IndyCar Advocate

IndyCar Advocate's Mid-Season Awards

2013-06-19T07:28:00.000-04:00

It seems hard to believe, but we are coming to our halfway point in the INDYCAR season. With this being an IndyCar blog, you know it's time for the requisite mid-season awards, where we take a look at the highs (and a couple of lows) from the season's first half. Let's get to it:

Best Moment: This had to be Tony Kanaan finally getting his big victory at Indianapolis. It was emotional, hard-fought, and as popular a win as we will ever see, I suspect. The ceremony and extended celebration around TK's 500 victory were not to be missed, from his drinking the milk to the talk show tour.

Honorable Mention: James Hinchcliffe's victory in the season opener gave IndyCar's most entertaining driver a long-sought victory, and was our first suggestion this season would be anything but ordinary.

Best Trend: The marketing juggernaut of Dreamworks is gearing up for Turbo next month. If you have children, you've probably seen plenty of commercials, and we're starting to see the toy tie-ins and publicity interviews as well.

Honorable Mention: Dale Coyne Racing winning and/or competing like crazy.

Worst Trend: The continual over-analysis of every race, argument, wayward comment, inference, and Twitter reaction, that our micro news cycle and impatience breeds. Not everything spells doom or salvation, and certainly not one thing on its own.

Best Move: James Hinchcliffe had fought and fought to attempt to pass a, well, "defensive" Takuma Sato in Sao Paulo. Hinch's fake-out, over-under, last-turn, last-lap pass racked up his second victory of the season.

Best Finish: The best finish of the year so far is in the INDYCAR family, but belongs to Peter Dempsey and company in Firestone Indy Lights. Four cars, four-wide, a wild charge from behind--ok, just go watch it again.

Worst Moment: Dreyer and Reinbold Racing having to take a step back and shutter the doors on the remainder of the season was a nasty knock. There's nothing to do there but to hope for the best for 2014.

Most Disappointing: Team Barracuda and Alex Tagliani are an awesome, fan-friendly team and driver combo, but they haven't finished in the Top 20 since Brazil. Other teams or drivers (ahem, Dragon Racing) have had equally rough roads, but their expectations aren't as high, it could be argued. As popular as they are with the engaged fanbase online, there should be plenty of interest in watching Tag and Bryan Herta's folks try to rebound in the season's second half.

Honorable Mention: Graham Rahal's first year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had some good moments, but the team has been fighting through some massive struggles in recent weeks. Plenty is expected of this pairing, so any sort of disappointment is magnified. More weekends like Long Beach could turn this around in a hurry.

Most Impressive Prospect: This one has to be a tie. Matthew Brabham has been tearing through Pro Mazda, winning nearly every race so far this season. The only driver who's been more impressive might be Carlos Munoz nearly winning his rookie Indy 500, though the Lights driver is now facing some stiff competition in the form of Sage Karam. This one is still up for grabs.

Most Improved Driver: It would be easy to say one of the first-time winners, such as Sato or Hinch, but they were already at a pretty high level and capable of winning. I'd go with Josef Newgarden. After not grabbing a single Top 10 his rookie season, Newgy already has four this year, and is making much better decisions on track. He could do much more before the season is out.

Honorable Mention: EJ Viso was showing signs of settling in nicely last season, but he's been excellent so far this season for Andretti Autosport. I'm also not counting out James Jakes just yet.

Best Team: Andretti Autosport. Four wins, and at least two of their drivers in contention for the championship.

Best Odd Couple: Takuma Sato and AJ Foyt. Taku is thriving, and Foyt's team is a frontrunner again.

Most Likely To Win The Championship Battle: Ryan Hunter-Reay. Helio Castroneves is having a banner year, but the defending champ looks to be hitting prime form. Either way, it's going to be a good one.

Most Likely To Crash The Championship Battle: Scott Dixon. This looks to be a Chevy sort of year, but he's still sitting there, P5 in the standings, like a red-headed, consistent ninja, ready to reel off four or five podiums in a row. And you'll never even see him coming.

Most Likely To Win A Race This Season: Marco Andretti is the most consistent driver in the field, so gets the nod.

Honorable Mention: Scott Dixon or EJ Viso.

Best Story: TK has to win this one, too. Our generation's Lloyd Ruby finally got his victory, and secured his place on Indy's all-time greats list.

Honorable Mention: Mike Conway hopping in a car on a Friday, and winning on Saturday in a one-off at Detroit for Dale Coyne Racing.

Best Livery:

Courtesy IndyCar Media. Credit: Mark Reed.

Your mileage may vary.

Best Personal Moment: Chatting with friends about IndyCar at Indianapolis and Milwaukee, and taking my daughter to her first race.

Worst Personal Moment: Getting sick the night before the 500, missing the Mazda Road to Indy races, and a shot at an "early bird" jaunt through IMS.

Second Half Big Mover: James Hinchcliffe. I don't believe he's done with his winning ways this year.

Milwaukee IndyFest Notes

2013-06-17T07:01:00.000-04:00

-Our Milwaukee IndyFest weekend got off to a bit of a rough start, as we had to leave the track a bit early Friday to take care of some medical stuff (nothing serious, happily). Still, we got to see some qualifying, which was nice, and got a quick sense of changes

-So how did my daughter do? Well, she was definitely tired out by the end of the race, but seemed to enjoy it. She found the cars a bit louder than I thought she would--she's gone to Indy countless times without complaining, but thought it was more noisy this time around. She got to meet a couple of drivers, including Graham Rahal, which was pretty neat. He was extremely patient with all the fans, and was talking up Ohio State football (of course!) when we saw him. I expect Saris' account to go up at some point this week.

-Saris had some spending money for a souvenir, and she wanted a Pippa Mann shirt (to go with her hat) they were selling at the Lids store. By the time we went back (right before the race), they didn't have it for sale any longer. She adapted, though, and picked out a Ryan Hunter-Reay t-shirt she really liked. You know how that turned out--she apparently chose wisely!

-Rick Mears almost ran my daughter over (totally not his fault). I explained what an honor that was. And then I geeked out like I do every time I see Rick Mears. Seeing him at races never, ever gets old.

-The Milwaukee Mile does not suffer mistakes, fools, or inadequacy lightly. A problem in the pits that can be worked out in time at Indianapolis can drop you off the lead lap at the Mile. Over the long stints, the Haves and Have-Nots were on full display. Having on "ok" car is not good enough to stay on the lead lap. I think that's part of the reason I enjoyed this race so much.

-What a rough day for Marco Andretti. When your car craps out, there's nothing to be done. Unfortunately for him, both of his big points competitors had great days. He's 50 points behind Helio, and Iowa is going to represent a huge chance for him to catch back up. No, it's not a "must win", but it would certainly help.

-As far as our defending champion goes, Ryan Hunter-Reay is now the only active three-time winner at Milwaukee. He just looks tremendously sharp out there right now. I thought it before the race, but I'll state it definitively now: he is in championship form, and Helio is going to have a tough fight the rest of the way. I absolutely can't wait.

-Castroneves didn't quite have enough to win today, but he minimized the damage RHR could have caused by holding off Power for P2 (great run by Will, by the way). 16 points is the lead I'm sure he wishes he had going into Iowa, but he looks as comfortable right now as I've seen him in a few years. And few drivers are a more entertaining interview than Helio, before or after the race. The crowd loves him for a reason.

-Several drivers were fun to follow as Saturday's race action unfolded--Takuma Sato and Justin Wilson being two of the biggest ones--but honestly, I kept noticing EJ Viso all day, and for the best of reasons. He was aggressive, but not a kamikaze. He cut his way through traffic, made some big passes stick, and had a superb race. I still believe we'll see him get his first victory sometime this season, and it very well could be Iowa.

-I'm not sure which driver/team is having the more brutal season--Graham Rahal/RLLR or Alex Tagliani/Team Barracuda. I do know I am ready to see Tag and the gang start kicking some butt again.

-I really enjoyed the Firestone Indy Lights race, where a classic case of tire conservation played out. Zach Veach checked out in the first part of the race, but you could really see his car go away in the last 40 laps or so. Sage Karam and Carlos Munoz were able to catch him, with Karam again showing he really has that track figured out. Munoz's lead is down to 18 points, as Karam continues to whittle away the lead as Lights goes through the ovals. Do I still think Munoz has the inside track on the Lights championship? Yes, but Karam is doing his best to keep it lively. We'll see what the Lights drivers do in Iowa.

-I missed the Pro Mazda race, which is a pain, but stuff happens. However, what I missed appeared to be a good old-fashioned Matthew Brabham butt-kicking, his fifth such victory in a row. Brabs is really adding to his overall points lead (now at 49), and as good a fight as we've seen from drivers such as Deigo Ferreira, it doesn't look as if anyone will catch him. We won't see Pro Mazda again until Toronto, so Brabham has about a month off to enjoy that big lead.

-Overall, I thought the racing weekend was quite good, with Saturday's action being really exciting. Passing was difficult but not impossible, several cars had a viable shot at the win in the last half of the race, and the drivers who finished up front earned it. There was strategy, enough wall brushes to let you know how tough it was out there, and plenty of surprises. It wasn't a photo finish, but it was just a good, all-around driver's race with racing talent on display for all to see. At least on the ground, it seemed to keep the fans' attention, and folks were clearly into it.

-So, do I think the Mile will be back on the 2014 schedule? I certainly hope so. I thought attendance was about where it was last year. It's been rotten luck on the weather forecasts the last two years. Andretti Sports Marketing has made a really nice event with a full racing schedule and tons to do. I'd really like to see a title or presenting sponsor worthy of this great event. And if you didn't show up this year, hope that they have it next year and get your tickets. It's a great area and a great race!

Other Notes: Our favorite restaurant of the Milwaukee trip was again El Beso, a Mexican spot where I can recommend the chicken and steak fajitas, washed down with some of their green iced tea...after the race, it appears as if IndyCar fans had completely taken over the tourist-friendly Mars Cheese Castle. Great Wisconsin cheese and pastry items, for those interested...Cream Puffs are delicious, and I can see why folks made such a big deal over them...From what I saw, the most popular driver and team shirts were Marco/Hinch/Andretti, closely followed by Tony Kanaan, then AJ Foyt/Takuma Sato. This is big event for the Beloit-based ABC Supply, who brought in a lot of associates for the race...I saw JR Hildebrand on Saturday before the race. Sounds like he's holding out hope for a couple more events this year, possibly stringing a handful of events together...I ended up parked next to David Hobbs on Saturday. I tried to act like it was no big deal, and probably failed miserably.

Storylines: Milwaukee IndyFest

2013-06-13T07:53:00.001-04:00

I need to preface this post with my condolences and prayers to the family of Jason Leffler, taken from us last night in a terrible racing crash. Jason was a pure racer, a fantastic USAC driver, an Indy 500 starter, and I know he had worked towards returning to Indy in the last couple years.

God bless and Godspeed, Jason. I know you'd want us to go on, but this one really hurts.

I usually post my race storyline previews on Fridays, but since I’m preparing to head north Friday morning to Milwaukee, I thought I’d go ahead and hit the button.

It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I really enjoy Milwaukee, and love the Milwaukee Mile. I think it’s important, first and foremost, to note that this track, one of the most historical venues in America, looked to be absolutely dead to IndyCar after 2010-2011. However, last year’s race, with Andretti Sports Marketing stepping in, showed that this event can work. After the tentative steps of last year, IndyFest is growing into a full event, incorporating the outside community of Milwaukee, tie-in events, and plenty to do and see outside of the racing.

Seriously, if you’re an IndyCar fan, this should be a bucket list race. If you’re in the Midwest and haven’t planned on going, find some buddies or knock off work by yourself, call it a Father’s Day gift for Dad, make a mad dash up tomorrow, crash somewhere, and catch all the action. Between Friday and Saturday alone, you’re looking at 12 hours of open wheel on-track action, and that’s not including autograph sessions, Q&As, pre-race fesitivities, and the rest. There’s a lot of racing packed into this schedule, which is one of the big reasons I’m so excited to get there. It’s the sort of racing event that definitely deserves all the support it can get.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into the storylines to watch this weekend for Milwaukee IndyFest:

Can TK Keep It Going?: Tony Kanaan has amply shown that Indy was anything but a one-and-done performance, storming to a podium in Texas last week, and sits squarely P4 in the title hunt. TK is always a lot of fun to watch on any ovals, but I always enjoy seeing him on the short tracks. Can TK grab another oval victory this weekend? It certainly would seem not out of the question—he was runner-up at the Mile last year, and has won here before. He’s one of the best in this field when it comes to racing here.

That Title Hunt: We all know that this year’s championship battle is tight, so let’s focus on our Top 3 for a minute. Helio Castroneves has yet to have anything resembling the usual handful of catastrophic race results that knock him from title contention, and he’s opened up a 22-point lead over Marco Andretti. That’s not as dominating as it sounds, as that could easily be eclipsed in a single weekend. For his part, Marco has been the most consistently well-performing driver in the field this year, though he hasn’t grabbed a victory yet. P3 is currently occupied by last year’s champion (and Milwaukee winner) Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is really picking it up. It’s the sort of title fight where you’re waiting to see which driver blinks first. With the way these guys have been performing, a single nightmarish weekend could be a huge step back.

Hello, Briscoe: Ryan Briscoe get his turn in the seat-swapping going on for the #4 Panther Racing car this weekend. Briscoe won this event back in 2008 with Penske, so he’s definitely a driver to keep an eye on this weekend. We’ve already seen that pinch-hitters can win in this series.

Could TK add to his Milwaukee winning ways?
Courtesy IndyCar Media. Credit: Chris Jones

TBA, The Coyne Way: Dale Coyne’s team is definitely racy overall this season, but at the time of my writing this, no official announcement has been made for the #18 machine for Milwaukee. Ana Beatriz has been mentioned as likely getting back into the seat at some point, and without going out on too far a limb, it's probably her or JR Hildebrand we'll see in the car this weekend.

Mazda Road to Indy Update: At last! It seems like it’s been so very long since we’ve been able to talk about Firestone Indy Lights and especially Pro Mazda. Hold on to your posteriors this weekend, because both those ladder series will be contesting at the Mile. Leading off with Pro Mazda, Matthew Brabham has been absolutely dominant for Andretti Autosport in the early going, as so far as is following in his family’s footsteps rather splendidly. Behind him, teammate Shelby Blackstock and Juncos Racing’s Diego Ferreira continue to make guessing game out of the runner up position. This weekend will also mark a return to Milwaukee for Team Pelfrey’s Anders Krohn, a winner on this track back in Star Mazda days. With the Pro Mazda racing happening Friday evening, it should be a great way to cap to a very full day.

For Lights, the last time we saw these drivers was at Indianapolis, where Belardi’s Peter Dempsey won thanks to one of the most incredible finishes I have ever seen at any level of motorsport. He’ll be looking to repeat that showing in his first Lights race at Milwaukee, but it won’t be easy. Carlos Munoz is still in the driver’s seat when it comes to the title, leading 2nd-place Dempsey by 27 points. The Irish racer will really need to start chipping away at Munoz’s lead if he wants any shot at the championship. Meanwhile, Gaby Chaves and Sage Karam are right behind Dempsey, and P2-P4 in the standings are all within two points of one another. Karam should be especially fun to watch here—he had a tremendous victory in Star Mazda here in 2011, and this would seem to be his sort of track. Meanwhile, Jack Hawksworth desperately needs a good oval finish to remain in title contention. This is shaping up to be a good one.

A Who’s Who of Winners: I mentioned this in Tuesday’s article, but winning at Milwaukee has a certain distinction about it. If you wanted to create an All-Time All-Star list of IndyCar drivers, picking randomly from the list of Milwaukee Mile winners would be far from the worst option. Rex Mays, Pat Flaherty, Rodger Ward, Tony Bettenhausen, Jim Clark, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Lloyd Ruby, Bobby Unser, Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, Greg Moore—the list goes on and on. (I get goosebumps just reading that list before I head into the Mile). And while winning here doesn’t confer instant legend status on the winner, it is an indicator that this is a driver’s track, where the very best have displayed their skill.

Livery Watch: Helio Castroneves will have the black-blue-and-white PPG scheme this weekend, while Dario will retain the red car, but with Huggies on the sidepod (make your own joke here). Tony Kanaan is back to Hydroxycut sponsorship for this race. Tristan Vautier will have the blue Coastal.com sponsorship. It looks to be a pretty normal sponsorship week, so there shouldn’t be too much in the way of confusing changes out there.

Irrelevant Stat Time: Only two IndyCar drivers competing this weekend won at Milwaukee in Indy Lights: Scott Dixon and Tristan Vautier. Knowing that, plus having a few bucks on you, might get you a Cream Puff.

Relevant Stat Time: Three drivers in this weekend’s field have won Milwaukee twice: Dario Franchitti (2004 [IRL], 2011), Tony Kanaan (2006-07), and Ryan Hunter-Reay (2004 [CART], 2012). Also, just because it’s neat to mention, this track was the one where A.J. Foyt had the most starts, with 45.

Pole Prediction: Tough one. Maybe Helio, building on that Texas success?

Winner Prediction: I’m going with Marco Andretti. This has never been one of his best tracks, but in a season where nothing goes as planned, why should that make sense? If not Marco, let’s keep it in the Andretti stable with RHR defending last year’s win.

Dark Horse: Let’s stay on the Coyne bandwagon. Justin Wilson looked to have this place figured out last year before his engine grenaded.

Of course, don’t forget to get your Fantasy IndyCar picks in before 10am ET Friday!

Have a good weekend, and if you’re at IndyFest this weekend, please stop and say hello!

Milwaukee IndyFest: A First Race

2013-06-11T07:36:00.000-04:00

My oldest daughter has never been to an IndyCar race.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, Saris (age 8) has been to plenty of practice and open test days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She usually tags along for a few days in the Month of May, and she’ll watch the races with me from the comfort of the couch when I’m at home. She’ll talk IndyCar, and of course she’s even contributed to this site. But to this point, I didn’t think she was ready for a full race weekend. My schedule for the Indy 500 is too intense for her to kick things off at 5:30 am, and she was too young when we’d make the trip down to Kentucky for that race.

That’s where Milwaukee IndyFest comes into play.

Really, it seems perfect. It’s only around 5 hours from our house to Milwaukee. It’s a shorter race, so it shouldn’t be too overwhelming, and being a shorter track, it’s easy to follow the action all the way around. In terms of a race experience, I think it’s perfect for a first-timer.

Last year, my wife and I made the trip to the Milwaukee Mile, not only to support the revitalization efforts of bringing this race back, but to sort of scout it out for future family trips. It was time when no one was quite sure if this experiment, this last shot at IndyCars at the Mile, would even warrant a second year. What we saw was extremely encouraging. The difference between the Mile of a decade ago and today is simply staggering.

Andretti Sports Marketing clearly gets the idea that a race, be it oval or twisty, needs to be an “event”. The food trucks in the infield, the carnival rides, the stations giving away free RC Cola and Sun Drop—that’s the sort of stuff that’s exciting to an attending family. You add in a vintage car show, live music, and all sorts of other activities, and that becomes not just a race, but a destination. From painting the walls blue to adding Cream Puffs to adding the Family Fun Zone, everything is calculated to give this race an identity, to ensure it is a relevant, well-connected stop on the IndyCar schedule.

To confess, this has not been an easy year, financially. We’re just settling in from a move, and I’m sure like many of you out there, we’ve had to be pretty frugal with our entertainment budget. But when we were able to get a hotel for just over $50 (thanks to these folks), and when we were able to buy my daughter’s Saturday ticket for $10 (and paddock passes being only $5 for her), that’s a no-brainer. I cannot tell you how nice it is to have an affordable event out there. Even though we didn’t get tickets for Friday, we can still hop in the grandstands for free to watch the Mazda Road to Indy do their thing, along with IndyCar qualifying.

The nerdy side of me wants my daughter to get what an amazing track this is, to understand why it helped make names like Barney Oldfield, Rex Mays, Tony Bettenhausen, and so many other IndyCar legends household names. It’s a Hall of Fame list of drivers who have won here, and only Indianapolis can match the history of this place in regards to open wheel ovals in America. Honestly, that’s probably not going to soak in for her, at least not right away. But hey, she gets to go on a trip, see her first race, probably get some swimming in at the hotel (which is a HUGE deal when you’re 8), and hopefully run into some of her favorite drivers—racers like Pippa Mann, Takuma Sato, and EJ Viso. There’s also the decadent joy of Wisconsin food and dairy, which I’d wager against any destination in the U.S.

For her part, my daughter has not stopped talking about this trip, and has been counting the days until we leave since at least April. Saris keeps asking questions about the track, last year’s race, where we’re staying, if Pippa will be there, etc. She’s a good kid, who tries to do the right thing, and deserves to have some fun.

You try and do the best for your kids. Not everything has to be a $5,000 trip to Disneyland. The things I remember best from my childhood were heading out to the Speedway for qualifications, and my Dad taking me to Indianapolis Indians games when he got free tickets. Today, I still love the Indy 500 and baseball, and of course I love those memories. So even though we’re sitting in cheap seats and making it a budget trip, I think my daughter is still going to have a great time. What’s really important is spending time with family, after all. Milwaukee IndyFest has built itself up to be a great event for family and race fan alike, and that’s why we’re returning, daughter in tow. We’ll be chowing down on some brats, cheering on our favorites, and checking out everything going on between the racing.

I’m sure I’ll write about our experience, and I’m sure my daughter will contribute her thoughts, as well. But what’s most important is the memories we’ll make on our trip together—my wife, my daughter, and me—during this year’s IndyFest.

Firestone 550 Notes

2013-06-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

-Well, we knew it wouldn't last forever--Team Penske is back in the winner's circle, and it was a very ebullient Helio Castroneves that won the Firestone 550. I'm not sure anyone celebrates as joyously as Helio after he wins a race.

-In terms of the racing, it was a remarkably clean race, especially considering how many drivers mentioned how tough it was out there. There was also a majority of the field that was out of contention by the last fuel stint. Obviously, a strong victory by Castroneves isn't a last-lap thriller like Indianapolis, but IndyCar has had plenty of races over the years with less action, too. It was a quiet race by Texas standards, but I have a feeling the tire formula gets tweaked a bit for next year. Seeing most of the cars fall off so drastically late in their run was pretty severe.

-I suppose we have to address the TV coverage, don't we? I'm very grateful we have network coverage, but the camerawork and production decisions remain questionable with the ABC/ESPN crew. There was one point, about halfway through the race, where they blurrily zoomed in on a light for what seemed like 10 seconds. They showed Sebastian Saavedra rolling into the pits, even after he was well after contention, each and every time, while cutting to pit stops late. Folks dropped in/moved up of the Top 10, without any apparent explanation. I really would have been happy if Scott Dixon or Pippa Mann joined them in the booth, as well--insight is important. ABC doesn't "need" to do anything, if they don't want, I suppose, but in order to have a more attractive broadcast product, they need to step it up.

-Look at it like this: When you're broadcasting a race, you're telling a story that's unfolding in front of you. Not explaining what's going on with the plot, dedicating massive amounts of airtime to marginally important characters, and breaking into irrelevant footnotes as events move towards the climax wouldn't make for a fluid or engaging story, would it? The same sort of pitfalls can be extrapolated to evaluating the quality of a TV broadcast.

-What a bummer for Pippa Mann and Dale Coyne Racing. There's nothing you can do about a blown engine, and the fact that it happened almost immediately seems particularly unfair, since it appeared as if she was getting things sorted out on track rather nicely. I certainly hope she gets another crack at an oval this year. Social media is always lively when she's in the race, after all!

-While Helio Castroneves definitely made a strong statement with his first win of the year, he's still got some tough competition in terms of that ever-elusive first season title. Marco Andretti is still only 22 points behind, while Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan lurk just behind them. Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, and Scott Dixon could all still make some noise, too, but they likely need at least 2 of the next 3 races to be really good ones to get back up in contention going into the last third of the season.

-Speaking of title contenders, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan were extremely sharp. I don't think either driver is necessarily done winning this year. RHR in particular is reinforcing why he remains a title threat--he's upped his game on the big ovals so much, and that makes him so much more of a threat.

-It's certainly an odd mix at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing right now. Graham Rahal struggled mightily with his car all evening, while James Jakes was a late stop away from a seriously good finish. I thought Jakes looked pretty sharp out there. Meanwhile, a rough season gets a bit rougher for Graham Rahal. Nothing to be done but head to Milwaukee, and hope for better.

-I know that's not a weekend that went to plan for Marco Andretti, but another Top 5 certainly minimizes the damage from Helio's victory in regards to points differential. He's only finished worse than P7 once this year, and not even Castroneves or Hunter-Reay can make that boast. Now, he just needs to keep it up and see if Milwaukee or Iowa get him his first win on the year. He's really, really close.

-Other Notes: Oriol Servia's save on his spin was tremendous. You don't often see a driver on an oval course waving for the safety team to get him underway again...Given the issues his team had on the night (the glove getting stuck on his car was classic), Ed Carpenter had a really nice race...Dario Franchitti has slowly been creeping up the standings in the last two weeks. Both his finish (P6) and Josef Newgarden's (P8) were relatively under the radar, but very impressive on a night when so many drivers from teams big and small encountered difficulties...speaking of Newgarden, he's developing a pattern of a Top in every even-numbered race this season (Alabama, Sao Paulo, Detroit 1...). That doesn't signify anything in particular, but he's certainly showing plenty of progress in his sophomore year...

Storylines: Firestone 550

2013-06-07T08:01:00.000-04:00

It’s time for six-shooters and 10-gallon hats, as IndyCar takes its show to Texas for the Firestone 550 this weekend. There’s always something special about a primetime race, and this one will go off Saturday night on ABC. That’s a good thing for a race that’s still only next to Indy itself in terms of oval draws. IndyCar is going to have one of its bests chances of the season to put on a show for a wider viewing audience, and there’s no doubt Texas is usually a nerve-wracking compilation of thrills.

Here are some the storylines to follow heading into Texas:

Tech Stuff: Last year’s race got rid of the pack racing that was a former feature at Texas, but it didn’t seem to hurt the product at all—quite the contrary. This year, expect qual speeds to nudge up, as the aero configuration is being slightly tweaked in that direction. Also, Firestone should be bringing a tire that will give a bit more grip than last year. Make no mistake, though, this is still a track where the drivers have to drive.

Seriously, The Competition!: You’ve probably seen the stat by now: six drivers have won the seven races this year, and none of them are on Penske or Ganassi. Instead, Andretti, Foyt, Schmidt, and KV Racing have shown just what a competitive edge this series has right now. It’s absolutely thrilling—nothing seems out of the realm of possibility now. Helio Castroneves, Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball, Marco Andretti, Simon Pagenaud, EJ Viso—really, any driver and team could find the right mix and be battling for the win at the end. Even races that are anticipated as being lower on the action scale—such as Detroit—have had some really excellent on-track battling. No one is sure how any race will play out, and that’s exhilarating.

The Defending Champ: Justin Wilson won a very popular victory last year when Graham Rahal brushed the wall in the closing laps. It was a brutal turn of events for Rahal the Younger, but for Wilson, it was another affirmation that he’s one of the very best in the business, especially when the downforce is scaled back. Wilson comes in with two podiums and three other Top 10 finishes on the season already, and a competitive P7 in a close championship race.

What About Graham?: Rahal was just mentioned above, and last year’s scrape was probably one of the worst ways possible to lose a race. He’s had a very up-and-down season, and it’s tough to predict just how he’ll do in any given weekend. In a year of breakout wins, could Texas mark his next one?

Points Battle Update: Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti are tied for P1 in the standings, but Ryan Hunter-Reay has been coming on strong, and is only 15 points back. Scott Dixon is only 20 back of the leaders, and Simon Pagenaud trails Dixie by only 9 points.

Further, Takuma Sato, Justin Wilson, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, and Charlie Kimball round out the Top 10, and all are within less than 60 points of the leaders. Even out of the Top 10, names like Dario Franchitti, James Jakes, and EJ Viso are only a good race or two away from joining the immediate title conversation. Sooner or later, the chaos is going to subside, and the true frontrunners will emerge, but at this point, it’s still a guessing game, with some surprising names keeping themselves in contention.

Hey, Look Who’s Back: It’s time for a Texas-sized “howdy” for two drivers who are making another appearance after Indianapolis. Oriol Servia gets the nod in the #4 Panther Racing machine, whereas Pippa Mann and her Cyclops Gear sponsor will make a return in the Dale Coyne Racing #18 car. Surprisingly, Servia has never finished better than P20 at this track, while Panther scored a Top 5 here last year with JR Hildebrand. We’ll have to see if the respected vet can get it done Saturday. Meanwhile, Mann will be making her first-ever start here, though she has tested at the track before. She’ll be joining a Coyne team that not only won here last year, but put their second car in the Top 10.

Barracuda Comeback?: Alex Tagliani has started from the pole position the last two years at Texas, but Team Barracuda-BHA has struggled since the opening round this season. Tag can still qualify a car like few others, but it remains to be seen if Barracuda can shake some of that bad luck that’s been trailing them. Let’s hope so—that’s too good of an organization to struggle for long.

Another Chance For Dixie: Scott Dixon fairly dominated the proceedings in last year’s race, leading a whopping 133 laps before his crash. Before that crash, Dixon’s finishes here since 2008 went as follows: 1, 3, 4, 2, 2. Dixon hasn’t won yet this year, but this could be one of his absolute best chances this year.

Pole Prediction: I’d like to go with Tag once more, but I’m going to nudge this one to Hinch. He was excellent in Texas last year.

Winner Prediction: It’s time for a Ganassi to win one. Justin Wilson is driving lights-out this year, and it’d be great to see another Coyne win, but I sense a Dixon or Franchitti victory a-comin’. I’ll go with Dixon.

Dark Horse: You won’t believe it, but I’m going with James Jakes. He was very good here last year, and I like how he’s been driving since May. Plus, Rahal Letterman Lanigan was fairly quick in qualifying last year, although an engine penalty started them further back.

Stat of the Week: Six current teams can boast of victories since this race began in 1997: AJ Foyt Enterprises, Andretti Autosport (as Andretti Green) Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, Panther Racing, and Team Penske. Until Coyne’s victory last year, a non-Penske/Ganassi team had not won here since 2005.

Other Stuff I Wrote: Besides my sympathetic look at Roger Penske’s plight, I also did an article on the the upcoming oval stint on the schedule. Be sure to give them a click, if you're so inclined.

Don’t forget to get those fantasy picks in by 10am ET today (Friday)! Enjoy the race, invite some friends over, and kick back with an RC Cola or Sun Drop while you do so.

The Long Dark Night of Roger Penske

2013-06-05T07:39:00.000-04:00

It was 3 am, and Roger Penske was still trying to apply decals to the replacement front wing for the old, battered Dallara chassis.

Penske had been a decent enough racer in his day, but decided to start up his own race team. What he didn’t expect was the victory drought, race after race of frustration.

Penske sighed, as he realized the “L” in “PENSKE TRUCK RENTAL” wasn’t transferring, much like his team in knockout qualifying.

Sure, he’d had some good runs. The grinning Brazilian fellow that always hung around turned out to be a pretty solid driver, and had even scored a podium or two. But victory? As of late, it seemed as if the words “Roger Penske” and “victory” went together about as well as Sebastian Saavedra and a military barber.

Penske stood up, stretched, and thought back to the last two races. There was the indignity of a third of his team not making it one lap, and the Australian having another mid-race tirade. At least he had grabbed a Top 10. That was something, he unsuccessfully tried to tell himself. Maybe one of the big sponsors would see it, so he wouldn’t have to keep putting the family business on his cars. Someone like Rachel’s Potato Chips, or a start-up, unheralded energy drink looking to cash in on the vacuum Four Loko had left.

Four Loko. A man down on his luck could use one of those about now.

There was a soft knock at the side door of the garage. The door swung open, and a bleary-eyed Tim Cindric surveyed the scene gloomily.

“Working late tonight, chief?” queried the loyal employee, who still threw around words like “championship” and “Victory Circle” as if they were some sort of Penske birthright. Roger admired the fact the man held on to that dream, and hadn’t gone into a shame spiral like the Australian, who mainly sat around these days in between races attempting to somehow play funeral dirges on his drum set.

Roger nodded. “I sent the boys home. Too few of them, and we’ve been asking far too much.”

Tim gave a short shake of his head, and turned to go when something in Roger’s expression caused him to linger. “Was there something else, chief?”

Roger began to wave his hand in dismissal, only to bring it up to cover his reddened eyes.

“Yes—I mean no—well, it’s just—DAMMIT!”

Roger wadded up the transfer paper and threw it across the garage in one angry, fluid motion. It skittered to rest by a pile of oily rags no one had bothered to clean up in months.

“Why is it, Tim?” Roger turned to face Cindric, eyes pleading. “Why is it these fat cats have to win every race? Why? Just because they can hire better engineering, and can afford to go testing? I’m so sick of having Dale Coyne laugh at me every weekend! Do you know what he did at Indianapolis? He threw a bunch of Sonny’s Bar-B-Q coupons at me as he drove by on his golf cart, saying it looked like my boys ‘hadn’t eaten in a while!’”.

Tim sighed. It was the sigh of a man facing reality after a long day behind a façade of optimism.

“We aren’t alone, Roger. Chip said Michael Andretti keeps prank calling him at 3 in the morning, asking if he needs directions to Victory Circle. He hasn’t slept in weeks. He’s stress-eating again. I had to pick him up from a Golden Corral last night—it was that, or the manager was going to call the cops”.

Penske nodded. He knew that Chip didn’t handle it well when his shoestring operation struggled. There had been the time back in CART when he had to fireman carry him out of a Tim Horton’s.

“I just wish—“ Roger paused, as a wave of fatigue swept over him, “—I wish, Tim, JUST ONCE, we could win one for the little guy. I’d love to show those smug big-timers over at Foyt, Coyne, and Schmidt that they can’t just push Penske around. We may be the underdog, Tim, but I FEEL IT. We can WIN. It’s not supposed to be like this. I have to believe that.”

Tim just smiled. His optimism was never far from the surface.

“Well,” Roger finally continued, breaking the silence, “Once we scrounge up a new air gun and slap some paint and tape over this old gal, maybe things will be different. Maybe we’ll get those uppity snots, or maybe one of Chip’s boys will. Maybe Justin Wilson will have engine trouble, or Andretti Autosport’s flight will get diverted to Albuquerque”. He laughed, a mirthless sound of one beaten down into cynicism.

Tim picked up the transfer paper from where it lay in the corner, and carefully smoothed it out. Every dollar counted, and might mean that the Penske boys could finally get those matching crew shirts they’d been saving up for.

“Well, don’t stay up too late, Roger,” said Cindric. “Remember, we have that meeting with that Formula Angola guy tomorrow who wants to run the 2 car sometime this year. He was P18 in his country’s second-biggest series last year, and he's the son of an eccentric shipping magnate, so he might work out”.

Roger shrugged. You did what you had to, and hoped if you got a good driving prospect, Dale Coyne or whoever Eric Bachelart was working with didn’t lure them away.

Tim hesitated once again, and then said, “The Series called, and wanted to know if we have any idea who’s going to be in that car for any races this season. What should I say?”

“Tell them,” said Roger, as soured resignation churned once more in his stomach, “tell them it’s TBA”.

Dual in Detroit Notes; Or, Rule Britannia (France, too)

2013-06-03T07:22:00.000-04:00

-It wasn't just the doubleheader racing that made the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit (presented by Quicken Loans) such a full weekend. On my end, I was also moving, which meant I didn't catch the entirety of Race 1. Even with that, I definitely felt as if it was definitely a treat to get that much racing viewing in on a weekend.

-We probably need to start with Mike Conway, who simply ran away with the first race and drove for an absolutely brilliant podium in the second. We're pretty clearly to the point that if I'm an IndyCar owner and I need a fill-in for a road/street event, Conway is at the top of my list. He looked as if he were an IndyCar among Lights cars at some points on the weekend, which is just incredible when you consider the current DW-12 machine and how it's raced.

-Simon Pagenaud is one of the truly nice guys in racing, and it's great to see a guy who's had such a long and winding road to this point make good. The closing laps, where Pagenaud, James Jakes, and Conway were all just driving their tails off on Sunday, was what IndyCar should be all about. Let's not forget Davey Hamilton in all this, who is a great guy, as well, and garnered a well-deserved win as part-owner.

-Big kudos to James Jakes as well. Even before the Indy 500 last month, I was chatting with several other blogger and journalist types about how it seems as if he's really grown a lot since joining this series. When you think of the times last year when it seemed as if he was likely on his way out of his ride and/or the series, it's a pretty tremendous transformation. One podium does not a career make, but I like how he's driving right now. If we also take Conway into account, the British have apparently decided to take vengeance for 1776 by kicking the crap out of the field in IndyCar.

-Let's face it: the first half of Sunday's race was an absolute mess. We hadn't seen a wrecking crew out there like that in some time, and perhaps we've become a bit spoiled. I saw some folks on social media absolutely flipping out over it, as if it were the new normal, or we haven't had a season of amazing racing so far this year. Hey, if you're a race fan for any amount of time, you're going to run into some races that are total duds. That wasn't one of them, as the second half of the racing was full of really excellent action--just a great fight that kept you in suspense. Hopefully, no one burned their 500 programs in anger and penned an indignant blog post around Lap 30, because the rest of the race was pretty spiffy.

Behold the Coyne/Conway juggernaut.
(Courtesy IndyCar Media. Image by Chris Jones)

-Unfortunately, the ABC broadcast crew in the booth didn't seem to key in on the fact they were watching some great racing, because they again failed to have much excitement in their voices. I don't necessarily need my race announcers to sound like the booth guy at a Mexican soccer game, but there has to be some inflection and situational awareness of what's happening in the race. You got the idea that Godzilla could have rampaged through Turn 3 and all we would have got from the announcers was a comment on how it would impact driver fatigue. Guys, this is the best racing going right now. Let's act like it.

-Marco Andretti wasn't contending for the victory in either race this weekend, but he grabbed two Top 10s and remained in the championship lead (well, tied, at least). That was absolutely huge, especially on a Sunday that saw so much attrition. By the way, teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay is looking good points-wise, especially after a Saturday podium and being able to mitigate some of the damage on Sunday by getting back out there.

-Will Power's "champ to chump" comment in regards to Sebastien Bourdais was absolutely hilarious. I also liked his explanation on the IMS Radio Network about "showing the Frenchman [his] displeasure with him". Not sure I'm down with the glove throwing, but either way, a tough season just got tougher for the once-dominant driver.

-The parity this year is absolutely amazing. Six winners in seven races. No Penske or Ganassi winners?

-I'll save the aerokit discussion and planned lifecycle of DW-12 development for another day--way too much to discuss on top of everything else. Plus, it's good to remember this is still "big picture" discussion--let's see how the fine details play out.

-Other Notes: I will again try to have fantasy points updated by Tuesday or Wednesday. This quick turnaround is making things chaotic!...Helio Castroneves is also remaining a strong candidate for the championship with another Top 10 finish Sunday after a P5 Saturday. He is tied with Marco now atop the standings...Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti also had a great weekend--could Ganassi be finding their feet this season after a wild start?...Sebastian Saavedra's P10 Sunday was the first Top 10 all season for Dragon Racing...It's tough to imagine that race weekend going much worse for AJ Allemdinger. I still hope we see him back soon...I think I like the doubleheader formats, but I'm curious to see if there are any tweaks at the others this year...If you didn't catch it, Alex Tagliani sounded irritated at the double-file restarts after his crash Sunday, implying they were the cause of much of the carnage...Seeing who will fill in at Dale Coyne's 2nd car for the rest of the season should be interesting--you'd have to think some sort of Mike Conway/Ana Beatriz/Pippa Mann combo would make a nice slice of the fan base happy one way or the other (and I'm still holding out hope for Stefan Wilson, too).

Storylines: Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit

2013-05-31T07:09:00.000-04:00

Cute name, isn’t it? Because, you see, it sounds like “duel”, as in a battle, but really refers to the “dual” races of the…oh, never mind. We all get it.

Yes, less than a week from the thrills of the Indy 500, the IZOD IndyCar Series takes a jaunt north to Belle Isle, where a pair of weekend races will both count for full points. That means a potential huge points swing from this weekend, as the first part of a trying June schedule makes this as much an endurance contest among teams as anything.

We’re looking a twin 70 lap races, coming out to about 164 miles each. The races are on ABC, which is great news for those without cable, but also disappointing for those who enjoy the more robust coverage we see from NBC Sports. Get used to it; every race except Milwaukee between now and the start of July is ABC-bound. Let’s hope they kick up the coverage, and give the racing we’ve seen the enthusiasm it deserves!

Whether you’re headed to Motown or watching from Couchtown, here are some storylines to follow this week:

Qualifying/Rules: Yes, there will be two rounds of qualifying, one for each race. The first, held Friday afternoon, will be along traditional Firestone Fast 6 guidelines. Qualifying for the second race will be held Saturday morning, well before Race 1, with the cars split into two groups simply to manage traffic. The second round of qualifying will simply slot all cars from fastest to slowest qualifying laps. Don't sweat it; it'll all make sense soon enough.

Additionally, SONAX will be offering a $50,000 bonus to any driver who can win both races, so that's something to keep in mind.

Mojo For The 500 Champ?: Tony Kanaan has had a whirlwind week of public appearances, and now he'll take back to the track as our most recent Indianapolis 500 winner. Dario Franchitti managed a very good result here last year after winning Indy; can Kanaan keep his momentum going? He was a sharp P6 in Detroit last year, and is still very much in the title hunt, currently only 44 points behind Marco Andretti. If he can string together a few more excellent results, he could become a title contender few foresaw in their season previews.

Panther Problems: Let's put it plainly: JR Hildebrand is out, Ryan Brisoce is in for this weekend. Hildebrand finished last at Indy following an early crash, and now we get to see if Briscoe can hack it in a seat where Vitor Meira, Dan Wheldon, and now Hildebrand apparently didn't cut it for owner John Barnes. Best of luck with that task.

Ganassi’s Gnashed Teeth: Well, that certainly wasn’t the Indy 500 Chip Ganassi wanted. Between Dario Franchitti crashing late, Ryan Briscoe never really running up front, and Scott Dixon being essentially a non-factor on the day, it was a dreadful month one of the “Big Three” teams. Charlie Kimball was really the only bright spot, overcoming early mechanical woes to grab his second straight Indy Top 10. Still, there are reasons for optimism. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti finished 1-2 at Belle Isle last season, and neither driver is going to be shut out forever.

Built To Last: Last year’s race was marred by a crumbling road, and James Hinchcliffe’s somewhat famously going on an in-car rant about the same after a large chunk of the same ruined his day. Thankfully, the course has been renovated since then (with Hinch coming up for a few smart photo ops during the construction), and the course should be quite a bit smoother. Also of note will be the passing areas—this car has been racy even where it shouldn’t have been, so we’ll have to see if it does the trick once again.

Mikey In Michigan: Mike Conway will get a turn in the Dale Coyne #18 TBA Special this weekend, bringing his street course savvy to a course where it could be very richly rewarded. Paired with Justin Wilson, who has having himself an excellent season (and has won in Detroit before), Coyne should be a blast to watch this weekend. It sounds as if the second Coyne car might do a bit of the driver carousel from this point forward in the season; if nothing else, it’s usually entertaining, sort of like a really good cameo in a TV series. Let’s hope some of the series favorites get their turn in the cockpit—and I wouldn’t mind seeing Ana Beatriz again for a big oval or two.

A Seabass Century: Sebastien Bourdais is preparing to make his 100th American Open Wheel start, and it’s great to still have him around. At only 34 years of age, he should have plenty of good years ahead of him, and it would be tremendous to see what he can do with a consistent program under him. He didn’t have much luck at this track last year with his brand-new Chevy power, but hopefully #100 can net him some good results. Dragon Racing has really struggled with results this year, with both Bourdais and teammate Sebastian Saavedra out of the Top 20 in points.

The Championship Points Battle: I did an article for INDYCAR Nation this week on closeness of the points battle for the season title, but to give you the summary: yes, it’s still just about anyone’s title to win or lose. Marco Andretti leads by 11 points, but Takuma Sato has looked extremely sharp on the twisties this season, as well. Meanwhile, drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, Justin Wilson, and others lurk, with any weekend still capable of shaking things up in a major fashion. Meanwhile, two drivers we thought would challenge for the title this year, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, sit glumly outside the Top 15, with a frankly stunning victory drought for both drivers still continuing. “Unexpected” is the new expectation in IndyCar this year, apparently.

To Servia With Love: What IndyCar fan doesn’t love Oriol Servia? He’s the pro’s pro, the journeyman driver who can always be counted on to give the best performance possible in whatever circumstances. He’s also extremely hard-luck when it comes to teams. Sadly, this has extended to Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, who has punted on the rest of the season. The racing goes on, but we can’t wait to have Servia and the team back out there. Fingers crossed good things come out of this.

Pole: For Race #1, I’m liking Simon Pagenaud. Just have a feeling.

Winner: Oh gosh. Let’s say Scott Dixon for one, and Helio Castroneves for the other. The Ganassi and Penskes have been too quiet. It can’t last forever, right?

Dark Horse: Let's go with one of the Coynes (Conway was P9 here a year ago), or possibly Charlie Kimball.

Mazda Road to Indy Update: No Firestone Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, or USF2000 cars this week; we won’t see them again until Milwaukee. However, this is an excellent opportunity to show the end of the Freedom 100 yet again. Seriously, someone give Peter Dempsey a ride in next year’s Indy 500; Pure Awesomeness could be the sponsor.

Don’t forget, Fantasy Picks are due Friday morning by 10 am ET! Your three drivers will count across both races, so you could either have a points bonanza this week, or get leapfrogged in short order if you choose poorly. I’m thinking we’re going to have to do a trophy or something for our eventual season winner.

I'm moving this weekend, so I might be a bit scarce online, but have an great weekend, and let's see who the winners are come Monday morning.

25 Thoughts From The Indy 500

2013-05-29T07:16:00.000-04:00

Once the checkered flag has waved at Indianapolis, and the winner has taken their victory lap, I usually like to go home and spend Memorial Day with the family, in the hopes that they have not completely forgotten who I am during my frequent absences in the Month of May. I also usually like to let my thoughts on the race steep for a day or two before doing any really in-depth writing, as well. I was excited enough about Tony Kanaan’s victory to scribble a bit on Monday, but waited until Tuesday to really start writing about the race as a whole. With that in mind, here are 25 thoughts from the 97th Running of the Indianapolis 500 and the Month of May in general:

1) Others have already waxed eloquently on just what TK’s victory meant to the fans, and I think we all have a pretty good idea that this is one of the most popular 500 victories in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Still, it was gratifying to see fans in my section become truly emotional over this victory for a driver they’ve cheered for over a decade. It was genuine emotional investment in the outcome of a race, far more than just a simple, “Oh, good for him”. That’s pretty great to see.

2) Whatever folks outside the 500 experience think of grown men and women with tears in their eyes from Jim Nabors singing, or getting emotional during a flyover or the site of cars forming into 11 rows of 3, I’m happy that there’s something out there that still causes that sort of emotion. We live in a cynical, jaded world, where items such as patriotism, tradition, and home pride are increasingly devalued and mocked. But every year, the tears flow for me during “Back Home Again in Indiana”, and I’m galvanized when I hear the “Start Your Engines” command. Looking around and seeing everyone from the elderly to burly biker guys have the same reactions, that’s a good reminder that Indy transcends modern expectations.

3) It was chilly enough in the stands early Sunday to warrant buying a hot chocolate and Brickyard Burger—both for warmth as much as taste.

4) Quick thought: Since Tony Kanaan won, is Marco Andretti the new Lloyd Ruby of this generation? Next year will be his 9th Indy 500, and few have been better or more exciting to watch over the years at IMS. I suppose you could make an argument for Ed Carpenter, though his finishes at Indy haven’t been quite as good overall. Something to think about, I suppose.

These guys put on a heck of a show.
Courtesy IndyCar Media. Image: Forrest Mellot

5) Speaking of Marco, in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s leading in points for the IZOD IndyCar Series title. I know Indy is huge to him, but he’s just been uniformly excellent this year. And without that Dario crash, don’t tell me you don’t see a massive four-way shootout for the win coming. I still think he’ll get his Indy win in due time, but for now, there's a great title fight afoot.

6) You also have to like what Ryan Hunter-Reay is doing. He isn’t in the points lead yet, but he’s certainly in the discussion after that performance of Indy. Plus, he’s got some tracks coming up where he’s done quite well indeed. It would seem the hope of a repeat title is very much alive and kicking.

7) Fans who watched Versus/NBC Sports a couple of years ago probably remember the “Hoodie Ninja” commercial and song. I’m fully convinced Justin Wilson and Charlie Kimball are “Honda ninjas”. You sort of lose track of how they’re doing mid-race, you aren’t paying attention, and then suddenly—POW!!!—Top 10 finish. I’m not sure how they do it, but I suspect it involves smoke pellets.

8) Honda had been at least competitive in the first four races before Indy, but Chevy grabbing spots 1-4 and not really having a Honda in serious contention for the win this past weekend has to hurt. Moving back to the twisties, I wouldn’t be surprised if Honda comes storming back, but man, did Chevy power ever go roaring to Victory Circle in a powerful way.

9) Believe it or not, but I totally missed the entire uproar over the security lines outside some of the gates. I’m usually at the track when the gates open, and was just a little bit later this year thanks to a stomach bug that wouldn’t go away. I understand that folks who arrived later on in the morning had delays, especially those arriving in the last hour. IMS has apologized, and hopefully next year goes a bit smoother. That said, avoid lines, traffic, and the joy of easy access are two of the big reasons I camp across the street.

10) Speaking of camping, I’d really like to see some more family areas for camping. That’s probably a tall order, given how the campsites are laid out, but I was in Lot 2 this year (a more sedate lot by reputation versus the Coke Lot), and I still saw enough to guarantee I would never take my kids tent camping there on race weekend. Honestly, Lot 3, which I believe is supposed to be family-oriented, isn’t much better. That’s probably a losing battle, and I’ll just have to look for another solution.

11) Getting to interview Marco Andretti, Buddy Lazier, Ryan Hunter-Reay, EJ Viso, and others is amazing. Whether you’ve got a ticket for practice, a bronze badge, or a media credential (and I’ve done all three in my time at Indy), you aren’t going to leave without getting to interact with drivers if you want to. My daughter was able to see all her favorites this month, and that’s pretty special, I think.

12) I really thought at several points during the month Carlos Muñoz would have a rookie “moment” and lose it in the turn. His line was a bit iffy at points leading up to the race, but he certainly proved himself amply this past Sunday. He was patient when he needed to be patient, aggressive when he could be aggressive, and looked like a veteran for 200 laps. He has a bright future in INDYCAR, I think.

13) For the record, Muñoz still has a 27-point title lead in Firestone Indy Lights after last Friday’s Freedom 100, though Peter Dempsey did a nice job of jumping to P2 after his insanely exciting, last-second victory. We won’t see Lights again until the Milwaukee Mile in a few weeks, but I am really excited to see how Muñoz and Dempsey mix it up with guys like Sage Karam and Gaby Chaves the rest of this season. I truly believe all of them are or will eventually be next-level talents.

14) Keeping with Mazda Road to Indy news for a moment, congrats to Neil Alberico and Matthew Brabham for their Night Before The 500 victories. Matty Brabs is opening up a big lead in Star Mazda competition, while Alberico (and all his peers) have plenty of work to do to erase Scott Hargrove’s still-demanding lead in USF2000. Also, it’s great to see “The Viking” Anders Krohn back in an open wheel car again, even though I’d much prefer it be a Firestone Indy Lights program (or even a shot in the big cars).

15) I want to give a huge thanks to my fellow blogger and social media fan types for a great month. Seriously, most of us exist in a wasteland of racing conversation for 11 months out of the year in our homes and workplaces. Talking shop and racing, without any of the meta angst, was hugely enjoyable. It’s great to see people writing and participating not because they want some form of micro-celebrity or recognition, but for the simple, pure love of INDYCAR and the 500. To the crowd watching quals from the inside of Turn 1, that was the best. BSing over the 500 and trying to guess what drivers will do on their qual runs beats just about anything else.

16) Huge cheers to Ana Beatriz; she fought through some tough portions of the race to be Sunday’s biggest mover on the day and net her all-time best finish at Indy. +14 positions in a race like that is nothing to sneeze at.

17) I largely avoided the idiocy of the knee-jerk calls for Green-White-Checkered finishes after Sunday, but I’ll just say this: there is almost nothing that would make me stop following INDYCAR. Incorporating the G-W-C would very likely do the trick.

18) Moving on from that unpleasantness, getting to see a team throw together a last-minute effort as Lazier Partners Racing did was really cool. I sincerely hope that the Lazier crew makes Indy an annual obligation—and I’d love to see them get something together for Texas or Pocono later this season. It figured they’d have mechanical issues with as little time as they had with the car, but I still came away impressed overall. Let’s see what they can do with a proper ramp-up.

19) A.J. Allmendinger is not only one heck of a driver (and probably the 500 Rookie of the Year in just about any other year), but he’s funny, occasionally self-deprecating, and a fun addition to the lineup. If he keeps adding races, I think he can finish Top 20 in points, even if he misses a couple of rounds. For now, I’m looking forward to what he can do at Detroit. He definitely belongs in open wheel racing.

20) Overheard in the camping lot this past weekend: “It’s our first 500! We have great seats—all the way at the bottom” (they were sitting in a turn). It’s an experience thing. If your regular bill of fare is baseball and football games, that probably seems like a good deal. They probably figured it out in pretty short order when the green flag flew.

21) How disappointing was JR Hildebrand’s early out? I really thought this might be a big year, a resurgent year, for Panther Racing, but both Hildebrand and Townsend Bell ran into issues that ruined their race. For Hildebrand, leading at the white flag in 2011 seems pretty far removed right now. I hope he grabs a good result in the next few races. The series would benefit from him going on a nice, competitive run.

22) I really think Simon Pagenaud is getting back to the form that wowed so many of us last year when he was a rookie. Since St. Pete, we’ve seen all Top 10s, but after last year, I think we all expect a podium or two by this point in the season. There’s still plenty of racing to be had, though, and I still think we’ll see plenty of good things from him on ovals and street courses alike.

23) IMS should have a chili dog stand inside the grounds. A dedicated chili dog stand, where the focus is just chili dogs. Tenderloins and soft pretzels have their place, but I think a specialty hot dog/chili dog vendor would be aces.

24) Being a fan is cool. Being creepy and following a driver or drivers around to excess is not. I saw several examples of the latter this month. There will always be creeps, be it at IMS or elsewhere. Courtesy is a great thing, as is not obsessing over a driver to the point of discomfort. Some fans just don’t get it.

25) Looking back at the month, it isn’t just one thing that really makes the month special. It’s the accessibility of drivers like EJ Viso and Pippa Mann, who don’t have to be as friendly and pleasant as they are, especially when they’re under pressure, but do it anyway. It’s getting to listen to Bobby Unser turn a question about the weather into a 30-minute monologue about the 1970s. It’s getting to hang out with my buddies old and new, who spend every minute at the track that they can because they get it. It’s getting to see little sneak peeks of what we can expect with Turbo. It’s the first and last pork tenderloins of the month (ok, and all the tenderloins in the middle). It’s seeing the fans’ champion, Tony Kanaan, finally get it done. It’s Peter Dempsey and Belardi, Alex Tagliani and Team Barracuda. It’s sharing what you love with others. It’s tuning out the bad for the good kind. It’s knowing that we just went through another 500, and know even a bit more now of what Indy means to each of us.

Is it (next) May yet?

Kanaan Wins One For The Ages

2013-05-27T09:46:00.001-04:00

If you're anything like me, you woke up this morning tired, a bit sunburned, sore, but still euphoric over what we witnessed yesterday.

I wrote the other day about always having hope at Indy. Every generation at the Speedway has a driver the crowd is always hopeful will win. There's Lloyd Ruby, who ran so well in the 60s and 70s, only to never take the checkered flag. In the 80s and 90s, it was Michael Andretti, who came agonizingly close, only to ultimately be denied, despite getting so close. There have been others, for other generations, from Ted Horn and Rex Mays in the 30s and 40s, to members of the Bettenhausen family, fans can mark many who never got that lucky breaak.

For many in my generation, until yesterday, that same descriptor applied to Tony Kanaan. He led in eight different 500s before this race, but never had either the car, strategy, or plain luck to win. At 38 years of age, on a team that had not won in the current incarnation of this open wheel series, the window appeared to be closing on Kanaan.

Yet, on a day where the old record for lead changes was obliterated, where drivers like Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, A.J. Allmendinger, and Carlos Munoz all seemingly had cars to win, Tony Kanaan took the lead at the end, when it mattered. In prior years, you get the sense he'd have been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time by the last caution flag. But his fate was different this time around.

The fans? They've always loved Kanaan, and he routinely gets the biggest cheers in pre-race introductions. This year was no different, and after the race, many more than usual stuck around for the post-race celebration. It was as popular a win as we've seen, and it went to a driver that has shown so much love and effort towards Indy. TK said when interviewed after the race that it was "for the fans", and that certainly seemed to bear out in their reactions. At long last, the hard-luck guy they'd cheered so hard for gained his place on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

Today, Tony Kanaan will do countless interviews, take tons of publicity photos, and probably pinch himself quite a few times to assure himself it wasn't a dream. One also has to suspect that a great many "Greatest 33" lists pertaining to Indianapolis drivers have been updated after yesterday. It was a 500 to remember, not just for the closeness of the racing, but for the 500 champion it created.

Indy 500 Morning Thoughts

2013-05-26T04:51:00.000-04:00

The radar forecast has, as always, been of more concern to me the past week than in the other 51 weeks of the year combined. We were told it might rain during the race, it might not, we could be hit with a deluge in the morning, or a pop-up shower in the afternoon. Even now, I'm not fully sure what the day holds. If it rains, well, Indy has been hit with rain before on race day, and will again. We'll get through it.

Rain or shine, this has been another amazing month at Indianapolis. I don't think I could ever feel less than privileged to spend time here, and I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had. When I started my site just a few years ago, I never would have thought I'd be able to interview drivers, walk the pits, or get even a hint of what goes on behind the scenes. There's not a day goes by that I don't love being out here.

Going back even further, before IndyCar Advocate began, and I was just a homesick new dad deployed overseas, missing his family and home very much, there were times when it seemed like I'd never make it back here, that I'd never see this place again. There were Memorial Day weekends spend trying to follow the race on Armed Forces television, with a reception that was more snow than race.

So why am I spilling my guts on race morning? Perhaps because this is a weekend to think about those who didn't make it home, who didn't get to live out a dream. Perhaps it's simply because I continue to be able to do something I love, and I immensely mindful of that this morning. Perhaps it's because it's very easy to see those who have forgotten just a bit of what makes this special, and how fortunate we are to do what we do. I thank all of you for giving me a chance to follow this dream by reading what I write, and allowing me to share in turn with you.

This is the best time of the day at Indy. The incredible cacophony from the night before has quieted down, and there's just the early morning expectancy, of the dark slowly fading into the first few colors of light, and the Pagoda, standing as a beacon for all race fans. It's a time of hope, a hope that renews every race morning every year, no matter how often our favorite hits the Turn 4 wall, no matter how many times the guy who really loves this place falls just short, or the race doesn't go just as we'd hoped.

I know sometimes that my IndyCar thoughts are seen as overly optimistic, or always glass half full, but there's a very good reason for that. I genuinely love every minute of this. I can't fathom being a part of a culture of negativity. And just like race mornings, there's always hope. Even when there's the threat of rain on race day, you can complain and shake your fist at the clouds, or you can grab an umbrella and go out to enjoy what you love.

That probably seems a bit short of profound, and I'll admit, profundity is probably a skill in which I am easily surpassed. But really, I think my advice for today, or any race day, is this: you only get so many Indy 500s, and so many IndyCar races. Spend them appreciating what you have, and the fact that an awful lot of people never got the chance to be in your seat, whether it's in J-Stand, Tower Terrace, or on the sofa at home.

IndyCar is the best racing on the planet right now. We've had an incredible season, and whether or not your favorite driver wins, all signs point to another great race today. However it unfolds, from a brand-new champion to even a rain delay, I'll be grateful, honored, and thrilled to spend another Memorial Day Weekend at the Greatest Race Course in the World.

Now, stay tuned for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing...

My Daughter's Take: Indy 500 Preview

2013-05-25T07:22:00.000-04:00

My 8 year-old daughter Saris is a budding IndyCar fan, and earlier, she provided us with her INDYCAR season preview. Today, we share another Q&A, in which she shares her thoughts on this year's Indy 500.

OK, Saris, it's close to bedtime while we're writing this, so let's make it quick. What was the biggest surprise for you on either Pole Day or Bump Day?

Saris: No Hondas in the Top 9. I thought we would see one.

Did you expect to see Sato leading the championship race coming into Indy?

Saris: If Sato wins the championship, it will have to be a family holiday! I didn't expect him to see him leading the points, because he had never won a race in IndyCar coming into this season.

Can he win Indy this year?

Saris: I'd hope so.

What about the Honda engines?

Saris: That's not as important as pit crew and not crashing.

Which driver winning would get the biggest cheers in our house?

Saris: Well, Lilly and I want Pippa. Mommy wants Will Power to win, because she has a driver crush and everybody knows it.

Yeah, we covered that last time. Your brother would want Scott Dixon, I suppose.

Saris: Very true.

What was the best part of going to the track this year for you?

Saris: Seeing all the drivers, like JR Hildebrand and Josef Newgarden.

What's the best-looking car in this year's 500?

Saris: I really like the Turbo car that Townsend Bell has!

Me, too. What are the best colors for an Indy 500 car design, if you were sponsoring a car?

Saris: Red, black, and white.

Like Will Power's car, or something different?

Saris: Something different. Like, a different company, with red, blue, black, and white.

You have totally lost me. Are you adding colors?

Saris: I don't know. I'll have to read what I wrote later.

So what number would you run, and why?

Saris: 24, because I just like that number.

OK, time to make the big prediction. Who will win this race, and why?

Saris: Hinch. He's won twice this year.

Yeah, but street courses are different from ovals.

Saris: Well, I'M SURE HE'S FIGURED THAT OUT.

Har. OK, well, then who's your Super-Secret Underdog Pick?

Saris: Oriol Servia. Or maybe Graham Rahal.

You think Graham can pull it off?

Saris: I think so. He's a Rahal.

What would be your words of advice for all the rookies in this field making their first 500 start?

Saris: Well, besides not crashing, I'd say go fast, have the best pit crew, and finish in front of everyone else.

You make it sound so easy.

Saris: Yes, I do.

Should I tell Roger Penske you're looking for work?

Saris: Maybe, maybe not.

You'd make a heck of a race strategist.

Saris: What's a strategist?

It's someone who figures out how a race should go.

Saris: I knew that.

Is this year's race going to be as good as last year's race?

Saris: I think this year is better, because it's quite a competition! Plus, this year, I know more about what's going on, which helps.

Anything you want to say to the fans or drivers before we close this out?

Saris: For the fans, yell loud! For the drivers, behave and watch your mouth on the radio.

Good advice. I'm sure one of those groups will follow it. Enjoy the race, daughter!

Saris: I'm serious. Those drivers better follow it, or they've got something coming.

OK, Mini-Barfield. We're done here.

Carb Day Update: Amazing Finish, Carb Day Woes

2013-05-24T14:33:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Carb Day, where I just witnessed the most exciting finish in Firestone Indy Lights history. That's not hyperbole. Coming from fourth place on the last lap, Ireland's Peter Dempsey of Belardi Auto Racing joined a 4-wide melee that also included Sage Karam, Carlos Munoz, and Gaby Chaves. It looked as if Chaves had it, but Dempsey--in what would be the closest finish in Lights history--won by a mere .002 of second.

In the most high-profile race of the year, Firestone Indy Lights came through, in a huge way. And it was so fitting that Peter Demspey should win the race. Few drivers have had the stamina to go through as much career drama as Dempsey has, moving from team to team, subsisting on part-time deals and "almosts" for a long time. When it counted, however, he made the run, and it's one that will be replayed and featured countless time by racing fans. The fans here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway absolutely loved it, I can tell you that. Also, congrats to the Lights drivers for giving us a very clean race.

Earlier today, Simon Pagenaud grabbed the fastest Carb Day speed, with a nice mix of Chevys and Hondas at the top. As always, it's smart not to read too much into practice speed--we'll see who has it for the long run on Sunday.

What is noteworthy, however, were two separate incidents earlier, which involved Ana Beatriz and Ryan Briscoe, respectively. Bia suffered minor damage to her car's front wing in an incident at pit entry. We grabbed a shot of her damage wing being walked back to the garage. As you can see, it wasn't anything too bad:

(Courtesy E. Bishop)

More severe, however, was Ryan Briscoe's car having a fire and engine failure just before the end of the practice session. Better now than race day, of course. We grabbed a shot of it being carried back to the garage on the wrecker:

(Courtesy E. Bishop)

The cars have been taken back to Gasoline Alley, quiet now until Sunday is here. Here's a shot of James Jakes' car heading back to the garage:

(Courtesy E. Bishop)

Buddy Lazier's car was already being worked on by the time we made it back:

(Courtesy E. Bishop)

Speaking of, if you missed it, be sure check out my interview with Lazier that was featured this morning.

That's it from Carb Day for now, but there will be plenty more to come this weekend. The sun is shining in Indy, the weather perfect, and everything seems to be leading up to another great Indy 500.

For Lazier, Not Just Another Indy Start

2013-05-24T07:08:00.000-04:00

Starting from Row 11 on Sunday, 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier won't be content to stay there, if he has anything to say about it.

"Of course, you're in it to win it always when you race," affirmed Lazier while surrounded by members of the press during the Indy 500's Media Day. "There have been so many times here where we coulda-woulda-shoulda won it, finishing second twice. I'll know right away if I've got that kind of car."

It's a story that begun back in 1989, when Lazier tried to qualify for his first Indy 500. It will see another chapter written this weekend, as the 45 year-old driver makes his return to a race he last competed in back in 2008. This start, his 17th at Indy, will give him an appearance or attempt at the 500 in four different decades, a rare feat shared only by a handful of drivers with names such as A.J. Foyt (who drove in 5 different decades), Mario Andretti, Gordon Johncock, and Gary Bettenhausen. Despite the variations and changes in racing during that time frame, Lazier was very complimentary towards the current DW12 chassis.

Lazier will start his 17th Indy 500 on Sunday from P32.
Courtesy IndyCar Media. Photo by Chris Jones.

"I love it," Lazier enthused. "It reminds me, actually, of the Lola/Reynard era, which was a good one for me. I think that sort of helped me adapt. There's still a lot of weight--a lot of rear weight in this car, so that's sort of an engineering conundrum we're still trying to solve."

Still, it isn't just longevity that Lazier is after on Sunday. It's speed, too. The program he built with his father Bob (an accomplished racer in his own day), Lazier Partners Racing, will be sporting Chevy power under the cowling of their #91 Advance Auto Parts machine.

"Every time we've attacked the car to find a little more speed, it's come up," said Lazier. "It's a great car."

Lazier also feels fortunate to have Chevy power, admitting going with the Bowtie brand has been a plus.

"No question about it, I've been as fortunate as can be to have Chevy," Lazier confirmed. "Nothing against Honda--they're both great motors, but I've been incredibly happy with my motor, for sure. It's incredible what it'll do. The last time we had turbochargers, you'd get maximum boost at the end of the straightaway, then it would hiss in your ear and you'd have to adjust your wastegastes manually. Now, it's automatically adjusting, so you've got the max everywhere."

Pleased as he is, Lazier also knows that things don't always go a driver or team's way at Indianapolis.

"When it comes to this place, the cream of the cars will always rise to the front," stated Lazier. "If we've hit it right on setup, we'll go to the front. If not, I'll make the best of it."

Lazier will have a new livery for the 500.
Design: Daniele Sanfilippo

In most eyes, Lazier has done enough to make his 500 legacy secure. But after failing to qualify in his last attempt at Indy in 2009, he knew that's not how he wanted to leave things.

"I never felt comfortable with where we left it," admitted Lazier. "I was very unhappy with the way it was left. You can imagine, if it haunts me having a car that should have won that didn't win, how it haunts you when you have a car that just wasn't fast enough.

The way we left it, it had been eating at me, for sure. It felt good to come back--but added a lot of pressure to really only have one day of practice. We had to get a lot done in short amount of time, so that goes into it. We really only had two weeks' notice, and had to act fast just to get everything assembled. Now, that's behind us, and we're looking ahead, and hopefully using experience to get where we want to be."

He also confirmed Lazier Partners Racing was working to make their entry at Indianapolis an annual one, which could mean more opportunities for Buddy Lazier to return to the Indianapolis 500 in the years to come.

Your Questions Answered: Carb Day's Firestone Freedom 100

2013-05-23T07:44:00.000-04:00

If you're headed out to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Carb Day and aren't a big fan of the band Poison, you may be headed out to catch the Firestone Freedom 100. I thought we could answer a few prospective questions folks might have about the event:

So why is this race worth watching?

Because it is, to put it succinctly, alternately terrifying and thrilling. I usually have to watch through my fingers during some portions. Not all of the Lights drivers are overly familiar with terms like "restraint", "normal racing line", or "patience". That's not to say it's some bloody demolition derby (always), but it is an aggressive, wild race of 40 laps. When people talk about drivers "just going for it", they're talking about the kind of knife fight as we'll see Friday.

But I don't normally follow Firestone Indy Lights too closely.

Doesn't matter. This is a great tune-up for the Indy 500, my amigo/a. These cars still put on a heck of a show, and it's more a refresher/appetizer than it is a longer-style race. If the 500 is a steak dinner at an Americana restaurant chain, this is the mozzarella cheese sticks sampler beforehand. We're talking no pitting for fuel, speeds of over 190 mph--still faster than NASCAR on this same track. If you're going to watch a Lights race, this is the one.

But I've been ensured this year's Firestone Indy Lights field is dismal and possibly carcinogenic by no less than five internet experts!

It's true, there aren't a lot of entries this year, but there are a lot of really interesting drivers with some real talent. I hate to do the whole quality/quantity thing, but a nice number of the full-time Lights drivers this year have at least the potential to develop into solid drivers at the next level.

Oh yeah? Name some.

There's Lights rookie Sage Karam, a young American who's excellent on ovals and jumped to Sam Schmidt Motorsports' program after time in the Andretti ladder system. There's also British driver Jack Hawksworth, who is usually as smooth as they come (though he's still getting his oval legs under him). Ireland's Peter Dempsey is a very well-regarded prospect, as is Colombian-American driver Gaby Chaves. Perhaps most notable is Carlos Munoz, who you will also see in the front row of this weekend's Indy 500. As one of Andretti's Firestone Indy Lights drivers, he's pulling double-duty at IMS this month.

Any current/recent IndyCar drivers ever win the 100?

Oh yes. Ed Carpenter, Wade Cunningham (3 times!), and Josef Newgarden all won this race in their time. Plus, we just mentioned Carlos Munoz, a current driver racing in both the big and little IMS race this month. Plenty of other current IndyCar drivers also took their turn racing in this event, too, including Pippa Mann, who won the the pole for the race back in 2010.

So, how do they qualify?

These qualify the day before the Freedom 100 (today, if you're reading this Thursday), and it's based on two laps of qualifying, not four like the Indy 500. If you're heading out to the track today, Lights quals should start at 1:15pm local.

OK, I'm a local Indy-type person. Give me a good story to follow for the race.

Here's one: Kyle O'Gara. Sarah Fisher's young brother-in-law is a Roncalli High School student who usually runs USAC midgets. He's competing in this year's Freedom 100, and all of his classmates will get to see him race, courtesy of sponsor SportsEvents.com.

Away with your human interest angle, you softie! I want to make a winning bet here!

My prediction is either Munoz or Karam to pull out the win, but the race usually sees some early carnage that changes everything. I wouldn't bet on the Firestone 100 with a wooden nickel; it's that unpredictable, usually.

Am I allowed to punch that obnoxious hipster in the faux-white trash outfit slamming back PBRs square in his stupid face?

You'd better not. You'll be outnumbered pretty heavily. Just realize that there are some, ahem, "non-traditional" fans in attendance on Carb Day. Just grin and bear it--the Firestone Freedom 100 is usually well worth the hassle, and with the seating pretty open, you can always migrate to a better vantage point.

Indy 500 Field Preview: Rows 6-11

2013-05-22T07:33:00.000-04:00

Today marks the second installment of a preview of this year’s starting 33 drivers for the Indianapolis 500. If you missed yesterday’s preview, which covered Rows 1-5, you can find it here.

Row 6
16) Scott Dixon, #9, Target Chip Ganassi Racing
It doesn’t matter if the Ganassi cars qualify in Row 1, Row 6, or Row 10; they still have to be accounted for on race day. While the Hondas seem to lack the raw power of the Chevy camp this year, Scott Dixon is one of the all-time best at Indianapolis, and can never be counted out. As always, he should run well, run smart, and could very easily take his string of Top 6 Indy 500 finishes into its eighth year. Qualifying positions are nice and all, but the Ganassi garage knows how to make a car balanced, quick, and sustainable in race trim. The 2008 winner should again be a contender up front again this year.

17) Dario Franchitti, #10, Target Chip Ganassi Racing
While some fans grumbled of “winner fatigue” after the now three-time 500 winner won again last year, there’s no doubting Franchitti is simply on another level when it comes to Indy. Like his teammate Dixon, it would be folly to think he couldn’t win, regardless of what we’ve seen from Chevy or Honda so far this month. We should expect him towards the front on race day in relatively short order. If he does win his fourth 500 this Sunday, it will be very interesting to see how the crowd reacts. It’s also interesting to note he’s starting next to Sato, whom he battled on the infamous last lap of last year’s race. It could be a wild start in Row 6.

18) Takuma Sato, #14, AJ Foyt Enterprises
Everyone, and I mean everyone, with even a tangential interest in IndyCar and the Indy 500, has seen the last-lap crash as Sato attempted to push past Dario Franchitti to win the 500 last year. It was a gutsy, ill-starred move, the kind we’ve come to expect from Sato. This year, however, rather than crash out, Taku has the Foyt team leading the series in points heading into Indianapolis. Sato is still a very aggressive driver, which can mean a feast-or-famine outcome at IMS. He’s driven smarter this year overall, though, and I think everyone is essentially just waiting to see if he can duplicate his late-race fireworks again this year, only with a happier outcome. Of all the Honda entries, Sato may well be the biggest wild card in terms of just what he’ll do. If he leaves Indy with a good finish and the season points lead still intact, it will be huge.

Row 7
19) Charlie Kimball, #83, Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
Kimball is the quiet Everyman of IndyCar, seemingly sneaking in for a Top 10 or even podium here and there. Despite driving for Ganassi, he rarely gets mentioned as being seriously in contention, even as he’s cracked the Top 10 in points so far this season. We’ll have to wait and see what the team and engine brings for race day, but Kimball did finish P8 in last year’s race. If he ninjas the field and ends up with a Top 5 finish, don’t say you weren't warned.

20) James Jakes, #16, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
It appeared as if Jakes was struggling along with the rest of the RLLR on Pole Day, when he busted off a late run that turned out to be more than enough to make it into the field. Jakes had a competent, mid-pack finish last year after missing the 2011 race, but it’s tough to know just what to expect from one of IndyCar’s less-known drivers this weekend (forgive me, Jakesy Nation). He’s raced reasonably well not only at Indy, but also Fontana and Texas, so a result just outside the Top 10 (or perhaps just sneaking in) is not too remote a possibility. With the chaotic month RLLR has had, nothing would really surprise me here.

21) Simon Pagenaud, #77, Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports
Pags may have had a superb rookie season, but this year hasn’t been one to remember thus far. We’ve seen him run well on big ovals before, and he should have a chance at a positive result come this Sunday. I’d expect him to not be overly aggressive, run a smart race, and take what opportunities he can to move up. It might be easy to overlook Pags given the amount of oval talent on display in this field, but that should not be the case. He’s very capable of having a great day at IMS this weekend.

Row 8
22) Townsend Bell, #60, Panther Racing
Bell has been fortunate enough to drive the Sunoco “Turbo” car this month, which is at least in the conversation for the very best livery out there. Appearances don’t count for much once the race starts, but fortunately Bell has looked pretty quick all month. The Pole Day time withdrawal/re-qualification silliness behind him, Bell would seem to be in a great position to grab another Top 10 result at Indianapolis.

23) Ryan Briscoe, #8, Chip Ganassi Racing
Last year’s Indy 500 polesitter has had an awful lot happen since then. He was released from Penske Racing after the season, didn’t find a full-time IndyCar driving gig that worked for him, and finally agreed to a one-off deal for Indianapolis. Briscoe didn’t qualify particularly well, but he has plenty of experience at Indy, and that and keeping patient counts for much more on race day. It’d be a great story if Briscoe could storm back and win Indy this year, even if that looks like a somewhat longer bet right now compared to last season.

24) Simona de Silvestro, #78, KV Racing Technology
A year after the Great Lotus Crisis of 2012 saw Simona run a handful of slow laps before retiring from the race, the Iron Maiden is back, this time with a competitive car and a team that should be at least solid for the 500. It has to feel much better for de Silvestro, who’s had a brutal time of it at it after winning Rookie of the Year honors back in 2010. De Silvestro’s never been considered a prime oval racer, but she could creep up a few positions over the course of the race. Something around a Top 10 for her here would be nothing short of excellent, and a great bit of redemption, to boot.

Row 9
25) Josef Newgarden, #21, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
Newgarden simply ran out of time on Pole Day to qualify, but the team has been one of the more impressive Honda teams this month, despite being a smaller one-car effort. Newgarden was extremely fast in practice and qualifications in his rookie 500 last year, but the team ran into all manner of mechanical race day woes. Last season, it was a P25 result after starting P7. This year, starting P25, can they manage a P7 or better? Newgarden and SFHR have the ability to run well here, and have to be counted as not only a sort of Honda bellwether, but one of the more intriguing entries in the back half of the field.

26) Graham Rahal, #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Rahal’s month was absolutely brutal, as for most of the month the Rahal Letterman Lanigan crew simply could not find speed. The crew was able to make it happen on Bump Day at over 225 mph, and now they can worry about race setup. The last time Graham started towards the back at Indy was 2011 (P30) and he finished third, so it isn’t as if he can’t make the charge forward on race day. After a rough month, Rahal knows that what really matters is getting it right when the flag drops Sunday. He's still very much in the race day conversation.

27) Sebastian Saavedra, #6, Dragon Racing
Saavedra will be making his third Indy 500 start Sunday, though neither previous start was exactly sparkling in nature. Saavedra has Chevy power behind him, but seemed a bit up-and-down this month, culminating in a Bump Day practice moment that almost took out polesitter Ed Carpenter. Dragon Racing hasn’t had a particularly good year, so improving on his previous finishes and moving up as he can without incident would indicate nice progress for driver and team alike.

Row 10
28) Tristan Vautier, #55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
The likable rookie didn’t look fully at-ease during his first time in the big cars at Indy, and perhaps that’s good; you never want drivers to be too “comfortable” with things. Vautier managed to keep things green all month through qualifications, and finishing the race likewise has to be a main goal. Folks expect big things from Vautier as he gains experience; a respectable, confident finish at Indianapolis would be an excellent next chapter in his story.

29) Ana Beatriz, #18, Dale Coyne Racing
Leading up to qualifications, Beatriz was relatively slow on the speed charts, and did seem happy or comfortable with where her cars was. By the time qualifications came around, however, she was able to find plenty of speed to qualify comfortably—and probably had a bit more, had she needed it. In her three previous 500s, she’s never finished higher than P21, so it might be a bit much to expect anything at the front of the pack this year.

30) Pippa Mann, #63, Dale Coyne Racing
Mann made her debut in the DW12 car on INDYCAR’s biggest stage in Indianapolis, and acquitted herself nicely, having no real issues during the month. Like her teammate Bia, you got the sense that there was a bit more speed in the car if it came down to that. Mann’s rookie 500 odyssey two years ago ended with her finishing P20 (+11 spots on the day) with a broken hydration system; she’ll look to improve on that this time around. Folks have questioned just how competitive the 2nd and 3rd Coyne entries can be; Mann and Beatriz will help answer that Sunday.

Row 11
31) Conor Daly, #41 AJ Foyt Enterprises
After a rookie May that included a nasty accident, plus engine swap following an aborted qualifying run, the Noblesville, Indiana hometown kid managed to find speed on Bump Day and put his car into the field. Daly seemed a bit shaky at points during the month, and that’s understandable; Indy can bite hard. With all that behind him, he’ll look to stay out of trouble and turn his first 500 experience into a more positive one. Daly has plenty of talent and is an easy guy to cheer for; let’s hope his race day is clean and clear.

32) Buddy Lazier, #91, Lazier Partners Racing
A sizable number of individuals figured the 1996 Indy 500 winner would be the odd man out come Bump Day, given the fact his team had no backup car, a last-minute deal, and not a lot of support network. Yet the Lazier crew, bringing together a mix of Hemelgarn and Conquest crew, managed to make the show, and seemed to have more speed had they needed it. (Having Chevy power was certainly a boon, as well). It’s easy to speculate perhaps Lazier’s car won’t stand up to the rigors of 500 miles, but historically, Buddy’s been pretty good about moving up from the back of the field over his long career at Indianapolis. A Top 15 finish or higher for this team would be a big feather in the hat, and a nice story to round out the month.

33) Katherine Legge, #81, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
A last-minute addition to the 500 field, Legge was able to qualify with minimal laps in the car, getting up to speed very quickly on Bump Day. Making her second 500 start, even Legge has few pretensions about her chances of winning, stating after Bump Day that a Top 10 would be a pretty great scenario for this entry. She raced well at Fontana in last year’s finale, and she should at least be able to move up a few spots if her equipment is serviceable.

Indy 500 Field Preview: Rows 1-5

2013-05-21T07:32:00.000-04:00

Today marks the first part of a two-part preview of this year’s field for the Indianapolis 500. Let's start by taking a look at all the drivers in Rows 1-5. Tomorrow, we’ll take a crack at previewing Rows 6-11. Here are your first 15 qualifying positions for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500:

Row 1
1) Ed Carpenter, #20, Ed Carpenter Racing
We’ve seen small teams win pole position at Indianapolis before, such as Sam Schmidt’s crew with Alex Tagliani in 2011. However, Ed Carpenter’s crew has every reason to believe that their storybook month will not end there. Carpenter won the most recent IndyCar oval race (Fontana, in last year’s finale), and he was in contention for the win at Indy before a late incident last year. While his overall Indy stats might not look legendary, he’s run especially well here overall in recent years, and this team is built to win on ovals. There’s no guarantee Carpenter drinks the milk Sunday, but his performance this month is anything but a fluke.

2) Carlos Muñoz, #26, Andretti Autosport
The young Colombian driver was fast out of the box this month, but also ran aggressively and had a few close calls that could have made his first Month of May experience much less pleasurable. The trick will be to see if Muñoz can temper his raw speed with patience and good decision-making to ensure he hangs around for the final stages of the race. As the only driver doing both the 500 and the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 race, Muñoz has had no shortage of track time at 16th and Georgetown this month. May couldn’t have gone much better for Carlos so far; we’ll see if he can finish strong and add a 500 Rookie of the Year trophy to his case.

3) Marco Andretti, #25, Andretti Autosport
Despite the bugaboo of the “Andretti Curse”, Marco has been a popular pick to finally get his Indy 500 victory and turn around the family fortunes at this track. And why not? He’s raced extremely well this year, been fast all month at Indy, and has Chevy power behind him. Perhaps most importantly, though, is the fact that the Marco we’ve encountered this month seems more level and accepting of where he is. It seems to be a different mental outlook for Andretti, and at a track where’s he’s been so close to victory, that could make all the difference. Anyone spending five minutes with Marco can tell how much he wants this, and he should have every chance to make it happen.

A New Marco This Month?
Photo: Mark Reed.
Courtesy IndyCar Media

Row 2
4) E.J. Viso, #5, Andretti Autosport/HVM
Viso’s had an excellent year since moving to the Andretti Autosport stable, and this month has been no exception. The maturation process that picked up a few years ago seems to be reaching the next level. While there are those that still base their expectations of him on what he did three or four years ago, that’s not the same driver that’s starting inside Row 2 on Sunday. This will mark Viso’s best starting position at Indy; last year’s P9 start yielded P18 (his best 500 finish). Indy hasn’t been one of his better tracks, but he’s got every advantage to turn that around this year. Can Viso shake some of his remaining naysayers? We’ll soon have our answer.

5) AJ Allmendinger, #2, Team Penske
Dinger has been absolutely impressive in his first go-around at Indianapolis, as the NASCAR and open wheel veteran was a threat for the pole from seemingly the get-go. Then again, getting to make your rookie Indy debut with Team Penske can do a lot to smooth your path. Penske ride or no, the fact remains AJ is a very talented racer in just about anything he drives, and he should be lots of fun to watch this weekend. A Top 5 result is definitely not out of the question.

6) Will Power, #12, Team Penske
This is an important race for Will Power, if he wants any chance of jumping back into the IZOD IndyCar Series title hunt. In a tie for P18 in points, Will needs to get back to his 2009-2010 finishes (average P6.5) instead of 2011-2012 (average P21). Power had a slight brush with the wall on Bump Day, but that shouldn’t have any impact on race day for him. Will was the fastest entrant for a good portion of the month, but as always, we’ll have to see how that translates into sustained race pace.

Row 3
7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, #1, Andretti Autosport
Much like his 2012 title rival Will Power, Hunter-Reay has had an up-and-down history at Indianapolis. Since finishing P6 as a rookie, he’s finished no better than P18 in his next four attempts. Still, Hunter-Reay showed not only speed, but plenty of patience on ovals post-Indy last season, and he’s developed into one of the best all-around racers in the series. If RHR can channel some of the patience and decision-making he showing in the second half of last year, he should be in much better shape late in this year’s 500.

8) Helio Castroneves, #3, Team Penske
We come to the first of our Indy 500 champs in this field, with Castroneves looking to become only the fourth driver to win the 500 four times. Helio didn’t blow us away with raw speed this month, the way he has in some previous years at Indy, but he’s been consistently quick and has had no shortage of time to work on some extended race runs. As much as fans love an underdog and/or new winner, it’s hard to imagine another victory by Helio being met with much unhappiness from the fans. Let’s not forget, he’s also in a very close battle for his first-ever INDYCAR season championship, and there’s no reason to think he couldn’t pick up some big points here.

9) James Hinchcliffe, #27, Andretti Autosport
Hinch couldn’t quite match last year’s thrilling qualifying effort, but the Mayor once again found himself in the Fast 9 at Indianapolis. Hinch has two victories this year, but also has two DNFs through the early street/road portion of the schedule. Hinch finished P6 at Indy last year, and is part of a robust Andretti team that can boast any number of contenders. A Hinch win would probably mean plenty of GoDaddy-fueled publicity, and would also so be an immensely popular win with fans. He might not be quite the plurality pick to win that Marco is, but he certainly can't be discounted, either.

Row 4
10) JR Hildebrand, #4, Panther Racing
What a strange couple of years for Hildebrand at Indianapolis! He comes within a quarter-mile of winning the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, only to see the much-vaunted Panther team qualify mid-pack and finish a quiet P14 on the day. Panther has been so excellent at Indy for so long, it was strange to see them struggle a bit, even if 2012 did mean a new car to develop. Still, the team looks fully on-target this year, just missing out on the Fast 9 and looking very sharp throughout the Month of May so far. Hildebrand could very well have a very good day in his third 500.

11) Alex Tagliani, #98, Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian
Tag definitely knows how to qualify in a hurry at Indy, and he does in fact represent the fastest Honda driver in this year’s field. Team Barracuda-BHA seemed pretty focused on getting race setup down solid, and a nice result here should definitely perk up a season that’s been disappointing for a team that was so quick in the second half of last season. Tag has finished between P10-P12 in three of his four races at Indy, so around a Top 10 finish Sunday would very easily in line with his history here.

12) Tony Kanaan, #11, KV Racing Technology
The perpetual Indy fan favorite, Kanaan is firmly into Lloyd Ruby territory at this point in his Indy 500 career. He’s an annual contender who just never quite has the car or the luck to make it happen. While he hopefully still has a nice number of 500 starts ahead of him, the clock is still ticking on getting a victory that would mean so very much to both Kanaan and the IMS fans. Kanaan’s KV machine doesn’t quite seem to have the speed of the Andretti or Penske Chevys, but he knows how to get around the track, and should make it exciting, if nothing else. If TK is battling it out for the lead in the closing laps, expect the Speedway crowd to completely lose it—yet again.

Row 5
13) Oriol Servia, #22, Panther DRR
With Dreyer and Reinbold Racing likely temporarily shuttering their IndyCar operation after the 500, veteran Servia finds his career prospects much as they have been most of his career--up in the air. The team has not let adversity bother them this month, and Servia has looked very solid through practice and qualifications. Servia has finished P6 and P4 in his last two 500s, and has seemed to really find a new level of performance when it comes to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. If he can pull together a win--which is not totally out of the realm of possibility--it would be a wonderful story and building block for a long-time team and great driver that have had some bad breaks.

14) Justin Wilson, #19, Dale Coyne Racing
Wilson has shown a proclivity for doing well on big ovals in the DW12 car. He won last year in a stunner at Texas, but even more relevant to this week's discussion, he finished a strong P7 in last year's Indy 500. A top-notch driver who gets the best out of his equipment, Wilson is more than capable of another prime run in this year's race. When the car makes the driver truly drive, that's when he's at his best. Consider him a dark horse to make things quite interesting in the final few laps, but he should at least have a good opportunity for another good Indy result.

15) Sebastien Bourdais, #7 Dragon Racing
Every time I passed Bourdais this month, be it in the garages or pits, he had a rather pleased (and occasionally downright happy) expression on his face. While Dragon's season has been dismal thus far, Bourdais qualified pretty well, showed a nice amount of speed in practice, and seems very confident going into Sunday's race. While neither of his prior runs at Indianapolis were anything special, it wouldn't be too shocking to see him moving up over the course of the race come Sunday. If nothing else, the the glare chrome design of his McAfee car could blind his competition, but somehow I don't think he'll need that sort of edge to do well.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of the Indy 500 Field Preview.

Pole Day/Bump Day Notes

2013-05-20T07:43:00.000-04:00

-I was able to spend the entire weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for qualifying, which meant seeing some absolutely tremendous driving and on-track action. Even with the rain delaying matters on Saturday, you couldn't have asked for a much better time. I'll go through and list some of the notes I made on the qualifying weekend that was:

-We have to start with our polesitter, Ed Carpenter. It looked like the first couple of rows would be an all-Penske/Andretti affair, but by staying the course on setup from the morning practice, Carpenter was able to reel off two laps in excess of 229 mph and make it happen. It's a great story, but Ed should again be in contention to win the 500. After Pole Day concluded, he was saying all the right things about ensuring starting P1 didn't ruin the team's focus on that goal. As one of the prime oval drivers in the series over the past few years, Ed definitely has a realistic change at the Borg-Warner next Sunday.

-So what of the rather obvious discrepancy in qualifying speeds between the Chevy and Honda teams? While it's definitely a feather in the hat for Chevy to dominate qualifying in such a definitive manner, things could be completely different once teams get their race setups complete. Stability, sustained speed, and plenty of opportunities to pass mean we could very well see a Honda win, just as much as a Chevy. That said, those first 3-4 rows certainly look formidable right now, don't they?

-Perhaps my favorite row of the race has to be Row 6. That's Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and Takuma Sato starting next to one another. That could be a very interesting first few laps, couldn't it?

-I'm still scratching my head over the Pole Day decision to send Townsend Bell back out for a second attempt after he had already comfortably qualified. That led to a failed attempt, and Bell having to use his third and final attempt to bump himself back in, albeit at the cost of a position from his earlier attempt. I didn't see it coming, and I'm still not sure I get the logic.

-There are so many great stories to cover, but how about Simona de Silvestro back as a Pole Day qualifier? That had to feel really, really good after last year's Lotus crisis. Simona's usually been mid-pack at Indy, but she seemed a bit more comfortable this year when I saw her. I'll be interested to see what her race pace is.

-It was pretty clear on Bump Day that Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden would be solidly in the field. Both teams probably didn't sleep super-well after Pole Day, but honestly, not much was lost in terms of qualifying position for either driver. The 500 is a long race, so whether I qualify 23rd or 25th, I'm probably ok, so long as I get my setup right.

-My goodness, what a long afternoon for Bump Day! It was pretty clear early on Michel Jourdain's car simply didn't have anywhere near the speed needed to challenge even Katherine Legge at just about 223mph. That's the way it goes, sometimes. It did at least afford plenty of practice time, and there was no shortage of craziness as everyone worked on race setup. Watching from the pits, it was a nice preview of the some of the speed we'll see on race day. When you're just yards away from these cars, it reminds you of the speed of Indy. It's an intense feeling.

-Seeing Michel Jourdain in the garages around 3 pm yesterday, he looked pretty dejected. The team simply could not figure out what the deal with his car was, and even Graham Rahal jumping in didn't help. The last row of Daly, Lazier, and Legge looked pretty solid, especially with the baking heat coming down on the track. As it turns out, they were, and Jourdain is left on the outside looking in. What a brutal unfolding of events for a pretty good guy. That's the harsh side of Indy, but also one of the reasons it matters like it does.

-Really, if a car is that far off the mark, as we saw with Jourdain's #17 car, it doesn't matter if Rick Mears jumps in it. A bad engine, tub, or other serious issue can wreck anyone's chances, no matter how strong their driver or program is. Is it something they should have identified earlier in the week, or was there another available option? That's something we probably won't ever fully know.

-I was really impressed with how few incidents we had through the end of Bump Day. With the exception of Conor Daly's moment and Will Power brushing the wall, it was a very clean month. When you consider drivers such as Pippa Mann and Buddy Lazier having no previous DW12 seat experience before this month, and Katherine Legge getting only a few laps in the car this month before qualifying, it becomes even more impressive.

-Speaking of Buddy Lazier, I heard a few folks in person and online disparaging the relatively ragtag appearance of their crew and car at certain points over the weekend. To me, seeing a one-off team grabbing personnel from a few old IndyCar teams to make it happen was absolutely phenomenal. The Lazier entry wasn't the prettiest on track, and they didn't have the polish of Penske, but they had more than enough to make the show--and probably more if they needed it. Appearances don't matter--only results. There's always time to make things pretty after you're in the field. Congratulations to Lazier Partners Racing on getting it done--and picking up that Advance Autoparts sponsorship, to boot.

-The IMS crowd loves Ed Carpenter, loves Tony Kanaan, and loves Marco Andretti. They really like James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Pippa Mann, Simona de Silvestro, and a few others. Helio Castroneves is a rock star.

-Every time I saw Mario Andretti this weekend, even when he was clearly occupied with other duties, he did everything he could to interact with fans, sign autographs, and take pictures as needed. I know it's been said time and again, but it bears repeating: he's an amazing ambassador for this sport.

-So after all that, do I change my pick from Marco Andretti or Ed Carpenter to win the 500? No, I think I'll hold right there. There are plenty of contenders this year for addition to the Borg-Warner trophy, but I think those two are both in a really good spot to get it done.

Your Quick Bump Day Preview

2013-05-18T22:51:00.001-04:00

-The gates open for Armed Forces Bump Day at 7:30 am ET tomorrow, but there first cars will hit the track for practice from 9-10 am. Then, there's a 2-hour wait before spots 25-33 are filled, starting at noon ET and going until 6 pm. It doesn't look like adverse weather will be a factor, happily--the forecast is pretty clear.

-The qualifying order probably won't matter much after the first hour, but it goes as follows (sans T car listings): Lazier, Beatriz, Saavedra, Daly, Jourdain, Rahal, Legge, Vautier, Mann, and Newgarden.

-There are a few different groups of drivers going tomorrow that I'd classify. The first are the drivers I'm not really too worried about. Those would include Josef Newgarden, Graham Rahal, and probably Ana Beatriz and Pippa Mann. I think they all have enough speed to make it happen tomorrow. I think Tristan Vautier is probably here, too, though perhaps not quite so sure a thing.

-The second group would be the remaining Chevy entries of Buddy Lazier and Sebastian Saavedra. Both didn't look stellar on Pole Day, but Chevy seems to have enough power to suggest that barring an accident, both entries should find their way in.

-Conor Daly is in sort of an interesting category. I think he can find enough speed to make the field, but he's also had the "double" in terms of IMS issues this week--first a nasty crash, then all sorts of mechanical issues on his qualifying run. Hopefully, he's still in a good place mentally and can get that car qualified.

-For the last category, there are those that I really have some concerns about. Michel Jourdain, Jr. is the slowpoke of the field right now, and there hasn't been much sign of improvement yet. What will be interesting will be to see how Katherine Legge gets up to speed in the ~~#99~~ #81 car. Simon Pagenaud is safely in, but Vautier hasn't exactly been a lighting it up yet. Where will Legge land on the speed charts, and how quickly can she get up to speed?

-While most eyes will understandably be on Legge tomorrow, there's also the question of Honda-on-Honda violence. Unless Lazier or Saavedra really get in trouble tomorrow, it looks very likely the 33rd position will be filled with a Honda. What happens if it comes down to Legge trying to bump Vautier? I'm not sure, but I bet it's messy.

-If I'm Chevy, I think I'd play with the idea of throwing one more car out there, especially if Jay Howard has last-minute or somesuch. You've won this round; might as well spike the football. Before you say it's too late for that to happen, I suspect we'll have several hours of practice and open track time tomorrow. It could be done, if a team and Chevy wanted it to. I doubt it, but it's fun to throw it out there.

-Speaking of track time, I'd expect everyone to go through once tomorrow, perhaps one or two more 2nd attempts, and then a long wait until later in the afternoon for more qualification attempts. There will be no shortage of cars on track, working on race trim, though!

-Remember, each entry only gets three attempts to bump their way into the field, so after that, it's either so long, or scramble to get the "T" car qualified.

-Right now, I'll go with Lazier, Daly, and Jourdain as my last three in, but all it takes is one bobble out there for everything to change in an instant. Plus, you never know when a team will find that last link they need to put it all together and move up the charts.

Pole Day Morning is the Best

2013-05-18T09:38:00.001-04:00

I wanted to do a quick update before qualifying got under way today. I was feeling a bit under the weather last night, and actually overslept! I couldn't believe it--oversleeping on Pole Day, the best morning of the year!

Yes, I said best morning of the year. As much as I love the entire race day experience for the Indy 500 itself, Pole Day morning holds a special place in my heart. It means getting in just after the gates open, sitting in the Pagoda Plaza, and just watching the Indianapolis Motor Speedway come to life. It means coffee and a pork tenderloin for breakfast, most years. It means having the sounds of the Gordon Pipers awaken the place as you sit and watch teams rush by, on some mission or another. It means seeing teams finally start to show their hand in morning practice. The expectancy and guessing that goes on all month finally begins to climb towards a resolution that will be played out between today and next Sunday.

It's also a great time to get a wonderful feel for the scope of Indy. Walking up and down pit lane, if you look towards Turn 4, it's partially shrouded by an early morning mist. There's just no track like this one.

I wasn't a total speed demon on the roads this morning, but I made good time, getting through the gates at 6:30am. As I write this, speeds are closing in on the 230mph range, we've just gone yellow for a bit moisture in the area. Most predict we'll have some interruptions today, but likely not a full-fledged deluge.

Of course, if you're talking entries, the speculation today is all about the #99 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry, which we could see for Bump Day tomorrow. Katherine Legge is the most often-mentioned name is conjunction with the ride, and if the funding is there. She's been all over the Schmidt garages, and seems to be the most likely choice. If we do see the #99 car go out at this point, and it isn't Legge, I guess I'd be a bit surprised.

More thoughts to come, but for now, we'll wait for the rain to get out of there and get some Pole Day qualifying action in!

One-Page Pole Day Guide Available

2013-05-18T05:00:00.000-04:00

Once again this year, I've created a simple Pole Day guide, a single-page pdf that cuts out all the confusing and cluttering "T" car entries. Aside from basic driver/team info and actual qualifying order, it also lists each driver's top speed of the month.

You can download it directly here. Have an awesome Pole Day, and let's hope the weather cooperates!

Back Home Again: Indy 500 Qualifications Preview

2013-05-17T07:44:00.000-04:00

It’s Fast Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I should be at the track most of the day today, but before we see just how much some of these teams were sandbagging, I wanted to discuss some of the big and emerging stories heading into Qualifying Weekend. Here are some of the main storylines to check out on Pole Day and Bump Day:

Boost: Today, the boost will be turned up on engines, and we’ll see what it yields in terms of overall speed. Last year’s turbo boost yielded about 4 miles per hour, and if that’s the case this year (it's the same level of boost as 2012), we could see 230mph in qualifying. Also impacting those speeds will be…

Weather: The forecast calls for scattered showers over the weekend, but it doesn’t look as if we’ll see anything concrete. Still, we’ll have to see how things progress on both days. If there is bumping, or if teams know showers are coming in, we could see some tough decisions to be made, and some folks trying to work around the forecast. Remember, everyone will get at least one shot at the Pole or Shootout—but if they waive their turn in line, that’s it. As weather predictions appear now, there shouldn’t be too much trouble in getting qualifying in on either day, but this is May in Indiana. For all I know, I could be fleeing a hailstorm tomorrow, wearing a winter coat, or collapsing of heat exhaustion.

The Bump Factor: That seems to be the big question, doesn’t it? Everyone wants to know a) if the #99 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car will run, and b) who will be in that ride. We know it won’t be Buddy Rice, but Katherine Legge and Davey Hamilton are both continually mentioned as possibilities for the seat. As to whether or not the car runs, I think it will, but it also depends if there’s a vulnerable Chevy sitting out there. Will there be a 34th, or even a 35th appear from places unknown? We won’t know that until much later on Bump Day, I suspect, but never say never. Regardless, let’s not forget…

The Importance of Pole Day: Pole Day matters, beyond just the importance of getting those bonus championship points for grabbing a good qualifying spot and the chance at a place in 500 history. Does it really matter if you qualify 24th or 27th? Well, it’s the difference between getting a couple more hours to work on race setup, for one, and not having to worry one more night about getting a qualification run in. In short, getting in on Pole Day this year should be a nice sigh of relief, and a chance to look ahead to the actual race.

The Engine Battle Continues: Although it’s only a last-turn pass from being a tie ballgame, Chevy current is up 3-1 over Honda in the win department this year. Last year, a late Honda upgrade helped pave the way to add another 500 win to the engine manufacturer’s trophy case. We can’t expect the same this year, and Chevy’s teams have looked strong throughout the month. Can a Franchitti, Dixon, or Newgarden give Honda some front role representation, or will it will be a Chevy majority in the Shootout Saturday?

The Little Guys: Of course, Lazier Partners Racing has been the resident underdog since the entry was announced for Indy, and they certainly have plenty of work ahead of them. There are some other one-off entries, part-timers, and the like that are looking at differing expectations this weekend. Lazier’s team will need to find some speed for a decent qualifying result. Pippa Mann has been turning some good no-tow speeds, but teammate Ana Beatriz has been struggling somewhat. 500 specialist Townsend Bell has been downright speedy, while veteran Michel Jourdain, Jr. has apparently not had any success with his car yet. Of course, by 6pm on Sunday, things could look very different. Let’s see who figures it out, and who has issues.

Green, Green, Yellow: Not to jinx it, but this has been a remarkably clean month on-track---or at least it was until Conor Daly's crash Thursday afternoon. There have been a few big wiggles and scary moments, but through the end of practice Thursday, everything had been clean and green, aside from that single incident. Now that I’ve said that, I hope Friday isn’t full of a half-dozen cars walling it.We'll also have to see if Daly can get back in the saddle and find a nice qualifying speed.

Polesitter Returns: We can’t forget about Ryan Briscoe, who’s in what should be an acceptably speedy Ganassi car for qualifying, and is last year’s polesitter. Briscoe has the experience and team to do quite well, and having been released by Penske after last year, might have just a hint more motivation to show just what he can do.

Livery Watch: I’ve refrained from making a call on the best livery among these entries, but there are a few you’ll definitely want to scope out. Of course, everyone’s talked about Sebastien Bourdais’ chrome McAfee #7, and that’s definitely a car folks will be discussing for a good while. Carlos Muñoz’s #26 machine may well be the most colorful entry, with a blending yellow/orangish/reddish car that really needs to be seen in person. The almost day-glo color on EJ Viso’s #5 car is in the same category. Outside of those, I really like the Superman theme worked into JR Hildebrand’s #4 livery, and Josef Newgarden’s Century 21 machine is simple, but very sharp and distinct. I also absolutely love the Sunoco colors and Turbo movie promo on Townsend Bell’s #60 car. There’s definitely a range in this year’s field, from some very busy designs to some rather plain ones. Still, as we always say, any sponsor that pays is a good one—right, Alex Lloyd?

Pole Position Prediction: Those Ganassi boys are tricky, but I think it’s either Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti, or possibly James Hinchcliffe. My gut says Marco, but we’ll see.

Dark Horse: Carlos Muñoz is a rookie, but he’s been extremely fast so far. If he can hold it together for four laps, he could be at the very least a contender in the Shootout. If that's not Dark Horse enough for you (he has led multiple sessions, after all), how about Oriol Servia? He's been right with the leaders for most of practice, and we know he can qualify up front.

Fantasy Racing: IndyCar Advocate Fantasy Racing is still going strong, and is still very much anyone’s league to win. Added to that is the fact that points will count double for Indy 500 picks. Picks are due by 10am ET today, so if you’re reading this before then, head over and get those picks made!

I'll be out at the track Friday through Sunday, and would love to say hi and talk IndyCar and the Indy 500 with everyone. I'll try to have one of my customary orange polo shirts on, so if you see someone who looks like a portly traffic cone, that could be me.

Have the very best of weekends, and enjoy everything there is to be had from the Greatest Race Course in the World.

Donald Davidson Does Shakespeare

2013-05-15T07:54:00.000-04:00

On this site, we've previously followed Donald Davidson, the one-man encyclopedia of Indy 500 racing knowledge, to the Airport. He's one of my heroes, so I can say it's privilege to follow him in whatever he might do. Today, we follow him to his theatrical debut, where he plays the title role in the Speedway Repertory Theater's Production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. We join him in the famous scene where Hamlet deeply contemplates the skull and mortality of Yorick:

Act V, Scene I. A churchyard.

First Clown
A pestilence on him for a mad rogue! a' poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester.

HAMLET (Donald)
This?

First Clown
E'en that.

HAMLET
Let me see yon skull of nostalgic nature.

(Takes the skull)

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how
I recall that I believe he was actually a riding mechanic with
Russ Snowberger in 1933; mark it well.

(pause)

Er, I mean, Where be your gibes now? your
gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment,
that were wont to set the table on a roar? I suppose I would
say the last time we saw gambols at the Speedway was in 1954,
When Chuck Stevenson brought some gambols with him for
qualifying, although to be fair, in 1953, I believe Duke Dinsmore
brought some with him, though he didn't actually qual...

HORATIO
AHEM, My lord.

HAMLET
Er, right.
Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?
Now speaking of chaps that come to mind, I just want to take a moment
and tell the story of running into Russ a few years before he passed
and he mentioned the entry he ran in 1947 was originally slated to go
to Cliff Bergere, who of course--

HORATIO
MY LORD. I entreat thee, attend. Yorick.

HAMLET
Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let
her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must
come; make her laugh at that.

Of course, if we're discussing paint, we must bring up
one of my favorite paint schemes, which was in the
1957 race, the Belond Exhaust Special, which
actually went on to win the race. What was interesting
about that particular year was...

(long silence, as Horatio and the clowns stare at Hamlet)

Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing.

HORATIO
What's that, my lord?

HAMLET
Canst thou name the last time a Novi qualified in the front row?

(exeunt, with Dave From Marion trumpeting a recessional)

Practice Day 3 Notebook

2013-05-14T07:19:00.000-04:00

-This will be a short notebook, since I was unable to attend practice in person today. Instead, I suffered through an interminable day of work. You know the sort of day in May; the sun is out, the sky blue, cars are roaring around the Speedway, and you find you've been staring at the same Excel spreadsheet in your cubicle for a quarter of an hour. You begin to concoct elaborate excuses to get over to the track, or at least to a spot where you can focus your attention on the online broadcast. The pull of the Speedway is a strong one, and it seems to stretch work hours accordingly.

-How great was it to see Pippa Mann and Conor Daly on track today? Daly passes his Rookie Orientation, and Mann got through her refresher session with no issue. It seems as if we've been waiting a long time for those two to hit the track; Mann in a return, and Daly for his debut.

-The Rahal Letterman Lanigan team certainly has had a slow start this month, with Michel Jourdain slowest on the combined speed charts so far, and the rest of the team in the lower third of the chart as well. There's little sense in panicking at this point, but it's at least worth keeping an eye on. We'll see how things change once qualifying engines are installed in the next couple of days.

-Others have weighed in on the Derrick Walker hire as INDYCAR's President of Competition quite thoroughly, but I'll add my voice to those very pleased with the hire. Walker has plenty of common sense, respect in the paddock, and a realistic streak that should serve him well indeed.

-Looking at the combined speed chart so far, only two of the top twelve practice speeds are currently Honda (Josef Newgarden and Takuma Sato). Again, we'll see what happens as teams change out engines, but I don't think Chevy will be caught off-guard again this year. For me, one of the biggest questions comes in asking just which Honda entries will crack the first three rows. Let's see how matters shake out once that boost kicks up, and with a few more days of practice under everyone's belt.