40th anniversary of his grandfather Mario's lone victory in 1969.

On lap 55, another of the young stars of IndyCar racing crashed out. Graham Rahal, son of 1986 winner Bobby Rahal, hit the wall hard for the second consecutive year. He started fourth and was running sixth, but was placed 28th on the grid after the crash. Last year, as a rookie, he started 13th but was the first car out with a crash on lap 36.

The stands were full at Indianapolis beneath partly cloudy skies.

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VALPARAISO | Some people have memories with 50-year warranties.

Take racing legend Mario Andretti. He can vividly recall his first race in his hometown of Nazareth, Pa., half a century ago.

"I remember that I won it," Andretti said of his first checkered flag in 1959 at the age of 19.

Shortly before that, Mary Ann Feller and her husband, Lynn, opened up Heinold & Feller Tire Company.

"We've been here ever since," Mary Ann said of the Valparaiso business located at 1707 Lincolnway. "We've made some changes recently ... gotten bigger. But we haven't moved from this spot."

Lynn Feller passed away in 2000. One of Mary Ann's favorite photos was taken circa 1979 at a Firestone Tire gala in Las Vegas. It was of her, Lynn and Andretti. When she showed that photo to Andretti when he made a "pit stop" at the business Friday to celebrate its commemorative 50-year anniversary grand reopening, Andretti remarked how young he looked.

Lynn's son, Joe Feller, is now the president of the business. He's the one who attracted Andretti to the grand reopening.

"Mario has been driving on Firestone tires, which is now Bridgestone Firestone, for most of his career, and we've been a longtime Firestone dealer," Joe Feller said. "I've met Mario several times before, and I know he's very accommodating for these type of events. So I got a hold of the people at Firestone and asked if Mario could come by, and he agreed."

Usually at this time of the year, Andretti is somewhere in Indiana -- most often in Indianapolis.

"For open-wheel racing, it's the granddaddy of them all," Andretti said of Sunday's big race. "Winning at Indy changes your life."

In 1969, Andretti won his first and only Indianapolis 500. He has the distinction of being the only race car driver to have won at Indy and the Daytona 500 (1967), and to claim a Formula One World Championship (1978). In 2000, the Associated Press tabbed Andretti as "Driver of the Century."

Though officially "retired," Andretti remains active in the sport as an instructor at a racing school in Charlotte, N.C.

"I teach Indy car driving," he said. "Jeff Gordon teaches stock car driving."

Andretti's sons, Michael and Jeff, also have enjoyed success on the track. His grandson, Marco Andretti, took second at the 2006 Indianapolis 500, almost ending "the Andretti Curse" at the Brickyard -- a drought dating back to the family's lone win in 1969.

"I'm not a good spectator when they race," Andretti said. "You could say I'm a 'Nervous Nelly' -- especially when they have the lead."

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Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter and "Dancing With the Stars" champ Helio Castroneves has tax evasion charges against him dropped.

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