2016 Verizon IndyCar Series First Half Review

Three months remain in the IndyCar season

IndyCar is still in the middle of its longest stretch of racing of the season but the series will enter the second half of the season this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway before getting a much needed break before returning to Road America at the end of the month. While the 2016 season started much like 2015, full of anger and Penske dominance, 2016 has not followed down the path of controversy (minus Long Beach but that was quickly and successively resolved) and has instead been full of intrigue and mind games.

One Year Later
When looking at this year's championship standings after eight races, I thought I would go back and look at the championship standings after eight races in 2015 just to compare.

Position	2015	Points	2016	Points
1	Juan Pablo Montoya	315	Simon Pagenaud	357
2	Will Power	294	Scott Dixon	277
3	Scott Dixon	252	Hélio Castroneves	271
4	Hélio Castroneves	250	Josef Newgarden	259
5	Graham Rahal	246	Alexander Rossi	242
6	Sébastien Bourdais	228	Carlos Muñoz	242
7	Marco Andretti	224	Will Power	240
8	Josef Newgarden	206	Tony Kanaan	240
9	Simon Pagenaud	193	Juan Pablo Montoya	233
10	Charlie Kimball	187	Charlie Kimball	227
11	Carlos Muñoz	180	James Hinchcliffe	226
12	Tony Kanaan	174	Graham Rahal	225
13	Ryan Hunter-Reay	171	Ryan Hunter-Reay	224
14	Takuma Sato	166	Sébastien Bourdais	210
15	Gabby Chaves	133	Conor Daly	177
16	James Jakes	132	Takuma Sato	173
17	James Hinchcliffe	129	Marco Andretti	166
18	Jack Hawksworth	128	Mikhail Aleshin	155
19	Luca Filippi	120	Max Chilton	139
20	Stefano Coletti	104	Jack Hawksworth	110

It is no surprise Simon Pagenaud is a big mover but it is interesting to see how much more dominant he has been compared to Juan Pablo Montoya last year. There was a point last year where we all thought Montoya was going to clinch the championship before getting to Sonoma. This year, it seems almost certain Pagenaud will be lifting the Astor Cup at either Pocono or Watkins Glen despite the season finale being double points (more on that later).

It is also not surprising Scott Dixon is second in the championship and Hélio Castroneves is third. Josef Newgarden finds himself in fourth, four spots better than last year. Newgarden was in the championship fight at Sonoma last season and even if he isn't in championship contention come Sonoma this year, if he can keep up his good form and stay in the top five of the championship for the rest of the season, he could have a promotion fall into his lap.

A few surprises would be Alexander Rossi and Carlos Muñoz (more on those two later) but also Charlie Kimball in tenth, Graham Rahal in 12th and Ryan Hunter-Reay in 13th. Until the most recent race, Kimball had been very consistent this season with finishes of tenth, 12th, 11th, ninth, fifth, fifth and eighth. Tenth in the championship seems a little low for Kimball. Rahal has had a good season with four top fives from eight races but he is further down the table because his other four finishes have been 16th, 15th, 14th and 11th. Meanwhile, Hunter-Reay through eight races last season had zero podiums and three top ten finishes. This season, Hunter-Reay has two podiums and five top ten finishes through eight races and he is still 13th in the championship. If Hunter-Reay can repeat how he finished 2015, he will vault up the standings but it is hard to believe he isn't in the top ten after the first eight races.

How Much Is Indianapolis 500 Double Points Screwing Things Up?
Despite winning the Indianapolis 500, nobody truly believes Alexander Rossi has had the fifth best season through eight races. He has had a good season, arguably the best of the rookies (although Conor Daly is making a valid case) but he is probably more around the tenth or 11th best season.

The same can be said for Carlos Muñoz. Outside of his second in the Indianapolis 500, Muñoz's next notable moment in the 2016 season is him t-boning Graham Rahal at St. Petersburg and having an accident at Phoenix. While Rossi has had about the tenth or 11th best season, Muñoz has to be much lower and I would even argue to put him below Conor Daly who is 15th in the championship.

Double points and qualifying points for the Indianapolis 500 are inflating Rossi and Muñoz success. What would the championship look like had the Indianapolis 500 been paid like the other seven races contested this season?

Position	2016 As Is	Points	2016 Without Double Points	Points
1	Simon Pagenaud	357	Simon Pagenaud	318
2	Scott Dixon	277	Scott Dixon	232
3	Hélio Castroneves	271	Hélio Castroneves	226
4	Josef Newgarden	259	Juan Pablo Montoya	211
5	Alexander Rossi	242	Graham Rahal	201
6	Carlos Muñoz	242	Tony Kanaan	191
7	Will Power	240	Will Power	188
8	Tony Kanaan	240	Josef Newgarden	184
9	Juan Pablo Montoya	233	Charlie Kimball	179
10	Charlie Kimball	227	Ryan Hunter-Reay	177
11	James Hinchcliffe	226	Sébastien Bourdais	173
12	Graham Rahal	225	Alexander Rossi	169
13	Ryan Hunter-Reay	224	Carlos Muñoz	168
14	Sébastien Bourdais	210	Conor Daly	162
15	Conor Daly	177	James Hinchcliffe	158
16	Takuma Sato	173	Takuma Sato	146
17	Marco Andretti	166	Marco Andretti	129
18	Mikhail Aleshin	155	Mikhail Aleshin	120
19	Max Chilton	139	Max Chilton	112
20	Jack Hawksworth	110	Jack Hawksworth	93

Rossi and Muñoz each drop seven positions while Pagenaud would still lead the championship and would actually lead it by six more points than he does now over Dixon. Montoya's last place finish at Indianapolis wouldn't drop him to ninth in the championship and he would be fourth while Rahal would be seven positions higher than he is now in fifth. Newgarden would drop four positions, Kimball would be up one, Hunter-Reay would be up three, Bourdais would be up three and Hinchcliffe would be down four.

I don't think double points are the end of the world. I think Indianapolis 500 qualifying points are more annoying than double points but it's a level playing field for everyone. Everyone had an equal chance at 100 points. It's not like all the Honda teams got double points at Indianapolis while the Chevrolet teams were stuck on single points.

How Competitive Has It Really Been?
If I had told you there would be six different winners in the first eight IndyCar races, you would probably have been excited and think this would be another wide open season with another championship fight between at four, maybe as many as six or seven drivers heading into the final two races of the season. However, the only driver with multiple victories this season has won three times and has finished second on three other occasions and the championship is on the verge of becoming a runaway.

Chevrolet has won seven of eight races but Honda has been more competitive and this isn't just based on the Indianapolis 500. Graham Rahal was one back marker away from winning at Barber. Ryan Hunter-Reay has been on the podium twice. Conor Daly has been in good form for the last month. With three ovals remaining this season and Honda having won at two of those ovals last season, I have to think Chevrolet won't win out and the two manufactures could split the remaining eight races. Last year, it ended 10-6 in terms of victories in favor of Chevrolet. The American manufacture would surpass that mark should it win four of the final eight but even if that is the case, 2016 hasn't been as much of a bloodbath as 2015 was.

It Could Be Over Early
Some are afraid about Simon Pagenaud lifting the Astor Cup before Sonoma. Sonoma Raceway is afraid Pagenaud clinches the title on the East Coast at Pocono or Watkins Glen.

Let's take a step back for a second. The last ten seasons have come down to the final race of the season. I think some are taking it for granted that the championship must be decided on the final lap at the final race. It doesn't and it shouldn't happen every year. One year of the championship being decided early isn't the end of the world. It should be a reminder of how fortunate we are that the title has come down to the wire as often as it has in recent memory.

There shouldn't be a knee-jerk reaction should Pagenaud be crowned champion before Sonoma. A knee-jerk reaction would tarnish the last decade because of one year that didn't go the way people wanted it to go. It's ok for the championship to be decided early. It will happen from time to time. Some years, championship series end in four-game sweeps, other years series go seven games. Four-game sweeps don't cause other leagues to panic and try to prevent it.

Sonoma Raceway is probably the most concern as it hosts the IndyCar season finale and can't promote the championship being decided at the track when it could be decided a few weeks earlier. This is just one of the reasons IndyCar needs to evolve its races from just being races to community events. When Lewis Hamilton clinched the World Drivers' Championship at Austin last year, that didn't stop Mexico City from having one of the largest crowds of the Formula One season, if not the largest of the season the following week. Formula One is something people want to see and will go to see regardless if the title has been decided or is still up in the air. IndyCar races should be the same. It should be something people want to attend to have a good time. It should be a place with a variety of events from concerts for millennials to family fun zones. It should be a party around the race.

It will be interesting to see how Sonoma handles and promotes its race knowing the golden egg of its promotional campaign could be spoiled.

Eight Questions
Eight races remain so here are eight questions about the second half of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

1. Will Penske choke away another championship?

The team everyone believes is the best in IndyCar has had at least one driver championship eligible entering the final race of the season in nine of the last ten seasons. In those nine seasons, Penske has won the title twice. Barring Simon Pagenaud getting hurt or him losing his mojo, he should be at the center of the championship fight. The Frenchman has a significant lead but he has never been in this position before. Will the pressure prove to be too much for him? Will Penske be too conservative? If there is any year this appears to be in the bag for Penske, it is 2016 but last year Juan Pablo Montoya led by 54 points with four races to go, three seasons ago Hélio Castroneves threw away a 49-point lead with three races to go and six years ago Will Power held a 59-point lead with four races to go. Penske always keeps it interesting.

2. Who can take the fight to Simon Pagenaud?

Pagenaud is just going to give this championship away. Someone is going to have to capitalize when he leaves points on the table. Scott Dixon is second in championship; 80 points back and we know he can go off at any moment. Dixon could win the next three races at Texas, Road America and Iowa and the only surprise would be Iowa because Andretti Autosport owns that place. Dixon also has a home game at Mid-Ohio.

Comparing Pagenaud and Dixon's average finishes at the remaining eight tracks Dixon has the better average finish at seven of them. Note that Pagenaud has never raced Watkins Glen in an open-wheel car and the number being used is Pagenaud's average finish in all his IndyCar starts on permanent road courses. Also note that Dixon has two starts at Road America, the most recent being in 2002 and Pagenaud has one start at Road America, which was in 2007.

Track	Pagenaud	Dixon
Texas	8.5	7
Road American	11	10.5
Iowa	9	7.8
Toronto	10.5	7.5
Mid-Ohio	6	3.7
Pocono	6.3	5
Watkins Glen	7.8*	4.2
Sonoma	9.2	6.7

If Pagenaud and Dixon were to finish every race right on the average, rounding to the nearest whole number and rounding down when it falls in the middle (7.5=7 in this case), Dixon would only outscore Pagenaud by 33 points.

Hélio Castroneves is the next close championship rival but in the DW12-era, Castroneves has only one victory in the second half of a season and that was Edmonton in 2012 and Castroneves has not finished strong the last two seasons. Last year, Castroneves failed to finish in the top ten in the final four races and in 2014, Castroneves finished outside the top ten in the final five races.

Josef Newgarden is the only other driver within 100 points of Castroneves but the American has never finished in top ten in more than three consecutive races and not only will Newgarden need to finish at the front of the pack consistently for the remaining races but he will need to finish at the front and ahead of Pagenaud.

3. Will any other rookies challenge Alexander Rossi for Rookie of the Year?

As you saw above, the Indianapolis 500 victory bodes well for Rossi's Rookie of the Year aspirations. Conor Daly and Max Chilton are the only other drivers slated to contest all remaining eight rounds while Spencer Pigot will be running five of the final eight races as his boss Ed Carpenter will take the ovals and Pigot will run the road and street courses.

Taking the points out of it, Rossi has the best average finish of the rookies at 11.8 while Chilton has the best average starting position at 15.5 but that is only three-tenths better than Rossi at 15.8. Rossi has been running at the finish of all eight races while Pigot has been running at the finish of all five races he has started. Daly has one retirement while Chilton's two retirements both came at Belle Isle. Rossi has completed all but two laps this season at 950 laps. Daly has completed 864 to Chilton's 818. Pigot has only one lead-lap finish in his five starts and that was the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

4. Is Gabby Chaves in for the rest of the season at Dale Coyne Racing?

The 2015 IndyCar Rookie of the Year replaced Luca Filippi at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and in the Colombians four races he has a better average finish than Filippi (15.5 to 18.8) but the Italian has Filippi heavily beaten on average starting position (13.8 for Filippi to Chaves' 19.8). Chaves has completed all but one lap in his four starts and he is carrying over his consistency from the 2015 season. However, Dale Coyne has been known for dropping drivers if checks don't come fast enough. Chaves belongs in IndyCar, so does Filippi but results and talent aren't enough. I think Chaves will be in the #19 Honda for the remainder of 2016 but part of me is curious to see Bryan Clauson run Iowa just to see how he does on a short track. If Chaves isn't in the car for the final eight races, Coyne never fails to find someone interesting to put in his car.

5. Does A.J. Foyt Racing continue to implode?

Takuma Sato is 16th in the championship and Jack Hawksworth is 20th in the championship. Sato has actually been clean this year. He has retired from only one race and outside of his retirement in the Indianapolis 500, Sato has completed all but one lap. However, this can't be good enough, especially for a team that has ABC Supply sponsoring both cars and investing in the series by sponsoring the Pocono race. I am shocked Sato has made it this far and Hawksworth might be in the wrong situation but unless both drivers make a monumental turn around, I can't see either returning. Sato might be able to stay in IndyCar and get a seat at Dale Coyne Racing (maybe a straight swap of Daly for Sato) but Hawksworth looks destined for sports car.

6. Do any former Indianapolis 500 winners retire?

Hélio Castroneves is 41 years old. Juan Pablo Montoya turns 41 years old two days after the 2016 season ends. Tony Kanaan turns 42 years old this New Year's Eve. None of the three are hinting at retiring and in this age of farewell tours and big promotional pushes I don't think any of the three would quietly ride off into the sunset. Well... I could see Montoya doing that, especially after the last week or so with him banging heads with Will Power. Montoya has won a race this year, Castroneves is in championship contention despite not winning a race and Kanaan is hanging in there. The good news for these three is in this era where testing is scarce and Penske and Ganassi don't want to go out on a limb, there rides are all safe until someone such as Josef Newgarden pushes one of them out or until whenever they decide IndyCar no longer tickles their fancy.

7. When is IndyCar's new television deal announced?

This likely won't happen in 2016 but I was thinking of this the other day and narrowed down when it will be announced. It will be sometime between next May 1st and the end of the 2017 IndyCar season. Here is my thinking: ABC is going to look at the metrics and decide whether or not it is worth keeping IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. If ABC wants it, the deal will probably be announced just before or just after the 101st Indianapolis 500 so they can say during the race broadcast that ABC will be the home of the Indianapolis 500 for however long the new deal is. However, if ABC and IndyCar can't reach a deal, IndyCar will announce its new deal, (likely with NBC because what other network could it be?) toward the end of the 2017 season and have all of 2018 to promote it while giving ABC one final rodeo and let everyone know that 2018 will be the final Indianapolis 500 on the network after showing 54 editions.

8. What will the decision on aero kits be?

Something is going to be decided but the time period and the manufacture is what is up in the air. Will 2016 be the final year of the manufactures each having their own kit or will they continue into 2017? If one kit is selected, which will it be? Will it be the Chevrolet, the Honda or will the series revert to the Dallara kit or will Dallara produce another kit? This is a big moment for IndyCar as teams struggle to keep the doors open, the series struggles to draw new teams and manufactures and the series tries to do what is best for competition.

Musings From the Weekend: The Other Road to Indy

IndyCar missed the rain twice. NASCAR was drenched twice and the Cup race will take place later this afternoon. There was a first time winner in DTM at the Lausitzring. American manufactures protected their house. The MotoGP weekend in Barcelona was marred by the death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom. Matt Mingay's serious accident in the Stadium Super Truck race hung over the weekend at Belle Isle. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

The Other Road to Indy
Rico Abreu is one-seventh of a way to an Indianapolis 500 seat. He is one-fifth of a way to a Freedom 100 seat next year. You are probably cynical and thinking how is a full-time NASCAR Truck Series driver on his way to racing in the two largest open-wheel races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Abreu won the first leg of the Jonathan Byrd's Indy Challenge at Kokomo Speedway last night after the Saturday night's race at Lawrenceburg Speedway was cancelled due to rain.

Jonathan Byrd's has sponsored Bryan Clauson the last two years at the Indianapolis 500 and this year has been and will be on Conor Daly's car for the entire 2016 season. The restaurant located in Greenwood, Indiana has stepped up and made a deal with Dale Coyne Racing that doesn't make any sense on paper but it has given Daly a great opportunity in IndyCar and Jonathan Byrd's is trying to link IndyCar with USAC.

The seven-race Jonathan Byrd's Indy Challenge will award a ride in next year's Freedom 100 if a driver wins five of the seven races. If a driver wins six of seven races, they will be awarded with a full slate of Indy Lights oval races in 2017 and sweeping the challenge will get a driver the full slate of Indy Lights oval races next year and an entry to the 102nd Indianapolis 500 in 2018.

Abreu won the first leg and the remaining races are the Belleville Midget Nationals on August 6th; a midget race at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania on August 17th; the "Louis Vermeil Classic" at Calistoga Speedway in California on September 4th; the "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Raceway on September 24th; the "Gold Ground Midget Nationals" at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois on October 8th with "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at Ventura Raceway on November 24th closing out the challenge.

IndyCar tried this before. Former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard is the reason Bryan Clauson has started three Indianapolis 500s. Clauson's success in USAC also has something to do with it but that success would have been ignored had it not been for Bernard opening the door. While Clauson hasn't left anyone with their jaws on the floor, how much can you expect out of a driver given one shot a year with no testing? For any driver to succeed, whether they went the Road to Indy route or are from USAC, they need to be given a longer leash than a handful of races. USAC drivers are behind the eight ball when it comes to road and street circuits but who is to say they couldn't learn and end up succeeding? A.J. Foyt started out on dirt tracks and then went on to win at Le Mans and even Silverstone. Jack Brabham started out as a midget driver and ended up being a three-time World Champion. USAC drivers aren't inept but they need to be given time and patience to learn.

The current drivers in the Road to Indy system, American and international drivers, aren't any more known than the USAC drivers, who are constantly looked down upon. Indy Lights drivers aren't national stars that are highly touted like prospects for the NFL or NBA draft. They are all nobodies. Niches of niches spending more money than they have trying to turn a dream into a living and hoping one day to be a name on the national stage even if it's only for 15 minutes.

IndyCar has nothing to lose by creating an avenue to its top series for drivers that have previously overlooked. Linking with USAC would get young drivers more interested in IndyCar especially if championships carried prizes to the next rung. Young dirt track drivers from Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and all across the United States would know there is a pipeline leading them to IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. It would become something for drivers to shoot for and IndyCar should want more drivers to see IndyCar as a destination, regardless of their background.

There have been 31 American drivers that have participated in a Road to Indy series this season. The talent pool should expand to include the dozens of USAC drivers competing every weekend under the lights of local short tracks across the United States. It would bring the series back in contact with the roots of motorsports for many in this country and the series might drawn people to races that previously felt alienated and disconnected from the premier North American open-wheel series.

However, there are two problems with the Jonathan Byrd's Indy Challenge. One, it shouldn't take completing a daunting task for USAC drivers to be noticed. The opportunity should not require overcoming 100-1 odds. Clauson got his opportunity in Indy Lights and IndyCar by winning the USAC National Championship three consecutive years from 2010-2012. Winning seven specific races is crazy expectation. The Indy Lights champion gets the scholarship to IndyCar. The scholarship isn't awarded to the driver who wins seven arbitrary races. The second problem is Abreu likely won't compete in five of the seven races let alone win five of them. Four of the remaining six challenge races conflict with Abreu's Truck schedule. If Jonathan Byrd's is lucky, another driver wins five of the remaining six races but I wouldn't bank on it.

I appreciate Jonathan Byrd's making an effort to provide a path to IndyCar for drivers ignored by current car owners but this effort will likely go down as another disappointing attempt to show USAC drivers can still be competitive in American open-wheel racing.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power but did you know...

Valentino Rossi won MotoGP's Catalan Grand Prix. Johann Zarco was victorious in Moto2. Jorge Navarro ended Brad Binder's Moto3 winning streak at three consecutive races.

The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Ricky and Jordan Taylor won the IMSA race from Belle Isle. The #8 Starworks Oreca of Renger van der Zande and Alex Popow won in PC. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating won GTD in the #33 Dodge Viper.

Kyle Larson won the rain-shortened Grand National race, first time the series raced at Pocono.

Miguel Molina won the Saturday DTM race at Lausitzring and Lucas Auer scored his first career victory on Sunday.

Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar starts its second half of the season on Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway.
Formula One crosses the Atlantic to Montreal.
NASCAR will be at Michigan.
World Rally will be in Sardinia.
The World Touring Car Championship heads to Moscow Raceway.

First Impressions: Belle Isle 2016 Race Two

1. We all waited for strategy to play out like it did yesterday. When it appeared drivers going off strategy were going to be sitting pretty, reality sang a different tune. Will Power won for the first time in over a year. It wasn't a dominating run. He made up ground on pit stops and passed Simon Pagenaud on the final restart to take the victory. Maybe this jump-starts a championship run for Power but he still has a lot of work to do and one of his teammates rarely stubs his toe on his own.

2. That teammate is Simon Pagenaud, who gets another podium, his sixth in eight races. This is Pagenaud's championship to lose with eight races to go. The Indianapolis 500 and yesterday's race were his two worst races and his closest championship competitors didn't cease those opportunities. How conservative will Pagenaud be? Can he afford to be conservative when Penske's track record in championship battles is very poor?

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay got back on the podium. Had it not been for contact with Townsend Bell on the pit lane in the Indianapolis 500, maybe we are looking at him as a championship contender. Last year, Hunter-Reay went on a late season run and finished sixth in the championship. He is in a much better position than he was this time last year but Hunter-Reay could only stay on the heels of the two Penskes and never challenged them.

4. Josef Newgarden recovered to finish fourth today. Considering how Newgarden raced last year, if he could win an oval or two and a road course and not have any finishes outside the top fifteen, Newgarden could challenge for the championship. He is fourth in the championship.

5. Scott Dixon hasn't lit the world on fire since the Phoenix-Long Beach swing but fifth place is a good finish. Unfortunately, Pagenaud continues to extend his championship lead over Dixon as Dixon trails by 80 points. The defending champion has made some late season surges but he may need a little help if he is to win his fifth IndyCar championship.

6. Conor Daly has finished in the top six in three of the last four races. If it wasn't for losing his fastest lap in qualifying, who knows, he might have won today's race. Ok, maybe he would have gotten another podium. If only Penske and Ganassi hired American drivers with personality. Daly is showing he belongs in IndyCar but will anyone give him a promotion. Dale Coyne Racing is a good team but Daly won't make a living there. He deserves more.

7. Tony Kanaan finished seventh. He went off strategy a little bit and then made a timely pit stop right before the caution came out for the stalled car of Jack Hawksworth. Kanaan has never been a great road/street circuit driver. His one hope for the championship is sweeping the three ovals of Texas, Iowa and Pocono and being in the back half of the top ten in the five road/street races.

8. Sébastien Bourdais had a great weekend. A win and an eighth. He went off strategy today and had to pit late for fuel only but eighth is a great showing.

9. Marco Andretti made about 15 pit stops today and finished ninth, his first top ten of the season. It's been a rough aero kit-era for Andretti. He still has a way to go. Maybe stealing a win on an oval could jump-start his season.

10. Takuma Sato finished tenth but was never a factor in this race.

11. Graham Rahal finished 11th and that is a great showing considering he had to pit coming to the green flag for a brake issue. He could have had a better result. Rahal has had a good season but he is still outside the top ten in the championship. Just goes to show how tight IndyCar is today.

12. Alexander Rossi finished 12th and is fifth in the championship. How long can he stay in the top ten? Texas should be interesting for Rossi. If Andretti can find some pace on road and street circuits I would not rule him out for a top ten finish in the championship. The rookie of the year honors is his to lose.

13. Rest of the field. Gabby Chaves had a good showing in 13th. Hélio Castroneves was bit by the Hawksworth caution and could only manage 14th. Carlos Muñoz was also bit by said caution and he was 15th. Charlie Kimball was on the same strategy as Bourdais, Rahal and Rossi but I think he took tires on his pit stop while the other three didn't and he finished 16th. Mikhail Aleshin had another great qualifying effort only to finish 17th. Spencer Pigot had a suspension failure and finished 18th. Pigot did well in both races despite the results. Jack Hawksworth can't catch a break. Juan Pablo Montoya continues to have poor results at Belle Isle. Just when it appeared James Hinchcliffe was going to be a contender for the title, he suffers a set back. Max Chilton is another driver that can't catch a break.

14. This was the final ABC race of the year. Thank goodness. Eddie Cheever is awful. He just babbles on thinking all dead air needs to be filled with nonsense. Allen Bestwick deserves better. Jon Beekhuis should be in the booth. Scott Goodyear should be on the pit lane. Bestwick and Beekhuis could work on there own. If ABC really needs to add a third (they don't) then get Dario Franchitti or get Paul Tracy (he won't do it. He likes his off weeks too much). Get anybody else.

15. On to Texas. I really like Texas now that the tires fall off and the drivers have to throttle the cars. Some miss pack racing but give me the spread out, unpredictable nature that Texas is now. Set up is more important now than ever. Look for a 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season first half review midweek.

Morning Warm-Up: Belle Isle 2016 Race Two

Can Sébastien Bourdais sweep or will there be another surprise winner? 

Simon Pagenaud made it two-for-two in terms of pole positions at Belle Isle. The Frenchman won his fourth pole position of the season and sixth of his career with a lap of 74.0379 seconds. He extended his championship lead with another point. Ryan Hunter-Reay ended up second and fastest in the second group, giving him a point toward the championship. This will be Hunter-Reay's best starting position of the season and his first front row start on a road/street circuit since he won pole position at Long Beach in 2014.

Hélio Castroneves qualified third and this will be Castroneves' sixth consecutive Belle Isle race starting from the first two rows. He finished fifth yesterday after stretching his fuel mileage on the final stint. Scott Dixon ended up second during group two and will start fourth. Dixon has failed to finish the last two Belle Isle races. Last year, Dixon retired because of contact with his teammate Charlie Kimball and yesterday because of a mechanical failure.

Mikhail Aleshin will start a season best fifth. This will be Aleshin's second career start from within the top five. He started second and finished second at Houston 2 in 2014. In Aleshin's four other top ten starts he has finished outside the top twenty three times. Tony Kanaan will start sixth and this is Kanaan's best start at Belle Isle since he started fourth in 2007 and went on to win the race after Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon made contact in the closing laps.

Graham Rahal qualified seventh and will be join by Will Power on row four. Rahal has finished on the podium each of the last two years at Belle Isle and finished fourth yesterday from tenth on the grid. Power had ran the fastest lap in the session but his fastest two laps were nullified after Power was guilty of interfering with Marco Andretti during the session. Power started eighth and finished second in the 2014 Sunday Belle Isle race.

Jack Hawksworth will start ninth, his best starting position at Belle Isle since he started third for race one in 2014. Hawksworth failed to start yesterday's race with a fuel pump issue. Juan Pablo Montoya rounds out the top ten. Prior to his third place finish yesterday, Montoya's best finish at Belle Isle was tenth. Montoya has led in his last two Belle Isle starts. Charlie Kimball qualified 11th, his second best starting position at Belle Isle. His best was yesterday when he started eighth. Yesterday's winner Sébastien Bourdais won from 13th on the grid. Today, Bourdais will start one position better in 12th.

Carlos Muñoz and James Hinchcliffe will start on row seven. Muñoz had started fifth in the last two races; marking the first time the Colombian started successive IndyCar races in the top five. Muñoz has four top ten finishes in five Belle Isle starts. Hinchcliffe's 18th place finish yesterday was his third finish outside the top fifteen in six Belle Isle starts. Gabby Chaves starts 15th with Takuma Sato on the outside of row eight. Yesterday, Chaves finished 12th after starting 20th and Sato started and finished 11th. Sato finished second in race two last year.

Josef Newgarden will start 17th after having an off late in the qualifying session, forcing him to park his car in the runoff area and preventing him from starting further up the grid. Alexander Rossi was on pace to start eighth but he lost his fastest lap after it was deemed he failed to slow down for a local yellow late during group two. Max Chilton and Spencer Pigot will both make there second Belle Isle starts from row ten. Chilton's Belle Isle debut lasted all of eight laps after a suspension failure sent him into the barrier. Conor Daly will start 21st after losing his fastest lap for causing a local yellow. Daly was set to start fifth on the grid had he not lost his fastest lap. Marco Andretti caused a local yellow during group two and he also lost his fastest lap, relegating him to 22nd.

ABC's coverage of the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit begins at 3:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 70 laps.

First Impressions: Belle Isle 2016 Race One

1. This race looked like it was going to be a dud but then it turned into a spectacle as the likes of Simon Pagenaud, Hélio Castroneves and Will Power misjudged the pit strategy while Sébastien Bourdais worked it to perfection, ran all out for a two stints and won while many limped home and a few ran out of fuel and hemorrhaged many points. This is Sébastien Bourdais' 35th IndyCar victory. He hadn't won a race from starting outside the top ten until Milwaukee last year. He started 13th today. It is a whole new Sébastien Bourdais.

2. Conor Daly gets his first career podium after working out pit strategy just like Bourdais. He nearly had a shot at the victory after Bourdais was held up by traffic but second is a phenomenal result for Daly and Dale Coyne Racing. He likely won't win a race by flat out speed and he needs to work strategy in his favor. He did it at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and finished sixth. Maybe he could steal a win tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow. It is suppose to rain. 

3. Juan Pablo Montoya gets a third after going off strategy from his teammates. He seemed to be the third best of the Penske bunch but he comes out on top and claws his way back into the championship picture as he teammates suffered. 

4. Graham Rahal might have been the best Honda in this race and finishes fourth. He needed this after a rough Indianapolis 500. It gets him somewhat back into the championship picture but he will need another good run tomorrow. 

5. Hélio Castroneves limped to fifth. The top four were covered by 7.4 seconds. Castroneves finished 40.01 seconds back. It could have been a better result but he should be smiling because he gained a lot of ground in the championship today.

6. Carlos Muñoz finished sixth with his teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay finished seventh. Muñoz was up front all race but Hunter-Reay had to fight for that seventh. The entire Andretti team needs to qualify better. All the Andretti cars make up a handful of positions from where they start. If they could start in the top ten for one race they might get another victory.

7. Charlie Kimball finished eighth with Tony Kanaan finished ninth. Both stopped when the rest of the field were running three seconds slower to save fuel. I think both were hoping to make up more positions but these are good results especially for Kimball, who has four consecutive top ten finishes, matching a career best for him.

8. Alexander Rossi had to save fuel for another week and he finished tenth. Not a victory but considering this time a month ago he had yet to finish in the top ten in an IndyCar race, the fact he has three consecutive top ten finishes and one of those is an Indianapolis 500 victory.

9. Takuma Sato finished 11th but wasn't a factor in this race. Gabby Chaves finished 12th after stopping when others tried to stretch their fuel. 

10. Here is the big story that isn't so big. Simon Pagenaud ran out of fuel on the final lap and went from seventh to 13th. It sounds awful but isn't so bad. He still leads the championship by 59 points so he is guaranteed to be the championship leader heading to Texas. That six-position hit could bite him in September. Last year, Montoya ran out of fuel on the fuel lap in race two at Belle Isle and went from fourth to tenth. We all know how he lost the title. Keep this in mind should Pagenaud be leading the championship into Sonoma. 

11. Pagenaud benefitted as Will Power had a loose wheel nut force him to retire after he went off course in turn three after his stop. Not to mention Scott Dixon had a gearbox issue after his final stop. Had Dixon not had his problem, he probably finishes in the top five and might have even stood on the podium. Things are going Pagenaud's way but he can't keep banking on competitors making mistakes. 

12. Round up of the rest of the field. Josef Newgarden could have had a top ten but had to conserve fuel and could only manage 14th. Mikhail Aleshin and Marco Andretti were non-factors in 15th and 16th. Spencer Pigot finished 17th after being penalized for hitting his own pit equipment after a pit stop. Which is funny because Will Power was only warned last week when he hit another teams pit equipment. Weird. Pigot did well in his first race for Ed Carpenter Racing. He may have got a top ten because he was on the same strategy as Bourdais and Daly. James Hinchcliffe was in the top five for much of the race before he got into the barriers. 

13. Not a great day for British drivers. Jack Hawksworth failed to make the start. Max Chilton had suspension break on him eight laps in and he was the first retirement from the race. 

14. Good News! Tomorrow is the final ABC race of the season. 

15. I like these doubleheaders. It's a lot of work but it is worth it. Belle Isle might not be the greatest track for doubleheaders. It is rough and difficult to pass. Rain is forecasted tomorrow. Let's see if it impacts the race. 

Morning Warm-Up: Belle Isle 2016 Race One

The championship leader is on pole position again

After having only one top ten finishers in the Indianapolis 500, Team Penske returned to its form from the first five races of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season and swept the top three positions in qualifying for race one at Belle Isle. Simon Pagenaud won his third pole position in the last four races with a time of 74.9166 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is Pagenaud's fifth career pole position and the Frenchman has won the last two races he has started from pole position. He has one victory, three podiums and four top tens in seven Belle Isle starts, however, in all three previous doubleheaders at Belle Isle, Pagenaud has finished one race in the top ten and the other outside the top ten. Hélio Castroneves missed out on pole position by 0.0119 seconds. The Brazilian won pole position at Phoenix and Long Beach earlier this season. Castroneves set the track record in the second round of qualifying with a lap at 74.6899 seconds. 

Juan Pablo Montoya will start from third position. Belle Isle has not been a great track for Montoya. Last year, he finished tenth in both races but his average finish in six starts is 13.333. Montoya's 33rd place finish in the Indianapolis 500 was the tenth time in his IndyCar career he has finished outside the top twenty in a race. Four times Montoya has recovered with a top ten finish in his next start. James Hinchcliffe will start on the outside of row two. Hinchcliffe missed the Belle Isle races last year but in 2014 he finished sixth and fifth in the two races. Carlos Muñoz rounded out the top five in qualifying. This is Muñoz's best qualifying effort at Belle Isle.  Muñoz won last year's race from 20th on the grid. He has finished in the top ten in three of his four Belle Isle starts. Scott Dixon rounded out the top six. Dixon has the best average finish at Belle Isle among active drivers at 6.9. 

Tony Kanaan missed out on the final round of qualifying and will start seventh. This is the fourth time in ten Belle Isle starts he has started inside the top ten. Kanaan won his first start at Belle Isle in 2007, his most recent road/street course victory. Since Belle Isle became a doubleheader in 2013, he has finished outside the top ten in four of the last six Belle Isle races. Charlie Kimball makes it an all-Ganassi row four. He has finished in the top ten in the last three races and his worst finish in 2016 is 12th. Only once has Kimball finished in the top ten in four consecutive races. That was from Iowa to Mid-Ohio in 2014. Will Power ended up in ninth after having an engine problem plague him at the end of round one. Power led eight laps in the Indianapolis 500, his first laps led in 2016. Graham Rahal rounds out the top ten. Despite having four top ten finishes at Belle Isle, he has only led in one of eight starts. 

Takuma Sato and Mikhail Aleshin will start on row six. Sato's second place finish in the second Belle Isle race last year was his first top ten finish and first lead lap finish at the track. His average finish in seven Belle Isle starts is 15.9. This will be Aleshin's best starting position for a Belle Isle race. He has led in each of his two previous Belle Isle starts and he finished seventh in the Sunday race in 2014. Sébastien Bourdais is the most recent winner at Belle Isle and he will start 13th. Like Sato, Bourdais' victory last year was his first top ten finish at Belle Isle. The 18 laps Bourdais led were his first laps led on the street circuit. Josef Newgarden starts on the outside of row seven. Newgarden has two top ten finishes in seven Belle Isle starts but his only lead lap finishes have been his top ten finishes. He has had two accidents take him out of Belle Isle races. 

Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified 15th with Conor Daly ending up in 16th. Hunter-Reay finished eighth in the Sunday race last year, ending a spell of four consecutive finishes outside the top ten at Belle Isle. This is the fifth consecutive Belle Isle race Hunter-Reay has started outside the top ten after starting his first five Belle Isle races no worse than seventh. Daly finished sixth last year at Belle Isle in the Sunday race while substituting for the injured James Hinchcliffe. Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi will make his Belle Isle debut from 17th on the grid. Rossi has yet to qualify in the top ten for an IndyCar race. Rossi's former Marussia/Manor teammate Max Chilton will start next to him on row nine. Chilton finished 17th at St. Petersburg and 14th at Long Beach earlier this season. 

Marco Andretti will start 19th. This is the third time Andretti has start 19th this season. He went from 19th to 12th at Barber and 19th to 15th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He has finished better than his starting position in the last four races. Gabby Chaves rounds out the top twenty. This will be Chaves' best starting position of 2016 in his third start with Dale Coyne Racing. Chaves' first IndyCar top ten finish came in the Sunday race at Belle Isle last year when he finished ninth. Spencer Pigot makes his Ed Carpenter Racing debut from 21st on the grid. Jack Hawksworth starts 22nd after starting on the last row for the Indianapolis 500. Hawksworth has finished outside the top fifteen in the last five races. 

ABC's coverage for race one of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 70 laps. 

Track Walk: Belle Isle 2016

If the Indianapolis 500 wasn't enough, IndyCar runs two in Detroit

The month of May is behind the Verizon IndyCar Series and the halfway post of the 2016 season is in sight. Belle Isle, the only doubleheader on the IndyCar schedule, hosts the seventh and eighth round of the season. Despite a poor Indianapolis 500, Simon Pagenaud holds a 57-point lead over Scott Dixon in the championship. Hélio Castroneves trails his teammate by 68 points. Last year, rain struck both races with Carlos Muñoz scoring his maiden IndyCar victory in a shortened race and Sébastien Bourdais stretching the fuel to win a timed race.

Coverage
Time: Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday June 4th and June 5th. Green flag will be at 3:43 p.m. ET for both races.
TV Channel: ABC.

Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever in the booth with Rick DeBruhl, Dr. Jerry Punch and Jon Beekhius working the pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 10:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes).
Race One Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. ET
Saturday:
Warm-Up: 10:05-10:35 a.m. ET (30 minutes).
Race: 3:43 p.m. ET (70 laps)
Sunday:
Race Two Qualifying: 10:45 a.m. ET
Race: 3:43 p.m. ET (70 laps)

Can Alexander Rossi Contend For the Championship?
Alexander Rossi entered Indianapolis 500 practice 17th in the championship on 79 points and 163 points back of Simon Pagenaud. Qualifying 11th and winning the 100th Indianapolis 500 elevated Rossi to sixth in the championship and trailing the Penske driver by 89 points.

Prior to his Indianapolis 500 triumph, Rossi scored his first top ten finish in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis with a tenth and he lost a top ten finish at Phoenix after being caught out on pit strategy and scrapping the wall exiting turn four. In the two prior street course races, Rossi finished a lap down in 12th at St. Petersburg and a lap down in 20th at Long Beach.

Rossi has raced on only one of the remaining nine tracks on the IndyCar scheduled. He raced at Road America nine times between Formula BMW and the Skip Barber National Championship and won at the track four times.

Rookies rarely find themselves in contention for a championship in any top series today let alone IndyCar. Simon Pagenaud was classified as a rookie in 2012 despite running a full-season in Champ Car five years prior and he finished fifth in the championship that year but finished 81 points behind Ryan Hunter-Reay and needed to score maximum points in the final two races with Will Power scoring the minimum amount of points in each race to win the title.

Rossi became the first rookie to win on an oval since Sébastien Bourdais won at Lausitzring in 2003. Bourdais finished fourth in the championship that season but, like his fellow Frenchman Pagenaud, was mathematically eliminated with two races to go in the season. For Rossi to contend for the championship he will need to win races and consistently finish in the top ten. It is a tall order for a driver who is a virgin on most of the remaining circuits but he already overcame the odds to win the Indianapolis 500. That could be the domino to start an IndyCar championship run not seen since the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya, Alex Zanardi and Nigel Mansell.

Who Turns It Around After a Rough "500"?
While Rossi cruised to victory, many favorites were not even in the discussion for victory in the final 25 miles of the Indianapolis 500.

Simon Pagenaud left with the championship lead but he was not a factor in the race after his pit lane penalty for unsafe release and a slight engine problem. The Frenchman entered the 2016 season having never finished on the podium in successive races. Five consecutive podiums to start 2016 created a large margin of error for Pagenaud but the next three races over two weekends could determine how much pressure will be on him for the final three months of the season. Three strong runs and he could be looking at taking the crown before getting to Sonoma. Three poor runs while a driver or two go on a tear and he could find himself in a toe-to-toe brawl.

On Mothers' Day, Juan Pablo Montoya was third in the championship, 82 points behind Pagenaud. On Memorial Day, Montoya tumbled to tenth in the championship but only 105 points back of his Penske teammate. After Montoya won last year's Indianapolis 500 he had only one podium in the final ten races. For the Colombian to find himself fighting for another second championship he will need to improve greatly from his 2015 form. Last year, he finished tenth in both Belle Isle race but started on pole in the second race after qualifying was washed out and ran out of fuel on the final lap, arguably costing him the title.

While Will Power dropped one position in the championship unlike Montoya, the Australian finds himself mired in 11th and stalling out on his charge to championship contention. Power closed the gap to Pagenaud after the Indianapolis 500. He entered 137 points back and now finds himself trailing by 114 points but Power has not won in 18 starts and has only two podiums despite winning five pole positions in that span. He also has six top five finishes in his last 18 starts but also has six finishes outside the top ten in that span.

Graham Rahal, like Montoya, fell seven positions in the championship, from fifth to 12th and he also lost ten points to Pagenaud, now 119 behind the Frenchman. Rahal has three top fives from six races but has also finished 14th, 15th and 16th. Last year, Rahal entered Belle Isle coming off three consecutive top five finishes and was sixth in the championship. He has finished on the podium each of the last two years at Belle Isle but he Ohioan has also finished outside the top twenty each of the last two years at Belle Isle.

Ryan Hunter-Reay might have been collateral damage after his teammate Townsend Bell made contact with Hélio Castroneves exiting the pit lane but that still dropped him from ninth to 13th in the championship but he is three points closer to Pagenaud than he was prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500. Hunter-Reay rebounded last year, going from 12th in the championship, 143 points off the championship leader after the Indianapolis 500 to finish sixth in the championship, 121 points behind champion Scott Dixon after winning two of the final four races and finishing second at Sonoma.

Will Honda Have a Hangover?
Honda ended its pole drought, scored a 1-2 in the Indianapolis 500 and led 129 laps after only leading seven laps the year prior. The first five races of 2016 saw Chevrolet go five-for-five on victories, five-for-five on pole positions, 12-for-15 on top five finishers and had gone four-for-fives on fastest laps.

How bad will the beer sweats be for Honda? Chevrolet still have the top four drivers in the championship but James Hinchcliffe enters fifth and has four consecutive top ten finishes, his longest stretch of top ten finishes since the end of 2011-2012 when he had six consecutive top tens. Rossi finds himself sixth in the championship while Carlos Muñoz returns to Belle Isle seventh in the championship.

Rahal and Hunter-Reay have both finished on the podium this season while Takuma Sato finished sixth at St. Petersburg and fifth at Long Beach but four Honda drivers are outside the top fifteen in the championship. Marco Andretti has finished all six races and like Rossi has completed all but two laps this season but his best finish is 12th. Mikhail Aleshin finished fifth at St. Petersburg but has finished outside the top ten in the last five races. Conor Daly stood out with a sixth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but his average starting position is 19th and average finish is 16.2. Jack Hawksworth went from 31st to 16th in the Indianapolis 500 but has finished a lap down in four of six races.

Indianapolis 500 success does not mean Honda is set for the rest of 2016 and the manufacture still has plenty of ground to make up with ten races to go.

Pigot Joins Ed Carpenter Racing for Road and Street Course Races
After running three of the first six races for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Spencer Pigot will drive the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet for the seven remaining road and street course races starting this weekend at Belle Isle. Ed Carpenter will run the three oval races remaining on the 2016 schedule.

Pigot's best finish with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was 11th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He finished 14th at St. Petersburg and finished 25th last week in the Indianapolis 500, five laps down after running out of fuel under caution.

Last season, Luca Filippi split the #20 Chevrolet with Carpenter. The Italian finished ninth and 17th at Belle Isle and Filippi's best finish was second at Toronto. Pigot has never raced at Belle Isle in any of the three Road to Indy series.

IMSA
The fifth round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship takes place this weekend at Belle Isle and three of the four classes will be present.

Seven cars are entered in the Prototype class. The top three in the Prototypes championship have yet to win a race this season. Dane Cameron and Eric Curran lead the championship with 121 points and has finished on the podium in three consecutive races. The #31 Action Express Racing Corvette DP won last year at Belle Isle and the duo are three points ahead of their teammates, the #5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi. The #90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP of Marc Goossens has 117 points from four races. His co-driver Ryan Dalziel has 91 points after missing Long Beach because of his FIA World Endurance Championship duties with Extreme Speed Motorsports. Ricky and Jordan Taylor have 115 points and the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP duo won at Belle Isle two years ago.

Oswaldo Negri, Jr. and Michael Shank Racing will run the #60 Ligier-HPD at Belle Isle despite half the team being at Le Mans for the Test Day, including John Pew. Katherine Legge will join Negri, Jr. as the DeltaWing will not be running at Belle Isle. Negri, Jr. has 107 point while Legge sits on 94 points.

Mazda's Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez have 104 points in the #70 Mazda while #07 Mazda drivers Tom Long and Joel Miller have 96 points.

Seven Prototype Challenge cars are entered. There is a tie atop the PC class. The #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Oreca of Misha Goikhberg and Stephan Simpson and the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca of Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith are tied on 128 points. Goikhberg and Simpson won at Daytona and Long Beach while Alon and Kimber-Smith won the most recent round at Long Beach. The #8 Starworks Oreca of Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande are two points off the championship leaders.

BAR1 Motorsports' #20 Oreca driver Johnny Mowlem sits on 112 points and will be joined by Tomy Drissi this weekend. Five-time PC champion CORE Autosport are struggling as drivers of the #54 Oreca Colin Braun and Jon Bennett are fifth in the championship on 93 points. The #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca James French and Kyle Marcelli sit on 88 points. Starworks will have Mark Kvamme and Ashley Freiberg in the #88 Oreca this weekend.

Fifteen cars are entered in GT Daytona. The #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Alessandro Balzan and Christian Nielsen lead with 95 points and won at Sebring and finished second at Laguna Seca to the #23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche of  Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas, who trail Balzan and Nielsen by six points. Andy Lally and John Potter are third with 86 points in the #44 Magnus Racing Audi. Twenty-three points back is the #97 Turner Motorsport BMW of Michael Marsal and Markus Palttala.

Stevenson Motorsports #6 Audi drivers Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis sit on 71 points, a point ahead of #96 Turner Motorsport BMW drivers Bret Curtis and Jens Klingman and #22 Alex Job Racing Porsche drivers Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating have 69 points in the #33 Dodge Viper. The #540 Black Swan Racing Porsche drivers Tim Pappas and Nick Catsburg are tied with the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow on 67 points.

The all-American Stevenson Motorsports line-up of Lawson Aschenbach and Matt Bell have 57 points in the #9 Audi and are tied with #16 Change Racing Lamborghini's Spencer Pumpelly and Corey Lewis. Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Lindsey have yet to finish better than 11th in the #73 Park Place Porsche. Lawrence DeGeorge and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli round out the GTD entry list in the #27 Dream Racing Lamborghini.

The IMSA race will take place at 12:40 p.m. ET and is scheduled for a hour and 40 minutes.

Fun Facts
The Saturday race will be the tenth IndyCar race to take place on June 4th. In 2006, Champ Car and the IRL both ran on June 4th. Sébastien Bourdais won at Milwaukee and Scott Dixon won at Watkins Glen.

On June 4, 2000, Juan Pablo Montoya won at Milwaukee the week after winning the Indianapolis 500. Alexander Rossi will be attempting to become the first driver since Montoya to win his next start after winning the Indianapolis 500.

Sunday's race will be 11th IndyCar race to take place on June 5th, the first since Ryan Briscoe won at Texas in 2010.

IndyCar has raced in Detroit on June 5th before. Bob Carey won on the one-mile dirt Michigan State Fairgrounds.

Hélio Castroneves is the only active driver with multiple victories at Belle Isle. He has three victories.

Other Belle Isle winners entered this year are Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Carlos Muñoz and Sébastien Bourdais.

Josef Newgarden scored his eighth podium finish at Indianapolis last week. His finishes in races after finishing on the podium are fifth, 20th, 20th, 21st, 13th, 21st and 21st.

The average starting position for a Belle Isle winner is 5.63 with a median starting position of fourth. After all of the first fifteen Belle Isle winners starting inside the top ten, two of the last four winners have started 15th or worse.

The average number of lead change at Belle Isle is 3.894 with a median of four. There have been no lead changes at Belle Isle, most recently in 2012. The most lead changes at Belle Isle were 10 in the first race in 2014.

The average number of cautions at Belle Isle is 4.842 with a median of four. The average number of caution laps is 16.842 with a median of 17.

Possible Milestones:
Scott Dixon needs to lead 12 laps to reach the 4,800 laps led milestone and he needs to 76 laps to pass Bobby Unser for sixth all-time in laps led.

Tony Kanaan needs to lead 41 laps to reach the 4,000 laps led milestone.

Will Power needs to lead 70 laps to reach the 3,000 laps led milestone.

Sébastien Bourdais needs to lead 67 laps to reach the 2,500 laps led milestone.

Marco Andretti needs to lead 10 laps to reach the 1,000 laps led milestone.

Takuma Sato needs to lead 64 laps to reach the 500 laps led milestone.

James Hinchcliffe needs to lead 76 laps to reach the 500 laps led milestone.

Tony Kanaan needs one podium to reach 75 career IndyCar podiums.

Will Power needs one podiums to reach 50 career IndyCar podiums.

Juan Pablo Montoya needs one podium to reach 25 career IndyCar podiums.

Predictions
Chevrolet and Honda split everything this weekend. Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay each win a race. Two drivers get their first pole positions of the season. Josef Newgarden overcomes his poor performance after finishing on the podium and finishes in the top ten in both races. Charlie Kimball will be the top Ganassi finisher in one of the two races. Alexander Rossi finishes better in the second race than the first. Sleeper: Jack Hawksworth.