At last, the most exciting day in motorsports is upon us and this will take place on Sunday! First up is the Monaco Grand Prix (in which could be dominated once again by Mercedes) and finishes up with the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte (NASCAR's longest race), but in the middle is the 98th running of the Indy 500.
This year's race will be like no other. The big storyline coming into the race is Kurt Busch, who for the first time since 2004 that a NASCAR driver (in that case, Robby Gordon), attempted to race both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 in the same day. Busch, the 2004 Cup Champion, will join Gordon, Tony Stewart & John Andretti to try to achieve the feat, completing all 1100 miles in the day. Kurt Busch agreed to a ride with Andretti Autosport, joining a top team that includes former series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and former Indy 500 runner-ups Marco Andretti & Carlos Munoz (considered IndyCar rookie).
The 33-car field for the 500 features 6 winners including 2013 winner Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Buddy Lazier. Joining Kurt Busch in the rookie class are Mikhail Aleshin, Jack Hawksworth (who led most-laps for the GP of Indy), Martin Plowman, Sage Karam, James Davison & Carlos Huertas. Also racing in this star-studded event includes Ryan Briscoe, Will Power Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato & Pippa Mann, who is the only female competing this race.
Last weekend, qualifying was held and for the second-straight year, Ed Carpenter won the pole with an average of 231.067 mph during the Fast Nine session. Joining Carpenter on the front row is Hinchcliffe & Power. On the 2nd row is Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud & Andretti. The 3rd row features Munoz, Josef Newgarden & J.R. Hildebrand. Other notables include Montoya (10th), Dixon (11th), Busch (12th), Kanaan (16th), Rahal (20th), Villeneuve (27th) and Briscoe (30th).
Throughout practices, Andretti Autosport & Team Penske drivers were the teams to beat during those sessions before qualifying took place. With Carb Day (aka Final Practice) taking place on Friday, it will be the last chance for Ganassi drivers Dixon & Kanaan to find speed and also a chance to figure out what drivers and teams have a greater chance to win on Sunday. With all of the record lap leader changes and drivers in 2013, who knows what the aero package is in store on Sunday. My prediction for Sunday, it will definitely be a fun race to watch and you won't know the winner until the last lap, so I'm going with Helio to win, with Dixon & Kanaan on the podium. Also I think Kurt Busch having a top-5 finish. We'll talk more next week.
F1
The F1 series goes to Monaco this weekend. Mercedes has dominated the season so far with Nico Rosberg winning the first race of the season in Australia, and teammate Lewis Hamilton looking for his 5th win in a row come Sunday. It won't be a surprise if either of these drivers wins, so going with Ricciardo for the upset.
NASCAR
After a wild Kansas race and an exciting All-Star race last weekend, it's back to business for NASCAR's longest race of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After Kurt Busch lands in NC, it's time for business. I do not have a prediction winner yet, but I do see alot of fireworks flying.
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