Morning Warm-Up: 96th Indianapolis 500

Here we are. Race day. We have been waiting one year for this day to come again. It is the fifth round of the 2012 Izod IndyCar Season and the first of five oval races this year. This is also the first of a five consecutive race stretch. Today calls for some of the hottest temperatures in the history of the Indianapolis 500 and with the new engines, today may become a true race of attrition. Of the thirty-three drivers, three are past winners of this race and have a combined six Indianapolis 500 wins between them. Helio Castroneves has a chance to become the fourth man to win four Indianapolis 500s, joining AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Castroneves' win in 2002 is to date the last Indianapolis 500 victory for Chevrolet. Dario Franchitti won in 2007 and 2010 but won both those races were from 3rd on the grid, today he starts 16th. The only driver to win from 16th position, Dan Wheldon in 2005. Today is also May 27th. The last time the Indianapolis 500 was on the 27th of May was 2007. Scott Dixon will start a position ahead of his teammate fom the outside of row 5. Last winner from 15th was Graham Hill back in 1966. This is Dixon's worst starting position in the Indianapolis 500.

Like Castroneves, pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe and points leader Will Power look to give Roger Penske his 16th Indianapolis 500 victory, 40 years after Mark Donohue won Penske his first. Nine Americans are in this year's race with three drivers starting in the top ten. Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti start 3rd and 4th, with their Canadian teammate of James Hinchcliffe starting in the middle of row 1. Rookie Josef Newgarden was the highest qualifying Honda and will start 7th. Ganassi teammates Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball start 12th and 14th, both ahead of their veteran Ganassi teammates. Last year's runner-up J.R. Hildebrand starts from the 18th position and Townsend Bell will start from the 20th. Ed Carpenter and rookie Bryan Clauson both had pole day accidents that forced them to be second day qualifiers. Carpenter starts 28th and Clauson 31st after a conservative run just to get the car in the field.

Rubens Barrichello starts 10th for his first career oval race and starts behind his other two KV Racing Technology teammates. Tony Kanaan starts 8th and E.J. Viso 9th. Ana Beatriz was the best of the Indianapolis part-timers and will start 13th for Andretti Autosport.

After a week and a half of practice, many think today will be another great race after a very exciting string of road and street courses to start the season. The new car punches a much larger hole in the air than before making for better drafting and probably more passing during the race. Firestone has done a phenomenal with tire selection in 2012. I hope we see a fantastic race and we all enjoy this Memorial Day weekend.