IZOD IndyCar Kentucky Indy 300 Preview and Writer's Picks

After an exciting race in Chicagoland that saw a massive tightening in the overall series points chase, the men and women of the IZOD IndyCar Series head south to the Kentucky countryside for the Indy Kentucky 300.

Will Power's pit crew had a slip-up during the final pit stop and did not get enough fuel into his car to finish the race under green.  Dario Franchitti used this and a risky gamble to use his old tires in order to win the race and narrow the points gap to just 23 points with three races remaining.

The 1.5 mile-oval trend continues, as the haulers pull into Sparta, Kentucky for the 200-lap race under the lights on Saturday night. 

While Kentucky and Chicago look very similar, and both produce fantastic side-by-side racing, the tracks are actually very different and present entirely different challenges for the drivers.  The biggest difference between the tracks this weekend will be that Kentucky features some very large bumps throughout the turns.  When this is mixed with the high winds, the cars can get very loose leading to high-speed danger.

The track is also less banked than Chicago, with 14 degrees of banking in all the turns in the Tri-Oval.  The back straightaway has just four degrees of banking while the front Tri-Oval stretch varies from eight to 10 degrees of banking.

Very similar to Chicago however, the cars will be able to run two- and three-wide throughout the entire track.  This was highlighted in dramatic fashion last year, as Ed Carpenter and Ryan Briscoe drove wheel to wheel for the last 20 laps before Briscoe edged the Indianapolis native by a few inches at the line.

Kentucky Speedway has been very good to the women of the IZOD IndyCar Series over the years.  Sarah Fisher became the first woman to win a pole position in 2002, as she set the current track speed record.  Danica Patrick has also managed a pole win at the track.

Current teams Panther, Penske, Ganassi, and Andretti have won at the track in the past.  In addition to Briscoe, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan have captured the Kentucky crown, while Hideki Mutoh won the Firestone Indy Lights race in 2007.

There will be just a little car switching this weekend to keep track of in the 27-car field.  Jay Howard, Ana Beatriz, and Davey Hamilton are the only two drivers from last weekend who will not be racing this weekend.  However, Beatriz will be replaced as the temporary driver for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing by IndyCar veteran Paul Tracy.  Despite all his experience, Tracy has never raced on a 1.5 mile-oval such as Kentucky.

In addition to Tracy, Tomas Scheckter will get another chance with Conquest Racing, after being involved in a very early incident with the team at Chicago.  Graham Rahal continues his journeyman season, as he will be driving the No. 66 car for Sarah Fisher Racing.  Rahal will complete the rest of the season with Newman Haas.  Ed Carpenter also returns in a joint Panther/Vision Racing entry.  He will sport his traditional No. 20 and is being sponsored by Fuzzy's Vodka.

All the action will get underway starting at 8pm ET on the Versus network on Saturday night.

And now we present our writer's picks for the week.

Chad Smith

First to crash: Tomas Scheckter.  It doesn’t matter if he causes it or not, he always seems to be in the middle of it.

Dark horse: Tony Kanaan.  As bad as I want to pick Paul Tracy here, I think TK is going to have a great run here.  Andretti Autosport has been showing up at the ovals, look for that to continue at Kentucky.

Third place: Dan Wheldon.  Wheldon is made for the ovals, and his performance last week proved it.  He knows he is driving for a full-time ride next year, so he needs to perform.

Second place: Ryan Briscoe.  If Ryan can stay up front, he is very good.  When he gets shuffled back in the pack, he seems to fade.  He has a good track record here, look for him to get the pole.

Race winner: Dario Franchitti.  Dario will break the points race wide open with another win.  I think Power can get a top five finish, but a win for Dario will shrink the lead even more, making the last two races of the season the biggest yet.

Ryan Worden

I am going out on a limb big time this week.  I think with the tight points race at the top, we will see them be cautious and other drivers giving it their all.

Win: Ed Carpenter.  Ed came oh so close last year, just missing out to Briscoe.  He is going to go all out during his brief stretch with Panther and will be looking to secure a ride for next year.  Also, I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Place: Dan Wheldon.  I really think Panther has it figured out this weekend.  Wheldon landed second in Chicago, challenging for the lead late.  If he and Carpenter can work together, they can show that other teams are catching Penske and Ganassi.

Show: Will Power.  A costly mistake last week took a shot at a win away from Power.  He really wants to prove he can race on ovals, but I don't think he's ready to win just yet.

Dark horse: Marco Andretti.  Andretti loves to run the high line on these ovals, and he does it with some speed.  I look for him to run well and maybe even challenge for a win.

First to crash: Takuma Sato.  I am starting to feel bad about picking him, but the only person who has more DNFs is Duno and she has been pulled off repeatedly.  So I gotta go with the former F1 driver here.

Christopher Leone

Win: Ed Carpenter. Unfinished f*cking business.

Place: Dan Wheldon. Maybe I’m just biased and praying for a Panther 1-2, but whatever.

Show: Ryan Briscoe. Well, he won it last year…

Dark horse: Tony Kanaan. I feel like this counts when you’re starting 26th and were legitimately outqualified by Milka Duno.

First to crash: Mario Moraes. I don’t know, just got a bad feeling about tonight.

Control—Random Picks This Week

Win: Paul Tracy.

Second: Helio Castroneves.

Third: Tony Kanaan.

Dark horse: Bertrand Baguette.

First to crash: EJ Viso.