The polesitter of the 2014 Indianapolis 500 mile race wasn’t decided Sunday until the final car screamed down the front straightaway to log the last of four fast laps. It literally came down to the final seconds.
When the weekend finally wrapped up and time trials were over, Indianapolis hometown hero Ed Carpenter had claimed his second consecutive pole position for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
Saturday’s time trials determined which group a driver would qualify with — the top nine would sort it out between each other in a shootout for the pole, positions 10 through 30 would decide rows four through 10, and the slowest three drivers would qualify in their own group to decide the 11th and final row of the grid.
With an average qualifying speed of 229.382 between all 33 drivers, it makes this the fastest field in 500 history. And with the type of slingshot draft racing we’ve seen at this place the last two years, the nickname, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” should easily live up to the hype!
Naturally, starting up front does not guarantee a driver success in the race — just ask 2001 pole man Scott Sharp (I’ll let you guess how far he made it in the race).
But, winning that number one starting position does give a driver a week of praise and celebrity, plus some championship points to boot. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the 33 drivers that will line up in rows of three and begin a journey of 500 miles on Sunday…
FRONT ROW:
1. Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
2. James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda
3. Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet
Carpenter recorded a four-lap average of 231.067 mph, and will be joined by James Hinchcliffe and Penske Racing’s Will Power on the front row next Sunday. The pole also paid big money, with $100,000 going to Carpenter, who is also the team owner, for the Verizon P1 Award.
The last time a polewinner eclipsed the 230-mph barrier was 2003, when Helio Castroneves ran 231.725 mph. The all-time Indy 500 pole run remains 233.718 mph, ran by Scott Brayton in 1996 (He never got the chance to lead the field to green that year after succumbing to injuries in a practice crash — RIP Scotty).
To me, it’s great to see Carpenter take the pole. He just seems to be one of those down-to-earth good guys that race because they enjoy it. It’s his passion.
Hinchcliffe taking second in qualifying is a big story as well, since he was given the go-ahead to get back racing only a few days ago after suffering a concussion in last Sunday’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Hinch was struck in the head by metal debris during the race and was taken off on a stretcher.
And Will Power starting third? He won the last race on an oval track, at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in California last October, and seems to be much-improved on ovals. What a way it would be to prove to the world that he’s not just a road course expert by winning the crown jewel of them all. I think Power is a favorite to win.
ROW 2:
4. Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet
5. Simon Pagenaud, No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
6. Marco Andretti, No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda
The man starting fourth, on the inside of row two, is already a proven winner at Indy. Helio Castroneves is a 3-time Indy 500 winner (last in 2009) and is joined by last weeks Indy Grand Prix winner Simon Pagenaud in the middle and Marco Andretti on the outside.
I honestly think Castroneves is one of the favorites to win on Sunday. He’s got a fast car and the experience to go with it. And he’s got something that many other experienced drivers do not — that special ability to win a huge race like Indy. It may as well be a sixth sense, but when a racer like “Spiderman” is in contention to win such a prestigious race, he does not crack under the pressure.
Pagenaud is a dark horse, in my opinion. The Frenchman has become a weekly threat to win over the past year and a half on both road courses and ovals, and after his big win in last week’s Grand Prix on the Indy road course, he could become the first Frenchie to win the 500 since Gaston Chevrolet in 1920 (of course, too bad he doesn’t actually driver a Chevy-powered car).
Perhaps Andretti can finally break the “Andretti Curse” this year? Since his grandpa Mario won his only Indy 500 in 1969, the Andretti family has gone 0-fer.
ROW 3:
7. Carlos Munoz, No. 34 Andretti Autosport/HVM Racing Honda
8. Josef Newgarden, No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda
9. J.R. Hildebrand, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Now row three is quite intriguing to me. It features two guys that have come close to winning the 500 before.
Munoz, last year’s Indy 500 runner-up, lines up on the inside and has shown the kind of Brickyard instinct that I mentioned earlier with Castroneves. His car seems fast, so he could easily be in the running late, and if he is, watch out!
Hildebrand is back to try to avenge the one that got away from him in 2011, when as a rookie, he found himself leading the final lap due to a bit of a twist in fuel strategy. Alas, Hildebrand ran high in turn 4 trying to make his way around a lapped car and slammed the wall, which hindered his momentum just enough for the late Dan Wheldon to pass him in the final straightaway and steal the glorious win (RIP Danny boy). Can Hildebrand complete those final meters this year?
Both Newgarden and Hildebrand both run for smaller teams, so it would be a popular victory for either of them to emerge victorious this year. Young Josef hasn’t been able to figure out the Brickyard yet in his two 500 starts, but he’s American, so yeehaw!
ROW 4:
10. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet
11. Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
12. Kurt Busch, No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda
Perhaps there’s no driver in the field as much of a wild card as Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Chevy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Busch is attempting to pull the double and fly back to Charlotte Motor Speedway after the 500 to race the Coca-Cola 600 — NASCAR’s annual marathon race.
Busch nearly made the Fast Nine drivers on Sunday, falling just short and settling for a 12th-place starting spot, the outside position on row four. But the car has shown somewhat unexpected speed with Busch behind the wheel this month.
I think Busch will have a run similar to what A.J. Allmendinger managed last year, except Busch won’t lead any laps. But I think he’ll run near the front for most of the race. After that, who knows what he might do?
Montoya is another huge wild card. He’s made only one Indy 500 start, and he ended it in victory lane with Chip Ganassi in 2000, leading 167 laps along the way. His 2014 season hasn’t gone as well as he would’ve hoped, but maybe covering the length of a football field per second will awaken the beast. I’d go as far to say he might be one of the favorites.
One of the big surprises in qualifying was the Ganassi group. Dixon is the top Ganassi car in the 11th spot? Yikes.
But I don’t expect that to last long. I think the Ganassi cars will find their race pace and it won’t be long before Dixon shows up at the front of the field.
ROW 5:
13. Jack Hawksworth, No. 98 BHA/BBM with Curb-Agajanian Honda
14. Justin Wilson, No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda
15. Mikhail Aleshin, No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Hawksworth has already been fast at Indianapolis, albeit on the road course. The rookie from England led 31 laps at the Grand Prix of Indy and surprised the hell out of me! Will that translate to the 2.5-mile oval? Obviously it’s a completely different animal, but it’s hard to predict something when you don’t have any past data.
Wilson doesn’t strike me as an oval driver, but hey, he finished fifth in last year’s 500! No one ever talks about him, so he’s certainly a dark horse.
The rookie Aleshin from Mother Russia was the last driver in this year’s field to qualify over 230 mph, and perhaps he’ll prove to be more adept on the high-speed oval than he has on the roadies this season. I don’t think he’ll contend.
ROW 6:
16. Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
17. Sebastian Bourdais, No. 11 KVSH Racing Chevrolet
18. Oriol Servia, No. 16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Ah yes, last year’s hugely popular winner will start 16th this year. The biggest difference is that Kanaan is driving for a powerhouse team with Chip Ganassi, although the team surprisingly hasn’t shown much speed in the month of May. Like his teammate Scott Dixon, though, I think the Ganassi group will find their way up front come Sunday, and with TK’s experience, he could snatch a top-five. I don’t think a win is in the cards though.
The guy driving the car Kanaan piloted last year, Bourdais, has definitely struggled this year, and I’m not sure why. He is more of a road and street course guy, but it wasn’t until last week’s Indy Grand Prix that he finally caught a break with a fourth-place finish. Still, I don’t think he’ll contend for the win Sunday.
Servia is another one of those guys that doesn’t get a lot of hype, but he has the potential to be an assassin in IndyCar races. Unfortunately, I don’t think he can win the 500 with the kind of team he’s running with.
ROW 7:
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda
20. Graham Rahal, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
21. Carlos Huertas, No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda
I picked Hunter-Reay to win last year’s 500, and he came close with a third-place finish. I definitely think he’ll be in the running again this year, although he’ll have to pick his way from his 19th starting spot to do it. But with the way the draft has played into race strategy the last two years, plus the strength of his car, I think RHR is one of the favorites to win.
Rahal may have a famous last name that is synonymous with winning at the Brickyard, but he won’t win it. At least not this year. True, Graham has a podium finish from 2011, but that was partly due to the aforementioned fuel strategy that played out. I like him personally, he seems like a great kid, but he just doesn’t have what it takes to equal what his father, Bobby, was able to do in 1986.
Before this season, I had never heard of Huertas. I know he’s from the South American country of Colombia (like Montoya) and that country is famous for it’s savory coffee. Mmmm…
He won’t contend, though.
ROW 8:
22. Pippa Mann, No. 63 Dale Coyne Racing Honda
23. Takuma Sato, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda
24. Alex Tagliani, No. 68 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda
Oh Pippa! The lone woman in the race keeps the streak alive of female racers in the 500 to 15 straight years, dating back to 2000. Mann has kept busy over the last year or so doing radio calls for the Indy Lights series races, and it’s good to see her in the field. But, sorry, she won’t win.
Sato’s famous moment in Indianapolis 500 lore came in 2012, when he crashed trying to pass Dario Franchitti for the lead in turn 1 on the final lap. The Japanese driver needs to learn restraint if he is to win the 500, and it would be cool to see one of A.J. Foyt’s cars in victory lane.
I’m not sure what to think about Tagliani. The Canadian veteran has proven he can run fast here by winning the pole in 2011, but that’s the only highlight for him at this place. His best finish is a 10th place in 2010. His teammate will be Newgarden, but in this case, I think Tagliani is the “B” driver for now, while Josef is the “A” driver.
ROW 9:
25. Townsend Bell, No. 6 KVSH Racing Chevrolet
26. Charlie Kimball, No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
27. Jacques Villeneuve, No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Before I get to the other two, I want to say that I truly would be jazzed if Villeneuve can put together a strong run on Sunday. I know he hasn’t won over a lot of fans after some of his antics in the NASCAR Nationwide series road course races the past few years, but this guy is a hell of a race car driver, and he’s pretty damn smart, too.
Villeneuve is the 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner, and when I heard that he was required to take part in this year’s race rookie orientation program, I just had to chuckle.
Like Sato, if Villeneuve can settle down and harness his passion and raw emotion that his late father was also famous for, he can possibly be a contender. Thing is, his days are past, and I think he’ll struggle with a slow car. Staying on the lead lap after 500 miles may be a task for him.
Townsend Bell is making his yearly Indy 500 start, as he’s done for the last two years, and since he doesn’t regularly race in IndyCar, I don’t see him competing for a win, but I could very well be wrong. Bell has made a nice career now calling races with the NBC Sports broadcast team.
Kimball’s story is a nice one, as he races with diabetes. He proved last year that he’s not just a nice story, though, with his first career win in the IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio.
However, after the promise of 2013, this year hasn’t been as successful. Kimball is driving a Ganassi car, but unlike my predictions with his teammates, I don’t think he’ll find his way to the front at any point.
ROW 10:
28. James Davison, No. 33 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet
29. Martin Plowman, No. 41 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda
30. Ryan Briscoe, No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Davison has two Indy Lights series wins at Mid-Ohio, and that’s about it. His name is quite prominent down under, as the Australian’s grandfather and father were racers, and his cousin Will Davison is a driver in the V8 Supercar series. I still don’t think he’ll win this weekend.
Plowman will be piloting an A.J. Foyt car, with the number the reverse of teammate Takuma Sato. He has found most of his success on this side of the Atlantic in the American Le Mans series, where he has two wins and nine podium finishes in only 10 career starts. Plowman was a part of the winning car in the P2 Class at the 24 Hours of Le Man in 2013.
Quite a resume, but he won’t win.
Briscoe’s an interesting one, since he does have a lot of past success in IndyCar with seven career wins, but as of late hasn’t put much together. He won the pole for the 2012 Indianapolis 500 driving for Roger Penske, so I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he can finagle his way into contention on Sunday.
His wife, Nicole, of ESPN may be a looker, but unless that team can find some speed, getting into the top-10 may be a challenge.
ROW 11:
31. Sage Karam, No. 22 Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing Chevrolet
32. Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet
33. Buddy Lazier, No. 91 Lazier Partners Racing Chevrolet
And if you’re still reading, congratulations on making it to the last row of the grid. Positions 31, 32 and 33.
Karam is a raw rookie. He is making his IndyCar series debut, which is a little scary at a place like Indianapolis. That doesn’t mean he is destined to fail, though.
When I think of Karam, I think back to that epic finish in last year’s Indy Lights race at the Brickyard, when he finished third in a 4-wide photo finish! It was probably the closest a third-place finisher has ever come to winning, since he was only .028 seconds behind winner Peter Dempsey. The top four in that race were spaced apart by a mere .0443 seconds! Check out the finish on YouTube when you get the chance.
Anyways, Karam has the ability to race well at Indy, but like some of the other race rookies, we just don’t have any past data to look back on. I personally don’t think he’ll be in contention.
From the front row of the Grand Prix of Indy, to the back row of the famed Indy 500. That’s how it went for Saavedra and his crazy hair. Saavedra started on pole for the road course race at Indy, but stalled right from the very start and was nailed from behind by Munoz and Aleshin in an ugly crash. The fact remains that he is simply not racing with a competitive powerhouse team. He won’t win.
And sitting shotgun on the field — 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier! As much as I would like to see Buddy up front, it honestly looks like a field-filler entry, so we’ll just be watching to see how many laps he can finish.
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