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A16 sports
Tuesday 24 May 2022

Indy 500 a showcase of IndyCar's growing strength

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The five races. When Dixon on
speeds have been insane Sunday blazed to a four-
— 234 mph for Scott Dixon lap qualifying average of
in a record-breaking run 234.046 mph (376.661 kph),
for the pole — and Jimmie it broke Scott Brayton's
Johnson and Romain Gros- record from 1996 as the
jean are both part of the fastest pole-winning run in
fastest field in the history of track history. It also made
the Indianapolis 500. Dixon the sixth pole winner
Some 20 drivers, maybe in six races.
more, are legitimate con- The 33-driver field is the fast-
tenders to win Sunday in est in race history with an
front of a crowd expected average speed of 231.023
to swell past 300,000. Rog- mph, and the starting line-
er Penske can finally fully up includes eight former
open the gates at India- winners with 13 combined
napolis Motor Speedway victories.
for the first time since he Johnson, the seven-time
purchased the iconic ven- NASCAR champion, and
ue just weeks before the former F1 driver Grosjean
start of the pandemic. are among six rookies in the
After years of trying to es- field, the most since 2019.
tablish itself as one of the The group includes 20-year-
top series in motorsports, In- Fans watch during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, old David Malukas, who
dyCar is having its moment Monday, May 23, 2022, in Indianapolis. wasn't even born when
and "The Greatest Specta- Associated Press 47-year-old Tony Kanaan
cle in Racing" just might live made his first Indy 500 start.
up to its name. the Indy Racing League — wheel racing in America. tige and IndyCar has been Defending race winner He-
"I think IndyCar is the most and its rag-tag bunch of The big teams boycotted clawing its way back to rel- lio Castroneves is the most
competitive open-wheel fledgling racers. Indianapolis — CART raced evance ever since. experienced driver with 21
series in the world," said Will Buzz Calkins and Scott head-to-head with the Under Penske, who agreed previous starts and he will
Power, the Australian who Sharp shared the first Indy 500 in 1996 at Michi- in late 2019 to buy both the be trying for a record fifth
won the Indy 500 in 2018. championship after the in- gan, Jimmy Vasser won series and the speedway Indy 500 victory.
"It's more competitive than augural three-race season, and asked "Who needs from George's family, the "The competition has al-
Formula One is, it just is, and and Tony Stewart won the milk?" in victory lane — and series is taking its biggest ways been crazy, it really
you don't have to take my 1997 title before he began didn't start their slow return leaps yet. just speaks for itself," said
word for it. his migration to NASCAR. for almost five years. "I don't think there's any Dixon, a six-time IndyCar
"Just look at the math: six- The IRL was up and running Penske didn't return to Indy doubt about it that there's champion. "If they can get
tenths (of a second) cov- but CART was still king — until 2001 and last week he been only upward growth it in front of people, then it's
ers 23 cars in practice. Six- CART was once far bigger told The Associated Press and trajectory," said two- a home run. But they need
tenths covers how many than NASCAR or any other that is the biggest regret of time IndyCar champion to spend some money."
cars in Formula One? One North American motors- his racing career. and Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin, who left
or two cars? That's no joke." ports series — and Penske George prevailed because Josef Newgarden. "I really V8 Supercars in Australia
When Power references and Chip Ganassi and all he owned the crown jewel feel the momentum pick- to move to North Carolina
the close competition the other big guns shunned speedway located at 16th ing up the last two, three and be an IndyCar driver,
across the entire grid, he's Tony George and his weird Street and Georgetown years, and we have some called the series "the purest
not talking about a recent little series. Road in Indianapolis. In of the best custodians look- in the world." He said the
phenomenon. A series born George, however owned 2008, CART, rebranded as ing after the series and the comraderie is unlike any-
during a bitter war among Indianapolis Motor Speed- Champ Car, finally merged speedway in Roger and thing he's seen since child-
the controlling parties in way and the Indianapolis with the IRL to create Indy- Penske Entertainment." hood go-karting, and the
American open-wheel rac- 500, and when he created Car. But the damage was IndyCar speeds into the personalities in the pad-
ing led to the 1996 creation the IRL out of frustration with done: The series had been Indy 500 with four differ- dock are among the big-
of IndyCar — then called CART, it fractured open- lapped by NASCAR in pres- ent winners through its first gest and best in sports.q