Patrick, Castroneves highlight the Indy 500 field for Sunday
INDIANAPOLIS — Part-time drivers and one-off rides are usually afterthoughts at the Indianapolis 500, where the sport’s brightest stars tend to shine in the hot sun on the final Sunday of May.
This year, the part-time driver is Helio Castroneves. And the one-off is Danica Patrick. Throw in a deep, four-car stable from newly minted NASCAR Hall of Fame owner Roger Penske, the race favourite starting from the back row and a big name sitting out the race, and the 102nd edition of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” has every expectation of living up to its nickname.
Yes, Castroneves can win this race for a record-tying fourth time. He’s been chasing that mark since 2010 and has finished second three times, including last year when he was beaten by Takuma Sato — the first Japanese winner in race history.
Castroneves will have Penske calling his race as “The Captain” seeks his 17th Indy 500 victory. But this is so very different for the popular Brazilian. Penske needed him in sports cars this year, so he moved Castroneves out of IndyCar but promised him a seat in the race for a shot at that fourth jug of milk.
Castroneves is part of the talented Penske lineup that put all four of its Chevrolets in the front nine of the starting grid. He was the favourite to win the pole but didn’t get the run he needed and wound up eighth, right behind Patrick.
Her return to racing’s biggest stage comes seven years after Patrick left for NASCAR. The only woman to lead laps in both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 has no plans to race again after Sunday.
Like Castroneves, she returned to Indy with a car capable of winning.
Chevrolet , winner of only two Indy 500s since its 2012 return to IndyCar, came to Indianapolis Motor Speedway intent on ending Honda’s two-year winning streak. With the fastest cars in the field, there are Chevys in seven of the first nine starting spots.
Four went to Penske drivers and three to Ed Carpenter Racing, which is fielding a car for Patrick and put team owner Ed Carpenter on the pole.
Everyone knows Patrick can win her finale, but not many believe she will pull it off.
James Hinchcliffe, the Canadian driver who replaced Patrick when she left for IndyCar and grew into one of the sport’s most popular drivers, failed to qualify for Sunday’s race due to a series of mistakes by his race team.