Fresh from declaring the Monaco Grand Prix as "probably the most boring race ever in Formula 1", Fernando Alonso will have settled down with higher expectations for the 2018 Indianapolis 500.
A brand-new car package that improved racing at St Petersburg, the often-dull Phoenix oval and the tricky to pass Barber only heightened the expectation ahead of IndyCar's biggest race.
Sure, Alonso wasn't in an Andretti-McLaren-run car this year, but there were enough tantalising additional storylines to convince people to tune in. Danica Patrick was completing her racing career swansong, Helio Castroneves was gunning for a record-tying fourth Indy 500 win and Penske looked set to hit back at Andretti's recent dominance.