Previewing the Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS – With new engines, new cars and some new faces at the front of the grid, Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 figures to be as wide open as any in recent years.

None of the new engines – Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus – have gone 500 miles in competition. The possibility of engine failure – something not seen for the past several years – looms, adding to the unpredictability. Fuel mileage – which has been a factor at Indianapolis the past couple of years - also is an unknown, compounding the intrigue.

The new Dallara chassis is designed to be safer, with wheel fairings that hopefully will prevent cars from being launched into the catch fence, which is the type of incident that killed 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon in a multi-car crash at Las Vegas at the end of last season.

Indianapolis may be on the verge of a changing of the guard, with only one former winner (Helio Castroneves) in the first four rows. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe, hardly a newcomer but also the lowest-profile driver on his team, is on the pole.

Rounding out the first row are a pair of Andretti Autosport drivers, second-year man James Hinchcliffe and veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay. Each of the drivers on the front row, plus Marco Andretti in the fourth spot, have their best starting spots ever at Indianapolis.

Given the way Roger Penske’s team has dominated at Indianapolis (record 15 wins) and this season (his team has won all four races), it’s likely Briscoe, Castroneves or series points leader Will Power will end up in Victory Lane.

“We’re very focused on this race, put a lot of emphasis on it because we all want to win here,” Power said. “I think it’s going to be a pretty crazy race.”

Here’s a closer look at the field:

The former winners

Helio Castroneves – Smooth and fast all month. A Penske car with the Chevrolet engine looks like the strongest combination.

Scott Dixon – Like the rest of the Honda drivers, hasn’t had the pace. Still, Dixon is a formidable competitor because of his smart, disciplined style who probably is the best at “making” fuel.

Dario Franchitti – Franchitti has been the biggest mystery of the season, and it carried over into qualifying. Believe it or not, he’s the slowest of the Chip Ganassi drivers and nearly was outqualified by James Jakes.

Top contenders

Ryan Briscoe – Equal parts promise and maddening inconsistency throughout his career, this is his best (and last?) chance to make it to the top

James Hinchcliffe – Affable Canadian is driving the car Danica Patrick had last year and what was intended for Dan Wheldon this year. Either would have been a large burden, but both? Give him high marks for concentrating on the task at hand – and doing a great job at that.

Ryan Hunter-Reay – Going from “buying” his way into the field last year to winning the pole this year would’ve been a great story. Part of the wave of young, American drivers with some personality.

Marco Andretti – He usually does well at Indianapolis and now has his best start ever. Is this the year the Andretti Curse ends?

Will Power – He’s dominated the season so far (three wins in four races) and possibly could be 4-for-4 if not for some ill-fated pit strategy at St. Petersburg. Indy career has been lackluster.

Tony Kanaan – The people’s choice. Has led a lot of laps at Indy (214, but none the last three races), but never the one that counts.

Graham Rahal – Fastest of the Ganassi bunch. Like Marco Andretti, needs to start living up to his name on a more regular basis to give the series a boost.

JR Hildebrand – He says he’s over what happened on the last lap last year when he crashed with the checkered flag nearly in sight.

Alex Tagliani – Last year’s pole winner has been pretty quiet this month, but could surprise

The rookies

Josef Newgarden – Kind of bizarro world here in that he’s from NASCAR country (Tennessee) and wants to drive Indy cars. Winning for Sarah Fisher is one of those improbable, feel-good stories that happens only in NASCAR, though.

Simon Pagenaud – Has had some nice runs in the races leading up to Indianapolis.

Rubens Barrichello – Adapted nicely after a stellar career in Formula One. Along with Newgarden is one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year.

James Jakes – Did a nice job to make it in the field on the first day of qualifying

Wade Cunningham – Former Indy Lights star put together a program to run for A.J. Foyt.

Katherine Legge – Was seen as sort of Champ Car’s answer to “Danica Mania.” Prior to this season hadn’t driven a top-level open-wheel car since 2007.

Bryan Clauson – One of the few drivers in this year’s field who followed the old-school path to Indy (sprints, midgets)

Jean Alesi – Lotus engine a detriment to ex-Formula One driver

The rest

Sebastien Bourdais – A shame that the program for this capable driver came together so late

Mike Conway – Back at Indy for first time since horrific crash at the end of the 2010 race

Takuma Sato – Solid month, could snag a top 10

Charlie Kimball – The other player in last year’s dramatic finish – it was his car Hildebrand tried to pass in Turn 4 – qualified better than Ganassi mates Dixon and Franchitti

Justin Wilson – Decent driver, but not on the world’s greatest team

Oriol Servia – See above

Townsend Bell – Has had some good runs at Indianapolis, but things don’t seem to be clicking this year

Ana Beatriz – Showed surprising speed throughout the month

Michel Jourdain Jr. – Drove in the infamous “split” 500 in 1996 as a 19-year-old. Hadn’t been in an open-wheel car for close to a decade until this month

E.J. Viso – Surprise entrant in the fast nine. Unpredictable

Ed Carpenter – Potential darkhorse at the start of the month, but big crash in qualifying set first-year program back

Simona De Silvestro – Lotus-powered car not a true indicator of her ability

Sebastian Saavedra – Also slated to drive in the Indy Lights race

Photo caption: Ryan Briscoe (center) captured his first Indianapolis 500 pole. Also starting on the front row are James Hinchcliffe (left) and Ryan Hunter-Reay. 

Photo credit: Jim Haines/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Briscoe Wins Indy Pole

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s no surprise that Team Penske won the pole for the Indianapolis 500.

The driver who ultimately did it, though, was a bit unexpected.

Ryan Briscoe withstood some fierce challenges to win the top spot for the May 27 race in qualifying on Saturday with a four-lap average of 226.484 mph.

It’s the first Indy pole for Briscoe, who started 26^th and finished 27^th last year, and a record 17^th pole for Team Penske, which also had four-time pole winner Helio Castroneves and series points leader Will Power in the nine-car shootout.

“I’m just glad it’s my turn,” Briscoe said. “We know we’re going to head into pole day or race day going up against each other. We work hard with each other and help each other to make it possible.”

James Hinchcliffe of Andretti Autosport fell short of the pole by just .003 mph.

“Those numbers (226.484) are going to haunt me,” said Hinchcliffe, who lost the pole by the closest margin in Indy history. The difference in the four-lap, 10-mile runs was .0023 of a second, which computes to about 9 inches.

Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was bumped last year and started only after his team bought the entry of an already-qualified car, nailed down the other front-row spot with an average of 226.240 mph.

Marco Andretti (225.456 mph), Power (225.422 mph) and Castroneves (225.172 mph) make up the second row.

The drivers in the third row, rookie Josef Newgarden and veterans Tony Kanaan and E.J. Viso, eschewed the multiple attempts allowed by the shootout forma. Newgarden completed a run for an average of 224.037 mph, slightly below his earlier effort of 224.677 mph. Kanaan and Viso each took the green flag in the shootout, then pulled in and stood on their earlier speeds.

Chevrolet, returning to Indianapolis for the first time since 2005, had eight of the nine cars in the shootout, with Newgarden the lone Honda.

Nine spots remain to be filled in the 33-car field during qualifying today. Once the field is filled, the slowest car is bumped.

Sebastian Saavedra, one of five Andretti Autosport drivers to qualify on the first day, is the slowest at 222.811 mph.

The lack of performance by the Chip Ganassi teams was one of the big surprises, especially by lead drivers Scott Dixon and reigning series champion Dario Franchitti.

Graham Rahal had the best speed at 223.959 mph, earning the No. 12 starting spot, ahead of Charlie Kimball (14^th, 223.868 mph), Dixon (15^th, 223.684 mph) and Franchitti (16^th, 223.582 mph).

It’s the worst Indy start for Franchitti, a two-time winner, since he started 17^th in 2006, and Dixon’s worst start ever at Indianapolis.

“As a unit, myself and the rest of the Target guys, we’re just off,” Franchitti said. “There’s a bit of head-scratching going on.”

None of the Ganassi cars tried to requalify after their initial runs.

On the other hand, at least they’re in the race. The drivers for A.J. Foyt are on the outside looking in after both Mike Conway and Wade Cunningham were bumped.

Conway was comfortably in the field with an average above 223 mph, but the run was disqualified after it was found the car was under weight.

“We shouldn’t have been out there in the first place,” Conway said. “We’ve got to go qualify again, do a time, and that’s it.”

Veterans Ed Carpenter and Oriol Servia – both in the fast nine last year, with Servia on the outside of the front row – will have to go to backup cars after crashes during qualifying attempts. Rookie Bryan Clauson also will have to go to his backup car after a wreck.

Neither of the Lotus drivers – Simona De Silvestro and Jean Alesi – made a qualifying attempt. De Silvestro practiced, but Alesi was not on the track.

Photo credit: John Cote/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Carpenter Third Crash of Today

INDIANAPOLIS – Ed Carpenter, trying to bump his way back in the field, crashed heavily in Turn 2 after taking the green flag to start a qualifying run.

He was able to exit the car after doing a spin and slamming the wall in Turn 2, with the car almost turning on its side.

Carpenter, who started eighth last year, was trying to knock out Sebastien Bourdais, who holds the 24^th spot at 222.415 mph. Carpenter’s warm-up lap was 222.022 mph.

After an almost incident-free week, Carpenter’s wreck was the third on Saturday, following wall contact by Bryan Clauson and Oriol Servia.

Kanaan in Shootout

INDIANAPOLIS – Fan favorite Tony Kanaan is back in the field in a big way.

Kanaan, who had a run that would’ve put him comfortably in the fast nine before being disqualified after technical inspection, requalified at 224.751 mph to put him sixth on the provisional grid.

That effort knocked Rubens Barrichello out of the fast nine and Ed Carpenter out of the field.

Eight of the top nine cars are Chevrolets. Rookie Josef Newgarden has the lone Honda in the fast nine.

The target speed for the fast nine is E.J. Viso’s 224.422 mph. The bump speed at No. 24 is Townsend Bell’s 221.514 mph.

A practice session is under way. Drivers have until 4 p.m. to make it into the fast nine or top 24. The fast nine shootout is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Photo credit: Shawn Gritzmacher/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Hinchcliffe on Pole for Now

INDIANAPOLIS – We’ve gone through the original qualifying line – and then some – and now have a break in the action following a crash by Oriol Servia.

Servia spun in Turn 4, backed into the inside wall at the head of the pits, then smacked the attenuator at the entrance of the pits, spun around and came to a rest. Servia, who started on the front row last year but has struggled this year, climbed from the car.

The provisional fast nine has some big surprises, both in terms of who’s in (E.J. Viso and Rubens Barrichello) and who’s out (everyone who drives a Chip Ganassi car).

James Hinchcliffe, driving the car intended for Dan Wheldon, has the provisional pole with a four-lap average of 225.746 mph.

Rounding out the front row at the moment are Will Power (225.399 mph) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (225.289 mph).

The second row consists of Helio Castroneves (225.282,) Ryan Briscoe (225.078 mph) and Marco Andretti (224.680 mph).

Rookie Josef Newgarden, Viso and Barrichello make up the third row.

Barrichello, a Formula One veteran who won the 2002 United State Grand Prix at Indianapolis, knocked Alex Tagliani, last year’s pole sitter, out of the top nine with a run of 224.264 mph.

Tony Kanaan was securely in the fast nine with an average of 225.100 mph, but that run was disallowed because his car did not have the required ballast.

Photo credit: Forrest Mellott / Indianapolis Motor Speedway 

Franchitti Due Next

INDIANAPOLIS – Dario Franchitti is due next to qualify after the cleanup is completed from Bryan Clauson’s crash, followed by Graham Rahal, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Briscoe and Ana Beatriz.

Photo credit: Dana Garrett/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Clauson Crashes

INDIANAPOLIS - Rookie Bryan Clauson. who had a strong qualifying run going, spun and slammed the wall in the south end of the track. Clauson, who climbed from his car after the wreck, had completed three laps at an average of 223.785 mph (good for sixth at the time).