Indy 500 Drivers to Watch

SI Staff | May 21, 2013

Indy 500 Drivers to Watch /

Indy 500 Drivers to Watch

Dario Franchitti

He's going for two monumental achievements in Indy 500 history: becoming the fourth driver to win it four times and the sixth to do it in consecutive years. This will be Franchitti's 10th career start in the 500, where he has three victories in his last five appearances. The Scotsman is also a four-time IZOD IndyCar champion with 31 career wins, tied for eighth on the all-time list.<italics> </italics> <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Helio Castroneves

The Brazilian became the first driver in Indy 500 history to win his first two starts (2001 and '02), and he finished second to Penske teammate Gil de Ferran by .2990 seconds in a bid for three straight in 2003. Castroneves eventually added his third victory in 2009. He'll be trying to join A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as Indy's only four-time winners. Tied for 12th on IndyCar's all-time list with 27 victories, Castroneves is known for climbing the fence to celebrate his wins, and he can dance, too. He was the champion of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" with partner Julianne Hough in 2007. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Scott Dixon

At age 33, Dixon will be racing in his 11th Indy 500. He won the race in dominant fashion in 2008 after leading 115 laps, and he's been within striking range of the checkers multiple times. He's finished sixth or better in seven straight Indy 500s and he set a record for consecutive laps completed with 1,366 in 2012, breaking the 71-year old mark held by Wilbur Shaw. The IZOD IndyCar champion in 2003 and 2008, Dixon has 29 career victories, tied with Rick Mears for 10th on the all-time list. Known as the Ice Man, he's cool and calculating, an extremely accomplished racer at Indianapolis and elsewhere. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Will Power

The Australian is a brilliant road racer, but he has an unimpressive record for someone hired to drive for Roger Penske, who has 15 wins at Indy. Power's best Indy finish in five career starts has been fifth. He started on the pole a year ago, didn't lead a lap, and was eliminated before the halfway point in a crash with Mike Conway. But it won't be a surprise if Power contends this year. Think of Danny Sullivan, whose strength was road racing. He spent 1983 in Formula One, and had finished 14th and 29th in two previous Indy 500s before everything clicked in 1985 while driving for Penske: his famous "spin-and-win." Power is capable of the same type of dynamic performance. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

A.J. Allmendinger

A rare rookie at the wheel for owner Roger Penske at Indianapolis, Allmendinger's experience level is higher than most first-year drivers. He drove to five victories in 40 races in CART's Champ Car Series from 2004-06, then switched to NASCAR's Sprint Cup and made four starts in the Brickyard 400 at Indy. Released by Penske's Sprint Cup team after NASCAR suspended him last summer for violating its substance abuse policy, he was reinstated after a rehab program and got a second chance with Penske's IndyCar team this year. After finishing 10th at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and 14th at Long Beach, Calif, he was impressive while qualifying for the Indy 500 ahead of teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves, earning a start in the middle of the second row. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

James Hinchcliffe

Hinchcliffe opened the 2013 season with a victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series at St. Petersburg, Fla., and a win at Sao Paulo, Brazil. Both are street courses, so that success won't transfer to the driving style at Indy, but it is evidence of a driver and team operating at full throttle. In 2012, Hinchcliffe was sixth in his second Indy 500, Andretti Autosport's best finish to date, and he'll start ninth this year. He's trying to become the second Canadian to win Indy. The first was Jacques Villeneuve in 1995. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Tony Kanaan

The veteran Brazilian has been a perennial contender in 11 starts at Indianapolis, finishing second (2004), third (2012, '03), fourth (2011) and fifth (2006). He holds the record of seven consecutive years (2002-08) leading laps, has 15 career victories, and was the IZOD IndyCar champion in 2004. A serious triathlete who has competed in the Ironman in Hawaii, Kanaan has made 200 straight starts, beginning in CART's Champ Cars and continuing in IndyCar. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Takuma Sato

Sato drove in 91 Formula One races from 2002 to '08 with a best finish of third in the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2004. He switched to IndyCar in 2010 and joined A.J. Foyt Racing this season. His victory at Long Beach in April was the first by a Japanese driver in IndyCar history and he followed it with a second place finish at Sao Paulo, Brazil, to take the series points lead coming into Indianapolis. A year ago at Indy, he led three times for a total of 31 laps and was running second on the final lap when he challenged Dario Franchitti for the lead in Turn One, but spun and hit the wall. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Oriol Servia

The Spaniard has quietly contended in the past two Indy 500s, finishing fourth a year ago and sixth in 2011. He's also completed all 200 laps in three of his four previous Indy starts. In 183 combined CART/IndyCar starts, Servia has only one victory, in 2005 at Montreal in CART Champ Car, but his 51 top-fives, including 11 in his last 36 starts, are impressive. That type of consistency makes him a threat in the Indy 500. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Justin Wilson

An outstanding road racer, Wilson drove briefly in Formula One -- 16 races in 2003 -- and has six victories on road courses in CART Champ Car/IndyCar. Last year, the Britishdriver had a breakthrough victory on an oval at Texas and finished seventh at Indy. He was also seventh in 2010. Those three races show that he has adapted his considerable talent to ovals. Of interest: Wilson funded his early racing career by selling shares in himself to 900 investors who receive a portion of his earnings. <italics>-- Tim Tuttle</italics>

Published May 21, 2013

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