During Indy 500 qualifying last week, the announcers brought up a very interesting point. There were 35 cars entered, so two were going to be eliminated on Bump Day...and one of those drivers who got bumped was James Hinchcliffe. Hinch is one of the more popular and more marketable drivers on the IndyCar circuit, so it's certainly disappointing that he didn't make the field. Especially since he's currently fifth in the point standings, you just expected he'd be in the field.
Most IndyCar races feature only 24 drivers, yet there are 33 in the Indy 500. As a result (and because of the race's prestige), there are a number of owners that enter a car only for the Indy 500 and drivers that don't race full-time are hired just to race at Indy. Some of these owners simply don't have the finances to field a team fill-time, while some drivers are semi-retired and only want to run the one race at Indy (or a handful of races).
The argument that they were making, which makes a lot of sense, is that a full-time driver like Hinchcliffe shouldn't have to worry about getting bumped out of Indy while drivers with part-time rides are in the race instead. They suggested maybe using a system similar to what they use in NASCAR, where a certain number of drivers are automatically qualified based on the point standings.
It's not a terrible idea. This would give protection to the top drivers, who would still need to participate in qualifying, but would be guaranteed a spot in the race. And you're not locking in every spot, so the part-time drivers can still battle it out for the remaining places (20 drivers have participated in every race this season, so we'll use that as the benchmark and say they'd be fighting for 13 spots).
Of course, Bump Day only matters if there are enough cars entered (over the past few years, they had trouble just getting to 33), and it's one of the cooler qualifying events in sports. Indy's done it this way for many, many years, so don't expect them to be changing it simply because one guy didn't qualify. But I don't think guaranteeing the full-time drivers a spot in the field would take anything away from Bump Day, either.
That's a discussion for another day, though. As for the 33 drivers in the race itself, the story's really about two. Danica Patrick returns to Indy for the first time in seven years. It's also her farewell to the sport, as it's her final race before retiring. The other driver to watch is three-time champion Helio Castroneves. Helio posted the fastest time on the first day of qualifying, as he once again goes after his record-tying fourth victory. He came close last year, finishing second to Takuma Sato.
As fate would have it, Danica and Helio are starting right next to each other seventh and eighth on the grid. Indy native Ed Carpenter is on the pole for the third time (after starting second last year), while current series leader Josef Newgarden is on the inside of Row 2. Alex Rossi, the 2016 winner, has been installed as the favorite, even though he'll be starting 32nd in the 33-car field. Coincidentally, starting 33rd is Conor Daly, Rossi's teammate on the most recent season of The Amazing Race.
I think the action is going to come from the front, though. There's too much talent stacked in the first four rows, and I think that's where we'll find our winner.
Helio has looked great the whole time, and I think Newgarden's gonna do something special, too. Meanwhile, Tony Kanaan, my favorite driver, always has a good run at the Brickyard. He's the fastest car outside the Fast Nine, and he's in a really good spot on the inside of Row 4. If Kanaan is running at the end, he'll be a factor. Then there's Scott Dixon, who had a nasty crash after starting on the pole last year.
My pick, though, is a guy who's been one of the most consistent drivers on the IndyCar Series over the past several years, but has never put it together at the Brickyard. But...he won the Indy Grand Prix (held on the Indy road course) two weeks ago and will be starting on the outside of Row 1. Every time he's started in the front row, he's placed in the top 10. His best result at Indy was second in 2015. Three years later, I expect Will Power to do one better. I'm going with the Aussie to be sipping the milk in Victory Lane as the winner of the 102nd Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.
Also, it's worth noting that after 54 years, this is ABC's last hurrah at Indy. NBC bought the rights to the entire IndyCar Series, including the Indy 500, starting next year. It'll be weird for sure (kinda like how weird it was when NBC lost the rights to Wimbledon), and hopefully they give ABC a great race to finish off with. They deserve it.
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