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| It's That Time Again |
Coverage
Channel: ABC
Time: Coverage beings at 11:00 a.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET.
Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear will be in the booth. Jon Beekhuis, Rick DeBruhl and Dr. Jerry Punch will work the pit lane.
The Starting Grid
Row 1:
Scott Dixon
This will be Dixon's 13th Indianapolis 500 start.
2008 Indianapolis 500 winner.
Car #9 has won the Indianapolis 500 four times with Dixon's 2008 victory being the most recent.
Scott Dixon is the 19th driver to win multiple Indianapolis 500 pole positions. Eighteen times has the pole-sitter won the race, most recently Hélio Castroneves in 2009. Dixon's 2008 "500" victory came from pole position.
Will Power
This will be Power's eighth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best Finish: 5th (2009)
Car #1 has won the Indianapolis 500 seven times, the third-most victories but has not won since Al Unser won in 1971.
Power will start second. Eleven times has the winner started second, most recently Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000.
Simon Pagenaud
This will be Pagenaud's fourth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 8th (2013)
Car #22 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Pagenaud will start third. Eleven times has the winner started third, most recently Dario Franchitti in 2010.
Pagenaud looks to become the third Frenchman to win the Indianapolis 500.
Row 2:
Tony Kanaan
This will be Kanaan's 14th Indianapolis 500 start.
2013 Indianapolis 500 winner.
Car #10 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Dario Franchitti 2010.
Kanaan will start fourth. Six times has the winner started fourth but not since Bobby Rahal in 1986.
This year's race also marks Tony Kanaan's 300th IndyCar start. He will become the eighth driver to make 300 career starts.
Hélio Castroneves
This will be Castroneves' 15th Indianapolis 500 start.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner (2001, 2002, 2009)
Car #3 has won the Indianapolis 500 eleven times, the most victories. Castroneves' 2009 victory is the most recent victory for car #3.
Castroneves will start fifth. Seven times has the winner started fifth but not since Buddy Lazier in 1996.
Justin Wilson
This will be Wilson's eight Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 5th (2013)
Car #25 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Al Unser 1987.
Wilson will start sixth. Five times has the winner started sixth, most recently Dan Wheldon in 2011.
Wilson looks to become the sixth British driver to win the Indianapolis 500 joining Dario Resta, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti.
Row 3:
Sébastien Bourdais
This will be Bourdais' fifth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 7th (2014)
Car #11 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Tony Kanaan 2013.
Bourdais will start seventh. Five times has the winner started seventh but not since A.J. Foyt in 1961.
Bourdais looks to become the third Frenchman to win the Indianapolis 500. Jules Goux and René Thomas won in 1913 and 1914 respectively. Goux won the 1913 race from seventh on the grid.
Marco Andretti
This will be Andretti's tenth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 2nd (2006)
Car #27 has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, most recentlyC with Dario Franchitti in 2007.
Andretti will start eighth. Twice has the winner started eighth but not since Kenny Bräck in 1999.
Josef Newgarden
This will be Newgarden's fourth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 25th (2012)
Car #21 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Newgarden will start ninth. Only once has a winner start ninth, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1993. This is Newgarden's third start from the third row in four starts.
Row 4:
J.R. Hildebrand
This will be Hildebrand's fifth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 2nd (2011)
Car #6 has won the Indianapolis 500 five times, most recently with Sam Hornish, Jr. in 2006.
Hildebrand will start tenth. Twice has the winner start tenth, most recently Gil de Ferran in 2003.
Carlos Muñoz
This will be Muñoz's third Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 2nd (2013).
Car #26 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Dan Wheldon 2005.
Muñoz will start 11th. Twice has the winner started 11th, most recently Hélio Castroneves in 2001.
Ed Carpenter
This will be Carpenter's 12th Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 5th (2008)
Car #20 has won the Indianapolis 500 three times but not since Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989.
Carpenter will start 12th. Twice has the winner started 12th, most recently Tony Kanaan in 2013.
Row 5:
Oriol Servià
This will be Servià's seventh Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 4th (2012)
Car #32 has won the Indianapolis 500 twice but not since George Souders in 1927.
Servià will start 13th. Four times has the winner started 13th, most recently Hélio Castroneves in 2002.
Servià attempts to become the first Spaniard to win the Indianapolis 500.
Charlie Kimball
This will be Kimball's fifth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 8th (2012)
Car #83 has never won the Indianapolis 500. The only time a car numbered in the 80s won was Jim Clark in 1965 in car #82.
Kimball will start 14th. Only once has a winner started 14th, Bob Sweikert in 1955. Like Sweikert, Kimball is a Californian.
Juan Pablo Montoya
This will be Montoya's third Indianapolis 500 start.
2000 Indianapolis 500 winner.
Car #2 has won the Indianapolis 500 eight times, the second-most victories but has not won since Al Unser won in 1978.
Montoya will start 15th. Three times has the winner start 15th but not since Graham Hill in 1966.
Row 6:
Ryan Hunter-Reay
This will be Hunter-Reay's eighth Indianapolis 500 start.
2014 Indianapolis 500 winner.
Hunter-Reay will attempt to become the sixth driver to win back-to-back Indianapolis 500s.
His victory last year was the first Indianapolis 500 victory for car #28.
Hunter-Reay will start 16th. Twice has the winner started 16th, most recently Dario Franchitti in 2012.
Graham Rahal
This will be Rahal's eighth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 3rd (2011)
Car #15 has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, most recently with Buddy Rice in 2004.
Rahal will start 17th. Twice has the winner started 17th but not since Eddie Cheever in 1998.
Graham Rahal looks to become the third driver to win the Indianapolis 500 after finishing second in his prior to starts. Rodger Ward did it in 1959 and Bobby Unser did it in 1981.
Rahal could tie Salt Walther and George Snider for most 33rd-place finishes this year. Rahal has finished 33rd twice.
Simona de Silvestro
This will be de Silvestro's fifth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 14th (2010)
Car #29 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
De Silvestro will start 18th. The best finish for the 18th-starter is second in 1920 by René Thomas and in 2009 and 2010 by Dan Wheldon.
De Silvestro attempts to become the first Swiss national to win the Indianapolis 500.
Row 7:
James Jakes
This will be Jakes' third Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 15th (2013)
Car #7 has won the Indianapolis 500 twice but not since Bill Holland in 1949.
Jakes will start 19th. Twice has the winner started 19th including last year's win by Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Jakes looks to become the sixth British driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
Alex Tagliani
This will be Tagliani's sixth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 10th (2010)
Car #48 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Bobby Unser 1975. Car #48 is the only number in the 40s to win the Indianapolis 500.
Tagliani will start 20th. Three times has the winner start 20th but not since Al Unser in 1987.
Tagliani looks to become the second Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500 joining Jacques Villeneuve.
Sage Karam
This will be Karam's second Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 9th (2014)
Car #8 has won the Indianapolis 500 three times but not since Pat Flaherty in 1956.
Karam will start 21st. Only once has a winner started 21st, L.L Corum and Joe Boyer in 1924.
Row 8:
Conor Daly
This will be Daly's second Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 22nd (2013)
Car #43 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Daly will start 22nd. Twice has the winner start 22nd but not since Kelly Petillo in 1935.
Townsend Bell
This will be Bell's ninth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 4th (2009)
Car #24 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Graham Hill 1966.
Bell will start 23rd. The best finish for the 23rd-starter is second in the 1933 race by Wilbur Shaw.
Takuma Sato
This will be Sato's sixth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 13th (2013)
Car #14 has won the Indianapolis 500 six times, most recently with Kenny Bräck in 1999.
Sato will start 24th. The best finish for the 24th-starter is fourth in 1967 by Denis Hulme, in 1969 by Mel Kenyon, in 1972 by Sammy Sessions, in 1995 by Eliseo Salazar and in 2009 by Townsend Bell.
Row 9:
Pippa Mann
This will be Mann's fourth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 20th (2011)
Car #63 has never won the Indianapolis 500. Twice has a car numbered in the 60s won, Mark Donohue in 1972 in car #66 and Hélio Castroneves in 2001 in car #68, both owned by Team Penske.
Mann will start 25th. Only once has the winner started 25th, Johnny Rutherford in 1974.
Mann looks to become the sixth British driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
Gabby Chaves
This will be Chaves' first Indianapolis 500 start.
He becomes the sixth Colombian to start the Indianapolis 500.
Car #98 has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, most recently with Dan Wheldon in 2011.
Chaves will start 26th. The best finish for the 26th-finisher is third in 1956 by Don Freeland and in 1960 by Paul Goldsmith.
Sebastián Saavedra
This will be Saavedra's fifth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 15th (2014)
Car #17 has won the Indianapolis 500 once, Dario Resta 1916.
Saavedra will start 27th. Only once has a winner started 27th, Fred Frame in 1932.
Row 10:
Jack Hawksworth
This will be Hawksworth's second Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 20th (2014)
Car #41 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Hawksworth will start 28th. Twice has the winner started 28th but not since Louis Meyer in 1936. No winner has started worse than 28th.
Hawksworth looks to become the sixth British driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
Stefano Coletti
This will be Coletti's first Indianapolis 500 start.
He is the second Monegasque driver to start the Indianapolis 500. Louis Chiron started 14th and finished 7th in 1929.
Car #4 has won the Indianapolis 500 five times but not since Emerson Fittipaldi won in 1993.
Coletti will start 29th. The best finish for the 29th-starter is second in 1911 by Ralph Mulford and Paul Tracy in 2002.
Bryan Clauson
This will be Clauson's second Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 30th (2012)
Car #88 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Clauson will start 30th. The best finish for the 30th-starter is fourth in 1936 by Mauri Rose.
Row 11:
Ryan Briscoe
This will be Briscoe's tenth Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 5th (2007 and 2012).
Car #5 has won the Indianapolis 500 six times but not since Arie Luyendyk won in 1997.
Briscoe will start 31st after James Hinchcliffe qualified 24th. The best finish for the 31st-starter was fourth in the 1951 race by Andy Linden.
Tristan Vautier
This will be Vautier's second Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 16th (2014)
Car #18 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Vautier will start 32nd after Carlos Huertas qualified 18th. Huertas is out with due to an inner ear condition. The best finish for the 32nd-starter is second by Jim Rathmann in 1957 and Mario Andretti in 1981.
James Davison
This will be Davison's second Indianapolis 500 start.
Best finish: 16th (2014).
Car #19 has never won the Indianapolis 500.
Davison will start 33rd after having Tristan Vautier qualify the car. Vautier qualified 21st. The best finish for the 33rd-starter is second in 1980 by Tom Sneva and 1992 by Scott Goodyear.
Briscoe starts ahead of Davison, despite the #19 qualifying better than the #5 because of IndyCar rule 8.1.8.6.1.
Road to Indy
A dozen cars are entered for the Freedom 100. Ed Jones enters with 168 points and an eight-point lead over Jack Harvey and 12 clear of Spencer Pigot. Max Chilton trails his Carlin teammate by 42 points with RC Enerson rounding out the top five on 117 points. Félix Serrallés sits on an even 100 points, six ahead of Scott Anderson and nine ahead of his Belardi teammate Juan Piedrahita. Kyle Kaiser and Shelby Blackstock round out the top ten with the most recent winner in Indy Lights Sean Rayhall and Ethan Ringel tied on 81 points.
Belardi Auto Racing has won the last two Freedom 100s with Peter Dempsey and Gabby Chaves. Last year's race saw a record tying nine lead changes. Wade Cunningham holds the one and two-lap qualifying records at 190.456 and 190.177 MPH respectively. The Freedom 100 is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET on Carb Day.
At Indianapolis Raceway Park, both Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000 will take to the track the Day Before the 500.
In Pro Mazda, Santiago Urrutia heads to the short track with the championship lead on 195 points. Neil Alberico is 24 points behind the Uruguayan. Timothé Buret is 42 points back in third. Weiron Tan sit 70 points back of Urrutia with Pato O'Ward five back of the Malaysian in fifth. Ten points separate O'Ward Florian Latorre, Will Owen, Garret Grist and Jose Gutierrez for fifth in the championship. Daniel Burkett rounds out the top ten with 99 points.
Dalton Kellett, Rauol Owens, Kyle Connery, Alessandro Latiff and Parker Nicklin round out the 15-car entry list for the Freedom 90.
For U.S. F2000's Freedom 75, Nico Jamin enters as the championship leader with 206 points and has won the last three races. Jake Eidson trails by 19 points and is six ahead of Aaron Telitz. Anthony Martin and Parker Thompson round out the top five in the championship with 145 and 110 points respectively.
The Freedom 75 will take place at 12:15 p.m. ET on Saturday with the Freedom 90 following at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Fun Facts
The last two Indianapolis 500s have been the fastest two Indianapolis 500s.
Americans have not won consecutive Indianapolis 500 since 1991-92 when Rick Mears won his fourth and Al Unser, Jr. won his first.
Should A.J. Foyt Racing or Chip Ganassi Racing win, they will move into a tie with Lou Moore for second-most Indianapolis 500 victories for a car owner at five victories.
This year's grid features:
Eleven Americans
Four Colombians.
Four Brits.
Three Australians.
Three Frenchman.
Two Brazilians.
One Canadian.
One New Zealander.
One Spaniard.
One Swiss.
One Japanese and...
One Monegasque.
The pole-sitter has failed to win the last five Indianapolis 500s, the longest streak since the pole-sitter failed to win six Indianapolis 500s from 1998-2003.
Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Marco Andretti, Sébastien Bourdais and Stefano Coletti look to join Alex Lloyd and Jack Harvey as the only drivers to win on both the oval and road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
This will be the 66th Indianapolis 500 victory for Firestone. Firestone has won every Indianapolis 500 this millennium.
This will be the 15th Indianapolis 500 victory for Dallara. Dallara is the all-time leader in Indianapolis 500 victories for chassis manufactures.
Should Honda win it will be their 11th Indianapolis 500 victory, moving them into sole possession of third all-time in Indianapolis 500 victories for engine manufactures. Offenhauser has the most with 27. Miller is second with 12. Honda is currently tied with Cosworth for third.
Should Chevrolet win it will be their ninth Indianapolis 500 victory.
Five times has the Indianapolis 500 taken place on May 24th (1981, 1987, 1992, 1998 and 2009). Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr., Eddie Cheever and Hélio Castroneves were the winners. Team Penske has won three of those five Indianapolis 500s.
The last native Hoosier to win the Indianapolis 500 was Wilbur Shaw in 1940.
Sarah Fisher would become the second female car owner to win the Indianapolis 500 should Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter or J.R. Hildebrand end up in victory lane. Maude Yagle was the winning car owner of the 1929 Indianapolis 500 with Ray Keech as her driver.
Graham Rahal becomes the 12th driver to enter the Indianapolis 500 after finishing second in his previous two starts. The other eleven occasions are:
Roscoe Sarles: Second at Beverly Hills and Fresno in 1921. Finished second in the 1921 Indianapolis 500.
Deacon Litz: Second at Altoona and Syracuse in 1930. Finished 17th in the 1931 Indianapolis 500.
Mauri Rose: Second at Detroit and Syracuse in 1933. Finished second in the 1934 Indianapolis 500.
Manny Ayulo: Second at Phoenix and Las Vegas in 1954. Lost his life in practice for the 1955 Indianapolis 500.
Johnny Thomson: Second at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Sacramento in 1995. Finished 32nd in the 1956 Indianapolis 500.
Rodger Ward: Second at Daytona and Trenton in 1959. Won the 1959 Indianapolis 500.
Jim Hurtubise: Second at Phoenix in 1960 and Trenton in 1961. Finished 22nd in the 1961 Indianapolis 500.
Roger McCluskey: Second at Phoenix and Trenton in 1967. Finished 19th in the 1967 Indianapolis 500.
Mario Andretti: Second Sonoma and Trenton in 1970. Finished 6th in the 1970 Indianapolis 500.
Bobby Unser: Second at Mexico City in 1980 and Phoenix in 1981. Won the 1981 Indianapolis 500.
Bobby Rahal: Second at Long Beach and Phoenix in 1991. Finished 19th in the 1991 Indianapolis 500.
Scott Dixon needs to lead 128 laps to become the eighth driver to reach the 4,500 laps led club.
Ryan Briscoe needs to lead 65 laps to become the twenty-seventh driver to join the 1,500 laps led club.
Marco Andretti needs to lead 70 laps to join the 1,000 laps led club.
Takuma Sato needs to lead ten laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Ed Carpenter needs to lead 97 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 15 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 24 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.
Charlie Kimball needs to lead 16 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Sébastien Bourdais needs one podium to reach 50 career IndyCar podiums.
Can you name the winners of The Jigger Award?
Predictions
We are going to see a first-time Indianapolis 500 winner. We will see fewer than 34 lead changes. The first caution will come prior to halfway. Fewer than 17 cars will finish on the lead lap. At least four drivers will lead their first lap of the season this weekend.
