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Intensity Ratcheted Up, Indy Readies For Pole Day

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2008

Updated: 05/07/2008 12:12 am

Boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a fitting choice as honorary starter for the 92nd Indianapolis 500. America's most famous race should offer up its best and most interesting fight in 13 years.

With unification bringing together the best open-wheel teams and drivers at Indy for the first time since 1995, Danica Patrick breaking through with a win last month in Japan and up-and-comers Graham Rahal and Will Power adding to the star appeal, Indy has a story that should borrow some thunder from NASCAR.

"The difference with us is everything we do, everything we're about, leads up to the month of May," said Michael Andretti, co-owner of Andretti Green Racing. "This year it's even more challenging."

Indy is a three-week marathon that started Sunday with rookie orientation, continues all week with practice and gets serious Saturday with pole qualifying.

Qualifying for the 33-car grid stretches over two weekends, finishing May 18 with a "Bump Day" that could leave seven or more drivers outside looking in. Qualifying is no small thing, given two of the past four winners started on the pole and eight of the past 14 started in the first three rows.

As many as 30 drivers could take a shot at the pole Saturday - up from about a dozen on the first day of qualifying last year. That could translate into a deeper field on race day.

"We're talking a good 30 cars that are going to have time to develop their cars and have them working well by the time the race comes around," said St. Petersburg's Dan Wheldon, the 2005 race winner and one of the Pole Day favorites.

Here's a closer look at the major stories heading into this year's race:

•Because of unification, 13 rookies are entered - the most since 1997 when a 13-driver rookie field included future winner Kenny Brack, Greg Ray and Sam Schmidt. Eight rookies have won the Indy 500, including Juan Montoya in 2000 and Helio Castroneves in 2001.

•Patrick returns not only as a legitimate contender, but also as one of the favorites. She's driving for the Andretti Green Racing team that has won the race two of the past three years. In three starts at Indy, Patrick has finished fourth, eighth and eighth.

Having erased any doubt in her own mind and the minds of her peers she could win with her victory in Japan on April 20, she arrived at Indianapolis with momentum.

"Confidence has a lot to do with it," Patrick said recently. "I think any driver will tell you, the more they're feeling confident the better things go."

•Drivers named Andretti, Foyt and Rahal will share the speedway for the first time since 1992, when Jeff, John, Mario and Michael Andretti competed with A.J. Foyt and Bobby Rahal. That year, Rahal, Foyt and John Andretti all finished in the top 10.

This year, Marco Andretti, A.J. Foyt IV, Larry Foyt and Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Graham Rahal all have rides.

Andretti is a serious threat for Andretti Green Racing after nearly winning as a rookie two years ago.

Rahal, despite having only one race on an oval under his belt, rates as one of the rookies to watch.

•Roger Penske has won the Indy 500 a record 14 times as a team owner, but has never won Indy and the Daytona 500 in the same year. In fact, Penske had never won Daytona until Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch finished 1-2 for him there in February.

With two-time winner Castroneves and fast-but-crash-prone Ryan Briscoe, he has two contenders at Indy.

"We're trying to give Roger the title of the first to win Daytona and Indy and win them in the same season," Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said.

•With Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, Dale Coyne Racing and KV Racing Technology coming over from the former Champ Car series, the depth of competitive teams has improved dramatically.

NHLR competed at Indy in 2004 with former St. Petersburg resident Sebastien Bourdais and in 2005 with Bruno Junqueira and should have respectable cars this year for Rahal and Justin Wilson.

KV boasts Power, a fast Australian who won last month at Long Beach, and Coyne has former pole-winner Junqueira.

"This is the one race where you can be in the racecar for the whole month," Wheldon said. "It's incredibly competitive, and there's a lot of pressure on everybody."

This year, Wheldon added, "it's a new race."

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