I have no idea if Chevrolet is going to wipe the floor with Honda like they have the past two years. I have no idea if the likes of JR Hildebrand, Townsend Bell and Kurt Busch will play spoiler and crack the top nine while championship contenders languish in the middle of the field. I have no idea if the top four-lap average is going to be 230 MPH or 225 MPH.
This Month of May has felt so different from others in recent memory with a few caveats of what May has been in the last twenty years.
Despite the uncertainty, the qualifying changes, the lack of bumping (at least we think so), the speeds, it still feels special. It feels like the Month of May. Granted the amount of Mays I have experienced are far fewer than many. I never saw fifty to sixty cars, front and rear engined, enter with short trackers going against the best from Europe and rest of the world. I never saw a track record though a few occurred in my lifetime and other than a few dramatic years from 2008-2011, bumping consists of Tony Stewart's 2004 attempt being squashed by Joe Gibbs, GM and MBNA and Arie Luyendyk Jr. being bumped by Felipe Giaffone after he was shopping at the mall with his wife earlier in the day.
This month has been full of plenty of daily activity to keep fans interested and plenty of rain to piss said fans off. The Grand Prix, despite the opinions of many including myself proved to be a much more successful way to kick things off. It brought more people through the turnstiles and more racing on the track. Both pluses.
When it comes to the oval we have seen Chevrolets and Hondas on top. The names Castroneves, Andretti, Carpenter, Dixon and Pagenaud have all been at top with Hildebrand, Busch, Karam, Newgarden and Bell lurking. Hawksworth is the lone driver to find the wall but with two days of qualifying to go, you just have to think he won't be the only one. Katherine Legge is still looking for a ride. Bryan Clauson has one... for 2015. It'd be nice if they both had rides for this weekend but baby steps toward bumping in 2015 wouldn't be a bad idea.
Meanwhile, Kurt Busch's stand-by driver for the Month of May was announced and it is Parker Kligerman. Kligerman started 2014 driving for Swan Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series before he lost his ride. Kligerman is a talented driver. He won in ARCA, won in the Truck Series and had a great season in Nationwide driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports last year, finishing ninth in the championship and his best finish being third at Road America. Don't get me wrong, I like Kligerman. He is more than welcome to come to IndyCar if he can't find a ride in NASCAR but I just don't think he should be Busch's stand-by. You have experienced drivers such as Bruno Junqueira (who Michael Andretti still owes), Katherine Legge, Bryan Clauson, E.J. Viso, Wade Cunningham and so on, on the sidelines who I think deserve a call.
I have heard time and time again what the Month of May was and don't get me wrong, I do daydream of going back in time, to the days when the stands were full each weekend in May and innovation amazed and inspired. There is something about the Month of May. It's not the same but it is evolving. Indianapolis for a long time was the track for one race and one race only. Now it has become a track for all. From the up and coming drivers in the open-wheel ladder system to the 33 fastest for the 500 and the top riders and stock car drivers later in the summer. The Speedway hasn't suffered through the change. Think about Spa, Silverstone and Monza. All historic, all prestigious, all host multiple events, from F1 to sports cars to junior Formulas. If anything, it is for the better Indianapolis has become inclusive, hosting the best in oval and road course racing.
I'm not sure what May will look like next year or ten years from now or twenty-five years from now the same way I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow in qualifying or the day after that in qualifying. I know what I'd like the Month of May to be but at a minimalist point of view, as long as the Indianapolis 500 exists, everything will be ok.
