Sunday’s Indy 500 starting grid & pre-race highlights

Sunday will see the 97^th running of the historic Indy 500 race in Indiana at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 

Taking a look at the 33 car starting grid below you’ll see some unfamiliar faces in unfamiliar places, none more so than pole man and Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter, IndyCar’s sole team owner/driver.

Some may doubt Carpenter’s ability to take a dream first, hometown victory but he does possess winning form on oval circuits. Indeed, he won the last 500-mile oval race at the end of last season in Fontana by passing none other than Indy 500 and IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti on the last lap.

Starting a sensational 2^nd on the grid is Indy Lights driver Carlos Munoz driving for the reigning championship winning Andretti Autosport team. His teammates, 2012 IndyCar series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay starts 7^th and on form, 2013 double race winner James Hinchcliffe starts 9^th, both more than capable of taking their first Indy 500 wins. Not forgetting of course E.J. Viso in 4^th and Marco Andretti who starts one place ahead as he hopes to become the first Andretti winner at the Brickyard since Grandfather Mario drank the traditional winner’s milk in the 1969 race.

Roger Penske will be looking to add another chapter of his team’s success at the 500 and multiple race winner Helio Castroneves will likely lead the teams charge starting from 8^th. Fellow Team Penske teammates Will Power and former Champ Car star and current NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger line-up together on the second row.

Another IndyCar powerhouse team to look out for in the race will be Chip Ganassi racing, another 4-car squad with Dario Franchitti, last year’s winner and Scott Dixon their drivers most likely to challenge for victory as they line-up 16^th and 17^th.

This may not sound like a great starting place but it’s a long race that will likely see multiple safety car restarts and evolving team strategies. The final 10 laps is when the intensity will really ratchet-up and whichever drivers find themselves in the top 10 at that point may all stand a legitimate shot at winning the blue ribbon event.

Pre-race video highlights can be seen here:

2013 Pole Day Interviews, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBj_GKCu7BY&list=UUy1F61QvUUQXAXi2Voa_fUw&index=8

Final practice session,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NgDSRutePM&list=UUy1F61QvUUQXAXi2Voa_fUw&index=2

2013 Indy 500 Starting Grid – Race day, Sunday, May 26th

ROW 1

1. (#20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing. 

2. (#26) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, Andretti Autosport (Indy 500 Rookie). 

3. (#25) Marco Andretti, Chevrolet, Andretti Autosport. 

ROW 2

4. (#5) E.J. Viso, 28, Caracas, Chevrolet, Andretti Autosport. 

5. (#2) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Team Penske (Indy 500 Rookie).

6. (#12) Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske. 

ROW 3

7. (#1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, Andretti Autosport. 

8. (#3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Team Penske. 

9. (#27) James Hinchcliffe, Chevrolet, Andretti Autosport.

ROW 4

10. (#4) J.R. Hildebrand, Chevrolet, Panther Racing. 

11. (#98) Alex Tagliani, Honda, Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian. 

12. (#11) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, KV Racing Technology. 

ROW 5

13. (#22) Oriol Servia, Chevrolet, Panther-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. 

14. (#18) Justin Wilson, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing.

15. (#7) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, Dragon Racing

ROW 6

16. (#9) Scott Dixon, Honda, Target Chip Ganassi Racing. 

17. (#10) Dario Franchitti, Honda, Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

18. (#14) Takuma Sato, Honda, A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

ROW 7

19. (#83) Charlie Kimball, Honda, Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. 

20. (#19) James Jakes, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. 

21. (#77) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports. 

ROW 8

22. (#60) Townsend Bell, Chevrolet, Panther Racing. 

23. (#8) Ryan Briscoe, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing. 

24. (#78) Simona de Silvestro, Switzerland; Chevrolet, KV Racing Technology.

ROW 9

25. (#21) Josef Newgarden, Honda, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. 

26. (#15) Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. 

27. (#6) Sebastian Saavedra, Chevrolet, Dragon Racing. 

ROW 10

28. (#55) Tristan Vautier, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (Indy 500 Rookie). 

29. (#18) Ana Beatriz, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing. 

30. (#63) Pippa Mann, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing. 

ROW 11

31. (#41) Conor Daly, Honda, A.J. Foyt Enterprises (Indy 500 Rookie). 

32. (#91) Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, Lazier Partners Racing Inc. 

33. (#81) Katherine Legge, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.  By James Foreman