It’s finally here! It is time for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, presented by Gainbridge. We have just under six hours before the race is due to start, here at Paddock Eye we thought we would take a look at what we can expect from the Greatest Spectacle In Racing. For one thing, the weather seems to have improved over the last 24 hours, meaning we will likely have the entire event today.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has contingency plans in place should the weather change. After all, this is Indiana in May, where the weather can do absolutely anything!
When it comes to the race itself, we have a lot of fast and experienced drivers out of position, such as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, who starts the race from 21st place. The Iceman has a speedy car in race trim, and you can expect him to make his way forward from the opening lap of the race. With Mike Hull calling his strategy, we can expect Dixon to fight for victory at the end of the race.
Another driver to look out for is championship leader Alex Palou in the No.10 DHL Honda as he starts the race from 13th place. Team Penske has been speedy all month long and was on display as their three drivers locked out the front row with Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, and defending Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden, all starting from the front row, giving Team Penske their first front row lock out since 1988.
As he prepares to make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES race debut with Arrow McLaren today in his attempt to do the double, Kyle Larson in the No.17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet is going to be one to watch, particularly as he has a very quick race car and is the highest-placed rookie starting the race from 5th place.
AJ Foyt Racing is in a powerful position to score their first Indianapolis 500 victory since Kenny Brack in 1999. Santino Ferrucci starts the race in sixth place and will be a driver to watch out for.
Felix Rosenqvist did a great job starting the race from ninth place. Seeing how he and Meyer Shank Racing get on will be interesting. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports Ryan Hunter Reay will start the race from 12th place following a fantastic qualifying for the Chevrolet-powered Indy-only team.
Colton Herta in the No.26 Gainbridge Andretti Global Honda will be another driver to look out for as he starts the race from 13th place just ahead of Alex Palou.
Another big question that needs to be answered is how will Helio Castroneves’ Drive For Five go as the Brazilian starts the race from 20th place. There are a number of rookies in the field today with Kyle Larson, who we have already discussed; Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson starts the race from 18th place just ahead of Marco Andretti.
Christian Rasmussen and Tom Blomqvist start the race from 24th and 25th place, respectively, while Linus Lindqvist starts the race from 27th place. It will also be interesting to see how Marcus Ericsson and Graham Rahal get on from the back of the grid.