USA TODAY International Edition
Indy 500 features deep field
INDIANAPOLIS – In so many ways, Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 will sound different. No roar of the crowd that the 33 drivers can hear while going more than 100 mph during their pace laps ahead of the green flag.
And the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the largest single- day sporting event in the world, will look different. The mecca of auto racing, which housed 350,000 spectators four years ago for the 100th running, will have just a couple thousand Sunday. NBC will air the race at 1 p. m. ET. But the Indy 500 rose to so much acclaim in the early 1900s not so much because of the sheer number of spectators, but because the racing was so good. And that reputation has played out in recent years, too, leading to four nail- biting contests in the past six races – all won by less than a quarter of a second.
Drivers throughout the IMS paddock have waffled on how easy it may or may not be to pass in this year’s race, given the tire compound combined with the series’ new aeroscreen safety device that makes its 500 debut Sunday, along with the heat an August race is expected to bring.
The front row features pole- sitter Marco Andretti, IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon and Takumo Sato.
But if there’s any driver who might be able to beat the odds for a surprising come- from- behind win on Sunday, it’s likely to be this year’s solid last four rows contingent. Loaded with former 500 winners Will Power, Tony Kanaan,
Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves, who combine for six 500s and three series championships, the rear 12 drivers have combined to lead more than 1,050 laps around the IMS oval.
Additionally, there’s only one rookie ( Dalton Kellett, 24th) and one other driver who hasn’t led the race – DragonSpeed’s Ben Hanley – in the last four rows. Add in two- time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso’s illustrious worldwide racing career, and you’ve got yourself quite possibly the strongest rear of the field in race history.
“Starting in the back, usually you have more inexperienced guys, guys that don’t have good cars, and you can actually move up a little bit pretty quickly in the race,” Kanaan said. “That’s not going to be the case. We’re probably not going anywhere in the beginning of the race.”