Preview – 2019 INDYCAR Grand Prix at IMS
By Dylan Reynolds, The Open Wheel
The INDYCAR season continues this weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series INDYCAR Grand Prix and the Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The Open Wheel will be on site covering the action all weekend so stay tuned to this site and our Twitter page @openwh33l for all of the latest news.
Photo by Parker Hall/The Open Wheel
Weekend Schedule – Entry List – Spotter Guide – Circuit Map – Tickets
Indy Lights Preview: Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Entry List), Race 1 – Friday, May 10, 2019 1:30PM (ET) & Race 2 – Saturday, May 11, 2019 1:15PM (ET) – Results from Indy Lights Race 1 and Race 2 from 2018 show Andretti dominance in this event with Patricio O’Ward taking the pole for each race while Colton Herta took victory in each race. Obviously both will be in the main show this weekend, but the Andretti Autosport machines figure to be fast as always. Belardi Auto Racing cars finished second in each race last year and I expect Zachary Claman to have a big weekend in his return to Indianapolis. My picks to win: Oliver Askew & Zachary Claman
NTT IndyCar Series Preview: INDYCAR Grand Prix – Saturday, May 11, 2019 3:00PM (ET) NBCSN – Previous driver experience on the IMS road course shows only two drivers have won in the five years of this event in Will Power (3) and Simon Pagenaud (2). Team Penske has won this race in four of the five events. The Top 5 in laps led are Power (182), Pagenaud (63), Helio Castroneves (46), Ryan Hunter-Reay (18), and Graham Rahal (14). Castroneves will drive in both races at IMS this May. Power has won this race in each of the last two years. Looking at the box scores from 2018 and 2017, only Power and Scott Dixon have finished in the Top 5 in each of the last two years. If that’s expanded to the Top 10, those two are joined by Alexander Rossi, Castroneves, Pagenaud, and Rahal. My pick to win: Will Power – With three poles and three wins in the history of this event, it’s hard to pick against Will Power. He’s the double defending champ at Indianapolis after last year and there’s no reason he can’t start the month off with another win this year.
My fantasy.indycar.com picks: Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Graham Rahal, & Helio Castroneves – You know my thoughts on Power. Castroneves is an absurd deal for $15 on his talent alone, never mind the fact that he’s in a Penske car. Either Newgarden or Pagenaud are a must add simply due to Penske’s prowess in this event. I like Graham Rahal to finish out my team, he’s had great results on the IMS road course in the past and his RLL team is better than ever heading into the Month of May.
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