A MATTER OF SURVIVAL; Adrian Fernandez wins a wild Chicagoland race.(Motorsports)

Byline: CURT CAVIN

Helio Castroneves threw his arms in the air as he walked into Team Penske's motor home following the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. "I survived!'' he said.

Any of the Indy Racing League's 22 drivers could have made the same claim, especially Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice, who went for the ride of his life in a wild event won by Adrian Fernandez. Rice flipped over Darren Manning's car and slid down the backstretch upside down. It was a horrifying sight, but Rice emerged unscathed except for a scratched helmet.

The accident was one of a handful at the fast 1.5-mile track, and the IRL was fortunate not to have more. All but Tora Takagi participated in a 21-car lead pack for the first 100 laps, and only by the grace of cautions was there some semblance of sanity. Points leader Tony Kanaan called it one of the craziest races he has been in as drivers darted in and out of traffic. The crowd, estimated at 40,000, simultaneously loved it and held its collective breath.

How a half-dozen other drivers didn't suffer Rice's fate is beyond comprehension. Vitor Meira and Jaques Lazier had such a large plume of tire smoke following tire contact that it's a wonder both didn't end up in a heap. As it was, Lazier slid into the marbles and grazed the outside wall, as Tomas Scheckter did behind him.

Castroneves and teammate Sam Hornish Jr. popped one another, resulting in both regrouping at the back half of the pack. Townsend Bell got shipped to the third-turn wall after contact with Scott Sharp, who also had a tire "moment'' with Scott Dixon.

Truthfully, every driver had something interesting to say about Sunday's race, although not all of it was clean. Kanaan said there was more blocking going on than ever, and Rice, the object of some of Kanaan's criticism, fired back with some terse language.