2016 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Preview: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' 2015 season started out in a surprising fashion with a victory in the second race of the season but SPM's season was shaken up when their lead driver James Hinchcliffe was sidelined with severe leg injuries. The ragtag team of Ryan Briscoe and Conor Daly split the role of substitute for the Canadian and scored five top tens in the final 11 races. James Jakes ran all 18 races and finished third at NOLA but scored only three top tens in the next 14 races.

2015 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Review
Wins: 1 (NOLA)
Poles: 0
Best Start: 2nd (Milwaukee)
Final Championship Positions: 16th (James Jakes), 18th (Ryan Briscoe), 23rd (James Hinchcliffe), 28th (Conor Daly), 33rd (Mikhail Aleshin)

2016 Drivers:

James Hinchcliffe
The 2015 season ended unexpectedly prior to the Indianapolis 500 after Hinchcliffe suffered a significant leg injury on the final practice day. The Canadian took a surprise victory in the monsoon that hit NOLA on race day. A seventh at Barber would follow two weeks later. When Hinchcliffe's season ended he was tied for seventh with Josef Newgarden and was the second best Honda driver in the championship behind only Graham Rahal.

Numbers to Remember: 
25.8- Points per start for Hinchcliffe in 2015. The tenth-best amongst drivers with at least five starts.

20.75- Hinchcliffe's average finish in races after victories.

11- Eleven of Hinchcliffe's 36 career top tens have come in races prior to the Indianapolis 500.

Predictions/Goals:
First goal should be to run all 16 races. I don't see his injuries having any carry off effect into 2016 and I think Schmidt Peterson Motorsports could be a threat for more victories and the team should be able to climb up the championship. A lack of consistency has plagued Hinchcliffe ever since he joined IndyCar. He has never finished in the top ten after a victory. He has yet to earn his first career pole but has started second on nine occasions. He has one victory, three top fives and seven top tens in those second-place starts. I think Hinchcliffe can get another victory in 2016 and I think he will be in the top ten of the championship.

Mikhail Aleshin
After a year running an LMP2 car in European Le Mans Series for SPM Racing, Aleshin returns to IndyCar for his sophomore season. The Russian's rookie season ended in a hospital bed after suffering injuries in final practice for the 2014 season finale from Fontana. He made a cameo in the 2015 season finale at Sonoma for SPM and finished tenth from 14th on the grid. In 2015, Aleshin finished 13th in LMP2 at Le Mans and fifth in the ELMS championship with three consecutive podiums to close out the season.

Numbers to Remember: 
8- Top tens in 18 career starts.

4- The longest stretch in his career between top ten finishes. Also, Aleshin has led four career laps led.

3- Career top ten starts.

Predictions/Goals:
Aleshin's rookie season was noted for his consistency and his controlled aggression. He had seven top tens from 17 starts but only two of those top tens were finishes better than seventh. Aleshin made a few mistakes and he did not do well in qualifying. Only three times did Aleshin qualify in the top ten and one of those was an eighth at Fontana, where he didn't take the green flag. I think the combo of Hinchcliffe-Aleshin is a dangerous one and SPM could put both cars in the top ten of the championship but that will all come down to whether Hinchcliffe can be consistent and whether Aleshin can take a step forward from 2014. Aleshin will be on the edge of the top ten of the championship and will surprise a few people with a top five or two on ovals.

The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons commences with Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 13th. ABC's coverage of the race will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.

2016 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Preview: Team Penske

Three of the six drivers mathematically eligible to win the Astor Cup at the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season finale from Sonoma belonged to Team Penske. Instead of leaving with a second consecutive title, the team left with its tail between its legs after losing on tiebreaker. All four drivers from 2015 return for 2016 as the famous team looks to shake off another blown title.

2015 Team Penske Review:
Wins: 3 (St. Petersburg, Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500)
Poles: 11 (St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Barber, Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Belle Isle 1, Texas, Toronto, Fontana, Iowa, Pocono, Sonoma)
Final Championship Positions: 2nd (Juan Pablo Montoya), 3rd (Will Power), 6th (Hélio Castroneves), 11th (Simon Pagenaud).

2016 Drivers:

Juan Pablo Montoya
The Colombian led every single day of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season except the last one and even then he had a share of the lead but the title went to Scott Dixon based on the New Zealander's three victories to Montoya's two victories. Entering Iowa, it appeared not only would Montoya win the championship but could possibly locked it up before Sonoma, even though the finale was worth double points. An accident nine laps into that race opened the door and the dominoes started to not fall in Montoya's favor. A closed pit-lane at Mid-Ohio cost him a top five and contact with his teammate Will Power put him behind the eight-ball in the finale and left him chasing instead of being the chased.

Numbers to Remember: 
1- Podium since his Indianapolis 500 victory. He finished third at Pocono.

294- Days between his last victory (Indianapolis) and the season opener St. Petersburg, which he won in 2015. Montoya's win at Indianapolis is also Team Penske's most recent IndyCar victory.

30- Montoya led 30 of 1,448 oval laps in 2015. That's 2.07%.

Predictions/Goals: 
Despite all these years of Penske choking a championship away, the team always rebounds and rarely struggles at the start of the season. Montoya is 40 years old and doesn't turn 41 until two days after the 2016 season. He is a young 40 but could this be his final year in IndyCar? It's hard to see Montoya regressing significantly in 2016. He likely won't be able to repeat his near wire-to-wire championship lead but he can never be ruled out of a 500-mile race. A win or two and another bid for a top-five finish in the championship is on Montoya's horizon.

Will Power
The Australians championship defense in 2015 started off promising. A victory and two runner-up finishes saw Power trailing Montoya by only 25 points after the Indianapolis 500. However, once the calendar switched to June, Power found himself being in the wrong place at the wrong time. An accident in Belle Isle 2 with Hélio Castroneves, contact with Takuma Sato at Fontana and a nudge from Ryan Briscoe at Milwaukee left Power with an average finish of 15.2 in a five-race stretch. He scored a pair of fourths after ten races but he hasn't scored a podium since that fateful day in May.

Numbers to Remember: 
10- Starts since Power's last podium, matching his longest podium drought since joining Team Penske.

100- Career top tens.

9- Consecutive seasons with a victory.

Predictions/Goals: 
Like I said with Montoya, I don't see Power regressing. I think 2016 will be another season with Power competing for the title into August and September. He only won once in 2015, the fewest victories for Power in a season since his abbreviated 2009 season when he was a substitute for Hélio Castroneves at St. Petersburg while he settled his tax evasion trail and was rewarded with a smattering of other races. However, last year was the first time since Power's rookie season in 2006 that he did not win on a street/temporary circuit. Power should score two-three victories in 2016 and be in the championship hunt until the final race of the season.

Hélio Castroneves
The Brazilian enters his 19th season in IndyCar and 17th with Roger Penske. Castroneves had a Castreoneves-esque season in 2015: No victories but five podiums, six top fives and nine top tens. It was also a Castroneves-esque season in another way. He failed to score a top ten in one of the final four races. The season before that, Castroneves failed to score a top ten in the final five races. With the three-time Indianapolis 500 looking to get his fourth, he is also running out of time for that elusive title and it appears he might not have what it takes to put together a collection of 16 finishes good enough to take the Astor Cup.

Numbers to Remember: 
199- Career top tens.

27- Starts since Castroneves' last victory. The most starts between victories for Castroneves is 29 from St. Petersburg 2007 until Sonoma 2008.

45- Career pole positions. He is four behind Bobby Unser for third all-time.

Predictions/Goals: 
Despite Castroneves' career waning, I still think he will win the Indianapolis 500 this year because the stars have aligned for him to do. Can the stars align for him to get that elusive championship? I don't think so. In fact, I think Castroneves will finish in the "Tony Kanaan Zone" of the championship. Somewhere between seventh and 12th. He will have another Castroneves type season and get good results but he won't be sensational.

Simon Pagenaud
The Frenchman's first season with Team Penske went as while as a lead balloon. A bagel in the wins column, two podiums and seven finishes outside the top ten. Anytime it looked like it was going to be Pagenaud's day, he faded. When other Penske drivers faltered, Pagenaud wasn't able to carry the weight. He finished 11th in the championship, ending a streak of three consecutive top five championship finishes and a career worst for him when competing a full-season.

Numbers to Remember: 
5.2- Pagenaud's average starting position in 2015.

-5.375- Pagenaud lost on average 5.375 positions from his starting position in 2015.

17,794- The amount of days between the last IndyCar victory for car #22 and St. Petersburg. The last victory for the #22 was Wes Vandervoort on June 25, 1967 at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It was the only victory of Vandervoort's IndyCar career.

Predictions/Goals: 
I can't see Pagenaud going another season without a victory but it just didn't seem to click at any point in 2015. If Pagenaud had finished the season strong with a string of four or five consecutive top ten finishes then I might look at him as someone who will come into 2016 hot and potentially be a championship contender. I think he wins a race but finishes in the "Kanaan Zone" with Castroneves.

The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons commences with Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 13th. ABC's coverage of the race will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Musings From the Weekend: Roll Call

Cars are on track at Daytona. One season already ended in New Zealand. World Rally Championship nearly grounded to a halt in muddy Sweden. Valentine's Day came and went. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Announcement
Starting this week, team-by-team previews for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season will be posted. At time of posting, we are 27 days until IndyCar's season opener at St. Petersburg. These previews will be rolled out over the next month. They will not come out one day after another so just keep an eye out for them in the coming weeks.

Roll Call
With team-by-team previews coming up, it would be good to look at the IndyCar grid at a glance.

Here are the confirmed drivers for the 2016 season. Let's start with Chevrolet.

Ganassi will have four cars. Scott Dixon is returning to defend his championship. Tony Kanaan is back. Charlie Kimball returns and it appears he will have a new livery. Max Chilton is set for his rookie season.

Penske is bringing back the same band from last year: Juan Pablo Montoya, Hélio Castroneves, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud.

KV Racing will be a one-car team with all the chips on Sébastien Bourdais.

CFH Racing is now Ed Carpenter Racing with Josef Newgarden in the #21 Chevrolet and Ed Carpenter set to return in the #20 Chevrolet for the oval races. The road/street course driver for the #20 has yet to be announced.

That is 11 Chevrolets confirmed for 2016. On to Honda.

Andretti Autosport has three drivers confirmed: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Carlos Muñoz.

A.J. Foyt Racing is retaining Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin pairing up for 2016.

Graham Rahal is back at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Conor Daly will be at Dale Coyne Racing.

That is nine Hondas confirmed. What are we waiting on?

Bryan Herta Autosport appears likely to return but the team has yet to confirm the return. The team would like to bring back 2015 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Gabby Chaves.

Dale Coyne Racing will have a second car.

Those are two yet-to-be-confirmed-but-extremely-likely-to-happen Hondas. The full-time grid would be 22 cars.

There have been some rumblings about a fourth Andretti entry. Some signs have been pointing to Andretti's Formula E driver Robin Frijns being that driver. Some signs have pointed to that being a part-time car. Some signs point to that being a rotating cast of characters.

Defending Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot is scheduled to run three races for RLLR but that could be another possibility for a full-time entry.

The other concern is does the #20 ECR Chevrolet run the full season? It doesn't make much sense to run a car for only five races but things are tight in IndyCar and if ECR can't find a suitable second driver for the #20 car than it could only been seen at ovals.

It looks like there will be at least 21 full-time entries with as many as 24. It doesn't appear as if there will be anymore on the Chevrolet front. The size of the full-time IndyCar grid will be dependent on Honda.

While we are looking the full-time IndyCar grid, we mind as well look at the potential Indianapolis 500 entry list. Believe it or not, people are already crying that there won't be 33 cars for the 100th Indianapolis 500. It has become a topic that some use to highlight the inadequacies IndyCar fans feel about the series they love and they do it to make waves of fear.

But let's come down and let's use rationale to think this out. There will 33 entries. The series always finds a way to get 33 cars on the grid.

Let's take the 22 teams we have already looked at. They will all be there.

We know Spencer Pigot will be there. That's 23.

Matthew Brabham is scheduled to run both Indianapolis with PIRTEK Team Murray in partnership with KV Racing. That's 24.

Jonathan Byrd's Racing will return with Bryan Clauson and they have partnered with Dale Coyne Racing. That's 25.

Katherine Legge and Grace Autosport are working on a program for the Indianapolis 500. That's 26.

Sage Karam has been announced with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. That's 27.

So we are six away and the rest of these entries are pure speculation.

Pippa Mann seems likely to be back with Dale Coyne Racing and that would be 28 entries.

Buddy Lazier failed to qualify last year but he hasn't (at least publicly) thrown in the towel. Should Lazier and his family-run team return that would be 29 entries.

You have to think Andretti Autosport will run a fourth car. That would be 30. However, Andretti Autosport has entered five cars for the Indianapolis 500 every year since 2010. Should the team keep that streak going, that would be 31 entries.

You have to think Ganassi will run a fifth car, especially since Ryan Briscoe is on the team's books with the Ford GT program. That would be 32.

Just recently, Bryan Herta Autosport has made it know they are interested in running a second car for Indianapolis. That would be 33.

There. We made it. And we aren't done yet.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has run three cars the last three years. A fourth year with three SPM cars would make it 34 entries.

Last year, then-CFH Racing ran a third car for J.R. Hildebrand. Should ECR run a third car that would be 35.

The rumor has been Dreyer & Reinbold Racing could run two cars. That would be 36.

KV Racing ran four cars at Indianapolis just two years ago and last year ran two cars and partnered with Jonathan Byrd's Racing. With the PIRTEK Team Murray partnership, that could leave room for another KV entry. That would be 37.

A.J. Foyt Racing said they weren't going to run a third car last year and then they entered a car for Alex Tagliani. A third AJFR Honda would be 38.

Thirty-eight is the off-the-wall, IndyCar hits the lottery twice, buying ocean front property in Arizona scenario. All 38 entries aren't impossible. They are all plausible. It's just a matter of the manufactures and how many engine leases they want to release. Above, there are 19 Honda programs, 18 Chevrolet programs and the one unknown being Grace Autosport.

If Honda and Chevrolet are going to go all out for the 100th Indianapolis 500, then 19 apiece would be something but I am not sure either manufacture would go that far. Eighteen apiece, maybe. Last year, both fielded 17 programs. Each adding one for the 100th would hardly be earth shattering.

Now, who would be the drivers for these remaining entries? Well we came up with 29 driver-team combinations and the following drivers are still free agents: Townsend Bell, J.R. Hildebrand, Ryan Briscoe, Tristan Vautier, Jack Harvey, James Davison, Sebastián Saavedra, Simona de Silvestro, Stefan Wilson, Oriol Servià and Alex Tagliani. That is 11 drivers and who knows if there are other drivers who want a shot at Indianapolis and want to be in the 100th running. Sam Hornish, Jr. is unemployed. Who is to say he couldn't return for the 100th and 10th anniversary of his victory? (Hornish will not be at Indianapolis. He doesn't care and it isn't worth his time. But just remember that Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls so never say never).

At ease everyone. There will be 33 and there will likely be more than 33. Will there be more than 34? That's the real question.

Average Age
I have been writing these team-by-team previews for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season and the amount of older drivers caught my eye. Tony Kanaan, Hélio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya are all over 40. Takuma Sato is 39. Heck, Sébastien Bourdais is 37 and Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay are 35. I thought I would look at the average age of a few series to see how they compare.

For IndyCar, I took the 21 drivers with confirmed seats for at least three races and the have the average age of 31.19 years.

For Formula One, I took the 21 confirmed drivers for 2016 and the average age for them is 26.9 years.

The average age of the Daytona 500 entry list is 32.72 years.

The average age for last week's Formula E race from Buenos Aires was 29.833 years.

Mercedes-Benz just announced their drivers for the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season and the average age of the two dozen DTM drivers will be 28.79 years when the 2016 season starts on May 7th.

The 18 LMP1 factory drivers from Porsche, Toyota and Audi will average 33.777 years of age when the season starts at Silverstone.

I am not surprised the LMP1 factory drivers are the oldest but I am surprised NASCAR is just above IndyCar considering all the youth that has entered the series in the last two-three seasons. However, NASCAR has two drivers over 50 (Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip) but even if you take them out, the average age is still older than IndyCar but is only 31.833.

No surprise that Formula One is the youngest with Kimi Räikkonen being the oldest at 36. Jenson Button is also 36 but Räikkonen is three months older. It's interesting to see that the two other "European based" series in DTM and Formula E are the next youngest. Both are full of drivers who are talented enough for Formula One but didn't have the funding and are under 30 (Bird, Buemi, Vergne, da Costa, Wickens, di Resta). DTM also has a handful of development drivers. The 19-year-old Esteban Ocon heads to DTM fresh off his GP3 championship. Lucas Auer is 21, Tom Blomqvist is 22, Nico Müller is 24 and Adrien Tambay is 25.

To be honest, I was hypothesizing that the reason why a series like IndyCar is struggling to attract younger fans is because of the age difference of the drivers. I was wondering if the grid is too old for younger fans to relate to. While that may be true, Formula One is struggling with declining television ratings around the globe and the Formula One grid is significantly younger. FIA WEC and Formula E are experiencing a lot of positive buzz and FIA WEC are the oldest of all while Formula E is in the middle.

A confounding variable: Manufacture involvement. FIA WEC has it. Formula E is getting it. Maybe that is the reason. I don't know. Then I think about race distance. We hear about short attention spans and how the length of races hurt growth for some series. But it's ironic because while Formula E races are all under an hour in length, eight of nine FIA WEC races are six hours long and the other is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But what about schedule length? FIA WEC and Formula E have the fewest amounts of races. Maybe the less is more approach is a reason.

Champion From the Weekend
With his victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix, Lando Norris won the 2016 Toyota Racing Series championship. Norris is the first British driver to win the New Zealand Grand Prix since Jackie Stewart won the race in the 1967 Tasman Series season.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about Chase Elliott winning Daytona 500 pole position but did you know.

Denny Hamlin won the Sprint Unlimited, his third victory in the event.

Sébastien Ogier won Rally Sweden. It's his second consecutive Rally Sweden victory and his third consecutive rally victory dating back to last season.

Ryan Dungey won the AMA Supercross from San Diego; his fourth victory of the season.

Ferdinand Habsburg and Brendon Leitch won the first two races of the final round of the Toyota Racing Series season from Manfeild Autocourse.

Coming Up This Weekend
The Daytona 500 qualifying races on Thursday.
The Daytona 500.
NASCAR's other two national touring series will be at Daytona.
AMA Supercross will be in Arlington, Texas.

Chase Elliott Wins 58th Daytona 500 Pole Position

Chase Elliott won his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole position and Elliott is the youngest ever Daytona 500 pole-sitter at 20 years, two months and 18 days. This will be Elliott's first race in the #24 Chevrolet after replacing the retired Jeff Gordon. Elliott ran five Cup races last season. Three of the last four Daytona 500 pole positions have been won by rookie drivers. Danica Patrick and Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 pole position in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Gordon won it last year.

Matt Kenseth qualified second and will start first in the second Daytona 500 qualifying race on Thursday night. Kenseth is a two-time Daytona 500 winner. This will be his best career start in the Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. qualified third and he will start second in the first race on Thursday night. Earnhardt, Jr. was the fastest qualifier in the first segment of qualifying. Kyle Busch qualified fourth and Busch will make it an all-Joe Gibbs Racing row one for the second qualifying race. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was fifth fastest in qualifying and he will start third in race one with Jimmie Johnson starting third in race two.

Ryan Blaney was the fastest "open entry" and he has locked himself into the Daytona 500. Blaney was seventh fastest with Austin Dillon eighth quickest. They will start fourth and fifth in race one on Thursday. Carl Edwards qualified ninth and he will start fourth in race two. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top ten and he will start sixth in race two. Kurt Busch and Joey Logano rounded out the second round of qualifying. Kurt Busch will start fifth in race two with Logano starting seventh in race one.

Race One Grid:
Kasey Kahne starts on Logano's outside on row four. The 2007 Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick will start ninth with Ty Dillon rounding out the top ten. Aric Almirola will start 11th with Greg Biffle making it an all-Ford row six.

Brian Scott will start 13th with Michael McDowell starting 14th. McDowell is second best starting open entry. The top finishing open entry in each qualifying race will make the Daytona 500. If Blaney is the top finishing open entry, McDowell will make it on his qualifying time. Regan Smith and defending NASCAR Grand National Series champion Chris Buescher will start on row eight. This will be Buescher's in his first ever Daytona 500 qualifying race.

Bobby Labonte is the oldest driver entered for the 58th Daytona 500 and he will start 17th. The youngest ever Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will start 18th. Clint Bowyer and Cole Whitt round out the top twenty. David Ragan and Josh Wise will start on the final row. Whitt and Wise have to race their way in.

Race Two Grid:
Casey Mears will start sixth in the second Daytona 500 qualifying race. The 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman will start seventh and Paul Menard will start eighth. Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers will start on row five. Vickers is substituting for the injured Tony Stewart. It's an all-Ganassi row six with Jamie McMurray starting on the inside and Kyle Larson starting on the outside.

Matt DiBenedetto starts 13th. DiBenedetto is locked into the Daytona 500 on his qualifying speed. He was the second-fastest open entry. If DiBenedetto races his way in, McDowell would get in based on his qualifying time. Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip will start 14th Danica Patrick and A.J. Allmendinger will start on row eight.

Michael Annett and Landon Cassill will start on row nine. Robert Richardson, Jr. and David Gilliland will start on row ten. If both Blaney and DiBenedetto race their way in, McDowell and Richardson, Jr. will make the Daytona 500 on their qualifying time. Gilliland can only race his way into the Daytona 500. The eleventh row for race two features Reed Sorenson and Martin Truex, Jr. Sorenson has to race his way into the Daytona 500. Truex, Jr. did not make a lap in qualifying after a problem with his roof flap.

The Daytona 500 qualifying races will take place at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.

2016 Speedweeks Preview

The 2016 NASCAR season begins this weekend with the Speedweeks from Daytona International Speedway. Saturday night features the exhibition Sprint Unlimited (formerly the Shootout) and this Sunday is Daytona 500 qualifying.

Twenty-five cars are entered for the Unlimited. The race is open to pole position winners from 2015, past winners of the Unlimited/Shootout, past Daytona 500 pole-sitters, 2015 Chase drivers and any other driver who finished in the top 25 of the championship last season.

Matt Kenseth won last year's race and returns with all three of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates also in the race. Kenseth could become the fifth driver to win the race in consecutive seasons. Neil Bonnett was the first to do it in 1983-84. Ken Schrader did it in 1989-90. Tony Stewart won the 2001-02 races for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kevin Harvick won the 2009-10 races. All four occurrence of back-to-back winners occurred in GM cars. All but Stewart won in Chevrolets. Stewart did it in a Pontiac.  Defending champion Kyle Busch won the race in 2012 while Denny Hamlin won in 2006 and 2014. Carl Edwards has never won on a plate circuit.

Martin Truex, Jr. finished second to Kenseth last year. This marks Truex, Jr.'s and Furniture Row Racing's first race as a Toyota team. The team had been a Chevrolet team since it's first race in 2005. The team has formed an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers with three victories in the Unlimited/Shootout. His Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick will also compete. Tony Stewart was scheduled to compete in this race but will miss the start of the 2016 season after suffering a fracture vertebra in an off-roading accident during the offseason. Brian Vickers will replace Stewart in the Daytona 500. Vickers has also been allowed to compete in the Unlimited in place of Stewart despite not meeting any of the criteria to make the race.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is a two-time winner of the race but has not won the exhibition since his first race with Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. Jimmie Johnson won the race in 2005. Kasey Kahne will also be in the race. Hendrick Motorsports is third all-time in winners of this race with six but Earnhardt, Jr.'s victory is the teams last. Hendrick is between Joe Gibbs Racing, who has won seven times and Richard Childress Racing, which has eight victories.

Speaking of Richard Childress Racing, all three drivers will be in the race. Ryan Newman and Paul Menard qualify for the race based on making the Chase last year. Austin Dillon qualifies based on his 2014 Daytona 500 pole position. Childress' eight victories have come from two drivers. Dale Earnhardt won the race five times for RCR and Harvick won it three times.

Ford has not won this race since Dale Jarrett won in 2004 for Robert Yates Racing. Team Penske's Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are both in the race. Penske has won the race twice. Roush Fenway Racing will have both Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the race. Roush has only won the race once and that was in 1999 with Mark Martin. Aric Almirola is also in the race by finishing in the top 25 in the championship.

Chip Ganassi Racing has Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson. Ganassi has never won this race. Clint Bowyer will drive for HScott Motorsports. Bowyer is spending one year with the team before the moving to Stewart-Haas Racing to take over for the retiring Tony Stewart. A.J. Allmendinger will drive for JTG Daugherty Racing. Casey Mears rounds out the field for Germain Racing. He qualified just by being in the top 25 of the championship last year.

The following teams are entered for the Daytona 500.

Front Row Motorsports will run three cars including one for the defending Grand National series champion Chris Buescher in the #34 Ford. Landon Cassill will drive the #38 Ford for the team. David Gilliland will drive for Front Row Motorsports. He will not run the Unlimited despite his 2007 Daytona 500 pole position.

Buescher leads the rookie class that also includes Ryan Blaney, Brian Scott and Chase Elliott. Blaney will drive for the Wood Brothers, who return to full-time competition for the first time since 2008. Scott will drive the #44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. Scott scored zero victories in the Grand National series after 208 starts. He had four runner-up finishes. Elliott replaces Jeff Gordon in the #24 Chevrolet. Of the four rookies, other Buescher and Elliott will be running in their first Daytona 500.

Past Daytona 500 winners Trevor Bayne and Michael Waltrip are entered for the race. Bayne will drive the #6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing while Waltrip will be in the #83 BK Racing Toyota. David Ragan, a past winner at Daytona, will be Waltrip's teammate at BK Racing. BK Racing will also run two other cars for Robert Richardson, Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto.

Bobby Labonte is scheduled to return to competition in the #32 Ford for GO FAS Racing. Should he qualify, this would be Labonte's 24th Daytona 500. His best finish was second in 1998 to Dale Earnhardt after starting on pole position. He has three top ten finishes in his previous 23 Daytona 500 starts.

Circle Sport-Levine Family Racing will run two races. Michael McDowell will be in the #59 Chevrolet while Ty Dillon is entered in he #95 Chevrolet. Regan Smith will drive the #7 Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Michael Annett will be Clint Bowyer's teammate at HScott Motorsports. Cole Whitt is entered with Premium Motorsports. Rounding out the entry list are Reed Sorenson, who will drive for Hillman Racing, and Jose Wise, who will drive for The Motorsports Group.

With NASCAR's new charter system, the 36-chartered teams are locked into the Daytona 500 with the remaining eight drivers competing for the final four sports.

The non-chartered drivers are Blaney, Richardson, Jr., Wise, Gilliland, Sorenson, McDowell, DiBenedetto and Whitt.

The top finishing non-chartered driver from each Daytona 500 qualifying race on Thursday night will make the Daytona 500 with the two fastest non-chartered drivers from qualifying getting the final two spots in the race.

The Sprint Unlimited will be Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET. Daytona 500 qualifying will be at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Musings From the Weekend: Age of Maturity

The Denver Broncos are Super Bowl champions. Records fell at Bathurst. The Formula E season resumed in Argentina. A Brit is one step closer to a title in New Zealand. Someone scored their first victory of the Supercross season in Phoenix. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Age of Maturity
Max Chilton will be driving for Chip Ganassi Racing this upcoming season in IndyCar. Sage Karam, after an abbreviated rookie season, has the Indianapolis 500 on his plate and a still to be determined schedule with Lexus' GT3 program in IMSA.

Did Karam deserve to lose his IndyCar seat? Do we have enough to go by?

Some think Karam's IndyCar career should be over because they aren't impressed from his first 13 starts. Think about that. Thirteen starts. Not even a full season but enough to be deemed not good enough by some.

Thirteen starts aren't enough. Whether it is this generation or previous generations.

Motorsports have changed a lot from the generation of Foyt, Andretti, Jones and Gurney. Karam entered IndyCar with 52 starts in four years in the Road to Indy system. He ran only five races in 2014, including a ninth in the Indianapolis 500, the year after taking the Indy Lights championship. Let's not forget that Karam doesn't turn 21 years old until next month. When Foyt, Andretti, Jones and company entered IndyCar they were much older and had hundreds of races under their belts. They were way more prepared. Of those three, Foyt was the youngest when making his IndyCar debut. He was 22. Andretti didn't debut until he was 24 and Jones was 27.

If you look at other drivers through 13 starts, you will see that isn't enough time to judge what a driver will be.

Let's note that Karam has one podium, two top fives, three top tens and an average finish of 15.3 from 13 starts and has three retirements and one could be pinned on Takuma Sato.

"Driver A" had a podium and eight top tens in his first 13 races, good enough for an average finish of 9.76 and that driver didn't have an accident in any of those 13 starts.

"Driver B," in 13 starts had one top ten and an average finish of 17.3 and retired from four races due to accidents.

"Driver C" had six top tens from 13 starts, averaged a finish of 12.76 and had only two accidents in that timeframe.

Then there is "Driver D" who had just two top tens, averaged a finish of 17.23 and had six accidents in his first 13 starts.

"Driver E," like Karam, had one podium in his first 13 starts and four top tens but averaged a finish of 14.61 and retired from four races due to accidents.

"Driver A" would only go on to run 40 more IndyCar races and score only one more podium and eight more top tens with an average a finish of 14.825 in those 40 races. This driver never won in IndyCar That driver would be Hideki Mutoh.

However, "Driver B" went on to win four championships, three Indianapolis 500s and is considered one of the best of his generation after his first 13 starts and that driver would be (if you haven't already figured it out) Dario Franchitti.

"Driver C" would win his first career IndyCar race in his 23rd career start but would only have three podiums and nine top tens in his final 43 IndyCar start average a finish of 15.76 over those 43 starts. He had 11 of those 43 races end because of accident. He is Jaques Lazier.

"Driver D" would finish second in his 15th career start and then win his 16th start. He would go on to win two championships, finish runner-up in the championship twice and third in the championship. He would also win an Indianapolis 500. This driver is Gil de Ferran.

Finally, "Driver E" hasn't won a championship and didn't score his first victory until 46th career start but this driver has won three Indianapolis 500s, has 29 career victories and is the active leader in career starts with 311. And by know you know this is Hélio Castroneves.

Thirteen starts aren't enough, 20 starts aren't enough; heck 30 starts aren't enough. The make or break point is about start 50 when you consider only 28 drivers have scored this first career victory in their 50th start or later and even then 50 might not be the best barometer when you consider age. I truly believe actual maturity plays a role into a driver. Look at Graham Rahal. Until last year, everyone thought he was a disappointment. Rahal is still 27 years old and Franchitti didn't win his first "500" and title until he was 34 years old.

Patience people. Hopefully, Karam gets another chance at IndyCar. If only IndyCar grid had a half a dozen more cars that way Karam, Chilton and J.R. Hildebrand could show what they have got at the same time.

When Denver was Last Super Bowl Champions
The Denver Broncos won their third Super Bowl championship last night. Denver's last Super Bowl title came on January 31, 1999. I thought I would look back on what the motorsports world looked like on the day of Super Bowl XXXIII.

The American open-wheel landscape was split and the 1999 IRL season was already a week old. Eddie Cheever won at Walt Disney World Speedway in a race that saw 28 drivers take the green flag.

Speaking of Eddie Cheever, he won the Indianapolis 500 the year prior.

In CART, Alex Zanardi had just won his second consecutive title but he was heading back to Formula One. Kenny Bräck was defending IRL champion.

While the 1999 IRL season opener had 28 starters, the 1998 CART finale also had 28 starters.

Juan Montoya had yet to make his first IndyCar career start.

Scott Dixon had yet to race in America.

Bobby Rahal had just retired.

Team Penske hadn't won an IndyCar race since May 24, 1997 when Paul Tracy won at Gateway, the first race at that track.

Engines in CART were Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Ford-Cosworth and Toyota. In the IRL, it was nearly 90% Oldsmobile with the rest Infiniti.

The Hawaiian Super Prix was still 25 days way from being announced.

Mika Häkkinen was fresh off his first World Drivers' Championship.

Rubens Barrichello was a driver at Stewart Grand Prix.

Other teams on the Formula One grid besides Stewart were Jordan, Prost, Benetton, Arrows and Minardi.

Tyrrell had just run its final race.

BAR had yet to debut.

Red Bull was just a sponsor on the side of Sauber.

Jenson Button was defending British Formula Ford champion.

Fernando Alonso was still two months away from running his first single-seater race.

Porsche had just won Le Mans for the 16th time. Porsche added its 17th Le Mans victory last year.

Audi had yet to win at Le Mans. They now have 13 Le Mans victories.

Tom Kristensen had one Le Mans victory.

Scott Pruett won the 24 Hours of Daytona only once.

Bill France still ran NASCAR, Winston sponsored the Cup Series and the Chase format had yet to ruin the world.

Dale Earnhardt was the defending Daytona 500 winner.

Jeff Gordon had just won his third NASCAR Cup championship.

NASCAR raced at Rockingham twice, Darlington twice and Atlanta twice.

Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson had all yet to make NASCAR Cup debuts.

Pontiac was still a NASCAR manufacture.

Valentino Rossi was a 250cc rider.

Mick Doohan had just won his fifth consecutive world championship.

The top manufactures in the World Rally Championships were all Japanese: Mitsubishi, Toyota and Subaru.

Max Verstappen was one year, four months and two days old.

How things have changed.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about the Bathurst 12 Hour but did you know...

Sam Bird won the Buenos Aires ePrix over Sébastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi.

Lando Norris won two of three Toyota Racing Series races from Bruce McLaren Motorsports Park in Taupo, New Zealand. Jehan Daruvela won the other race.

Ken Roczen won the Supercross race from Phoenix.

Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR runs the Shootout (or whatever it's called) on Saturday night and Daytona 500 qualifying will be Sunday.
AMA Supercross returns to San Diego.
WRC are tentatively scheduled to run Rally Sweden.
The Toyota Racing Series concludes the 2016 season with the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild Autocourse.

Tekno Autosports McLaren Holds Off Nissan At Bathurst

Nissan charged hard for its second consecutive victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour but the Japanese manufacture fell just short as the #59 Tekno Autosports McLaren 650S GT3 of Shane Van Gisbergen, Jonathon Webb and Álvaro Parente took the victory after completing 297 laps, a new record for most laps completed in Bathurst 12 Hour history.

With fifteen minutes to go in the race, Van Gisbergen led the #1 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 of Katsumasa Chiyo by over 13 seconds. Chiyo picked away at the New Zealander's lead but ended up finishing 1.276 seconds behind the McLaren. Chiyo and co-driver Florian Strauß were going for their second consecutive Bathurst 12 Hour victory. Rick Kelly, the third driver in the #1 Nissan, was looking to become the eighth driver to win the Bathurst 12 Hour and Bathurst 1000.

In third was the #10 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3 of Guy Smith, Matt Bell and Steven Kane. The Bentley finished a minute and 18 seconds back of the winning McLaren. The final car on the lead lap was the #5 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS of Laurens Vanthoor, Markus Winkelhock and Alex Davison, which finished over two minutes back.

Rounding out the top five, one lap down was the #36 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Nico Bastian, David Reynolds and Thomas Jäger. The top A Class amateur team was the #5 GT Motorsport Audi of Greg Taylor, Barton Mawer and Nathan Antunes, who finished sixth, three laps down. The #31 Bentley of Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet and David Russell finished four laps down in seventh with the #75 James Pem Racing Audi of René Rast, Garth Tander and Steve McLaughan finishing eighth.

The #60 Tekno Autosport McLaren of Rob Bell, Andrew Watson and Will Davison finished five laps behind its teammate in ninth. Six laps down in tenth was the #32 JBS Australia Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX of Luke Youlden, Roger Lago and Steve Owen. The #82 International Motorsports Audi of Andrew Bagnall, Rick Armstrong and Matt Halliday finished ten laps down in 11th.

The B Class winning #4 Grove Racing Porsche of Earl Bamber, Scott McLaughlin and Steven Grove finished 12th overall, 12 laps down. Thirteenth overall was the I Class winning #93 MARC Cars Australia Focus V8 of Jake Camilleri, Morgan Haber and Aaron Seton, 17 laps behind the overall winners.

This is McLaren's first victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour and McLaren is the fifth different manufacture to win in the last five years. Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Nissan had won the previous four editions. Van Gisbergen joins Craig Baird as the only New Zealanders to win the Bathurst 12 Hours. Parente is the first Portuguese driver to win the event and Webb is the 20th different Australian to stand on the top step of the podium. Not only did this year's Bathurst 12 Hour see a record set for most laps completed but there were a record 29 lead changes.

The second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge will be the Spar 24 Hours on July 30-31st.