The 2006 Indianapolis 500 Preview

The favourites:
Sam Hornish Jr and Helio Castroneves

Not for 12 years has one team dominated the build up to the Indianapolis 500 like Penske Racing have in 2006.

Yet, the last time it happened, it was Penske leading the way too.

Thanks largely to Mercedes' incredible push-rod engine, Penske pretty much dominated the Month of May in 1994, and they have done so again this year. Just look at the raw statistics. Although rain has interrupted practice and qualifying, nine days of track time did actually take place. Penske Racing were fastest in eight of them.

Sam Hornish Jr topped the timesheets in each case, but teammate and double Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves wasn't far behind each time. That's not even including qualifying, where they comfortably put their cars 1-2 on the first of the race's unique rows-of-three grid.

It is hard to quantify the reason for this dominance. Most suspect that the Toyota engine Penske ran last year masked their full potential, and now they (and the rest of the field) have got their hands on the better Honda units, Penske have been able to demonstrate their engineering brilliance.

Regardless of the reason, their pace is real. It is likely that Hornish will run away with this Sunday's race and make for a snore-fest. He threatened to do the same last year before he understeered into the wall, and it is one of those years where very few will bet against the pole-sitter.

Sam Hornish Jr wins the pole position for the Indy 500 © LAT

But if Hornish stumbles yet again (his best Indy 500 finish is 14th), Castroneves is fast and experienced enough to pick up the pieces.

The likely lads:
Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti

Yes, Penske have dominated so far, and it could well be the same on Sunday. But there are 31 other runners, and if there is any race that gives the rest of the field a degree of hope, it is the Indy 500.

The sheer length of the race and the potential for disaster means even the slowest entrants can hope to be up there towards the chequered flag, and with the entire field running Honda engines, there will be close battles throughout the field.

Dan Wheldon came from 16th on the grid to win last year's race, so starting from the outside of the front-row surely means he will be in contention this year.

Wheldon, now with Ganassi Racing, has been the only non-Penske driver to lead a practice day so far, and he did win the opening race of the season at Homestead. He can't exactly be counted out, despite Hornish's pace, and he could be the race's first back-to-back winner since Castroneves won the 2001 and 2002 races.

Wheldon's teammate, 2003 IRL IndyCar series champion Scott Dixon, has also looked handy during practice. Qualifying fourth behind his teammate, he has looked consistently strong and will fancy himself to surprise and take his first Indy 500 crown.

Andretti Green Racing went into May being one of the most talked about teams, but the defending champions have yet to win a race in 2006.

Despite losing their Honda advantage, AGR have remained at the front of the field and the five-car effort this year has certainly meant an abundance of data to share between drives.

Tony Kanaan remains their best hope, having qualified fifth, but Dario Franchitti shouldn't be ruled out either. He went into this season as one of the title favourites with teammate Wheldon's defection. He qualified a lowly 17th on Saturday due to his team having to change an engine and gearbox on qualifying day, but with more practice time on his car before the race, he should be in with a shout come Sunday afternoon.

The fairytale win:
Michael Andretti, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Eddie Cheever Jr, Al Unser Jr

Andretti-Green teammates Bryan Herta, Michael Andretti and Dario Franchitti; with Mario Andretti © IRL

Suspend for a second all thoughts of pace. All thoughts of ability, machinery and form. Let's face it - journalists, TV crews and, indeed, many thousands of racing fans want one of these guys (or girl) to win on Sunday. Behind each of them is a very special story that would give thousands of headline writers worldwide an easy time of it on Sunday night.

Three of them have come out of retirement to race in this year's event, again buoyed by the prospect of a more equal field than in previous years. Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever Jr and Al Unser Jr have a combined age of 135, yet they all still reckon they have a shot at winning, and age isn't a factor.

Cheever Jr is returning because he says he can win again, now that the field has been Honda-ed, and 'Little Al' claims he is returning to satisfy his competitive desire after nearly two seasons away.

Andretti is, of course, the only one of the returnees who has not tasted Indy 500 victory as a driver, but some have questioned the wisdom of returning after a three-year absence. Andretti has been able to guide his 17-year-old son Marco through the Month of May first hand and has not been too rusty.

A victory for Andretti Sr would be an incredible story, considering the pain and suffering he has previously gone through in the event. In 14 previous Indy 500 starts, he has four top-five finishes and has led more laps than any other driver without winning it (426). But not having raced for three years, it would seem a tall order to surmount the Penske challenge on his comeback drive, even from 13th on the grid.

Marco doesn't have the race experience necessary to challenge for victory in this year's event, but he has shown flashes of pace early in his rookie season. He qualified a superb ninth, and if he can stay off the sometimes seemingly magnetic retaining wall, Marco can be assured of taking Rookie of the Year honours.

But there is one other potential fairytale win that many people believe already happened last year.

Given the subsequent media attention, Danica Patrick's rise to fourth place (and don't forget her mistake that fortuitously helped her get to that position in the first place) made her a household name in the US and anyone could be forgiven for thinking she actually won. She features on plenty of US cereal boxes and television commercials that perpetuate that myth yet further.

Without the Honda advantage she enjoyed in 2005, she has struggled so far this month, but she put in an impressive performance last Saturday to qualify tenth - the top Panoz runner. She is unlikely to repeat last year's run but a podium finish is an outside possibility.

The dark horses:
Scott Sharp, Buddy Rice, Townsend Bell, Tomas Scheckter, Vitor Meira, Bryan Herta, Buddy Lazier, Max Papis, Kosuke Matsuura, Ed Carpenter

Danica Patrick at speed in her Rahal-Letterman Panoz Honda © LAT

If you really think about it, anyone of those drivers has the talent and maybe even the machinery to win this year's Indy 500. But if any of these guys won on Sunday, you would still think it was a surprise win.

Bryan Herta has an aura of a potential winner and can be relied upon to keep a cool head in a demanding 500-mile race. However, Michigan 2005 aside, he has never truly stamped his authority on an event to look like the untouchable force he once threatened to become.

Buddys Lazier and Rice are both former winners and have not shown the practice speed to suggest they could repeat those victories. Townsend Bell and Max Papis have joined their teams just for Indy and don't have the three-race preparation time that many of their rivals have, and Tomas Scheckter is still bedding into his ride at Vision Racing.

Vitor Meira could in fact have the best chance. Meira snuck under the radar to claim second in last year's race and put in an impressive qualifying effort last weekend to tie up the outside spot on the second row. Along with former Indy 500 pole-sitter Scott Sharp, Meira has the potential to claim that shock victory.

The unlikely lads:
Jeff Simmons; Felipe Giaffone; Jaques Lazier; Jeff Bucknum; Larry Foyt; Thiago Medeiros; Stephan Gregoire; Arie Luyendyk Jr; Airton Dare; Roger Yasukawa; PJ Chesson, PJ Jones

This year's Indy 500 has been one of the closest organisers have come to not having a full 33-car field. Thiago Medeiros just ran quick enough to be allowed to be the race's final car and nobody completed an attempt to bump him out.

The side-effect of the current lack of interest in the IRL means that there will be a fair few drivers starting who do not have the talent or equipment to challenge for victory in the series' most prestigious race.

The majority of the group are also running Panoz chassis, which is slowly proving itself to be second-best to the all-conquering Dallara. Only two of the top 21 places use Panoz chassis, but eight of the bottom 12 do.

Of this group, only Simmons, Giaffone and Chesson are assured of more IRL races after this weekend's race, and don't expect any of these drivers to take home enough prize-money from the race to prolong their season.

The starting grid for the 90th Indianapolis 500:

Pos  Driver             Team                                 Chassis
 1.  Sam Hornish Jr.    Marlboro Team Penske                 Dallara
 2.  Helio Castroneves  Marlboro Team Penske                 Dallara
 3.  Dan Wheldon        Target Chip Ganassi Racing           Dallara

 4.  Scott Dixon        Target Chip Ganassi Racing           Dallara
 5.  Tony Kanaan        Team 7-Eleven                        Dallara
 6.  Vitor Meira        Panther                              Dallara

 7.  Kosuke Matsuura    Panasonic ARTA                       Dallara
 8.  Scott Sharp        Delphi                               Dallara
 9.  Marco Andretti     NYSE Group                           Dallara

10.  Danica Patrick     Rahal Letterman Racing Team Argent   Panoz
11.  Tomas Scheckter    Vision Racing                        Dallara
12.  Ed Carpenter       Vision Racing                        Dallara

13.  Michael Andretti   Jim Beam/Vonage                      Dallara
14.  Buddy Rice         Rahal Letterman Racing Team Argent   Panoz
15.  Townsend Bell      Rock & Republic                      Dallara

16.  Bryan Herta        XM Satellite Radio                   Dallara
17.  Dario Franchitti   Klein Tools/Canadian Club            Dallara
18.  Max Papis          Cheever Racing                       Dallara

19.  Eddie Cheever Jr.  Cheever Racing                       Dallara
20.  P.J. Chesson       Carmelo Hemelgarn Racing             Dallara
21.  Felipe Giaffone    ABC Supply Co./AJ Foyt Racing        Dallara

22.  Jeff Bucknum       Life Fitness                         Dallara
23.  Larry Foyt         AJ Foyt Racing                       Dallara
24.  Jaques Lazier      VIDEOPOKER.COM                       Panoz

25.  Buddy Lazier       Dreyer & Reinbold Racing             Dallara
26.  Jeff Simmons       Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol  Panoz
27.  Al Unser Jr.       A1 Team USA Geico Dreyer & Reinbold  Dallara

28.  Roger Yasukawa     Playa Del Racing                     Panoz
29.  Airton Dare        OCTANE Motors/Sanitec/SSM            Panoz
30.  Stephan Gregoire   Effen Vodka Team Leader Special      Panoz

31.  Arie Luyendyk Jr.  Luyendyk Racing                      Panoz
32.  PJ Jones           CURB Records Special                 Panoz
33.  Thiago Medeiros    PDM Racing                           Panoz