IRL: Moraes best surprise, Kanaan biggest disappointment

Mario Moraes has been the biggest surprise and Tony Kanaan has been the biggest disappointment so far this year, according to a survey conducted by IndyCar.com. Check out all the categories.

Our View: One of the best ways to determine a drivers strength is to listen to his opponents.

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IRL: Iowa's last two races

With only two previous Iowa Speedway races in the Indy Racing League book, there isn't a lot to go on this week, but fantasy players may find some inspiration in who ran well in these few events.

Dario Franchitti took last year off to make an attempt at NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, but before he left, he won his only race at Iowa after starting third. This short track was patterned after Richmond International Raceway and on that course, he's been nearly perfect with finishes of second (2005), third (2006) and first (2007) in four attempts. That speaks volumes about his odds for this week.

Marco Andretti has run both Iowa races and he's been close to perfect. With a second in 2007 and a third in 2008, he's come close to winning twice. Perhaps there is something in short track racing that is appealing to his somewhat aggressive style of competition. By contrast, his teammates Tony Kanaan (with a 16th in 2007 and an 18th last year) and Danica Patrick (13th and sixth respectively) have not been nearly as strong.

Last year's winner Dan Wheldon proved that fantasy players cannot always rely strictly on past records. After a modest showing of 11th in 2007, he stormed into victory lane last year, so don't be afraid to take drivers with momentum on their side.

Average finish, last two races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007
Dario Franchitti	1.00		1
Hideki Mutoh	2.00	2
Marco Andretti	2.50	3	2
Scott Sharp	3.00		3
Dan Wheldon	6.00	1	11
Ryan Briscoe	7.00	7
Scott Dixon	7.00	4	10
Sarah Fisher	7.00		7
Ryan Hunter-Reay	8.00	8
Anthony Foyt IV	8.50	5	12
Will Power	9.00	9
Danica Patrick	9.50	6	13
Graham Rahal	10.00	10
Helio Castroneves	11.00	14	8
John Andretti	11.00	11
Justin Wilson	12.00	12
Vitor Meira	12.00	15	9
E J Viso	13.00	13
Buddy Rice	13.00	22	4
Darren Manning	13.00	21	5
Sam Hornish Jr	14.00		14
Ed Carpenter	14.50	23	6
Kosuke Matsuura	15.00		15
Oriol Servia	16.00	16
Tony Kanaan	17.00	18	16
Jeff Simmons	17.00		17
Enrique Bernoldi	17.00	17
Mario Moraes	19.00	19
Tomas Scheckter	19.00		19
Jaime Camara	20.00	20
Milka Duno	21.00	24	18
Bruno Junqueira	25.00	25
Marty Roth	26.00	26

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IRL: Several tests on tap

Most of the Indy Racing League drivers tested at a variety of locations this week in preparation for the upcoming season. According to OpenWheelWorld.net, they were:

Watkins Glen International: Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Mario Moraes, Mike Conway, Milka Duno, Justin Wilson and Richard Antinucci.

Richmond International Raceway: Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Dan Wheldon, Raphael Matos and E J Viso.

Chicagoland Speedway: Ed Carpenter (in a Firestone tire test).

Iowa Speedway: Dario Franchitti

Our View: Practice makes perfect, so put a tickle file in your computers for the appropriate week and then watch these drivers closely in open practice sessions when that race rolls around.

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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: Milwaukee Results

Scott Dixon improved last year's Milwaukee result by only one position, but it was the one that counted. In this race last year, he finished second, but he was not going to be denied in 2009. He took the lead from Ryan Briscoe on lap 201 and then scooted out to a 2.13 second lead; Briscoe held on for second.

If you chose to do this one by the number, it was an uneven day. Tony Kanaan entered the weekend with the best average finish during the last five Milwaukee races, but he crashed early on lap 12 and finished 20th. On the other hand, Dario Franchitti had the second best average finish during that span and he managed to finish third.

Graham Rahal and Danica Patrick rounded out the top five.

Results, with career avg. finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	4	Scott Dixon	225	Running	6.00
2	1	Ryan Briscoe	225	Running	7.00
3	8	Dario Franchitti	225	Running	2.80
4	2	Graham Rahal	225	Running	14.50
5	7	Danica Patrick	225	Running	9.00
6	9	Raphael Matos	225	Running	6.00
7	13	Marco Andretti	225	Running	12.00
8	6	Hideki Mutoh	224	Running	10.00
9	5	Mario Moraes	224	Running	16.00
10	14	Dan Wheldon	224	Running	8.00
11	20	Helio Castroneves	222	Running	12.33
12	18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	222	Running	13.50
13	10	Tomas Scheckter	222	Running	11.40
14	12	Robert Doornbos	220	Running	14.00
15	15	Justin Wilson	219	Running	11.00
16	19	Ed Carpenter	219	Running	13.67
17	16	Paul Tracy	219	Running	17.00
18	17	E J Viso	175	Mechanical	13.00
19	11	Mike Conway	55	Mechanical	20.00
20	3	Tony Kanaan	12	Accident	5.50
21	21	Stanton Barrett	0	DNQ

IRL: Milwaukee Lineup

The lineup is set for Sunday's ABC Supply Co. 225 and Ryan Briscoe is picking up where he left off last year—at the front of the pack. This track has not always been kind to him with a 22nd in 2005 and an 18th in 2006, but after taking 2007 off, he won last year.

Graham Rahal will start to his outside, which is the same position he started last year. Unfortunately, he ran into trouble in that race and finished 25th.

The driver with the best five-year average finish will start in third. Tony Kanaan has won twice and finished fourth or better at Milwaukee since 2004, so he has to be considered a favorite for your fantasy roster.

Lineup

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Ryan Briscoe	9.50	14.00	2
2	Graham Rahal	25.00	2.00	1
3	Tony Kanaan	2.60	4.80	5
4	Scott Dixon	7.25	8.00	4
5	Mario Moraes	23.00	23.00	1
6	Hideki Mutoh	12.00	14.00	1
7	Danica Patrick	10.00	12.50	4
8	Dario Franchitti	2.75	9.25	4
9	Raphael Matos
10	Tomas Scheckter	11.00	8.00	4
11	Mike Conway
12	Robert Doornbos
13	Marco Andretti	13.67	6.00	3
14	Dan Wheldon	7.60	9.40	5
15	Justin Wilson	7.00	22.00	1
16	Paul Tracy
17	E J Viso	8.00	10.00	1
18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	15.00	12.00	1
19	Ed Carpenter	13.20	12.40	5
20	Helio Castroneves	12.60	2.80	5
DNQ	Stanton Barrett

IRL: Milwaukee, Last five races

Tony Kanaan had another terrible Indy 500 when he crashed before the halfway mark and finished 27th in a 33-car field. If the past is any indication though, he should rebound nicely this week. The Indy Racing League has been going to the Milwaukee Mile for five years and Kanaan has never finished outside the top-five there. In fact, he took top honors in back-to-back season in 2006 and 2007, which makes him one of the favorites to win again this week.

Nearly as stout, Dario Franchitti is back from his NASCAR sojourn and he's never finished worse than sixth in four starts on this track. He won the inaugural race in 2004 and then posted runner-up results in 2005 and 2007. Last week, he was in contention for the 500 victory until trouble in the pits relegated him to seventh, so he will be looking for redemption.

Dan Wheldon does not have the overall numbers of Kanaan and Franchitti, but he's certainly come on strong lately. He struggled to an 18th-place finish in 2004 and was a modest eighth in 2006, but every other result has been a top-five—and that is enough to recommend him for this week's Milwaukee race.

Results, Last five years

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Tony Kanaan	2.60	3	1	1	4	4
Dario Franchitti	2.75		2	6	2	1
Sam Hornish Jr	3.75		9	2	1	3
Oriol Servia	6.00	6
Justin Wilson	7.00	7
Patrick Carpentier	7.00				7
Bryan Herta	7.33			7	6	9
Alex Barron	7.50				8	7
Dan Wheldon	7.60	4	3	8	5	18
E J Viso	8.00	8
Adrian Fernandez	8.00					8
Townsend Bell	8.50	11				6
Jeff Simmons	9.50		10	9
Danica Patrick	10.00	9	8	4	19
Scott Dixon	10.20	2	4	10	13	22
Scott Sharp	10.75		6	12	10	15
Tomas Scheckter	11.00		17	3	3	21
Vitor Meira	11.20	22	5	15	9	5
Buddy Rice	11.60	10	18	11	17	2
Hideki Mutoh	12.00	12
Kosuke Matsuura	12.50		12	17	11	10
Helio Castroneves	12.60	5	16	14	16	12
Felipe Giaffone	13.00					13
Jeff Bucknam	13.00			13
Ed Carpenter	13.20	20	7	16	12	11
Ryan Briscoe	13.67	1		18	22
Marco Andretti	13.67	21	15	5
Mark Taylor	14.00					14
Jimmy Kite	14.00				14
Will Power	14.00	14
Sarah Fisher	14.00		14
Anthony Foyt IV	16.75	17	13		21	16
Roger Yasukawa	15.00				15
Ryan Hunter-Reay	15.00	15
Darren Manning	15.75	13	11		20	19
Enrique Bernoldi	16.00	16
Jaques Lazier	17.00					17
Bruno Junqueira	18.00	18
Buddy Lazier	18.00				18
A J Foyt IV	16.75	17	13		21	16
John Andretti	19.00	19
Tora Takagi	20.00					20
Mario Moraes	23.00	23
Jaime Camara	24.00	24
Graham Rahal	25.00	25
Mario Dominguez	26.00	26
Marty Roth	27.00	27

IRL: 11 locked in to Indy 500

In the first day of qualification, 11 drivers have been locked into the Indy 500. Led by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe is in the middle of the first row and Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti is on the outside of that row.

Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan make up row two.

Mario Moraes, Marco Andretti and Will Power make up row three.

And finally, Danica Patrick and Alex Lloyd will take the inside and middle of row four. The rest of the field will be filled on Sunday and next Saturday.

Our View: Castroneves has bragging rights, but the remainder of the field can rest easier knowing they will start near the front of the field.