Fantasy Racing - Indianapolis 500

It's time to set your fantasy lineup for the 96th Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race!

Again, we will be using the IndyCar.com IndyCar Nation Fantasy Racing format for choosing our fantasy lineups. In this format, you must choose five drivers who you think will perform the best in the race. The catch is, you can only choose a driver six times in the 16-race season. Points are awarded based on finishing position with bonus points given to the driver who leads the most laps, the driver increases the most positions from start to finish, and the driver with the fastest lap. Negative points are given to any driver who gets knocked out of the race.

So, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

What we know from pre-Fast Friday practices:

• Andretti Autosport is FAST in race setup. Having all five cars out on the track together has given AA unbelievable data and practice running in traffic. It doesn't appear that they will have the top speed for qualifying on their own, but I'll take AA cars for sure due to their great practice time together.
• Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing has been at or near the top of the charts each day. Wow. Rookies Josef Newgarden and Bryan Clauson are fast so far, and not just when using the draft. They are both fast nine contenders.
• Panther Racing is solid again at the Brickyard, posting top ten times in each practice from either J.R. Hildebrand or co-entrant with DRR Oriol Servia. Hildebrand finished 2nd last year in heart-breaking fashion, and Servia qualified 3rd and led laps as well.
• Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, KV Racing Technologies...where are they!?!? Their speeds have been anything but impressive, especially without the draft. The Ganassi Boys moved up in the final practice, which looks good, but still I am concerned as to where they will qualify.
• Lotus...forget about it. 
• Dragon Racing...as much as I like Bourdais, forget about it. 
• Rubens Barrichello...as much as I would love to see him win at Indy, forget about it.

What we know from Fast Friday:

Image courtesy of IndyCar.com

•  The boost seemed to help the bigger teams more than the smaller ones. Penske, Ganassi, and especially Andretti all improved, while Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (my pole prediction earlier) is not going to have as good of a starting spot.
• ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT IS GOING TO BE FAST! THE CARS TO BEAT FOR SURE!!

What to look for - Strategy:

• Indy is always good for a few drivers/teams who compete ONLY in the 500 and not the rest of the season. It's nice then to use one of your picks on a driver who only will race once and save a quality driver pick for later in the season. I picked Dan Wheldon last year and was pleasantly rewarded with great points without having to waste picks on other drivers. Those were much needed later in the year. A few drivers to consider for this race who are not full-time are:
• Bryan Clauson (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing) - Driving the second SFHR car, the rookie has been fast so far and is in contention for the fast nine
• Wade Cunningham (A.J. Foyt Racing) - Another rookie, driving the second AJFR car. He has experience at the Brickyard from Indy Lights and has shown speed in traffic.
• Townsend Bell (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) - Bell comes from pit lane reporting to in the cockpit driving the second Schmidt entry. He's an Indy regular now, and made the fast nine last year driving the #99 machine.
• Michel Jourdain (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) - If you want to go risk/reward and maybe get the hard-charger award, Jourdain might be your guy. He hasn't started at Indy in 16 years, but still knows what he is doing. His car won't put him front row, but you don't need to start first to finish first.
• Some smaller teams put their efforts mainly into the 500. Some smaller teams don't on purpose, but know it's their big shot and they can be fabulously rewarded as a result of a good finish at Indy. Sometimes we get too focused on the big three teams of Andretti Autosport, Team Penske, and Ganassi Racing. We CANNOT forget about the smaller teams out there. Some small teams to keep your eye on are:



Never count out TK!

• Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (Josef Newgarden, Bryan Clauson) - Sarah Fisher's team has always been strong on the ovals, and Indy especially. Ed Carpenter put them in the fast nine last year, and both Newgarden and Clauson are in range to get there again.
• Rahal Letterman Racing (Takuma Sato, Michel Jourdain) - Sato got his first career podium with impressive driving in Sao Paulo. He had two front row starts on ovals last year. He wants to rebound after a 33rd place finish last year at Indy. Sato is a sleeping giant.
• KV Racing Technologies (Tony Kanaan, E.J. Viso, Rubens Barrichello) - NEVER count out Jimmy Vasser's team. NEVER count out Tony Kanaan.
• Panther Racing (J.R. Hildebrand, Oriol Servia) - This team has come so close for so long. 2nd place finishes in the last three Indy 500s (including Hildebrand's crippled car coasting over the line just a second too late after hitting the wall in the final corner) has this team out for blood. Adding Servia and co-sponsoring the Dreyer & Reinbold entry will add to a great repertoire for Panther Racing. Don't be surprised to see a Panther car at the front again this year as the laps tick away.
• Don't limit yourself to the fast guys in practice only. Consistent performers, especially at Indy, should be considered no matter where they might qualify. Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, and Dario Franchitti are just a few.

My Picks:

• Marco Andretti - Fastest with boost, fastest without. Fastest in traffic, fastest on his own. You can't NOT pick Andretti for the 500, no matter what family history says.
• James Hinchcliffe - He's consistent. He has been all year, and has been the entire Month of May. He's currently 3rd in the points for a reason, and is poised to make stories taking over the GoDaddy car.
• Tony Kanaan - TK led his first eight races at Indy. He's always a threat to win, even when he started 33rd two years ago. He's always a safe and smart pick for Indy.
• Josef Newgarden - Newgarden is a driver you probably haven't had the chance to pick this year. A Sarah Fisher car on an oval is a good pick. He's shown great speed already this month, and the Dollar General car is always strong on the ovals.
• Graham Rahal -  He might not start very high on the grid, but he's a racer who does well in traffic. He's bound to win the hard-charger award. And even if he doesn't, he has a great chance to win no matter what the starting position.