Sunday, May 28, 2023

Indy 500: The field of 33 in 2023

It's just about time for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. 

Pay attention to the drivers in the first two rows. Indy 500 winners have started in spots 1-6 61% of the time. The winner has come out of the front row 45 times, including 2018-20. Twenty times the win started from row two, including defending champion Marcus Ericsson. In five of the past six Indy 500s, the winner has started from the first two rows.

Alex Palou is the polesitter and looks to be the 22nd winner from pole. The last driver to win from the pole was Simon Pagenaud in 2019.

It's very, very difficult to win from the back of the field, which is from the captain obvious department. No driver has ever won from the last row. Winning from rows 8-10? That hasn't happened since the 1930s. Johnny Rutherford is a bit of a standout, finding victory from row 9 back in 1974. 

No driver has ever won the Indy 500 starting from positions 18, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. So, best of luck to Ryan Hunter-Reay, David Malukas, Marco Andretti, Agustin Canapino, Katherine Legge, Christian Lundgaard, Sting Ray Robb, Jack Harvey and Graham Rahal as they try to make history. Marco and Lundgaard started in these non-winning positions last year, too. 

Me with Katherine Legge in 2006.
Nine past Indy 500 champions are in the field, with all three drivers in row three (Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan) being past champions. Kanaan and Helio Castroneves, who's looking to be the only driver to win five Indy 500s, could be the oldest Indy 500 champion should either win this year. Al Unser Sr. was 47 years and 360 days old when he won his fourth Indy 500 in 1987.

Last year's race marked the second time in three years without a female driver. But Katherine Legge is back for the first time in a decade (though she's still been racing in other series), holding the torch for the women.

Through five races so far this IndyCar season, there have been no repeat winners. Should Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, Kyle Kirkwood, Scott McLaughlin or Alex Palou win this Sunday, he would be the first multi-winner of the 2023 season. 

Row 1 

Alex Palou - No. 10 The American Legion car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 234.217mph 

The Spaniard started second last year but finished ninth after a runner-up finish in the 2021 Indy 500 following a late pass from Helio Castroneves. Palou is the series points leader this season, having won the Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course earlier this month. He'll attempt to sweep the month with the pole/wins at both Indy races.

Rinus VeeKay - No. 21 Bitnile.com car
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 234.211 mph 

VeeKay starts in a familiar spot, the middle of the front row where he took the green flag last year. It's a regular occurrence for him, with three consecutive front-row starts at the Indy 500. He's started fourth, third, second and now second again in this race but hasn't finished higher than eighth place (2021).

He'll most likely do better this year after coming in last place with contact 38 laps in. 

Felix Rosenqvist - No. 6 Arrow McLaren car
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 234.114 mph

He went to the top of the leaderboard on the first day of qualifying to lead the Fast 12 group. Rosenqvist will look to make it back-to-back Indy 500 wins for Swedish-born drivers should he make it to victory lane. 

Row 2

Santino Ferrucci - No. 14 Homes For Our Troops car
Team: A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 233.661 mph 

This is Ferrucci's best starting spot in his fifth Indy 500 race; before this year he started no better than 15th. Despite that, he's turned in four top-10 finishes for the big race. Ferrucci finished 10th last year, sixth in 2021, fourth in 2020 and seventh for Rookie of the Year honors in 2019. 

Pato O'Ward  - No. 5 Arrow McLaren car
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 233.158 mph 

He finished second to Ericsson last year at Indy, though second place at Indy isn't much to celebrate for drivers. There's no podium; it's all about the Indy 500 champion. Pato doesn't have a win or pole to his name yet this season, but he's second in points, only six behind Palou, with a consistent run so far. 

The 2020 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year finished sixth, followed by his fourth and second-place finishes. Qualifying in row two, O'Ward has put himself in a great position once again to race for the win. 

Scott Dixon - No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 233.151 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2008

The six-time IndyCar Series champion won his fifth Indy 500 pole last year and ran a great race. It looked like he was going to finally win that elusive second Indy 500. But he was caught for a speed violation coming into pit lane which shuffled him back in the field and effectively ended his chances at victory. 

He's led 665 laps in his 20 Indy 500 starts, the most of any driver in the race's history. 

Row 3

Alexander Rossi - No. 7 Arrow McLaren car
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 233.110 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2016

It's a fresh start for Rossi this season with his new team, Arrow McLaren, which has been one of the fastest teams this month. Rossi would love to turn that page with his second Indy 500 victory. He famously won the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016. 

Takuma Sato - No. 11 Deloitte car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 233.098 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2017, 2020

Of the nine past Indy 500 champions in this field, Sato is one of two who has won the race multiple times. He's turned in fast practice times, and qualifying times, the past couple of weeks. If you believe in number patterns, perhaps this is his year to win again, three years in between wins. He's only racing the ovals this season and is no longer a full-time driver in the series.

Tony Kanaan - No. 66 Arrow McLaren car
Team: Arrow McLaren
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 233.076 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2012

One of the biggest fan favorites in the field, this year especially. The 48-year-old will strap in for his final Indy 500 and his final auto race this Sunday. He's started 21 Indy 500 races, with plenty of heartbreak before finally getting his emotional win in 2012. He's qualified well enough to be in the mix for his swan song.

Row 4

Marcus Ericsson - No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 232.889 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2022

Ericsson put himself down in racing history last year when he became an Indy 500 champion, representing his home country of Sweden. He started fifth last year, so he'll have to work his way up a bit more than last year. He already has a win under his belt this season, taking the season-opener in St. Pete.

He'll look to be the sixth driver, and first since Castroneves in 2001-02, to win back-to-back Indy 500s. 

Benjamin Pedersen - No. 55 AJ FOYT RACING/SEXTON PROPERTIES car
Team: A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.671 mph 

One of four rookies in the field, Pedersen got people to notice when he qualified into the Fast 12 with a chance to vie for the pole. He's part of the legendary A.J. Foyt team and is the highest-starting rookie.

Will Power - No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.635 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2018

Power was the only Penske car to make the Fast 12 in qualifying, as some of the team's struggles for the big races over the past few years continue. 

Row 5

Ed Carpenter - No. 33 Bitnile.com car
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.689 mph 

A true hometown boy, Carpenter mostly focuses on running his race team. But the Indy 500 bug still bites him to run the oval each year. He started fourth the past couple of years, and has been a polesitter in the past. He finished 19th last year. 

Scott McLaughlin - No. 3 - Pennzoil Team Penske car
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.677 mph 

The 2021 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year followed that up with three race victories in a solid 2022 season. But in last year's Indy 500, he crashed in turn four in the latter stages of the race for a disappointing 29th-place finish.

McLaughlin is fifth in points this season with a race win under his belt. 

Kyle Kirkwood - No. 27 AutoNation car
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 232.662 mph 

As a rookie last year, he started 28th but finished 17th racing with A.J. Foyt's team. He already won with his new team this year, taking the checkered flag first on the street course in Long Beach.

Row 6

Conor Daly - No. 20 Bitnile.com car
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.433 mph 

The Noblesville, Ind. native is a local favorite in the race. He led a race-high 40 laps in 2021 when he finished 13th, to the delight of the crowd.

Josef Newgarden - No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske car
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.402 mph 

Newgarden has a race win this year as he looks for that elusive Indy 500 victory he's seen other Penske teammates celebrate. He's a two-time IndyCar Series champion with 26 victories to his name and 16 poles. 

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car
Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.133 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2014

It's good to see the veteran back in IndyCar even though he doesn't have a full-time ride in the series. He starts in 18th, and when he won in 2014, he started in 19th. 

If you believe in Florida karma, his favorite hockey team is the Florida Panthers, which are on an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final. 

Row 7

Romain Grosjean - No. 28 DHL car
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.997 mph 

The F1 veteran is back and doing alright in the IndyCar Series for his second season. He crashed in turn two a little more than 100 laps into the race last year, ending his day early. He ranks fourth in series points this year with two poles already, two top-five finishes and two top-10s.

Helio Castroneves - No. 06 AutoNation SiriusXM car
Team: Meyer Shank Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.954 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021

The four-time winner in the field with his second shot at a "drive for five." He finished seventh last year after starting near the back of the field. He's a veteran in the field in terms or races, Indy 500 wins and age (48). No driver has won five Indy 500s. A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears have all won four of them. 

This will be Helio's 23rd start in the race.

Colton Herta - No. 26 Gainbridge car
Team: Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.951 mph 

Row 8

Simon Pagenaud - No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM car
Team: Meyer Shank Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.878 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2019

Pagneaud is in his second season with Meyer Shank following a successful run with Team Penske. He's won 15 IndyCar races, plus a series championship, but he's yet to win with Meyer Shank. His last race win came at Iowa in 2020.

 He'll start his 12th Indy 500 hoping for a repeat of 2019's result. 

David Malukas - No. 18 HMD Trucking car
Team: Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.769 mph 

He finished 16th as the youngest driver in the field last year at 20 years old. 

Marco Andretti - No. 98 KULR/Curb car

Team: Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.682 mph 

For the third season, Marco isn't in the series full-time and comes back to run the Indy 500 as a one-off opportunity, in hopes of driving a car to victory in the race for only the second time in his storied family's history. His grandfather, Mario Andretti, won once in 1969. Marco's father and Andretti Autosport team owner, Michael, never won the race despite several close calls. Marco nearly had the victory as a rookie in 2006 before Sam Hornish Jr. beat him out at the line. 

He didn't hide his disappointment in TV interviews on qualifying day as his team just didn't have the speed. He used the word "embarrassing." 

No driver has ever won from the 24th position. 

Row 9

Devlin DeFrancesco - No. 29 Sodexo car
Team: Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.353 mph 

He started 20th and finished 24th in last year's race as a rookie. 

Agustin Canapino - No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing car
Team: Juncos Holinger Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.320 mph 

He's a rookie to IndyCar and the Indy 500, but he's won 15 national championships in Argentina in various series. 

Callum Ilott - No. 77 Juncos Holinger Racing car
Team: Juncos Holinger Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.182 mph 

A rookie last year, he was out of the race early with contact. He's also starting a couple of rows back this year. 

Row 10

RC Enerson - No. 50 Abel Motorsports car
Team: Abel Motorsports
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.129 mph 

Another rookie in the field, Enerson is one of three Floridians in the race (along with Kirkwood and Hunter-Reay). 

Katherine Legge - No. 44 Hendrickson car
Team: Rahl Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.070 mph

Legge is back in the race for the first time since 2013 and the lone female driver in the race. With her qualifying run, she's the fastest woman to ever drive at Indy Motor Speedway. Only nine women have raced in the Indy 500. 

Christian Lundgaard - No. 45 Hy-Vee car
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 229.649 mph

From Denmark, he's 21 and would be one of the youngest Indy 500 winners in the history of the race. He ranks ninth in season points with one pole, one top-five finish and three top-10s this season. 

Row 11

Sting Ray Robb - No. 51 biohaven car
Team: Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 229.549 mph

The rookie who's furthest back in the field will make some lists of unique names in the history of Indy 500 drivers. The 21-year-old would be one of the youngest Indy 500 winners should he succeed.

Jack Harvey - No. 30 PeopleReady car
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 229.166 mph

Harvey is still looking for his first IndyCar victory, and he'll make a lot of history if he does it here. 

Graham Rahal - No. 24 DRR Cusick CareKeepers car
Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.648 mph

It was heartbreak for Rahal when his teammate Jack Harvey bumped him from the field with one final qualifying run. Thirty years after his father (and now team owner), Bobby Rahal, was bumped from the race, Graham ended the day with his head in his hands thinking he wouldn't be in the race. 

But a practice crash between Legge and Stefan Wilson earlier this week left Wilson with a back injury and out of the race. Relationships between Graham and Wilson, plus the team, are tight, and Graham was selected to drive in Wilson's place. Wilson qualified the No. 24 car in row 9, but the driver change puts Graham at the back.

Friday, May 27, 2022

Helio Castroneves... 3-time Indy 500 winner?

Helio Castroneves won his third Indianapolis 500 in 2021. 

If you read that and think there's an error in the sentence, let me explain. The 2002 Indy 500 was swirled in controversy at the end of the race. It's recorded in history as Castroneves' second Indy 500 victory, adding to his list of 2001 and eventually 2009 and 2021 to make him the fourth four-time champion of the historic race. 

With a race that's now 20 years ago - and still during the era of the head-shaking IRL/CART split - it's a safe bet that there are plenty of racing and Indy 500 fans that don't even know about this controversy. That is, when Paul Tracy maintains he passed Castroneves in the closing laps just before the yellow track lights came on signifying a caution for a crash on another part of the track. 

Watching the race footage, Tracy passes Castroneves, then we get a track-side angle of a crash on another part of the track, bringing out the caution flag. Since the crash happened on the last lap, the race would then finish under caution. Which is why you can hear Tracy ecstatic on his radio screaming "Yeah baby!" in celebration of what he thought was his first Indianapolis 500 victory. 

But no sooner had viewers seen and heard that did broadcaster Paul Page inform us all that scoring would go back to the previous lap, meaning Castroneves would take the victory. Sure enough, Castroneves and his team did the traditional fence-climb while Tracy was left mystified as to how his pass didn't stick. 

While Castroneves drank the celebratory milk, Tracy and Team Green weren't done with the outcome and looked into it further. 

By July, the Team Green appeal was denied and the Castroneves victory held up for the final time. The decision rested with Tony George, president and CEO of the IRL at the time, and the man many racing fans still are upset with all these years later because of The Split. For my Minnesota hockey friends, think of Tony George in the same vein as the name Norm Green. 

Anyway, the official decision for the 2002 race was 11 pages long and referenced the placement of the field following the incident on lap 199. It was called "a judgment call and is not protestable nor appealable under the Rule Book." 

That's about what Tracy said years later when ABC aired a sit-down interview with Tracy and pit reporter Jack Arute, that the "appeal was not appealable," Tracy said at the time. And that was after Team Green spent about $150,000 in legal fees. 

Basically, George confirmed the decision by IRL officials that it was the correct call to place Castroneves' car ahead of Tracy on that final lap after the caution period started, also indicating that there's a lot of evidence to support that. Tracy thinks otherwise, based on all the camera angles, and so do a lot of fans, no doubt. 

But under Rule 11.2 of the 2002 Indy Racing League rules, such decisions about whether a car passed another during a yellow flag involving the judgment of race officials "may not be protested or appealed and the decision of the officials is final and binding." 

So according to the official information, Castroneves was the one leading Tracy at the time that race control called for the yellow flag via radio. Team Green's side of things is that Tracy made the pass before the track lights turned yellow signaling the caution period. Team Penske, on the other hand, said Castroneves was ahead when the caution came and then immediately slowed when it came out. 

When Castroneves won his "fourth" Indy 500 in 2021, there was much fanfare and celebrating on the front stretch as dozens of drivers, crew members, opposing crew members, and living legends like Mario Andretti congratulated Castroneves on joining the four-timers club. The cameras just followed him around for a while, basically. 

But when the microphone for NBC finally made it to him, the emotional Castroneves even took the opportunity to take a good-natured shot at Tracy, who was part of the broadcast team at the time. 

"P.T., P.T.! I know you've been talking about that second win, P.T. I'm sorry man, that was my win!" 

It makes me wonder how much that 2002 finish was still talked about, or asked about, with Castroneves in the years since 2009 when he make his quest to win the race a fourth time. I'm sure it's never far from Tracy's mind every year, since he never did win the Indy 500, despite eight starts. 

Basically, the decisions came down to some race politics. Who would the IRL want to win? A driver who's full-time in the IRL with the most successful team owner of all time in Roger Penske? Or a driver, Tracy, who's from the "rival/split" CART series that comes to race the Indy 500 as a one-off race? 

Not that politics are anything new in racing. Watch the Senna documentary on the legendary and late Formula One driver to learn that tidbit. There were a few shady decisions made there by the president of the series at the time to try and screw over Senna, from Brazil, in favor of Alain Prost.

The 2002 Indy 500 and its finish will always be laced in controversy, whether anyone remembers it or not. For me, it's much like the 1981 race, which was debated for months, overturned and reversed again with Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti. Unser passed cars under the yellow flag coming out of the pits, which shouldn't be allowed. Unser ended up with three Indy 500 victories, that one included, while Andretti only found victory lane in 1969 at Indy. 

So when the biggest focus of this year's Indy 500 turns into Castroneves' Drive for Five, remember that his road to get there wasn't an easy one. And remember the pass Tracy made on lap 199 in 2002 that ultimately didn't stick.

All these years later, Castroneves has celebrated four Indy 500 victories, and Tracy maintains he was the rightful winner in 2022

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Indy 500: The field of 33 in 2022

This is May, and this post is all about the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500. 

Gone are the exciting years of "Bump Day" for qualifying, when a few unlucky teams and drivers failed to bump their way into the field of 33. This year, it sounds like it was quite the saga simply to get to that 33-car mark. Tradition is tradition with 33, so I'm grateful to whoever was involved in making sure the field is full. 

Even though weather came in and ruined a chunk of the Saturday qualifying, the Fast 12 and Fast 6 format on Sunday to determine the first few rows and pole position was enough excitement for the weekend. Scott Dixon won the pole for the second consecutive year with a four-lap qualifying average speed of 234.046 mph. It's the fastest in Indy 500 history, topping 233.718 mph set in 1996 by the late Scott Brayton. Arie Luyendyk has the all-time four-lap qualifying record with 236.986 mph in 1996, but that was on the second day of qualifications and not eligible for a pole run. 

This year's entire field is also the fastest in Indy 500 history, with an average speed of 231.023 mph, beating out last year's record average speed of 230.294 mph. 

By the numbers
The 2022 field consists of eight prior Indy 500 winners, including a trio of multi-time winners. If you don't know Helio Castroneves' name, you will. He's the defending champion and will attempt to make his "Drive for Five" to become the only five-time winner of the event. He won previously in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2021, though I make the case that 2002 should have an asterisk attached. 

Juan Pablo Montoya and Takuma Sato are back again in search of their third victories. Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Alexander Rossi, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud will look to join the two-time-winner club. 

The record for former winners in a field is 10 drivers, back in 1992. Seven rookies are in the field - the most rookies since 2014 when there were also seven rookies. But a couple of these drivers aren't rookies in auto racing. Jimmie Johnson decided to join the Indy 500 fun this year after racing part-time in the IndyCar Series last year following his successful, seven-time-championship NASCAR career. Formula One racer Romain Grosjean makes his first Indy start, along with drivers Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas. 

Ten rookies have won the Indy 500, and three are in this year's field: Montoya (2000), Castroneves (2001) and Rossi (2016). 

For the first time since 2008, when Dixon won this race, Chip Ganassi Racing has cars starting 1-2 on the grid. It was Dixon and the late Dan Wheldon starting at the front that year. 

This year, there are no female drivers in the field for the second time in three years. Last year, Simona De Silvestro started from the 33rd and final position, making history driving for an all-female-owned team. She finished 31st. The 2020 race marked the first time since 1999 that there wasn't at least one female driver in the field. There were four in the race only a few years ago, and now we're back to no women taking the green flag. Take that for what it's worth. This is a tough event and tough spot to break into when it comes to sponsorship and money. 


Starting grid stats
As I have in the past, I'll remind readers that the best chance to win the Indy 500 comes when you give your car a good starting position within the first two rows. Of course, that's not always the case, like last year when Castroneves started in the third row in the eighth position. But for the three previous years, the winner started in the front row; it's happened 45 times in 105 races. 

This is also the annual reminder that no driver has ever won the race starting from the last three positions, row 11. Actually, there are six other starting positions where no driver has ever won the Indy 500: The 18th spot on the outside of row six; 23rd and 24th in row 8; 26th in the middle of row 9; and 29th and 30th in row 10. So if Conor Daly, Marco Andretti, DeFrancesco, Scott McLaughlin, Dalton Kellett, Montoya, Lundgaard, Jack Harvey or Stefan Wilson win this Sunday, they'll make history in that regard. 

A lot of people will keep their eye on Castroneves trying to win his fifth Indy 500. But the last driver to win from 27th was Fred Frame in 1932. 

Go back to 1936 and the inaugural winner in 1911 to find a winner in row 10, 1974 was the last winner out of row 9 and, as mentioned, row 8 hasn't been great either (winners in 1927 and 1935 starting from the 22nd position). The polesitter has won the race 21 times, the latest being Pagenaud in 2019. The winner has also come out of row one 45 times in 105 races. Add in the second row (19 victories), and the winner has come out of those first two rows 61% of the time. 

So it's not entirely surprising that a driver is better served starting near the front. 

This year's row 2 is the most experienced row with 41 combined career Indy 500 starts. Ed Carpenter with 18 of them, Marcus Ericsson with three and Kanaan with 20. 

Row 1

Scott Dixon - No. 9 PNC Bank chip Ganassi Racing car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 234.046 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2008

Scott Dixon is a six-time IndyCar champion. He'll start from the pole for the fifth time at Indy (2008, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022), but he still has only the 2008 Indy 500 victory to his name. The poles are great, but I think he might trade a couple if he could get a second Indy 500 win. He finished 17th last year and led only seven laps. 

Still, Dixon has led 570 laps in his Indy 500 career, the most of any driver in the field.

In his career, Dixon has 51 IndyCar victories, ranking third all-time. 

Alex Palou - No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 233.499 mph 

He's the reigning IndyCar Series champion, the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar Series title, and finished as the runner-up in the 2021 Indy 500 when Castroneves passed him headed into turn one on lap 198 (two to go). He ranks second in series points this season with 156.

Rinus VeeKay - No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile car
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 233.385 mph  

He's in his second full season with Ed Carpenter racing and started last year's race at 20 years old and the youngest front-row starter for the race. He won the road-course, Indy Grand Prix in 2021 for his first career victory. VeeKay has also qualified well each time for the Indy 500, starting fourth or better in his three Indy 500 starts (fourth as a rookie in 2020 and third in 2021).

Last year, he became the youngest driver to start from the front row in Indy 500 history, starting third and finishing eighth. 

Row 2

Ed Carpenter - No. 33 Alzamend Neuro car
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 233.080 mph 

Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter is 41 years old and the only owner/driver in the field. He spends the majority of his time as an IndyCar team owner but races Indy where he's always qualified well. He has three Indy 500 poles to his name, though still looking for a victory. He's won three times in his IndyCar career, all on ovals. 

He's starting fourth for a second consecutive Indy 500. He finished fifth last year. 

Marcus Ericsson - No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 232.764 mph

Ericsson improves on his ninth-place start from last year when he finished 11th. The Swedish driver competed in Formula One before joining IndyCar in 2019. He has two career IndyCar victories, both last season, and nine top-5 finishes. 

Tony Kanaan - No. 1 The American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 232.372 mph 
Indy 500 wins: 2013

Tony Kanaan ended his string of bad luck at Indy when he won the 500 in 2013. He's no longer a full-time racer in the series, but Kanaan is back to try for a second Indy 500 victory. He's still a fan favorite and comes into the race with a total of 346 laps led at the speedway. His last win in an IndyCar, of his 17 total, came back in 2014. 

He's the oldest driver in the field at 47 years, 149 days old as of race day. He's starting from the second row for a second year in a row, starting fifth and finishing 10th last year. 

Row 3

Pato O'Ward - No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP car
Team: Arrow McLaren SP
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.705 mph

O'Ward was the 2020 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year with a sixth-place finish. Last year, he started 12th and finished fourth. He won this year's race at Barber for his third career win. 

Felix Rosenqvist - No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP car
Team: Arrow McLaren SP
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 232.182 mph 

The 2019 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, his lone IndyCar win came back in the 2020 season, which is also the last time he's finished in the top-5 in a race. This year's Indy 500 will be his 51st career IndyCar race. 

Romain Grosjean - No. 28 DHL car 
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.999 mph  

He's an experienced rookie in the field in his second full season of IndyCar racing. He previously made 180 starts in Formula One before 2021. He recorded three podium finishes in IndyCar last season but is still looking for his first win in the series. He's been the focus of some controversy lately, bumping into drivers' cars on track, most recently bumping Graham Rahal twice around the same stretch at Barber. 

Row 4

Takuma Sato - No. 51 Nurtec ODT car
Team: Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.670 mph 
Indy 500 wins: 2017, 2020

Sato won the 500 in 2020 under caution when the race was moved to August because of the pandemic. He also came close in 2012 when he and Dario Franchitti touched on the final lap, sending Sato into the wall and Franchitti to his third Indy 500 win. Sato has six IndyCar wins, the last being that 2020 Indy 500. 

Last year, he started 15th and finished 14th for the big race. 

Will Power - No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car
Team: Team Penske 
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.534 mph 
Indy 500 wins: 2018

Power was the only Team Penske driver to make the Fast 12 in qualifying, which is much improved from his disastrous last-row start last year. He's also this season's points leader in the IndyCar standings with 170 points after he's finished in the top-5 of all five races so far this season. He's won at least one IndyCar race from 2007-21 and looking to make it 16-straight seasons with perhaps a win at Indy for the second time. 

Jimmie Johnson - No. 48 Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing car
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.264 mph

The buzz about Johnson is that this is his rookie start in the Indy 500 at 46 years old. He's in his second season as a full-time IndyCar driver, but he only raced on the road and street circuits in 2021. Of course, he's most famous for being a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and regarded as one of the best drivers in the history of that sport. The only drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 in their careers are A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. Johnson will look to join that short list. 

Row 5

David Malukas - No. 18 HMD car
Team: Dale Coyne Racing with HMD 
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.607 mph 

Malukas is the youngest driver in the field at 20 years old, his birthday came a couple of weeks after 9/11. He's come up through the Indy Lights ranks, winning seven races in the support series in 2021. He's led three laps so far this year in his rookie season. 

Josef Newgarden - No. 2 Shell Team Penske car
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.580 mph 

There's no doubt that Josef Newgarden has established a successful IndyCar career. He won the series championships in 2017 and 2019, after all. He's won a lot of races. But unlike most of his Penske teammates from past to present, Newgarden hasn't won the Indy 500 yet. Running a Penske machine always seems to give drivers a leg up in the Indy 500, so that helps. Newgarden started in row 7 last year but finished 12th. 

Newgarden won back-to-back races this year, on the Texas oval and the Long Beach road course. His best finish in the Indy 500 was third in 2016 with Ed Carpenter's team. 

Santino Ferrucci - No. 23 Palermo's Screamin Sicilian DRR car
Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.508 mph 

He started back in 23rd last year but rebounded well and finished sixth. He's dabbled in the Formula One support series for a few seasons before landing back in IndyCar for the 500. His seventh-place finish at Indy in 2019 earned him Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors. 

Row 6

Simon Pagenaud - No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM car
Team: Meyer Shank Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 231.275 mph 
Indy 500 wins: 2019

Pagenaud is with a new team this season after racing for a while with powerhouse Team Penske, and winning the Indy 500 in 2019 when he and Rossi made it an entertaining finish with multiple passes in the closing laps. He won the IndyCar Series in 2016 and is a 15-time race winner. But he didn't find victory lane in 2021. He started his career in the Champ Car days in 2007. 

JR Hildebrand - No. Homes For Our Troops/AJ FOYT RACING car
Team: AJ Goyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 231.112 mph 

Until Hilebrand does anything else worth noting, he will always be known as the driver who crashed in turn four of the final lap in 2011, paving the path for Dan Wheldon to win the race. It's just the way it is. Hildebrand was still the rookie of the year in 2011, and I imagine that race still haunts him. He's not a full-time driver in the series anymore and instead has made the Indy 500 starts the past few years. 

Conor Daly - No. 20 BitNile car
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 230.999 mph

One of the most exciting moments in the 2021 Indy 500, especially for Hoosier State natives, was when Indiana-native Conor Daly led the race. He finished 13th and led a race-high 40 laps. His best finish was 10th in 2019. The son of former racer Derek Daly, he's still looking for his first win in IndyCar. 

Row 7

Callum Ilott - No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing car
Team: Juncos Hollinger Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 230.961 mph 

He has one top-10 finish this IndyCar season, after racing in three events in 2021. 

Alexander Rossi - No. NAPA AUTO PARTS / AutoNation car
Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 230.812 mph 
Indy 500 wins: 2016

Rossi's brightest moment was a fuel strategy that paid off and sent him to victory in the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016 - as a rookie. He has seven victories but the last coming in 2019 when he won at Road America and finished third in championship points that season. He wasn't too pleased with how Indy 500 qualifying shook out this year, a combination of weather/track conditions and the "luck of the draw" of the qualifying order. 

Graham Rahal - No. 15 United Rentals car
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 230.766 mph

Rahal didn't finish last year's race due to a crash. He's turning into a series veteran now, racing for his dad's (1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal) team since the 2007 Champ Car days. He's a six-time race winner but last won in 2017 when he swept the doubleheader at Detroit. He's a driver that's always in the mix but never seems to find himself at the top of the podium. 

Row 8

Sage Karam - No. 24 AES Indiana DRR car
Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 230.464 mph 

Karam is probably just happy to be starting somewhere other than the last row this year. From 2019-21, Karam started 31st on the grid. He had his best finish last year, in seventh place. There was a great piece recently about Karam's struggles and journey through racing in the years following the tragic incident that led to driver Justin Wilson's death at Pocono in 2015. It was a piece of Karam's car that struck Wilson on the track. 

Marco Andretti - No. 98 KULR Technology / Curb car
Team: Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 230.345 mph 

This marks the second year that Marco Andretti isn't racing in IndyCar full time. He stepped away to pursue some other racing interests, but of course, he still wants to enter the biggest race of the year. With his dad, Michael Andretti, still a team owner, it's a logical step. This will always be a sentimental pick to win, as long as Marco enters the Indy 500 field. He famously lost the 2006 race in his rookie season by the slimest of margins to Sam Hornish Jr. He also won the pole position in 2020. 

Marco is always chasing family history behind his grandfather, Mario Andretti, who is the only Andretti to win the race in 1969. Marco's dad Michael is the greatest driver to never win the race (he got close in 1992, for example), though he's won as a team owner multiple times. Marco usually runs well at Indianapolis, even if drinking the milk always ends up out of reach. 

Devlin DeFrancesco - No. 29 PowerTap car
Team: Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 230.326 mph 

He's a rookie who competed in the Indy Pro 2000 on the way to IndyCar. 

Row 9

Colton Herta - No. 26 Gainbridge car
Team: Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 230.235 mph 

If you believe in momentum, Herta has already won one race at Indianapolis this month, the grand prix on the speedway's road course. He's still on the young side of IndyCar - and became the youngest IndyCar winner ever - but he's been successful already in his fifth season in the series with seven victories. His dad and former driver Bryan Herta is part team owner for his car.

Colton will start his fourth Indy 500 this year; he finished eighth in 2020. 

Scott McLaughlin - No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske car 
Team: Team Penske
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 230.154 mph

McLaughlin, the 2021 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, won the first race of this season and ranks third in this year's series points. Before IndyCar, the New Zealander was still with Team Penske but as a successful driver in Australian Supercars. 

Helio Castroneves - No. 06 AutoNation/Sirius XM car
Team: Meyer Shank Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 229.630 mph 
Indy 500 wins: 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021

Castroneves joined legends A.J. Foyt, the late Al Unser Sr. (died Dec. 9, 2021) and Rick Mears on the list of four-time Indy 500 winners when he won the race last year driving for Meyer Shank Racing rather than Roger Penske, the team owner he drove for in most of his successful career. At 47, Castroneves is one of the oldest drivers in the field; he would be the third-oldest winner of the race should he win this year behind Al Unser and Bobby Unser. Al Unser was 47 and 360 days old when he won his fourth in 1987; Castroneves turned 47 on May 10. 

He's the most experienced driver in the field with 21 previous Indy 500 starts. Thirty-five starts is the record, set by A.J. Foyt from 1958-92. 

The Indy 500 has seen five back-to-back winners, with the last being Castroneves when he won in 2001 and 2002. Before that, it was Al Unser in 1970 and 1971. As an extra incentive, BorgWarner (of the famous Borg-Warner trophy) put up a $400,000 bonus for Castroneves if he can achieve victory once again. 

Castroneves has won the race starting in rows 3, 4 and 5, never from the pole or the first two rows. 

Row 10

Kyle Kirkwood - No. 14 ROKiT / AJ FOYT RACING car
Team: AJ Foyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 229.406 mph 

He's the only driver to win championships in all three divisions on the Road to Indy support series in Cooper Tires USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights series before making the jump to IndyCar as a rookie this season. 

Dalton Kellett - No. 4 K-LINE / AJ FOYT RACING car
Team: AJ Foyt Enterprises
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: 228.916 mph 

It's his third year as an IndyCar regular. He struggles to find speed during races. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get lapped early. He crashed out of Indy in 2020 to finish 31st but improved to finish 23rd last year. And as I worked on this piece, Kellett crashed into the wall in practice the Monday following qualifying. He came out of it unscathed. 

Juan Pablo Montoya - No. 6 Arrow McLaren SP car
Team: Arrow McLaren SP 
Engine: Chevrolet 
Qualifying speed: 228.622 mph
Indy 500 wins: 2000, 2015

Another one of the most veteran race drivers in the field at 46 years old. He won the storied race as a rookie in 2000. Montoya dabbled in CART, NASCAR, sports cars and Formula One in his diverse racing portfolio. He's the only driver to win the CART championship (1999), Indy 500 (2000) and Rolex 24 at Daytona (2007) in his first attempts. He has 15 career wins in CART and IndyCar. 

Row 11

Christian Lundgaard - No. 30 PeopleReady car
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 227.053 mph 

He's in his first full season in IndyCar this year, with one top-10 in five races so far. 

Jack Harvey - No. 45 Hy-Vee car
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Qualifying speed: 226.851 mph

He finished 18th in last year's Indy 500. He's one of five drivers who have won on both the oval and the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Indy Lights series. He's still looking for his first victory in the top IndyCar series. 

Stefan Wilson - No. 25 DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports car 
Team: DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports
Engine: Chevrolet
Qualifying speed: No speed; did not run due to engine change/weather

Wilson carries on the racing history in the footsteps of his late brother Justin Wilson. Stefan's best finish was 15th in 2018; he was the leader on lap 195 but had to pit for fuel on lap 196 and surrender the lead. He crashed out in last year's racing, registering a 33rd/last-place finish. He'll make his fourth Indy 500 start this year.