Guillermo del Toro

Mini Biography

Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1986). Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.

del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1993) won nine academy awards in Mexico, then went on to win the International Critics Week prize at Cannes. Following this success, del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.

del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic (1997), and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.

Next for del Toro, was El espinazo del diablo (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II (2002).

On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II (2002) with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy (2004), starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.

Married with children, del Toro lives in Los Angeles.
IMDb Mini Biography By: www.deltorofilms.com

Trade Mark

Often uses insects or insect imagery.
Uses a lot of religious relics and artifacts. Always mentions Catholicism.
Archangels, symbols and other religious items.
Many of his films have major scenes based in underground areas such as subways systems (Mimic (1997), Hellboy (2004)), sewers (Blade II (2002)), or large basements (El espinazo del diablo (2001)).
Likes to use amber as a dominant color in his movies. This is especially noticeable in Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004).
Clockwork designs and motifs (for example, Kroenen's lair in Hellboy (2004) and the captain's obsession with his father's watch in El laberinto del fauno (2006) ).
Often casts Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, and Federico Luppi.
Frequently works with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro.
One or more of his protagonists are often strongly and pivotally influenced by their father figures.

Trivia

Became a vegetarian after seeing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) but only for four years. Currently, he's no longer a vegetarian.
Turned down a chance to direct Blade: Trinity (2004), AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to work on his dream project: Hellboy (2004).
Fought the film studios for almost seven years to get Ron Perlman for the title role in Hellboy (2004). The studio wanted a bigger name to ensure the success of the movie, but del Toro thought that Perlman was the perfect choice and wouldn't make the movie if he wasn't cast.
He is friends with fellow successful Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu.
Has a photographic memory.
1997: His father was kidnapped in Mexico and held for seventy-two days until his ransom was paid.
In a January 2007 interview on the radio program "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," said that his strictly Catholic grandmother was a "Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)" figure in his childhood. He told Gross that his grandmother would require him to mortify himself in self-punishment, in one case placing metal bottle caps into his shoes so that the soles of his feet were bloodied while walking to school. She also tried to exorcise him twice because of his persistent interest in fantasy and drawing monsters from his imagination.
His favorite movie monsters are Frankenstein's Monster and the Creature of the Black Lagoon.
In 2007, he was one of 10 Mexican Oscar-nominees. The others were Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo Arriaga, Adriana Barraza, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo Navarro, Emmanuel Lubezki, Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta and Fernando Cámara.
Lost 45 lbs. while making El laberinto del fauno (2006), which he admitted in the DVD's video prologue.
Turned down a chance to direct I Am Legend (2007), One Missed Call (2008), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Halo (2012) to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).
Turned down the chance to direct Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996).
States Mimic (1997) as the worst of his films and has disowned it, blaming constant interference from the producers as the reason for the poor result.
Dec. 2007 - Ranked #37 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.
Was asked to direct End of Days (1999), but he turned it down.
His movie and comic book collection is so huge that he had to buy an extra home to accommodate it.
Is good friends with director Robert Rodriguez.
States Bladerunner as his favorite movie.

Personal Quotes

When you have the intuition that there is something which is there, but out of the reach of your physical world, art and religion are the only means to get to it.
"Aside from being a perfect Hellboy, he is a gentleman, a friend to die for, a great actor and - for the ladies - he has the sexiest male voice this side of Barry White. What more can one ask for?" - On Ron Perlman, 2002
I remember the worst experience of my life, even above the kidnapping of my father, was shooting Mimic (1997) [del Toro's first Hollywood feature, in 1997, which was severely compromised by producer interference]. Because what was happening to me and the movie was far more illogical than kidnapping, which is brutal, but at least there are rules. Now when I look at Mimic, what I see is the pain of a deeply flawed creature that could have been so beautiful.
It would be a cliché to say that, because I am a Mexican, I see death in a certain way. But I have seen more than my share of corpses, certainly more than the average First World guy. I worked for months next to a morgue that I had to go through to get to work. I've seen people being shot; I've had guns put to my head; I've seen people burnt alive, stabbed, decapitated ... because Mexico is still a very violent place. So I do think that some of that element in my films comes from a Mexican sensibility.
The sign of a true friendship is when you can forgive success.
These shots are not eye-candy, they are, to me, eye-protein. - regarding El laberinto del fauno (2006)
My life is a suitcase. I am the traveling Mexican.
That's what I love about fairy tales; they tell the truth, not organized politics, religion or economics. Those things destroy the soul. That is the idea from Pan's Labyrinth and it surfaces in Hellboy and, to some degree, in all my films.
On Stanley Kubrick: I admire Kubrick greatly. He is often accused of being a prodigious technician and rigid intellectual, which people say makes his films very cold. I don't agree. I think that "Barry Lyndon" or "A Clockwork Orange" are the most perfect marriages of personality and subject. But in fact, "Full Metal Jacket" is even more so. It looked at rigidity and brutality with an almost clinical eye. It is, for me, a singular film about the military, about war and its consequences. The famous scenes, like the induction with R Lee Ermey where he renames the soldiers and reshapes them into sub-human maggots, had a particular impact on me. Also the suicide scene with Vincent D'Onofrio in the bathroom. And the sniper set-piece at the end. Those are absolutely virtuoso pieces of filmmaking.
I think that 50 percent of the narrative is in the audio/visual storytelling. I happened to think the screenplay is the basis of it all, but definitely doesn't tell the movie. It tells the story, but doesn't tell the whole movie. A lot of the narrative is in the details.


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868219/bio

Guatemala Sinkhole

An enormous sinkhole appeared in Guatemala in the aftermath of tropical storm Agatha, swallowing a three-story building and a house, according to CNN's sources.

The sinkhole, which appears too extreme to be real, is shown below in a photo released by the Guatemalan government.



Resident blamed a poor below-ground drainage system, and said a security guard was killed.

100 people were killed in the wake of the storms.

http://www.groundreport.com/World/Giant-Guatemala-Sinkhole-Emerges-After-Tropical-St/2924197

Gaza Flotilla Changes Course

 

 
Ships prefer confrontation with Israeli navy take place in daylight

The Gaza protest flotilla changed course to gain distance from the Israeli navy boats which had hailed them, demanded they identify themselves and warned them they would not be allowed to reach Gaza, an Al-Jazeera reporter with the flotilla said just past midnight on Monday. According to the report, the flotilla organizers wish any confrontation to occur during daylight hours rather than in the dark.

The Gaza protest flotilla ships were about 150 miles from Gaza late on Sunday night, they had been sighted by the Israeli navy and were in contact with them. Flotilla passengers had put on life vests and were on high alert, they reported via their live feed.

They were told by the navy they had two options: Either be boarded or follow the navy in to Ashdod harbor to be processed there.

Israeli Navy ships set sail earlier Sunday night for what was expected to be a dramatic showdown out at sea as they try to prevent a flotilla of international aid ships from breaking the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

After several days of delays due to diplomatic and mechanical difficulties, six ships set sail for the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon with the aim of arriving at the Palestinian port at 2 pm Monday.

Mary Hughes, one of the founders of the Free Gaza Movement, told The Jerusalem Post from Cyprus that the group was determined to reach Gaza.

“They [the Israel Navy Y.K.] has stopped us before in various ways and we do not intend to be intimated,” Hughes said. “We have so many people who want to go to Gaza so it doesn’t matter what the Israelis do to us. As long as people want to go and to send boats it will continue.”

The flotilla, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger ships, is carrying materials that Israel bars from reaching Gaza on a regular basis, like cement and other building materials. The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electrical-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers.

After the ships are stopped, the Navy will sail them to the Ashdod Port where the cargo will be unloaded, inspected and then transferred, via land crossings, to the Gaza Strip. The passengers will be deported. Those who refuse to willingly leave the country will be arrested.

Some 700 pro-Palestinian activists are on the boats, including 1976 Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor.

The mission has experienced repeated delays, both due to mechanical problems and a decision by Cyprus to bar any boat from sailing from its shore to Gaza. The ban forced a group of European lawmakers to depart from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern part of the island late Saturday.

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the seaside territory in June 2007.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon responded to what he called “anti-Semitic chants” that came from the ship’s passengers and were broadcast on Israel Radio.

According to a radio report, some of the passengers on the flotilla were recorded shouting chants to remember Haifa since the army of Mohammed will soon return.

"Israel condemns the anti-Semitic chants that were publicized this morning," Ayalon said. "The fact that participants on the flotilla would chant such things shows the true nature of some of the participants and its real motivation. This amply demonstrates that many are not against a particular policy of the Israeli government, but have very real and dangerous hatred for Jews and the Jewish State."




http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176950

Behind the scenes at Roy Halladay’s perfect game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Ryan Howard had the ball in his glove Saturday night. His teammates formed a mob around Roy Halladay to celebrate his perfect game, a 1-0 masterpiece over the Florida Marlins.

Howard couldn't catch Halladay's attention. He needed to hand the ball off.
He tapped Halladay on the chest three times without response. Halladay, so robot-like whenever he's on the field, was entrenched in jubilation - imagine that - and Howard couldn't get his attention.
"I just made sure I held onto it and didn't lose it," Howard said.
Finally, Halladay saw Howard. He stuffed the ball into the pitcher's glove. They looked at one another and smiled. Then they hugged.
"We were a part of history," Howard said. "A pretty cool experience."
At 9:23 p.m., Ronny Paulino grounded out to third to set off the celebration.
Halladay did a TV interview on the field then went into the clubhouse to a round of applause. The first person he thanked was his catcher, Carlos Ruiz.
"I had no words," Ruiz said.
Later that night, Ruiz called his mother in Panama to talk about what happened and how proud he was of the moment. He stayed up well into the night with his brother, Sammy, reliving the game at the team hotel.
"Still today, I don't believe it," Ruiz said Sunday. "It was special for me."
Beginning in the second inning, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. watched from the stands behind home plate with his half brother. He only planned to spend two innings there. But when Halladay hadn't allowed a hit through four innings, he decided not to move.
The difference between perfect and ordinary is minuscule. On Saturday, it all aligned flawlessly.
"Other than winning the World Series in '08," Amaro said, "this was the most amazing moment I've ever seen in the game of baseball."

Getting an edge

Six days before he pitched a perfect game, a frustrated Halladay approached Charlie Manuel in the dugout. He had allowed seven runs to Boston and was yanked in the sixth. It was his worst start as a Phillie.
Halladay covered up the nearby TV camera and looked his manager in the eyes.
"I'm better than that," he said.
In between starts, Halladay made an adjustment on his delivery. He hadn't been pleased with his first step back in his windup, pitching coach Rich Dubee said. Lefthander Jamie Moyer made a suggestion to Halladay, and he worked on it during the week.
Halladay said it was a normal week. He was no more determined than any other time. The last start stuck in his mind, but it's harmful to keep thinking about it, he said.
Like every Halladay start, he sat down with Dubee and Ruiz in a corner of the clubhouse a few hours before the perfect game. They went over the game plan, with Halladay doing most of the talking, as usual.
But Ruiz said he had some ideas to offer this time, too. Based on how Kyle Kendrick pitched the Florida hitters on Friday, Ruiz had some tips.
"The night before I had a really good idea," Ruiz said. "With Roy, he's unbelievable. He's always on the computer, trying to get all the information he can, trying to get the edge."
At 7:17 p.m., Halladay threw his first pitch of the night, a 92 m.p.h. fastball to Chris Coghlan on the outside corner for a called strike.

Painting everything

These are the little things that make up the difference between perfection and just another night at the ballpark: During the day Saturday, in what appeared to be an innocent decision, Manuel chose Juan Castro to start at third over Greg Dobbs.
Castro had started two games at third base since 2007. But Dobbs had made a two-run error in Halladay's last start while filling in at third. So, with that in mind, Manuel said he went with the better defensive player for a reason.
The 37-year-old Castro made two of the biggest defensive plays to preserve the perfect game, including the final out.
"Why not?" Castro said. "In my mind, I thought, 'Hit the ball to me. I want it.' "
The first batter Halladay faced nearly tainted perfection. With a 3-2 count, Coghlan took a 90 m.p.h. cutter on the outside corner. He started toward first base, thinking he had drawn a walk. But home plate umpire Mike DiMuro called strike three.
And it began.
Halladay threw 19 pitches in the first inning, his most strenuous inning. He needed more than 12 pitches in an inning just one more time, the seventh.
Of the 115 pitches Halladay threw, 72 were for strikes. He threw his sinker the most, using it for four of his 11 strikeouts.
He shook off Ruiz just once, when Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson was at the plate in the third with a 2-2 count.
"I called curveball, and he wanted to throw fastball," Ruiz said.
Johnson swung and missed on a 91 m.p.h. cutter to end the inning.
"His tempo was real good," Ruiz said. "So I was feeling great because whatever I put down, he was going to throw it. He would hit the spot. He was painting everything. He hit the corners."

"I had a feeling"

Stay away from Roy.
When the Phillies were in the dugout, that was the only thing Howard and Chase Utley were thinking.
That can be said on any day Halladay pitches. After the game Saturday, Halladay joked that his teammates began straying clear of him around 2:30 in the afternoon. He probably wasn't too far off.
Halladay is intense in his preparation. During games, he rarely will talk to anyone. Dubee said he never once spoke to Halladay during the game Saturday.
"For the most part, I stay away from him when he pitches all the time," Utley said.
There was pressure, though. And no one would talk about it.
"In the sixth inning, I saw the score, and no hits and I was like, 'Whoa,' " Ruiz said. "You kind of put it aside, and I don't think we're not going to do it. After the seventh, I was like, 'Oh my God.' "
In the bullpen, Chad Durbin said some of the relievers were going through their normal routine, like they were expecting to enter the game at some point. But, he said, they were mostly doing it out of superstition. No one in the bullpen actually ever expected to pitch.
Durbin knew it was going to happen in the seventh.
"I've seen him get nine up, nine down a number of times this year," Durbin said. "I had a feeling."

What jinx?

In the broadcast booth, Tom McCarthy wasn't moving. Normally, the Phillies' TV play-by-play man gets up for a brief break in the seventh inning. Not on this night.
He didn't leave his seat.
During the broadcast, McCarthy didn't hide the fact that Halladay was pitching a perfect game, sometimes viewed as a jinx.
"I was always taught you have to tell the story," McCarthy said.
There was no scripting the final call, he said. On Sunday, McCarthy fondly remembered Vin Scully's call of Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965 as a lesson to simply describe what is happening on the field.
In the booth next door, Scott Franzke said he wasn't thinking about his final call on radio during the ninth.
"I was just looking for a list of perfect games on my laptop," Franzke said. "But my damn mouse wasn't working."
He didn't need the list for the final call that will be immortalized with Halladay's performance.
"Steps back up onto the mound," Franzke said. "Tucks the baseball in his right hand. Now into the glove. Holds it in front of the letters. Nods yes. The wind, the 1-2 pitch. Swing and a groundball left side. Castro's got it. Spins, throws. He got him! A perfect game for Roy Halladay! Twenty-seven up and 27 down! Halladay is mobbed at the mound as the Phillies celebrate perfection tonight in Miami!"

Why sleep in?

Well, did he celebrate?
"The journey is always better than the destination," Halladay said Sunday morning. "For me, it was emotional obviously being out there. You always enjoy it after."
But really, it was business as usual.
"That's just him," Howard said.
Halladay is a freak when it comes to work ethic. Everyone knows this by now.
After pitching the perfect game, he completed his normal 40-minute postgame workout routine before having a press conference.
"It's extremely impressive," Utley said. "You saw it in spring training. He gets to the park early, and he's already sweated and showered before most people get to the field. So there's a reason for his success."
After the press conference, Halladay walked through a hallway back to the clubhouse. Strangers shouted out, "Great game, Mr. Halladay!" A security guard reached out to shake his hand, and Halladay obliged.
He went into the clubhouse to shower, but a phone call was waiting for him.
Fran Person, the special assistant and personal aide to Vice President Joe Biden, called Kevin Gregg, the Phillies' coordinator of baseball communications. It just so happens Person and Gregg both attended Episcopal Academy. And Biden, a Phillies fan, wanted to speak with Halladay.
But then the call dropped. So Gregg called the number back.
"This is Joe Biden," said a voice on the other end.
Halladay took the phone.
"He just said, 'Congratulations,' " Halladay said. "It was obviously pretty cool."
Halladay showered and called his wife, Brandy, before he left the ballpark on the team bus at 10:45 p.m. He spoke to his two young sons, Braden and Ryan, before bedtime. They watched the game, every out.
Then, on Sunday morning, a day after achieving perfection, he arrived at Sun Life Stadium at 8:45 a.m.
Why sleep in? There was no reason to do it any differently on this day.
"I don't have time," Halladay said. "I'll do that this winter."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/sports_breaking/20100530_Behind_the_scenes_at_Roy_Halladays_perfect_game.html?viewAll=y#axzz0pSrfrUpl

John Gotti Jr Ready To Tell His Mob Life Story In Docu, Film, And Book Projects

EXCLUSIVE: In what could turn into a genuine Sopranos-like look at growing up in an organized crime family, mob scion John Gotti Jr. is ready to tell his story in a documentary film, a feature film, and a book. Gotti Jr., the former head of the Gambino crime family, will soon be looking to make deals to tell a father-son story and what it was like to grow up with a dad who was the most famous mob boss in America. Gotti Jr. followed in his father's criminal footsteps, eventually taking over after his father, John Gotti, was sent to prison for life for racketeering and other offenses. Junior, who has long maintained he left the crime game in 1999, is free to tell his tale after federal prosecutors in January announced they would not seek a 5th trial against Gotti Jr for alleged offenses that included racketeering and murder. The first 4 cases resulted in mistrials.

Gotti Jr will cooperate with Triplicity Entertainment, a New York-based production company that was formed in 2005. Among its founders is Tony D’Aiuto, one of the attorneys who successfully defended Gotti Jr in his last trial. Gotti Jr. intends to be fully involved in the screenplay and production process.  The key will be whether mainstream publishers and film companies want to directly be in business with a man who, despite the legal outcome, has an undeniable organized crime bloodline and background.
D’Aiuto confirmed Gotti Jr’s plans, which the attorney is formulating with Triplicity partner Vince Prezioso.  Gotti Jr spent a total of nine years in jail, including three in solitary confinement. He began writing down his story about four years ago, and is 75% finished with his book. He’s scheduled to appear in a segment of the CBS News show 60 Minutes on April 11, which he's using as an opportunity to clear up misconceptions about himself and his family. He hasn't formally signed with any agents yet but there have already been approaches made for a documentary, which, among other things, will feature the emotional last meeting in prison between Gotti Jr, and his father before the latter died of cancer in the  prison where he spent his final 10 years. That encounter was filmed.
Triplicity hasn’t set a director for the documentary, but D’Aiuto said the plan is for the film to be completed by spring, 2011. While Gotti Jr. undoubtedly has plenty of legal bills, D’Aiuto said part of Gotti’s motivation is to fund a youth center, one that might steer kids away from lives of crime.
Even casual watchers of The Sopranos or films like The Godfather or Goodfellas know that crime families are based on keeping quiet, and that loose lips always sink ships, and crime families. How much can Gotti Jr. actually reveal? “He’s willing to go all the way, revealing as much as possible without hurting anyone who’s still involved in the street life,” D’Aiuto said.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/04/john-gotti-jr-ready-to-tell-his-mob-life-story-in-docu-film-book-projects/

Indianapolis 500 goes to Dario Franchitti

May 30, 2010, 8:00PM

 
Mike Groll / Associated PressDario Franchitti, his wife, Ashley Judd and car owner Chip Ganassi celebrate at the start-finish line after Franchitt's victory in Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Indianapolis -- Dario Franchitti dominated the 94th Indianapolis 500, leading 155 of 200 laps, but during the final 25 miles there was a real question whether he had enough fuel to make it to the finish.
"Up until 10 laps to go I was pretty relaxed," Franchitti, 37, said. "Then all hell broke loose."
Thanks to some gas-saving fuel strategy and a dramatic car-shattering crash in his mirrors, Franchitti made it to the finish Sunday with his wife, actress Ashley Judd, alternately holding her hand over her mouth in amazement and waving to the Scotsman as he drove by.
Franchitti won his first Indy 500 in 2007 in the rain, and this one under a caution that came out on lap 199, but they both count. The native of Edinburgh, Scotland started on the outside of the front row beside Will Power and pole-sitter Helio Castroneves. Franchitti showed his stuff right from the start, letting team owner Chip Ganassi know his goal of becoming the first owner to win NASCAR's Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 in the same season was within reach.
"The good thing was, at the start of the race Dario asserted himself," Ganassi said. "He got by Will going into [turn] one, and then he passed Helio coming off [turn] two before it went yellow. That kind of set the stage, pounding his fist and staking his claim."
In the end he was never challenged on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"What an awesome car he had," Castroneves said. "It was the car to beat today."
Yet Franchitti knew there would be at least one challenge, and where it would likely come from.
"I had a dream last night that TK and I were going to fight to the finish," Franchitti said.  


Chris Howell / Associated PressIndy 500 winner Dario Franchitti feared Tony Kanaan would rally from his last-place starting spot to battle for the win. Instead, Franchitti, rear, ended up getting a congratulatory hug from Kanaan, who had to make a late stop for fuel.
TK would be Tony Kanaan, who would, indeed, have an impact on the race.
From the start almost all the drama was behind Franchitti, most of it provided by his former teammate, Kanaan. The popular Brazilian, racing for Andretti Autosports, started last but didn't stay there long as Kanaan was a master moving through traffic. While Franchitti was jumping from third to first on the first lap, Kanaan was jumping eight cars at the same time, moving up to 25th before a first-lap yellow flag came out.
The track went green again on lap five, and inside three laps Kanaan was up to 19th. By lap 35 he was up to 11th. The yellows continued to drop and Kanaan continued on the hunt. Meanwhile, through the first 150 laps, Franchitti was on a relative Sunday drive.
But the last 25 miles gave Franchitti more excitement than he wanted.
Ragged pit stops by the Roger Penske race team put his hopes for a 16th Indy 500 win in jeopardy. But there was one last chance as Castroneves was one of four drivers -- Mike Conway, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal were the others -- who skipped a late-race pit stop to rotate into the top four spots. All four were hoping for a caution to come out, which would allow them to zip into the pits for a splash of fuel and hold on to their positions on the track..
Conway was followed by Wilson, Castroneves and Rahal when the green flag dropped on lap 166. All had last pitted on lap 154 or earlier. Franchitti was right behind them, but now Franchitt was being hounded by his dream. Kanaan was the first car in his mirrors.
And everybody was hoping for a caution, a pit stop, and a dash to the finish.
It didn't come in time for most of them. First Conway went into the pits on lap 178, giving the lead to Wilson. In an effort to conserve fuel, drivers throttled back and speeds dropped. Wilson had to pit on lap 190, giving the lead to Castroneves. But on lap 192 Castroneves and Rahal had to stop, giving the lead back to Franchitti . . . with Kanaan still trailing.
"I wanted to get away from TK so he couldn't draft [off] me and save more fuel," Franchitti said. "But I kept looking and he was still at a similar distance. I thought, 'Man, if he's saving as much fuel as me he's going to make this a difficult last five laps.' Then he pitted."
 
Kurt Bauer / Associated PressMike Conway's car gets airborne on lap 199, bringing out a yellow flag that clinched Dario Franchitti's victory in the Indianapolis 500. Conway, who led 15 laps, suffered only leg injuries in the spectacular crash.So with four laps remaining, Franchitti was cruising, even as Dan Wheldon rotated into contention. But Wheldon's threat was halted by a spectacular crash on lap 199 when Conway touched wheels with Ryan Hunter-Reay, hit the wall and went airborne before landing and splintering his car into pieces. He only suffered leg injuries.
Wheldon would finish second and Marco Andretti third. Andretti was initially listed as finishing sixth, but he filed a protest and a review showed Alex Lloyd, Scott Dixon and Danica Patrick had passed Andretti under caution, allowing him to move up three spots.
But none of that mattered to Franchitti. He was on the gas all day and still had more when it counted.
"There was 1.6 gallons left," he said.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/05/indianapolis_500_goes_to_dario.html