INDIANAPOLIS — Team Penske’s front-row sweep and Kyle Larson’s double-chase on Memorial Day weekend obviously turned heads all week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Row 7 line may be equally intriguing.
With Marco Andretti, pole position winner at the 2020 Indianapolis 500 and grandson of Hall of Famer Mario Andretti, starting 19th and just shy of the finish line four-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, open wheel fans will have the scarce opportunity to see racing royalty competing side by side.
“I hope this argument doesn’t break down, that would be intriguing,” Dixon joked on Thursday as he chased a record seventh career series crown to equal AJ Foyt. “Everything is possible in this race. Let’s hope we all move forward.” , maybe this government will fight for victory.
That’s certainly possible considering this trio has five Indy wins, seven second-place finishes and 17 top-five finishes.
Castroneves starts 20th in his third bid to become the first five-time winner of the race. The 49-year-old Brazilian Foyt, the slow Al Unser and Rick Mears each have four wins.
Dixon, 43, ranks second in series history with 57 career wins, he is only 67 points behind Foyt and is trying to become the 21st driver with multiple 500 wins. The Recent Zealander won Indy in 2008.
Andretti, 37, is still trying to end the curse on his Indy family. Since his grandfather’s lone victory, five family members have made a total of 76 starts over the 2.5-mile distance at Brickyard, and no one – not even Andretti’s father, Michael – has won the coveted Indy championship. This is Marco Andretti’s first and probably only start in the series this season.
“You have to act methodically,” he said when asked about the race strategy. “I will be running the first 2/3 of the race more like a marathon than a sprint. To ultimately get into this position, you need to be reasonable in certain scenarios that arise. You take it, right? I will read Helio’s vibe first and follow it.”
For Castroneves, another one-time starter at the end of his career, the stakes are even higher. He’s now part owner of Meyer Shank Racing, and if Spiderman manages to scale the fence one more time, he’ll create a whole modern winner’s club in Indianapolis.
Don’t bet against him – or anyone else in Row 7.
“I remember in 2021 I was out of IndyCar for about six months, actually about a year,” Castroneves said. “I’m entering a modern time, modern people, it was actually even more tough, but we still managed to complete the task. This place brings out the best in everyone, including us with experience.”
Rain, rain… and bulky storms
As the 33 drivers on the grid paraded through their media day appearances, one thing became obvious – everyone was worried about Sunday’s rain.
The latest forecast calls for thunderstorms, potentially severe, with an 86% chance of precipitation. The last postponed race was in 1997, when the 500 course was washed out on Sunday and Monday before finishing on Tuesday. Since then, there have been two rain-shortened races, in 2004 and 2007.
For the race to be considered official, at least 101 of the scheduled 200 laps must be completed. However, it is not only Sunday that worries some drivers.
“I hope that with the lessons we learned on Monday and the ones we will learn (Friday), because despite what others think there will be no rain, we will do well,” Sting Ray Robb said. “I think the car has a lot of natural speed.”
Representing women
While practice and qualifying have been in the spotlight for race fans in Indianapolis all month, sports fans across the city are also closely monitoring the Indiana Pacers’ NBA playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals and the impact of the WNBA’s newest star, the Indiana Fever. newcomer Caitlin Clark.
The history of the women’s 500m race dates back to Janet Guthrie’s historic qualifying run in 1977.
the only woman on this year’s 33-car starting list, feels she has some responsibility this weekend too.
“I believe I am doing the best job I can in representing women. I often think, I run in the forest or something, I think, I think positively, what am I doing here? said Legge, who starts 31st. “But I think if I make Roger Penske proud, my dad, and if I have a daughter by doing what I do, if I can make those three people cheerful, I’m doing the right thing. That’s my mentality.”
Gil de Ferran (left) and Simon Pagenaud in 2009 (Getty Images)
Paying tribute
Simon Pagenaud, the 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2016 IndyCar Series champion, will not race on Sunday. But on race day at Indy, he will make his 13th straight appearance, this time paying tribute to his mentor, the slow Gil de Ferran.
Before the race begins, Pagenaud will drive de Ferran’s 2003 Indy 500-winning car around the 2.5-mile Brickyard oval on a parade lap. Penske Restoration kept the car in good condition, and the de Ferran family asked Pagenaud for support with the tribute.
“I am very cheerful that we will remember Gil winning Indianapolis in the iconic colors of Team Penske,” Pagenaud said in a statement in which he called the Brazilian-born Frenchman his role model. “The colors, the helmet, the sound, the memories and the fact that he taught me everything about this place. I remember slow nights and countless hours spent with my Yoda talking about all the little details needed to get to victory lane at the Speedway.”
Pagenaud will wear a helmet he designed in memory of de Ferran, who suffered a fatal heart attack in December. De Ferran was 56 years antique.
Book it
Josef Newgarden is not busy defending his Indianapolis 500 title this weekend. He is also finishing work on a children’s book “Joseph’s Huge Dream”.
The 33-year-old Tennessean and his wife, Ashley, collaborated with author Andy Amendola on the project, which Newgarden describes as promoting the values of challenging work and dedication required to compete in “The Greatest Show in Racing.”
“Creating this book with my wife Ashley and Andy Amendola has been a fun journey that we are all proud of,” Newgarden said. “I hope that families and children who read this book will be inspired to follow their dreams, whether they are huge or miniature, and be proud of their efforts to achieve them.”
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