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102nd Indianapolis 500: Full field preview (Part 2)

The gates of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the Indianapolis 500 is raced (Christopher Ziemnowicz/Wikimedia Commons)
Roar Guru
24th May, 2018
0

Down to the business end of the fabled field of 33 cars and drivers for this weekend’s 102nd Indianapolis 500.

Click here to read part one.

Row 4
Marco Andretti – Andretti Autosport Honda: Michael’s son (and Mario’s grandson) came agonisingly close to winning Indy as rookie back in 2006 and has challenged pretty much every year since. A win would erase the fabled, wretched Andretti Curse, and be incredibly popular with everyone in the stands.

Matheus Leist – AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet: the fastest- qualified rookie in 2018, the young Brazilian is being mentored by teammate Tony Kanaan and has benefitted from a rapid improvement in the Foyt cars. Leist is definitely learning from the right guy, and I think he’ll be very strong on Sunday.

Tony Kanaan – AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet: an incredibly popular winner in 2013, TK is undergoing a bit of a career renaissance under ‘Super Tex’, AJ Foyt. The speed he showed in qualifying says to me that Kanaan is definitely a threat to win his second Indianapolis 500. Foyt’s cars haven’t been this strong at Indy in many years. A lot of that is thanks to Kanaan’s input.

Row 3
Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing Honda: the Queensland-born New Zealander is the second best Honda qualifier and one of the best drivers to ever race at Indianapolis. A horrific crash in turn two last year ruined his chances, so 2018 is a bounce-back year. Amongst the favourites, for mine, despite Honda’s well-documented lack of pace leading into race weekend. The Ice Man knows how to get it done at Indianapolis, as does his Ganassi team.

Helio Castroneves – Team Penkse Chevrolet: racing a sports car for Team Penske full-time in 2018, but topping Saturday qualifying showed that he hasn’t lost his touch in an IndyCar – not that we ever expected otherwise. Helio is a definite contender, and a win on Sunday would be his fourth, elevating him into incredibly rarefied air.

Only Al Unser Jr, AJ Foyt and Rick Mears have won the Indianapolis 500 four times. Helio has come close to his fourth win on multiple occasions recently, and Sunday could be it.

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Danica Patrick – Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet: returning from NASCAR competition to the track that made her a household name in America, Sunday is scheduled to be Danica’s final competitive race start, and it shapes as being a good one.

Say what you will about Patrick and the level of promotion she got as compared to her on-track success, she has been dynamite at Indianapolis, leading often and finishing solidly on most occasions. Her savvy around the Brickyard combined with the great pace ECR is showing says she has a shot to win. Talk about a nice way to head off into retirement.

NASCAR driver Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick (Amy Marbach / Flickr)

Row 2
Spencer Pigot – Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet: the young American, in his first full season of IndyCar Series action, has undoubtedly been one of the most pleasant surprises of the month. In fact, American racers at the pointy end of the field is exactly what IndyCar needs as the sport continues it’s positive upswing. Avoid rookie mistakes, and Pigot will be a factor.

Sebastien Bourdais – Dale Coyne Racing Honda: a year ago, Bourdais crashed hard in Saturday qualifying and didn’t race again until the IndyCar Series finale in Sonoma, five months later. It was a long road through rehab, but the Frenchman has showed this year that he hasn’t lost his touch, strong everywhere after a season-opening win at St Petersburg. The fastest Honda qualifier, and a legitimate chance on Sunday. A win would complete a remarkable redemption story.

Josef Newgarden – Team Penske Chevrolet: the defending IndyCar Series champion has a great chance to win the Indianapolis 500, starting on the outside of the second row with Penske power under the hood.

Hard not to like Newgarden. The Tennessean is personable, fast and genuinely seems to be having the time of his life at Team Penske. Perpetually fast at Indianapolis. A clean race, and he’ll be there when things get serious with twenty to go. Aside from anything else, a Newgarden victory would be a huge marketing fillip for the series.

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Row 1
Will Power – Team Penske Chevrolet: the Australian has dominated the road course race at Indianapolis but so far hasn’t been able to take the momentum gained from winning the Grand Prix event and go to victory lane in the 500-mile race. He’s come close before, and has always been fast, but hasn’t quite been able to put everything together to take the twin checkers.

A win for the Queenslander would immediately vault him into the annals of Australian sporting history. I’d love to see it happen!

Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske Chevrolet: the Frenchman, who won the 2016 IndyCar Series for Roger Penske, drives the bright-yellow Chevrolet that’s been basically a rocket ship all month. He’s going to figure heavily in the race, and really needs the double points bonus on offer to get himself back into championship consideration after what’s been a mostly-disastrous start to the season. I’ve got no doubts that Pagenaud can win.

Ed Carpenter – Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet: the hometown hero stunned everyone with a qualifying run for the ages last Sunday, breaking up a potential all-Team Penske front row in the process. The book on Carpenter is that he’s always been fast qualifying but hasn’t quite been able to back it up in the race.

2018 is another chance for him to prove that theory incorrect. The oval-only driver has his best shot in years to drink the milk in victory lane. I can only imagine the thunderous roar if he could get it done.

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