Indianapolis 500: Scott Dixon heads field going for checkered flag

A staple of Memorial Day Weekend in the United States for over 100 years, the 500-mile open-wheel car race attracts fans from around the world.

|
Sam Riche/AP
Scott Dixon, of New Zealand, drives through the first turn during practice before qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 17, 2015.

Once again this Memorial Day weekend, thousands of Indy Car racing fans will descend upon central Indiana for the Indianapolis 500, also referred to as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

33 drivers will take to the two and a half mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as they have almost every year since 1911, when Ray Harroun captured the very first Indy 500 victory with a top speed of just over 74 miles an hour.

New Zealand native Scott Dixon, who won the 2008 Indy 500, will start from the pole position in Sunday's race. He also started from that inside spot on Row 1 when he took the checkered flag seven years ago.

Also qualifying for the front row are Will Power and Simon Pagenaud. Right behind them in Row 2 is a pair of former Indy winners. Helio Castroneves has won the Indy 500 three times, most recently in 2009. Tony Kanaan, after years of coming close, finally won his first Indianapolis 500 in 2013.

Other past Indy champions in this year's field include Juan Pablo Montoya on the outside of Row 5. He won back in 2000. And last year's winner, Ryan Hunter-Reay will start from the inside position on Row 6.

Another group of drivers with family connections to the race include Marco Andretti, grandson of 1969 Indy 500 champion Mario Andretti and son of former Indy Car champion and now car owner Michael Andretti. He'll start on Row 3. On the outside of Row 4 is 2014 pole sitter Ed Carpenter, stepson of Indy Racing League founder and former Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George. And in the middle of Row 6 will be Graham Rahal, son of 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal.

Qualifying for Indianapolis has been a real effort for some of the drivers this year, as several crashes, involving both Castroneves and Carpenter, have occurred during the run-up this month to Sunday's race. But, barring heavy rains, drivers and their cars will be on the track, ready to roll.

You can watch the 99th edition of the Indianapolis 500 at noon Eastern time, Sunday on ABC.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Indianapolis 500: Scott Dixon heads field going for checkered flag
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0524/Indianapolis-500-Scott-Dixon-heads-field-going-for-checkered-flag
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe