rrrr
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Here we go! It's rrrr's review of the starting field for today's running of the 106th Indianapolis 500, and the teams that will likely produce a winner.
I'll start with the team I think has the best shot at a win. Chip Ganassi Racing has five cars in the field, and four of the five are starting in the top six positions, with 2008 Indy 500 winner and seven time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon on the pole for the 5th time. He started from the pole last year and finished second for the third time.
Alex Palou, the 24 year old 2021 IndyCar champ is starting 2nd next to Scott, former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson is starting 5th in the middle of the 2nd row, 2012 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan is lined up outside Ericsson starting 6th, and seven time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson starts in 12th, in the outside of the 4th row. Johnson made his best qualifying effort so far in his second year of competition.
When Jimmie moved to IndyCar last year, he only ran street and road courses. He felt running the ovals at speeds approaching 230 MPH was too risky, particularly at Indy.
After observing the implementation of the game changing aeroscreen, a wraparound carbon fiber and titanium framework with a ballistic acrylic windshield that has already prevented driver injury in several violent crashes, he made the decision to run a full schedule. He showed his oval racing skills by finishing 6th in April at Texas Motor Speedway, a track where he has seven NASCAR wins while leading 1,100 laps.
Team Penske's qualifying efforts were unusually poor. Will Power is starting 11th, in the middle of Row 4, two time IndyCar champ Josef Newgarden is in the middle of Row 5, starting 14th. Two time Australian V-8 Supercar champ and Bathurst 1000 winner Scott McLaughlin is deep in the field, going off 26th in the middle of Row 9.
Arrow McLaren SP drivers Pato O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist will start 7th and 8th, on the inside and middle of Row 3. Romain Grosjean, in his second year of IndyCar competition after leaving F1, is next to Rosenqvist and going off 9th. He is the only Andretti Autosport driver with a decent starting position.
The other Andretti cars are buried in the field. Alexander Rossi is starting 20th, Marco Andretti is 23rd, Devlin DeFrancesco starts 24th. Colton Herta qualified 25th, and after a practice crash yesterday he will be in a backup car but retain his starting position.
Herta will be at a significant disadvantage in the race because of that. The bigger teams like Andretti, Ganassi, and Penske spend the first five months of 2022 preparing a dedicated car for Indy.
The body panel gaps are massaged, special low drag bearings and transmission gearsets are installed, and the brakes have been worked over to minimize pad drag. The front and rear wings are meticulously shaped, as are the bodywork undertray and sidepods, to maximize laminar flow and downforce while removing sources of excrescence drag.
All of that work on Herta's car was scattered along the SAFER barrier and track in the short chute between turns one and two on Friday. His backup car will be about two MPH slower on the front and back straights while running alone tomorrow, the car won't handle as well as other big team cars, and it will be more difficult for the team to adjust for maximum grip in the corners during pit stops. I expect Colton's race engineer, his dad Bryan Herta, to come up with an alternate race and pitstop strategy to try and get Colton to the front.
The rocketships of Ed Carpenter Racing will start with Dutchman Rinus Veekay on the outside of the front row in the 3rd spot, and team owner Ed Carpenter will start on the inside of Row 2 in 4th. ECR always brings speed in May, and with some good luck they'll be near the front all day.
These teams and drivers I have mentioned have the best chance of scoring a win today. There are some dark horses in the field, and the Speedway always provides surprises on race day.
My biggest hope is for a safe race.
I'll start with the team I think has the best shot at a win. Chip Ganassi Racing has five cars in the field, and four of the five are starting in the top six positions, with 2008 Indy 500 winner and seven time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon on the pole for the 5th time. He started from the pole last year and finished second for the third time.
Alex Palou, the 24 year old 2021 IndyCar champ is starting 2nd next to Scott, former F1 driver Marcus Ericsson is starting 5th in the middle of the 2nd row, 2012 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan is lined up outside Ericsson starting 6th, and seven time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson starts in 12th, in the outside of the 4th row. Johnson made his best qualifying effort so far in his second year of competition.
When Jimmie moved to IndyCar last year, he only ran street and road courses. He felt running the ovals at speeds approaching 230 MPH was too risky, particularly at Indy.
After observing the implementation of the game changing aeroscreen, a wraparound carbon fiber and titanium framework with a ballistic acrylic windshield that has already prevented driver injury in several violent crashes, he made the decision to run a full schedule. He showed his oval racing skills by finishing 6th in April at Texas Motor Speedway, a track where he has seven NASCAR wins while leading 1,100 laps.
Team Penske's qualifying efforts were unusually poor. Will Power is starting 11th, in the middle of Row 4, two time IndyCar champ Josef Newgarden is in the middle of Row 5, starting 14th. Two time Australian V-8 Supercar champ and Bathurst 1000 winner Scott McLaughlin is deep in the field, going off 26th in the middle of Row 9.
Arrow McLaren SP drivers Pato O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist will start 7th and 8th, on the inside and middle of Row 3. Romain Grosjean, in his second year of IndyCar competition after leaving F1, is next to Rosenqvist and going off 9th. He is the only Andretti Autosport driver with a decent starting position.
The other Andretti cars are buried in the field. Alexander Rossi is starting 20th, Marco Andretti is 23rd, Devlin DeFrancesco starts 24th. Colton Herta qualified 25th, and after a practice crash yesterday he will be in a backup car but retain his starting position.
Herta will be at a significant disadvantage in the race because of that. The bigger teams like Andretti, Ganassi, and Penske spend the first five months of 2022 preparing a dedicated car for Indy.
The body panel gaps are massaged, special low drag bearings and transmission gearsets are installed, and the brakes have been worked over to minimize pad drag. The front and rear wings are meticulously shaped, as are the bodywork undertray and sidepods, to maximize laminar flow and downforce while removing sources of excrescence drag.
All of that work on Herta's car was scattered along the SAFER barrier and track in the short chute between turns one and two on Friday. His backup car will be about two MPH slower on the front and back straights while running alone tomorrow, the car won't handle as well as other big team cars, and it will be more difficult for the team to adjust for maximum grip in the corners during pit stops. I expect Colton's race engineer, his dad Bryan Herta, to come up with an alternate race and pitstop strategy to try and get Colton to the front.
The rocketships of Ed Carpenter Racing will start with Dutchman Rinus Veekay on the outside of the front row in the 3rd spot, and team owner Ed Carpenter will start on the inside of Row 2 in 4th. ECR always brings speed in May, and with some good luck they'll be near the front all day.
These teams and drivers I have mentioned have the best chance of scoring a win today. There are some dark horses in the field, and the Speedway always provides surprises on race day.
My biggest hope is for a safe race.
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