IZOD Indycar Firestone 550k from Texas Preview and Writers Pool Picks

After the grueling, whirlwind month of May in Indianapolis, the members of the IZOD Indycar Series head deep into the heart of Texas to attempt to tackle the Texas Motor Speedway.

The Firestone 550K will be held under the lights on Saturday night, as several drivers will attempt to dethrone Will Power atop the points lead for the season series. Dario Franchitti pulled into second place after his dominating performance at Indianapolis, and is only 11 points behind Power, with the top four drivers all within 30 points.

Texas Motor Speedway is a high-banked mile-and-a-half oval that is often known as Indycar's second home. During the start of the IRL, the league often would race on the course twice a year and the action would bring large crowds.

In 2009, the course saw something totally new, as the Dallara Indycars were unable to run side by side and a parade race ensued. Following this, the powers that be in the series (Brian Barnhart) implemented a series of aero changes that could be added to the cars to allow them to run closer and provide more grip on the outer lines.

This will be the first test of the new package at Texas, but previous courses indicate the strategy is working.

The 2009 event was won by Helio Castroneves after Dario Franchitti sat on the pole.  Fourteen of the 20 previous races contain a margin of victory of less than a second, so Texas normally expects very close, very exciting racing.

Tomas Scheckter is returning this week with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, replacing the injured Mike Conway, who is recovering from a broken leg and back from Indianapolis.  Scheckter will pilot the No. 24 Roll Coater car, and attempt to add to his 371 laps lead at the track.

Scheckter won the race in 2005 with Panther Racing and will attempt to solidify his position in replacing Conway for the remainder of the year with a solid finish.

This race also will mark the last race that is confirmed for Ryan Hunter-Reay with Andretti Autosport. Hunter-Reay has a personal service contract with the league's title sponsor, but as of now, IZOD has been unwilling to fund his entire season.

Hunter-Reay sits fifth place in points, and it would be imperative for the health of the series that he finds additional sponsorship.

To make matters tougher, he will be driving in a carbon fiber cast following a pit road incident with Scott Dixon at Indianapolis.

No matter what may happen with the cars on the track, one thing for certain is that Texas will be hot! After the hottest Indianapolis 500 on record, Texas will continue to pound the drivers, crews, and fans with triple digit heat. Drivers and crews must stay hydrated, as the excessive temperatures will test their stamina.

All the action this week can be seen on the Versus television network. The show will go live starting at 8 p.m. eastern on Saturday night, and a qualifying show will be broadcast on Friday night at 5 p.m.

So without further previewing, let's take a look at who our writers think will come home on the podium this weekend.

Christopher Leone:

First: Dario Franchitti. Ganassi’s won the past two races—no reason to stop now.

Second: Tony Kanaan. He’s got eight Top 10s in nine Texas starts, but clearly the Andretti cars aren’t quite Ganassi caliber just yet.

Third: Dan Wheldon. Just a hunch. I’d also like to see Panther do well, get some more funding, and maybe be able to bring back Ed Carpenter.

Dark Horse : Will Power. Until the Aussie wins an oval event with Penske, I consider him an oval dark horse.

First to Crash : I motion that Milka Duno should not be a legal pick in this category anymore. I hate to say that my gut feeling is that it’ll be Simona, but since I like her too much, I’m going to say Bert Baggitt… excuse me, Bertrand Baguette.

(Authors note: motion quashed, especially since I'm allowing a Penske car as a dark horse)

Chad Smith

First to Crash : Mario Moraes. Just a hunch, this one is hard to pick anyway, because you never know if Milka Duno is going to pull into the garage, or stay out and crash.

Dark Horse : Ryan Hunter-Reay. His season could be done at the end of this race unless he basically has a great finish. The pressure will be on him, especially with an injured thumb.

Third : Dario Franchitti. Dario will continue to roll after his big win less than a week ago.

Second : Helio Castroneves. Helio is not going to have two bad races in a row, especially on ovals.

First : Ryan Briscoe. Some say Ryan is due for a win, and while I have never really agreed with that reasoning for anyone in general, I do believe he has the talent to get his first win of the season Saturday night.

Ryan Worden

First: Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe may be in a little trouble with the Captain after crashing again in the 500. There is nothing that puts a smile on Penske's face, but a win at least makes him growl less. Briscoe will be feeling pressure and will need to be fast.

Second: Tony Kanaan. Tony is ready to get away from the problems he faced at Indianapolis and a second place finish while challenging for the lead would make his entire crew feel better about the panicked reassembly of his car on bump day.

Third: Scott Dixon. I pick Scott all the time, and when I pick him, he lets me down. Scott might start asking me to stop picking him, but more likely he will finally break that curse and show his dominance.

Dark Horse : Initially I was going to pick Wheldon, but with a second place finish last week, I just can't do that. So the shocker of the week will be... Justin Wilson. Scheckter will help him out on the ovals to start becoming a more complete driver.

First to Crash :  Insert random Milka abuse here (it's a trend). But instead of that, I am going with Jay Howard, which will be shortly followed by Sarah Fisher tearing him a new one and hiring Graham Rahal (a writer can dream).

Control Picker: This is a friend of mine who said she selected solely based on the color of their cars... I have no idea what this means or what type of system it is. She seems to like the black and white and red cars to finish well, which helps in Indycar.

First: Will Power
Second : Dario Franchitti
Third: Ryan Hunter-Reay
Dark Horse: EJ Viso
First to Crash : Jay Howard (she explained this was because his car was yellow)

Well that will do it for this week, race fans. Don't forget the race will be held on Saturday night this week.