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| We are three days and one practice session away from the Indianapolis 500 |
Coverage
Time: Pre-race coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. ET on NBCSN. NBC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500 will begin at 11:00 a.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBC.
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Jon Beekhuis and Marty Snider will work pit lane. Robin Miller and Dillon Welch will be working the garage. Mike Tirico, Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will participate in pre-race and post-race coverage.
Indianapolis 500 Weekend Schedule
Carb Day:
Practice - 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET (1.5 hour). NBCSN will have live coverage.
Pit Stop Competition - 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET (1.5 hours). NBCSN will have live coverage.
Sunday:
Race- 12:45 p.m. ET (200 laps).
Indianapolis 500 Weekend Schedule
Carb Day:
Practice - 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET (1.5 hour). NBCSN will have live coverage.
Pit Stop Competition - 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET (1.5 hours). NBCSN will have live coverage.
Sunday:
Race- 12:45 p.m. ET (200 laps).
Review the Practices Before The Carb Day Practice
Simon Pagenaud enters as the fastest man in Speedway, Indiana.
Not only did Pagenaud win pole position with a four-lap average of 229.992 MPH but the Frenchman topped Monday practice at 228.441 MPH. Pagenaud has been in the top five in two of five practice sessions and in the top ten for four of five practice session and Pagenaud has been the fastest Team Penske entry in three of those five sessions. Josef Newgarden was second to the Frenchman on Monday and the man that will start in the middle of the third row topped the Wednesday practice.
No driver has been in the top five of more than two practice days but besides Pagenaud and Newgarden, five other drivers have been in the top five of two practice days. Front row starter Spencer Pigot was third on Wednesday and fourth on Friday. Pigot was 17th in the Monday practice. Colton Herta will start in the middle of row two, fifth on the grid and Herta's best practice result all week was fifth on Tuesday and Thursday.
Hélio Castroneves was fourth on Tuesday and fifth on Wednesday but he was not in the top ten for the following two practice days and he will start 12th in the race. Castroneves did move up to seventh in the Monday practice. Takuma Sato was second and third on Wednesday and Thursday and he will start 14th. Monday's practice was Sato worst showing of the month as he finished 22nd fastest. Scott Dixon was second in the Wednesday practice and he ended up fourth on Monday but he will start 18th on Sunday.
No driver has been in the top ten of every practice session but Pagenaud and Ed Jones have been in the top ten of four practice days. Jones will start fourth but the only day he was in the top five was when he was fastest on Thursday. Jones was 30th on Monday. Ed Carpenter starts second next to Pagenaud and he was in the top ten on three days. Other drivers to be in the top ten on three days are Sébastien Bourdais, Zach Veach, Castroneves, Dixon, Pigot and Charlie Kimball.
We Have to Talk Andretti
It is hard to ignore the 50th anniversary of Mario Andretti's victory, the only victory for the Andretti family as drivers and this will be Marco Andretti's 14th start in the race.
The Andretti family's long drought is stuff of legend. Since Mario's only victory in 1969, the family has started this race 68 times, led 998 laps, 15 top five finishes and 30 top ten finishes but the family has yet to produce a second victory.
Marco has had a remarkable track record in the Indianapolis 500. His first race is the most notable of his career, leading coming to the checkered flag only to have Sam Hornish, Jr. slingshot pass and win the race in 2006 leaving Marco in second and his father Michael in third. Marco has completed all 500 miles ten times in his career, more than his grandfather and father completed combined (Mario and Michael completed 500 miles five times and four times respectively) and he has the best average finish in the race amongst him family members at 10.846 to his father's 11.75, uncle John's 18.0833, grandpa Mario's 18.333 and uncle Jeff's 20.667.
Marco has not led a lap in the last four Indianapolis 500s after leading a lap in seven of his first nine Indianapolis 500 starts. Andretti will start tenth in this year's race, the fourth time the Andretti family has started tenth in this race. His father Michael started tenth in 1988 before he went on to finish fourth, one lap down. Uncle John started tenth in 1990 and retired due to an accident, classifying him in 21st position. In 1994, John started and finished in tenth position, four laps down.
The Andretti name has been in victory lane since Mario's victory. Andretti Autosport has five Indianapolis 500 victories, all happening in the last 15 years and with five different drivers. Two of those race winners are still with the team. Alexander Rossi was the only Andretti Autosport entry to make the Fast Nine and he will start ninth. Rossi was fifth in the Monday practice and eighth in the opening practice last Tuesday. He has finished in the top ten in all three of his Indianapolis 500 starts. Ryan Hunter-Reay will start 22nd, his worst Indianapolis 500 starting position driving for the team. Hunter-Reay was only in the top ten on one of the previous five practice days.
Conor Daly was fastest in Thursday practice and he will start a career best 11th in the Indianapolis 500. Zach Veach was in the top ten over the first three practice days but he dropped to 17th on Fast Friday, dropped to 28th in qualifying and he was 26th in the Monday practice. And then there is Marco, who was in the top ten twice during the practice week.
Passing Predicament
Last year's Indianapolis 500, despite having 30 lead changes, more than every Indianapolis 500 from 1911-2011, was not as favorably remembered as the first six races to take place during the DW12-era. The main reason for the dissatisfaction was a decrease in passing.
While the universal aero kit was applauded for its look and decreased downforce, that decrease in downforce combined with one of the hottest Indianapolis 500s on record made for handling issues and prevented drivers from making passes that were possible with the original DW12 aero package and the manufacture-specific aero kits.
On top of the 30 lead changes; the 102nd Indianapolis 500 had 15 different leaders, matching the record set in the 101st Indianapolis 500. Last year's race had 633 total passes, 428 of those were passes for position.
This year's race will see additional front wing extensions and rear wing wickers that teams can use to generate more downforce and improve the stability of the car.
Keeping an Eye on the Championship
While this is in the Indianapolis 500 and many put all their attention on this one race, this is the sixth race of the 2019 season and 11 races follow. This is also the first double points event of the season paired with the Laguna Seca season finale.
After qualifying eighth and being awarded two points, Josef Newgarden holds an eight-point lead over Scott Dixon heading into the race. Newgarden had four consecutive top five finishes before he finished 15th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis while Dixon has four podium finishes from five races including three consecutive podium finishes.
Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud are tied on 147 points after qualifying but Rossi holds the tiebreaker. Both drivers have won a race but Rossi's next best finish is fifth while Pagenaud's is seventh. Takuma Sato rounds out the top five on 132 points with Will Power in sixth on 123 points. Sébastien Bourdais' qualifying effort leapfrogged him over Graham Rahal with Bourdais' three points from qualifying putting him on 114 points, one more than Rahal. Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe round out the top ten on 109 points and 107 points respectively.
Felix Rosenqvist took lead in the Rookie of the Year fight after the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but Colton Herta picked up five points from Indianapolis 500 qualifying and has closed the gap with the Swede on 106 points to Herta's 100 points. Herta is tied on 100 points with Jack Harvey and Spencer Pigot after Pigot picked up seven points from qualifying, but Herta holds the tiebreaker with his Austin victory and Harvey holds the tiebreaker over Pigot with a third place finish being his best result versus Pigot's best finish being fifth.
Marco Andretti has dropped to 15th in the championship on 95 points as he has one top ten finishes this season and he has finished 13th in the last two races. Ed Jones sits on 84 points after qualifying fourth and he is six points ahead of Matheus Leist. Santino Ferrucci is two points behind Leist and Zach Veach is three points behind Ferrucci.
Marcus Ericsson entered tied with Patricio O'Ward for 20th in the championship on 67 but with O'Ward not qualifying Ericsson will have a gap over his fellow rookie in the championship after this race. Tony Kanaan is 22nd on 66 points with Max Chilton is 23rd on 59 points.
Ben Hanley is 24th in the championship with 21 points from two races. Charlie Kimball has 13 points from his one start this season at St. Petersburg. Kyle Kaiser will add to the 12 points he received at Austin. Hélio Castroneves scored nine points in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Ed Carpenter rounds out the championship with eight points after qualifying second for the Indianapolis 500.
J.R. Hildebrand, Jordan King, James Davison, Conor Daly, Pippa Mann, Sage Karam and Oriol Servià will all score their first points this season.
Freedom 100
Indy Lights is back for its first oval race of the season and it will be 17th Freedom 100.
This year's race will have ten cars take the green flag and regardless who wins the race it will be the tenth different winner in the last ten years.
Juncos Racing's Rinus VeeKay enters with a one-point championship lead over Andretti Autosport's Oliver Askew. Both drivers have two victories this season while Askew has five podium finishes from the six races to VeeKay's four but VeeKay has finished in the top five of every race this season. Robert Megennis split the IMS road course races with VeeKay and he trails the Dutchman by 21 points in this championship. Zachary Claman is fourth in the championship on 124 points, men behind Megennis but Claman has announced that he will not be able to continue this season.
Toby Sowery rounds on the top five on 110 points, nine ahead of BN Racing teammate David Malukas. Ryan Norman has one top five finish from the first six races and he sits on 89 points. Lucas Kohl and Dalton Kellett round out championship on 77 points and 75 points respectively.
Two drivers will be making their Freedom 100 debut. Jarett Andretti, son of John Andretti, will drive the #18 Window World Mazda. Andretti has been driving in the GT4 America AM class in a McLaren for Andretti Autosport and he swept the Mosport round last week in class, giving him the Sprint AM class championship lead.
Chris Windom will drive the #17 NOS Energy Drink Mazda in a partnership between Belardi Auto Racing and Jonathan Byrd's Racing. Windom was entered for last year's race but an accident in testing kept him from participating. Windom won the 2016 USAC Silver Crown championship and the 2017 USAC Sprint Car championship. Over the last two years, Windom has made five starts in the NASCAR Truck Series.
Megennis topped the test at Indianapolis on Monday at 197.714 MPH and VeeKay posted the second fastest time at 197.390 MPH. Norman posted the third fastest lap at 197.157 MPH with Askew and Andretti posting the fourth and fifth fastest laps at 196.989 MPH and 196.348 MPH.
Last year's Freedom 100 featured 20 lead changes, more than doubling the previous record, which was nine.
The Freedom 100 will take place at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday May 24th.
Carb Night Classic
The other two Road to Indy series will be at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Pro Mazda has 13 cars on its entry list for the Freedom 90.
Rasmus Lindh swept the IMS road course races and he has three podium finishes from four races this year, giving the Swede 109 points and the championship lead. Parker Thompson swept the St. Petersburg races but he trails Lindh by 11 points. Daniel Frost has finished third in the last three races and he is third in the championship, 24 points behind Lindh. Sting Robb Ray is two points behind Frost with top five finishes in all four races this season.
Kyle Kirkwood has two runner-up finishes this year but he has two results outside the top ten and he finds himself 41 points behind Lindh and he is four points ahead of Nikita Lastochkin. Moisés de la Vara, Jacob Abel, Phillippe Denes and Antontio Serravalle round out the top ten on 53 points, 51 points, 48 points and 46 points respectively.
Frost led all three test sessions held at IRP last week and in each session Frost was over 4/10ths of a second faster than the second fastest car. Frost's best lap was 20.2860 seconds with Lastochkin posting the second best time at 20.7516 seconds. De la Vara had the third best time at 20.7641 second with Kirkwood in fourth at 20.8025 and Abel rounding out the top five at 20.8098 seconds.
The best laps from the test for Lindh and Thompson were 20.8376 seconds and 21.0458 seconds.
Thompson won last year at IRP in Pro Mazda and Kirkwood won last year in U.S. F2000.
The Freedom 90 will take place on Friday May 24th at 7:50 p.m. ET.
Braden Eves heads to IRP with four victories from four U.S. F2000 races and Eves leads the championship with 127 points. Eves has a 33-point lead over Hunter McElrea, who has four podium finishes from the first four races. Manuel Sulaimán and Darren Keane are tied for third on 65 points apiece with Sulaimán holding the tiebreaker with a second and a third place finish while Keane's two best finishes are second and sixth. Zach Holden rounds out the top five on 54 points.
Manuel Cabrera topped the IRP test last week with a lap of 21.1141 seconds and Yuven Sundaramoorthy had the second best lap at 21.1174 seconds. McElrea was ahead of Eves in test with a best lap go 22.2410 seconds versus 22.2477 seconds.
The Freedom 75 is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET on Friday May 24th.
Fast Facts
This will be the eighth Indianapolis 500 to take place on May 26th (1974, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2013). The winners were Johnny Rutherford, Rutherford, Danny Sullivan, Rick Mears, Buddy Lazier, Hélio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan.
May 26, 1996 was also the date of the U.S. 500 from Michigan International Speedway and Jimmy Vasser won that race.
The last seven Indianapolis 500s have had the seven most lead changes in the event's history.
Last year, Will Power became the tenth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in less than three hours.
Five of the ten Indianapolis 500s to be completed in under three hours happened since 2011 and Alexander Rossi was 2.09 seconds away from winning the 2016 race in under two hours.
This year's grid features...
15 Americans.
Four Britons.
Three Brazilians.
Two Frenchman.
Two Australians.
Two Swedes.
One Emirati.
One Japanese.
One New Zealander.
One Spaniard and...
One Canadian.
Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden, Jack Harvey, Matheus Leist or Colton Herta could become the first driver to win the Freedom 100 and the Indianapolis 500.
Simon Pagenaud, Sébastien Bourdais, Marco Andretti, Ed Jones and Kyle Kaiser look to join Alex Lloyd, Jack Harvey, Dean Stoneman, Will Power and Colton Herta as the only drivers to win both on the oval and road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The pole-sitter has failed to win the last nine Indianapolis 500s.
The only time the driver who led the most laps has gone on to win the Indianapolis 500 in the DW12-era was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014.
The average starting position for an Indianapolis 500 winner is 7.53 with a median of 4.5.
Last year, Will Power became the first Indianapolis 500 winner from the front row since Dario Franchitti won from third in 2010.
The average starting position for an Indianapolis 500 winner since 2012 is 11.4285 with a median of 12.
Jack Harvey, Jordan King and Ben Hanley make up an all-English row nine. It is the first time one nationality has swept a row on the starting grid for the Indianapolis 500 since Americans A.J. Foyt IV, Scott Sharp and Sarah Fisher all started on row seven in 2009.
The average number of lead change in the Indianapolis 500 is 13.392 with a median of ten.
The average number of cautions in the Indianapolis 500 is 7.772 with a median of eight. The average number of caution laps is 44.659 with a median of 43.5
Twenty-eight consecutive Indianapolis 500s have had at least five cautions. The last race to have fewer than five was the 1990 race with Arie Luyendyk taking the victory.
This will be the 70th Indianapolis 500 victory for Firestone.
This will be the 19th Indianapolis 500 victory for Dallara. Dallara is the all-time leader in Indianapolis 500 victories for chassis manufactures.
If Honda wins it will be the manufacture's 13th Indianapolis 500 victory, breaking a tie with Miller for second all-time in engine manufacture victories.
If Chevrolet wins it will be the manufacture's 11th Indianapolis 500 victory, breaking a tie with Cosworth for fourth all-time.
Possible Milestones:
If Graham Rahal takes the green flag, he will become the 24th in IndyCar history to reach the 200 career starts milestone.
Simon Pagenaud is one top ten finishes away from 100 top ten finishes.
Will Power needs to lead 66 laps to reach the 11th driver in IndyCar history to reach the 4,000 laps led milestone.
Ryan Hunter-Reay needs to lead 45 laps to reach the 1,500 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 59 laps to reach the 1,000 laps led milestone.
Alexander Rossi needs to lead 78 laps to reach the 700 laps led milestone.
Takuma Sato needs to lead 16 laps to reach the 600 laps led milestone.
Ed Carpenter needs to lead 23 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 16 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Oriol Servià needs to lead 12 laps to reach the 300 laps led milestone.
Conor Daly needs to lead 79 laps to reach the 100 laps led milestone.
Predictions
I shouldn't love this race as much as I do because there are 15 drivers I could see winning this race. I think Simon Pagenaud will be strong but if there is one Team Penske driver that finishes ahead of him it will be Josef Newgarden. I think Alexander Rossi will be heading to the front. I think Scott Dixon will get into the top ten but not quite have it to get to the very front of the field. Ed Carpenter will stick to the front but his teammates will fade in the final half. I think the top two rookies will finish within three positions of one another. Sleeper: Charlie Kimball.
