Indianapolis in May, Part 2 (USSBC Report)

First, I wish to apologize for being somewhat tardy in producing part 2 of my analysis of this year's activities at Indianapolis. Earlier today, while working on my pool (or attempting to,) I tweaked my surgically repaired left wrist, leaving it very sore, and me unable to type. Now, with the aid of a bevy of muscle relaxers and a painkiller or two, I'm going to try and give you the "skinny" on who should prevail in today's Indianapolis 500.

After last year's 68 lead change, record speed race, this year's model looks pretty tough to handicap. Why? Simply because no one wants to lead, as leading makes you a sitting duck. As we've seen in practice and qualifications this field is CLOSE. Given the huge number of cars and drivers who are within less than a mile an hour of each other, there are probably 20 drivers who could realistically win, given the right set of circumstances.

So, I'm going to revert to consulting the odds to give me the "value plays" for this year's event. Team Penske has three entries in the top 10, with Will Power on the outside of the front row, Helio Castroneves on the inside of row 2, and Juan Pablo Montoya on the inside of row 4. This is where it starts to get really strange: Power, the strongest of the Penske trio is the only one of the three who is a reasonable value at 10-1. (Montoya is 7-1 and Castroneves is 5-1.) Given that, the only play I can recommend on Team Penske is Power, and if Helio or J.P. win it, well, that's why they call it gambling.

The second "super" team, team Ganassi, was strangely absent from the top of the speed charts for most of the month. That "most" ended abruptly on Pole Day as Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan found some speed that they'd been lacking all month. Still, neither car made the "Fast Nine," so Dixie starts from the middle of row 4, and defending champion Kanaan goes from the inside of row 6. Their improvement carried into Friday's Carb Day practice session, where Kanaan and Dixon topped the speed charts. (Ganassi's "B team" of Charlie Kimball and Ryan Briscoe did not fare as well and they're buried back in rows 9 and 10 respectively.)

For the Target cars, this is eerily reminiscent of 2012, when both Dixon and his then-teammate Dario Franchitti struggled most of the month but woke up on Carb Day, with Franchitti grabbing the big cash on race day. With that thought in mind, and the two Target cars each at 10-1, I'm inclined to recommend either or both.

The other "super team," Andretti Autosport, leads with James Hinchcliffe (10-1) starting in the middle of row 1, Marco Andretti (6-1) on the outside of row 2, last year's rookie sensation Carlos Munoz (9-1) inside row 3, NASCAR regular Kurt Busch (20-1) outside row 4, and former series champ Ryan Hunter Reay (10-1) inside row 7. Of these, only Hinchcliffe and Busch interest me, and I'd probably take a run on Hinch.

The Pole sitter, Ed Carpenter is 8-1, but with soooo many potential winners, I'm limiting my selections to those who are 10-1 or higher.

If you want a little more of a "flyer," consider the following two: Josef Newgarden (25-1) or Townsend Bell at a stunning 100-1. Newgarden, in the middle of row 3 has been very happy with his car all month, and this young man just may be on the threshold of greatness. And for a purely "spec" play you can't  much miss. Bell has a habit of moving forward steadily and you can't ignore the potential payout for a veteran who always seems to squeeze the max out of his equipment.

All that being said, my two primary selections are Kanaan and Dixon. I can't say it would hurt my feelings if TK brought it home for a second year in a row, even though I've never been a huge fan of Chip Ganassi.

Weather for the race should be great, sunny and about 80 degrees.

Please take a moment aside from your holiday festivities to remember the reason we celebrate Memorial Day. My wife and I are planning a relaxing day by the pool listening to Paul Page on the radio broadcast of the race. (I'll take in the TV broadcast via DVR later.) Enjoy!

Indianapolis in May, Part 1.

And so, we have seen the Verizon IndyCar Series calendar turn to the merry month of May - make that, Indianapolis. Thanks to a move by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to add a road course race to begin the month, we have returned to the MONTH of May in Indianapolis. Like many long time followers of open wheel racing, I was very resistant to the idea of having TWO "spectacles" of racing within the confines of a single month.

Like many, I assumed that this would become subtraction by addition: By adding a second IMS race to the May schedule, it would subtract from the main event, The Indianapolis 500. And, also like many, the closer this heresy came to fruition, the more that attitude began to change. The Grand Prix drew somewhere north of 40,000, which made Mark Miles and most of the bean counters happy. Now, with the newly revised qualifications complete (and with a reasonably good TV number,) standing on the threshold of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, I look back and ask, "Why the Hell didn't we do this sooner?"

First, The GP of Indianapolis. When this idea was first hatched, I thought the BEST plan would be for a Fall race on the updated road course at IMS. It was quickly apparent, however, that "plan A" would be to kick off the month of May with this new event. All through the winter months, I got loads of Twitter pics of the progress on the update to the infield road course, courtesy of IMS President Doug Boles. I watched as this new "baby" got birthed through the worst of this awful winter and LATE spring. The more I looked, the more I liked, even though I would have preferred that they NOT add in the last three turns, which would have allowed them to basically run half of the oval in reverse. My reason for this was that I felt the more of the oval that was included, the more passing zones we would see.

Obviously, after watching not only the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, but the ENTIRE ladder series racing on the road course, my concerns were unwarranted. When it came time to line up the Verizon IndyCars for a standing start, however, the wheels came off. Literally. Pole sitter Sebastian Saavedra's car failed to move on the start and chaos ensued. Several rows of drivers were able to avoid Saavedra's stationary machine, but Carlos Munoz clipped his rear corner and Mikhail Aleshin ploughed full on into the stalled Colombian, who was a sitting duck..

All of this leaves one to question whether these cars are suitable for standing starts. It seems like every other time they try one, it turns into a crash fest. In addition to the aforementioned three, Juan Pablo Montoya had difficulties getting his mount rolling,  though he was able to get his out of harm's way.

After the botched start, Jack Hawksworth made an outstanding pass going into turn 1, a right hander that lies just north of the pit lane. The  other passing zone seems to be at the end of Hulman Boulevard, as the cars snake their way out to the south end of the oval.

While there was not a great deal of passing, the fuel strategies contributed to a very exciting finish as no one knew whether eventual winner Simon Pagenaud had sufficient gas to get to the finish.

The day after the Grand Prix, .the cars, reconfigured for oval racing, were back to work going around the Speedway the right way. As is often the case in Indianapolis in May, weather was a major factor in practice, with rain severely curtailing practice for the 98th running of the 500. In fact, "Fast Friday" was reduced to "Fast 21 minutes."

All of which brings us to the other major change: qualifications. Like many older fans, I'm not always amenable to change. The tradition of qualifying at Indy, although shrunken from 2 weekends to one, has been the same throughout my lifetime, and I'm not exactly younger than springtime. That being said, in my younger days, it was not unusual to see more than 100,000 people gather at IMS for Pole Day. That was some time ago. And, with the recent "scrambles" to field 33 cars for the race, "Bump Day" hasn't had meaning for years as well.

All that considered, (and factoring in the network TV availability,) IMS opted to try and make something meaningful out of both days. On the whole, I think they succeeded. On Saturday, with qualifications running virtually all day, I found myself GLUED to my computer which carried all of the activity on ESPN 3. True, not as convenient as the former all day coverage on NBCSN, but you're trading up for better network coverage of  "happy hour" qualifying on Saturday and "Fast Nine" coverage on Sunday.

Apparently, the idea worked because the rating for Sunday's "Fast Nine" coverage pulled better than a 1.0, something we have NEVER seen from any RACE on NBCSN. And, in truth, with all the means of viewing online, ESPN 3 is not a bad trade, if you ignore the occasional glitch in the video stream. Moreover, the broadcast team of Allen Bestwick, Eddie Cheever, and Scott Goodyear seems to have upped their game over the previous crew with Marty Reid.

Where would I make changes? First, while I understand that the two hour window allows for some introduction of the participants, for me, it's overkill to have an hour plus of interviews and sidelights, followed by 45 minutes or so of "Fast Nine" qualifying. Let them run once through the order in reverse, but after that, give those who wish to do so a chance to withdraw their time and better their position, the deadline being the closure of the TV window. This would be a true risk/reward choice. Interviews and features can be covered during the periods when drivers are warming up for their attempts. Look, I understand that we're trying to get more appeal to folks who aren't paying attention to the race right now, but letting them feel the "do or die" excitement as the qualifying deadline approaches is the closest thing we're likely to see to "Bump Day" anytime soon.

On the whole, however, the changes seem to have been reasonably well received and, as I noted earlier, the "Fast Nine" showdown drew a TV rating that, while nothing spectacular, is certainly better than what we've seen for qualifications in recent years.

I'll be back on Saturday with my handicap and preview of the 98th running.