92nd Running of the Indianapolis 500

[TS020]

That time of the year has come, where all the IndyCar teams and driver scome to Indy, preparing for their biggest race of the year, and this is the first time since 1995 that the Indy 500 will be run with just 1 American open-wheel series.

Discuss, predict and add your insight/opinion.

[Kitdy]

How does qualifying work? I saw that Dixon won, but only 11 odd people took part, and there's gonna be a lot more. What is the dealie yo?

[togos452]

Qualifying has been revised, but it was revised prior to the merger. Robin Miller thinks they should get rid of it and they might.

1995, wow. It has been a long time, but they have a chance to rebuild the sport and make new rules for new chassis/engine/tire/brake/gearbox/aero.

[drakkie]

Let's see if the Yanks can finally beat us dutchies ! About time !

[Wouter Melissen]

Originally Posted by drakkie

Let's see if the Yanks can finally beat us dutchies ! About time !

What are you talking about? It's been quite a while since Arie Luyendijk had a taste of the milk.

[scubasteve87]

I'll be there in turn 4. I'm taking a brazilian ftw, Kanaan is due and always runs strong at Indy, plus no one's talking about him this year. I think I'd like to see Helio win his third though, just to hear dancing with the stars hype instead of danica crap. Plus if Helio wins, that would mean Penske won the Daytona 500, The 12 hours of Sebring and Indy in the same year, I doubt that's been done before.

[TS020]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

How does qualifying work? I saw that Dixon won, but only 11 odd people took part, and there's gonna be a lot more. What is the dealie yo?

The simplest way I can put it is that all cars can qualify on pole day, and only the fastest 11 cars will be locked in. Every team has 3 attempts, and must withdraw their previous attempt before going out again, and if those runs are slower, they can't go back to their original time. Once the top-11 are locked in, spots 11-22 are filled on the day after (not this time though, it was rained out), then the remaining spots are filled on bump day.

Originally Posted by scubasteve87

I'll be there in turn 4. I'm taking a brazilian ftw, Kanaan is due and always runs strong at Indy, plus no one's talking about him this year. I think I'd like to see Helio win his third though, just to hear dancing with the stars hype instead of danica crap. Plus if Helio wins, that would mean Penske won the Daytona 500, The 12 hours of Sebring and Indy in the same year, I doubt that's been done before.

You can't forget about Ryan Briscoe, he had a terrible start to the season with 2 DNF's, but he's been starting to show his potential and I think he'll be the dark horse of the race.

[scubasteve87]

Fair enough about Briscoe, he is qualed ahead of Helio, but he has always had a tendency to DNF which would deter me from taking him too far. My dark horse pick is Tomas Scheckter, even though he has the same crash problem as Briscoe, lol

[TS020]

92nd Indianapolis 500 Starting Line-up :: Indianapolis 500

Lineup for the 92nd Indy 500.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by TS020

The simplest way I can put it is that all cars can qualify on pole day, and only the fastest 11 cars will be locked in. Every team has 3 attempts, and must withdraw their previous attempt before going out again, and if those runs are slower, they can't go back to their original time. Once the top-11 are locked in, spots 11-22 are filled on the day after (not this time though, it was rained out), then the remaining spots are filled on bump day.

That seems to me like an overcomplicated system. What happened if on another day someone sets a faster time than the top 11? Shouldn't they get pole?

Why not just have all the qualifiers qualify on the same day?

[fpv_gtho]

I think the idea is to dedicate the whole month to practise/qualifying before the race.

As for somebody qualifying faster than pole when theyve already been locked out, they probably should have made an attempt on the first day when pole was up for grabs. If they did, they probably werent fast enough. If Indy is like almost any other race track, especially those rarely used, it gets faster as theres more action and rubber being layed down.

[ringle]

One of the three chicks is gonna win it and then there will be hell to pay!

[TS020]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

That seems to me like an overcomplicated system. What happened if on another day someone sets a faster time than the top 11? Shouldn't they get pole?

They still wouldn't be able to get pole. Like bump day, AJ Foyt IV had a speed that could've easily put him mid-field, but because of the rules he has to start 31st.

Originally Posted by ringle

One of the three chicks is gonna win it and then there will be hell to pay!

Danica, Sarah, and who else?

(unless if you count Wheldon and his horrifyingly white teeth)

[scubasteve87]

Milka Duno is your 3rd chick

[Zytek_Fan]

Don't mean to be a party pooper, but Danica won't win. It would be awesome to see her win, especially since she is considering a move to F1, which might give her more sway with negotiating with a better team, but I have my doubts...

If she can remain focused throughout the race, I can't see why she wouldn't win. She's got the team to win, she just has to be the driver and achieve it.