The 96th Indianapolis 500 may
not have all the pageantry and magic that last year’s 100th
anniversary race had, but it is still a race full of exciting stories that I am
anxious to see play out.
The biggest story comes
from what happened in the practice sessions leading up to the race. It wasn’t
uncommon to see 10- and 15-car packs driving single file all within about five
seconds of each other. The new cars punch a huge hole and allow following cars
to really take advantage of drafting. In the final practice on Carb Day last
Friday, there was constant passing everywhere on the track. I don’t believe
there is going to be pack racing like there is with NASCAR at restrictor plate
races, but I do believe there will be a lot of passing and a lot of different
leaders. It was also great to see that all of the crashes during May were
single-car incidents. This means one of two things, either the drivers are
skilled enough to make passes and race close without crashing, or they were all
holding back and not being aggressive since it was just practice.
Another big headline is the battle between the engine manufacturers: Chevy,
Lotus, and Honda. Sadly, Lotus became a non-factor in the weeks before Opening
Day for the “500”. Teams were fed up with the dismal amount of horsepower
produced by their Lotus engines and decided to end their contracts and signed
on with Chevy and Honda. Although there are still two Lotus powered cars,
neither has shown the speed necessary to even finish in the Top 20. This leaves
Chevrolet and Honda to go at it for supremacy in Indianapolis. Honda was
thought to have an advantage since their engines are made to perform on the
long straightaways of the Brickyard, but the Chevy’s have been much quicker. In
fact, the first six spots on the qualifying grid and 10 of the first 13 are
Chevy’s.
This could be the year an American driver wins the Indy 500 for the first time
since 2006. Included in the strong class of domestic drivers are: Josef
Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Bryan Clauson, Graham Rahal, JR
Hildebrand, and Ed Carpenter. Andretti Autosports teammates Andretti and
Hunter-Reay have been fast all month (along with their other three teammates at
AA) and start third and fourth, respectively. Newgarden, the first person from
Tennessee to race in the “500”, won the Indy Lights race at IMS last year and
starts 7th on Sunday. Rahal finished third last year and has
steadily improved since his first Indy 500 in 2008. Carpenter won his first
oval race last season and the Butler University graduate would love to get his
second oval win right here in his hometown. We all know about Hildebrand at
this point, don’t we?
The final story to watch for is if Helio Castroneves can finally join the
illustrious club of four-time Indianapolis 500 winners. It’s a club that only
the legends Rick Mears, Al Unser, and A.J. Foyt belong to. This is probably the
best chance Castroneves has had since he last won in 2009.
Starting
lineup:
Row
1:
Ryan Briscoe #2, James Hinchcliffe #27, Ryan Hunter-Reay #28
Row
2:
Marco Andretti #26, Will Power #5, Helio Castroneves #3
Row
3:
Josef Newgarden #67, Tony Kanaan #11, E.J. Viso #5
Row
4:
Rubens Barrichello #8, Alex Tagliani #98, Graham Rahal #38
Row
5:
Ana Beatriz #25, Charlie Kimball #83, Scott Dixon #9
Row
6:
Dario Franchitti #10, James Jakes #19, JR Hildebrand #4
Row
7:
Takuma Sato #15, Townsend Bell #20, Justin Wilson #18
Row
8:
Michel Jourdain Jr. #30, Simon Pagenaud #77, Sebastian Saavedra #27
Row
9:
Sebastian Bourdais #7, Wade Cunningham #41, Oriol Servia #22
Row
10:
Ed Carpenter #20, Mike Conway #14, Katherine Legge #6
Row
11:
Bryan Clauson #39, Simona de Silvestro #78, Jean Alesi #64
It’s my opinion that nobody in the back five rows has any chance of winning on
Sunday. Nothing against them, but none has shown the speed necessary to win and
they will all have a long way to go to get to the front. If you look at the
first six rows there’s only 14 I would consider to have a good chance of
winning. Of those 14, here are my 5 that are my favorites, in no particular
order:
Ryan
Briscoe- This the Penske driver that has never been able to
match the success of his teammates. In fact, this is his first pole of his
IndyCar career. The Australian has struggled mightily at Indianapolis and his
best finish in the last four years was 15th in 2009. However, that
could change this year.
Marco
Andretti- His grandfather only won this race once and his father
never won at all. Andretti nearly won in 2006 but has three Top 10 finishes in
four of the last races. He has always been strong at Indy and this could be the
year he finally breaks through.
Helio
Castroneves: The three-time “500” winner finished a
lousy 17th last year and 9th the year before. He appears
to be a much stronger contender this year especially with his Penske Chevrolet
engine. Unfortunately for him, he will likely have to beat the other Chevrolets
if he wants to win his fourth “500”.
Tony
Kanaan- One of the most loved drives in IndyCar has had some
awful luck at Indianapolis. He averaged a finishing spot of 22nd
from 2008-2010 but was able to finish 4th last year. Could the
Brazilians luck finally be changing? TK has been fast in May and this could his
year.
Josef
Newgarden- This is my underdog pick. Newgarden has been really fast all
month, similar to Hildebrand last year. He was also the winner of the Indy
Lights race at IMS last year so he has the knowledge of what it takes to win.
Be sure to catch the Indianapolis 500 on ABC at noon. Unless of course
you live in Indianapolis, then you’ll have to wait until 7:00 p.m. Also, be
sure to watch the pre-race coverage because I should be in it!
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