Final Grid for Indy 500

The final grid has been set for Indy, all that remains are how many more chassis can bedestroyed during practice this week. It doesn't look like the freak weather patterns will end until late this week in Indiana.

— Final 33-car field for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (speeds averaged over four laps)

1) Greg Ray, No. 1 Conseco/Quaker State/Moen/Menards Dallara/Oldsmobile, 223.471mph
2) Juan Montoya, No. 9T Target GForce/Oldsmobile, 223.372
3) Eliseo Salazar, No. 11 Rio GForce/Oldsmobile, 223.231
4) Robby Gordon, No. 32 Conseco/Quaker State/Moen/Menards Dallara/Oldsmobile, 222.885
5) Scott Sharp, No. 8T Delphi/MCI WorldCom Dallara/Oldsmobile, 222.810
6) Jeff Ward, No. 14 Harrah’s GForce/Oldsmobile, 222.639
7) Jimmy Vasser, No. 10T Target GForce/Oldsmobile, 221.976
8) Stan Wattles, No. 92 Hemelgarn/Metro Racing Dallara/Oldsmobile, 221.508
9) Robbie Buhl, No. 24 Purex GForce/Oldsmobile, 221.357
10) Eddie Cheever Jr., No. 51T Excite@Home Dallara/Infiniti, 221.270
11) Mark Dismore, No. 28T OnStar/GM BuyPower/Bryant Heating & Cooling Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.970
12) Robby McGehee, No. 5 Meijer/Energizer Advanced Formula/Mall.com GForce/Oldsmobile, 220.661
13) Scott Goodyear, No. 4 Pennzoil Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.629
14) Sam Hornish Jr., No. 18 Hornish Bros. Trucking/Advantage Powder Coating Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.496
15) Donnie Beechler, No. 98 Cahill Racing Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.482
16) Buddy Lazier, No. 91 Delta Faucet/Coors Light/Tae-Bo Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.482
17) Jason Leffler, No. 50 UnitedAuto Group GForce/Oldsmobile, 220.417
18) Al Unser Jr., No. 3T Tickets.com/Starz/Encore/Superpak GForce/Oldsmobile, 220.293
19) Sarah Fisher, No. 15 Cummins Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.237
20) Airton Daré, No. 88T USACredit.com GForce/Oldsmobile, 219.970
21) Stephan Gregoire, No. 7 Mexmil/Tokheim/Viking Air Tools GForce/Oldsmobile, 219.970
22) Buzz Calkins, No. 12 Bradley Food Marts/Sav-O-Mat Dallara/Oldsmobile, 219.862
23) Richie Hearn, No. 75 Pagan Racing Dallara/Oldsmobile, 219.816
24) Raul Boesel, No. 55 EPSON GForce/Oldsmobile, 222.133
25) Jimmy Kite, No. 27 Founders Bank Group/ZMAX GForce/Oldsmobile, 220.718
26) Jaques Lazier, No. 33 Miles of Hope Dallara/Oldsmobile, 220.675
27) Steve Knapp, No. 24T Purex GForce/Infiniti, 220.290
28) Davey Hamilton, No. 16 Lycos GForce/Oldsmobile, 219.878
29) Jeret Schroeder, No. 6 Kroger Dallara/Oldsmobile, 219.322
30) Johnny Unser, No. 22 Delco-Remy/Microdigicom/Homier Tools GForce/Oldsmobile, 219.066
31) Billy Boat, No. 11T Rio GForce/Oldsmobile, 218.872
32) Lyn St. James, No. 7T Yellow Freight GForce/Oldsmobile, 218.826
33) Andy Hillenburg, No. 48 Sumar Special Dallara/Oldsmobile, 218.285
—

Drivers of note:

Greg Ray and Juan Montoya should put on quite a massive battle. Salazr is the wildcard and is known for causing massive incidents.

Robby Gordon will be a threat to win if Montoya fails to finish.

Vasser will be a threat to win no matter what happens. He is probably the most experienced driver in the field barring Al Unser Jr, Raul Boesel and Scott Goodyear.

It will be interesting to see how the classic midget driver fare at the fastest form of racing rthey have ever done. Donnie Beechler, Andy Hillenburg, and Sarah Fisher all come from dirt oval racing in midgets and sprint cars and are no stranger to extremely high horsepower machinery (usually 200 hundred more than their IRL car for a sprinter) but the speeds must be daunting to say the least.

How did Boisel end up so far down the order when he was clearly faster than so many (e.g. Hearn) who are higher up than him?

Good for Lynn St. James, she did manage to squeek in - so that means the youngest and oldest drivers are both women. Awesome.

Hope Vasser JPM do good - up the CART pilotes! I'd love to see JPM win because it would make Tony George madder than Jesse Owens' win at the Olympics made Hitler.

There is some sort of system where the top drivers get their position and then the slower ones get spots further down for not qualifying on whichever day.

To be honest I'm not really sure how it works, other than it is possible to be 28th or something and set a faster speed than pole.

Elephino has it pretty near the mark. First -day qualifiers form the front of the grid. Even if a second-day qualifier beat the pole-winning speed, he or she would still start behind the entire first-day group.

It's one of the reasons that the first lap or two is so dangerous - the faster of the second-day group are trying to get past the first-day backmarkers.

I can't wait for Sunday. This could be the best Indy in years.Some of the best drivers from many disciplines. This is a tough one to call.
Remember big Al's 4th win ?
I'm going out on a limb with Robbie Gordon