IRL: IndycCar.com Iowa Preview

"(This week) starts that stretch of Iowa and Richmond, two tracks that I really enjoy," Dario Franchitti said at IndyCar.com.

Our View: And he should—he won the last two short track races in that series.

See Also: Short Trackin' Indy Style

More Indy Racing League Newsbreakers

IRL: Lloyd leaves Ganassi

Alex Lloyd is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing, according to a Tweet from @IndyCarPR, saying that if he is going to explore his options, he needs to be a free agent.

Our View: So far, Lloyd has made only one start this season in the 33-car Indy 500 field where he finished 13th, so it's hard to say what kind of fantasy value he will be when he finds another ride.

IRL: Texas' last five races

After posting three consecutive top-fives from St. Petersburg through Kansas Speedway, Tony Kanaan has had two horrible weekends in the Indy Racing League with finishes in the 20s in the Indy 500 and at the Milwaukee Mile. Last week, he entered the flat one-mile oval with a near perfect record on that track during the last five years before crashing barely 12 races into the event. Now, he has another chance to rebound. At Texas Motor Speedway, he's finished seventh or better in his last five tries.

Helio Castroneves has actually been stronger in recent seasons. Except for a crash in 2007, he would have swept the top five since the fall 2004 race, having won twice and posting a second-place finish.

Dan Wheldon posted the fastest time in Friday's session and he too has to be considered a serious contender this week. Like Castroneves, he had a bad 2007 race, but has finished sixth or better four of his last five attempts.

Average finish, last five races

Driver	Avg. Fin	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004.2
Tony Kanaan	3.8	5	2	7	3	2
Helio Castroneves	5.0	2	16	1	5	1
Adrian Fernandez	5.0					5
Hideki Mutoh	6.0	6
Sam Hornish Jr	6.0		1	4	2	17
Scott Sharp	6.0		7	5	4	8
Dan Wheldon	6.2	4	15	3	6	3
Vitor Meira	6.2	7	5	6	9	4
Scott Dixon	6.4	1	12	2	11	6
Mark Taylor	7.0					7
Ryan Briscoe	7.5	3			12
Townsend Bell	9.0					9
Danica Patrick	9.5	10	3	12	13
Dario Franchitti	10.0		4	13	8	15
Sarah Fisher	10.0		10
Jeff Simmons	10.5		6	15
Kosuke Matsuura	10.8		9	8	7	19
Graham Rahal	11.0	11
Tora Takagi	12.0					12
Bryan Herta	12.3			11	10	16
Will Power	13.0	13
Felipe Giaffone	13.5			16		11
Tomas Scheckter	13.6	25	14	10	1	18
E J Viso	14.0	14
Milka Duno	14.0	17	11
Alex Barron	14.0				14	14
Anthony Foyt IV	14.3	12	17		18	10
Buddy Rice	15.0	8	8	18	21	20
Bruno Junqueira	15.0	15
Roger Yasukawa	15.0				15
Ed Carpenter	15.4	9	18	9	20	21
John Andretti	16.0	16
Patrick Carpentier	16.0				16
Tomas Enge	16.0				19	13
Eddie Cheever Jr	17.0			17
Marco Andretti	17.3	19	19	14
Mario Moraes	18.0	18
Buddy Lazier	19.0			19
Darren Manning	19.3	28	13		17
Ryan Hunter-Reay	20.0	20
Jon Herb	20.0		20
Mario Dominguez	21.0	21
Marty Roth	22.0	22
Jimmy Kite	22.0				22
Enrique Bernoldi	23.0	23
Jaime Camara	24.0	24
Oriol Servia	26.0	26
Justin Wilson	27.0	27

IRL: Scheckter in for eight more

Tomas Scheckter will compete with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for eight more races, including this week at Texas Motor Speedway, according to IndyCar.com.

Our View: In two races this year, Scheckter has been consistent but not overly strong. He finished 12th in the Indy 500 and was 13th last week at Milwaukee. Fantasy owners can expect similar results at Texas.

IRL: Tracy to drive for Foyt

According to IndyCar PR, Paul Tracy will drive AJ Foyt's No. 14 at the Milwaukee Mile. Last week, Vitor Meira took a hard hit to the wall in the Indy 500.

Our View: The combination of these two fiery personalities could either be explosive on the track, or one of the biggest train wrecks in auto racing history, but one way or another—something exciting is going to happen.

IRL: Indy 500 Results

It was an exciting Indy 500 with several incidents and drama surrounding who would win. That is until the final laps. At the close of the 500-miler, Helio Castroneves ran away from the field in the closing laps.

Dan Wheldon finished second, but the next biggest newsbreaker in the race was female driver Danica Patrick, who posted a career-best finish of third in the Indy 500. One or two more tweaks and she might have been the first lady to win American auto racing's biggest event.

Indy 500 Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Helio Castroneves	200	Running	6.11
2	18	Dan Wheldon	200	Running	9.00
3	10	Danica Patrick	200	Running	9.00
4	24	Townsend Bell	200	Running	12.00
5	9	Will Power	200	Running	9.00
6	5	Scott Dixon	200	Running	9.14
7	3	Dario Franchitti	200	Running	9.00
8	17	Ed Carpenter	200	Running	13.83
9	13	Paul Tracy	200	Running	5.50
10	16	Hideki Mutoh	200	Running	8.50
11	30	Alex Tagliani	200	Running	11.00
12	26	Tomas Scheckter	200	Running	17.25
13	11	Alex Lloyd	200	Running	19.00
14	20	Scott Sharp	200	Running	16.08
15	2	Ryan Briscoe	200	Running	13.25
16	19	Anthony Foyt IV	200	Running	17.00
17	21	Sarah Fisher	200	Running	25.38
18	27	Mike Conway	200	Running	18.00
19	28	John Andretti	200	Running	21.67
20	31	Milka Duno	199	Running	23.33
21	14	Vitor Meira	173	Accident	9.00
22	12	Raphael Matos	173	Accident	22.00
23	15	Justin Wilson	160	Accident	25.00
24	29	E J Viso	139	Mechanical	25.00
25	32	Nelson Phillippe	130	Accident	25.00
26	25	Oriol Servia	98	Mechanical	18.50
27	6	Tony Kanaan	97	Mechanical	14.25
28	23	Robert Doornbos	85	Accident	28.00
29	22	Davey Hamilton	79	Accident	14.22
30	8	Marco Andretti	56	Mechanical	14.75
31	4	Graham Rahal	55	Accident	32.00
32	33	Ryan Hunter-Reay	19	Accident	19.00
33	7	Mario Moraes	0	Accident	25.50
34		Alex Tagliani	0	Did Not Qualify	11.00
35		Buddy Lazier	0	Did Not Qualify	11.23
36		Stanton Barrett	0	Did Not Qualify

Castroneves wins Indy 500

Helio Castroneves won the 93rd Indy 500 in dominant fashion.

Our View: He was uncontested in the last segment, which took all the stress away from his fantasy owners.

IRL: Castroneves free at last

Friday was a good day for Helio Castroneves. In addition to topping the practice chart, it was announced that federal prosecutors dropped the final charge against him in his tax evasion case, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Our View: Stress free, Castroneves can now turn 100% of his attention to winning the Indy 500.

IRL: Indy 500 Final Practice

The final practice for the Indy 500 is in the books and only two drivers topped the 223 mph mark. Helio Castroneves posted a single fast lap of 223.920, which was nearly one mile per hour faster than the third quickest driver Mario Moraes. The only racer in the same zip code was Will Power, who clocked in at 223.560.

Practice Times

Rank	Driver	Speed
1	Helio Castroneves	223.920
2	Will Power	223.560
3	Mario Moraes	222.951
4	Dan Wheldon	222.386
5	Ryan Briscoe	222.374
6	Dario Franchitti	222.357
7	Scott Dixon	222.017
8	Graham Rahal	221.771
9	Townsend Bell	221.434
10	Davey Hamilton	221.371
11	Tony Kanaan	221.104
12	Paul Tracy	220.979
13	Vitor Meira	220.607
14	Raphael Matos	220.348
15	Marco Andretti	220.205
16	A.J. Foyt IV	220.119
17	Scott Sharp	219.977
18	Tomas Scheckter	219.887
19	Alex Tagliani	219.833
20	Hideki Mutoh	219.627
21	Ed Carpenter	219.602
22	Mike Conway	219.560
23	Danica Patrick	219.328
24	Oriol Servia	219.317
25	Alex Lloyd	219.262
26	Justin Wilson	218.919
27	Ryan Hunter-Reay	218.593
28	Robert Doornbos	218.164
29	E.J. Viso	217.788
30	Milka Duno	217.599
31	Sarah Fisher	217.315
32	John Andretti	217.296
33	Nelson Philippe	216.631

IRL: The Granddaddy of Them all

Event Day Games Preview: When NASCAR was just a gleam in Big Bill France's eye, America already had one of the biggest sports events in the World—the Indy 500.

Memorial Day is one of the best days in auto racing. Get up early to watch the Monaco Grand Prix, grab a second cup of coffee, and then fire up your cell phones to play Event Day Games' first-ever IRL contest. We just couldn't help becoming part of the 93rd running of this great American race.

The Indy 500 is so big that the Indy Racing League takes the entire month of May to prepare for it and the drama has already started. Helio Castroneves drew first blood by winning the pole over his Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe. The front row is crowded with Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti lined up to the outside of this amazing three-abreast configuration and watching them barrel down into turn one is hair raising.

Further back in the field, equal rights are alive and well as Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno locked up more than 25 percent of the field for women drivers. Fisher starts 21st and has the most experience of the group as she competes in her eighth Indy 500, but Patrick has better odds since she rolls off the grid 10th.

Join us at http://www.eventdaygames.com/ this week to play along with our unique fantasy game.

Kahne gets new engine

Kasey Kahne will run the new Dodge engine in the Coca-Cola 600 according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: This adds another unknown to the equation. If the engine holds together, Kahne could be a favorite to win this weekend, but fantasy owners have to be willing to roll the dice in case he blows up.

IRL: Fastest rookie Matos gains confidence

Raphael Matos has gained confidence with his qualification run that places him 12th on the grid for his first career Indy 500, according to IndyCar.com.

"It was a big accomplishment for team and for myself," said Matos about setting the fastest time among rookies. "Being the fastest rookie means a lot to me and being the quickest of the second day means a lot to me as well. It gave me a lot of confidence, which allowed me to work on race setup. The car ran flawless all month and we're proud to be here today.

Our View: The Indy 500 starts 33 cars, which is the IRL's biggest field of the year, but that is still relatively small and allows for some great dark horses. Matos could be one of these.

IRL: Tag team

"Tag," you're it. Alex Tagliani will replace Bruno Junquiera in the No. 36 Conquest Racing car, according to AutoRacingDaily.com. Tagliani was the final driver bumped from the field on Sunday by Ryan-Hunter Reay and he did not have an opportunity to attempt to re-qualify.

Our View: "It’s a shame that Alex got bumped out of the field at the end,” Junquiera said. “I knew coming into this that Alex is Conquest’s primary driver and that if something happened to the first car that I would likely give him my place and I completely understand it.”

That's a lot of understanding.

IRL: First female over the wall

Milka Duno won't be the only woman on her side of the wall when she comes in to pit. Jackman (make that jackwoman) Anna Chatten will be lifting the No. 23 Dreyer Reinbold entry for service, according to AutoRacingDaily.com.

Our View: It is believed she will be the first female, "over-the-wall" crew member. More power to her.

2009 Indy 500 Lineup

Four grueling days of qualification are in the books and the field is set for the most prestigious race of the year.

We've known for a while that Helio Castroneves has the pole and over the course of his career, he's done a great job of finishing what he starts on this track.

John Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay provide the drama on bump day by becoming the last two drivers to make the field.

Notable others include all three female drivers. Danica Patrick qualified in 10th on the first day of time trials; Sarah Fisher made the show on day two in 21st and Milka Duno had to wait until the final day to know she was in the show in 31st.

Indy 500 Lineup

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Helio Castroneves	6.75	5.63	8
2	Ryan Briscoe	12.67	11.33	3
3	Dario Franchitti	9.40	11.40	5
4	Graham Rahal	33.00	13.00	1
5	Scott Dixon	9.67	6.50	6
6	Tony Kanaan	12.43	3.71	7
7	Mario Moraes	18.00	28.00	1
8	Marco Andretti	9.67	14.00	3
9	Will Power	13.00	23.00	1
10	Danica Patrick	10.50	6.75	4
11	Alex Lloyd	25.00	19.00	1
12	Raphael Matos
13	Paul Tracy	2.00	29.00	1
14	Vitor Meira	7.00	12.17	6
15	Justin Wilson	27.00	16.00	1
16	Hideki Mutoh	7.00	9.00	1
17	Ed Carpenter	15.00	15.60	5
18	Dan Wheldon	10.17	5.67	6
19	Anthony Foyt IV	17.50	24.50	2
20	Scott Sharp	16.27	9.09	11
21	Sarah Fisher	26.57	18.29	7
22	Davey Hamilton	12.38	16.13	8
23	Robert Doornbos
24	Townsend Bell	16.00	13.50	2
25	Oriol Servia	11.00	25.00	1
26	Tomas Scheckter	18.00	10.71	7
27	Mike Conway
28	John Andretti	23.00	22.50	2
29	E J Viso	26.00	26.00	1
30	Bruno Junqueira	18.20	10.40	5
31	Milka Duno	25.00	28.00	2
32	Nelson Phillippe
33	Ryan Hunter-Reay	6.00	20.00	1
DNQ	Alex Tagliani
DNQ	Buddy Lazier	11.23	17.77	13
DNQ	Stanton Barrett

IRL: Three fail to qualify for 500

Alex Tagliani, Buddy Lazier and Stanton Barrett failed to qualify for the Indy 500.

Our View: None of these drivers were likely to make it onto your roster, but that doesn't reduce the sting to their fans.

IRL: Indy 500 field is set

In a dramatic Bump Day, John Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay became the last two drivers to qualify for the Indy 500. RacingOne.com has the complete grid posted.

Our View: Andretti may have had the biggest up and down day after getting bumped on numerous occasions. He finally settled into 28th on the grid in the final minutes.

IRL: More notes from day 9

Motorsport.com has published their own set of day nine notes from the third day of qualification.

Our View: Among other things, you will find out that Tomas Scheckter's car has been painted a "luscious sea-blue livery for his new sponsor Mona-Vie." Now there's some need to know information.

IRL: Duno betters time

Milka Duno has bettered her qualification time at Indy with a speed of 221.106, which places her 32nd on the grid. If she had posted that time on Saturday, she would have landed 25th.

Our View: This certainly improves her odds of starting the Indy 500, and that will mean that three female drivers make the show. Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher are comfortably in the show.

IRL: Day 9 report

IndyCar.com has posted the trackside report for day 9 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Our View: This was the third day of qualifying and it provided fantasy owners with a full field of hopefuls. Qualification was dramatic as Stanton Barrett narrowly missed qualifying in the last two corners as the last car to go out on track.