Ready for the Green Flag

The field is set for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. A warm clear day is predicted so the race should be an exciting one. The pole shoot-out was full of surprises and the last row shoot-out was very nearly as entertaining. In the front row an old lion and two young tigers will lead the field. New Zealander Scott Dixon in a Ganassi Honda grabbed his fourth pole. Colton Herta will start second in an Andretti Auto Sports Honda. Rinus Veekay put his Ed Carpenter Chevy on the outside in third starting position. VeeKay won the Indy Grand Prix on the IMS road course earlier in the month and is a hot young up-and-comer.
Perhaps the biggest shock is that there are no Team Penske Chevys in the first three rows. In fact you have to go to row six before you find a Team Penske car. Rookie Scott McLaughlin will start seventeenth for the Captain. Josef Newgarden is twenty-first and Simon Pagenaud is twenty-sixth. Chip Ganassi was able to put four of his five Honda powered cars in the pole shoot-out with Dixon leading the way.
Then we come to the last row shoot-out where Will Power found himself in the almost incredible position of nearly not making the race. The Aussie driver has been frustrated all week with his car’s performance. He will start thirty-second. Sage Karam is thirty-first and Switzerland’s Simona De Silvestro as the only lady in the field and will start thirty-third. Her crew and team owner are all female. Best of Luck to all of them.
I’ve picked Dixon to win his second Indy 500. He won his first Indy in 2008 so it’s been thirteen years. If he does win it would be the longest gap between wins in the history of the race. I figure he is about due.

Simone Is the Greatest

Forget LeBron James or Tom Brady in this or anyone else. Simone Biles is the G.O.A.T.. Her stunning performance in Indianapolis last weekend left no doubt that she has become legend. Her successful execution of a Yurchenko double pike — a move that no woman had attempted before was poetic brilliance. When asked why she attempted it she replied “Because I can.”
Simone has become an athlete for the ages.