Indy 500 Schedule 2015: Start Time, Live Stream, Odds and More for Showcase Race
The build-up for this year's Indianapolis 500 has been hampered by crashes in practice and a delayed qualifying session but all the pieces are in place for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing to provide another thrilling race on Sunday.
Scott Dixon is on pole after posting a qualifying average of 226.760 mph. The last time he started from the front of the pack was 2008, when the 34-year-old led for 115 laps en route to winning the race.
Winners have come from pole position 20 times in the previous 98 races, though no one has done it since Helio Castroneves in 2009. It's a deep 33-car field with stars like Castroneves (fifth), Tony Kanaan (fourth) and Marco Andretti (eight) set to make noise once the green flag drops.
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| Sunday, May 24 | 12 p.m. | ABC | IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com |
Starting Grid, Odds
| 1 | Scott Dixon | 9-2 |
| 2 | Will Power | 6-1 |
| 3 | Simon Pagenaud | 5-1 |
| 4 | Tony Kanaan | 13-2 |
| 5 | Helio Castroneves | 13-2 |
| 6 | Justin Wilson | 33-1 |
| 7 | Sebastien Bourdais | 50-1 |
| 8 | Marco Andretti | 11-1 |
| 9 | Josef Newgarden | 28-1 |
| 10 | J.R. Hildebrand | 33-1 |
| 11 | Carlos Munoz | 20-1 |
| 12 | Ed Carpenter | 22-1 |
| 13 | Oriol Servia | 75-1 |
| 14 | Charlie Kimball | 100-1 |
| 15 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 15-2 |
| 16 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 25-1 |
| 17 | Graham Rahal | 33-1 |
| 18 | Simona de Silvestro | 100-1 |
| 19 | James Jakes | 100-1 |
| 20 | Alex Tagliani | 100-1 |
| 21 | Sage Karam | 33-1 |
| 22 | Conor Daly | 150-1 |
| 23 | Townsend Bell | 100-1 |
| 24 | Takuma Sato | 100-1 |
| 25 | Pippa Mann | 150-1 |
| 26 | Gabby Chaves | 150-1 |
| 27 | Sebastian Saavedra | 150-1 |
| 28 | Jack Hawksworth | 75-1 |
| 29 | Stefano Coletti | 150-1 |
| 30 | Bryan Clauson | 150-1 |
| 31 | Ryan Briscoe | 50-1 |
| 32 | Tristan Vautier* | 150-1 |
| 33 | James Davison | N/A |
Indy 500 Storylines
The Crashes
It's been a nerve-wracking week of practice sessions at the Indianapolis 500. There were four crashes in the span of five days from May 13 through 18, with the last one featuring James Hinchcliffe's car briefly catching fire.
Hinchcliffe needed surgery to remove a piece of the car's front rocker that pierced his leg and was listed as being in a stable condition, per the Associated Press.
In the same AP report, defending Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay said the accident was "gut-wrenching" and "there's no other way you can think about it."
IndyCar leaders have tried to take measures to increase safety on the track for the drivers and fans. Prior to Sunday's qualifying session, which was delayed after Ed Carpenter crashed, Hulman and Co. CEO Mark Miles told Jeff Olson of USA Today after organizers ordered cars to lower turbocharger boost levels that safety was the priority:
"This may be being done with an abundance of caution, but these are increasing speeds," Miles said. "We hope to go faster, but we’re going to do so being responsible. Safety is the first priority. I think that’s understood, generally speaking, in the paddock."
Wrecks on the track can be part of the fascination of a race, but the abundance with which they are happening just in practice is alarming. Once you get 33 cars on a 2.5-mile oval track, the danger factor increases exponentially.
This year's Indianapolis 500 might be run at a slower pace than normal, but it's the best solution IndyCar can think of to prevent serious injuries. We will find out on Sunday if its efforts have paid off.
Will Power's Hot Streak
Even though Juan Pablo Montoya leads the IndyCar circuit with 171 points, highlighted by a victory on March 29 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the hottest driver coming into the Indianapolis 500 is Will Power.
The 34-year-old is second in the points standings with 166, has two pole wins this season, won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two weeks ago from pole and will start in the middle of the first row on Sunday.
Power has had mixed results at the Indianapolis 500, only finishing in the top five once (2009) and inside the top 10 once since 2011 (eighth, last year), but the way he's been driving on this track for the last two weeks suggests now is the time for him to have that breakthrough moment.
Coming off the Grand Prix victory on May 9, Power told Bruce Martin of Fox Sports he believes this is the year when things have started coming together:
"I don't think that makes me the favorite for the 500, but what I will say is that I've got more focus on the 500 than I've ever had," Power said. "I've won a championship now. It's kind of pushed that aside, and now the main focus to me is the 500."
Power is coming off his best season, winning the points championship last year, and he has been building to this moment in Indianapolis. This is the biggest individual test of Power's career. It's a credit to him that he's put himself in this high-pressure spot, but now is the time to deliver.
Marco Andretti's Quest for Immortality
The Andretti name and IndyCar racing go together like peanut butter and jelly, but the family has had a tumultuous relationship with the Indianapolis 500. Mario Andretti's triumph in 1969 remains the only victory for the family at this race.
Marco Andretti has come close on multiple occasions to ending the drought, finishing inside the top three four times since 2006. Andretti is back with his father, Michael, who led Hunter-Reay to a win at the 2014 Indianapolis 500 on the radio.
Given the popularity of the Andretti name, having Marco win this year's Indianapolis 500 with Michael helping to guide him would be an incredible story for the family and IndyCar.
Speaking generally about his team, Michael Andretti told Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star that if his guys made it into the top six spots they would be in as good a position to win the Indianapolis 500 as anyone:
"I'll let you know on Sunday (after qualifying)," he said. "If we qualify in the top five or six, I think we've got as good of a shot as last year."
Even though Marco fell outside that particular range, qualifying eighth and starting in the middle of Row 3, it's not a bad spot for him to be. The 28-year-old came from ninth spot in 2006 to finish second and moved up from 16th to No. 3 in 2010.
There will always be skepticism about an Andretti at Indianapolis until someone finally takes the checkered flag. Andretti has had mixed results so far this season, finishing eighth or better once in five races, but Indianapolis often brings out the best in a driver.
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