IndyCar will return on Saturday under the lights in Phoenix for the first oval of the year. Last year's race was an overall disappointment with little to no passing at all. Simon Pagenaud took the race pretty easily and only a couple cars finished on the lead lap in a race that was dominated by Chevy as most short ovals were last year.
A multitude of cars were taken out on the first lap last year after Mikhail Aleshin lost control and took out many cars, but after that it was pretty much a snoozer. IndyCar raved all off season about how the passing would improve this year with the new design of the cars and we saw that at St. Petersburg a couple weeks ago and hopefully we see it again at Phoenix.
1. Josef Newgarden - He was the top Penske at St. Pete and I think he is the favorite entering this race. Chevy is strong here and Penske is always the top Chevy. Newgarden finished 6th here in 2016 driving for ECR and 9th last year.
2. Simon Pagenaud - The defending champion will look to defend his title. Escepcially after a disappointing 13th place finish at St. Pete. On top of winning last year, Pagenaud finished 2nd in 2016.
3. Will Power - He has finished 2nd and 3rd the last two years here.
4. Ed Capenter - The Oval fanatic makes his season debut. Finished 7th here last year and I bet he has a fast car again this year.
5. Scott Dixon - Despite Honda's struggles here, Dixon is a favorite every where he goes. Dixon won here in 2016 and finished 5th here last year (top Honda).
6. Graham Rahal - Finished runner up last week and has really just been successful every where the last year. Combine that with the fact he has a strong teammate and Rahal could be a strong contender for the title.
7. Takuma Sato - The defending Indy 500 champ hasn't had too much success here never finishing inside the top 15, but I like the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan team to be the top Honda team this week.
8. Spencer Pigot - The Carpenter Cars run their strongest races on short ovals. This is his first ever oval with the ECR team, but I think he has a good chance at a solid run. JR Hildabrand drove this car to a 3rd place finish last year.
9. Ryan Hunter - Reay - RHR got the season rolling with a top 5 last week. He loves Iowa which is a similar short oval to Phoenix.
10. Tony Kanaan - TK returns to Phoenix in a Chevy powered Foyt car which gives him a little advantage. He finished 11th in his debut with Foyt at St. Pete which is much better than any other driver has been able to do with the ABC Supply team. He has finished 4th and 6th here since IndyCar returned.
11. James Hinchcliffe - He has finished 18th and 12th in his two races here. He's got some momentum opening up the year with a 4th place finish at St. Pete.
12. Alexander Rossi - He crashed last year, and finished 14th in 2016. Combine that with Andretti's struggles hear, Rossi probably won't be a popular play this week.
13. Gabby Chavez - Last year, he only ran the Super Speedways with Hardig racing and he was pretty succesful
14. Ed Jones - Chip Ganassi Racing was the only Honda team they could salvage anything here last year and Ed Jones will run with them this year. He finished 11th last year.
15. Charlie Kimball - He was one of the fastest Honda's last year here finishing 8th. This year he joins Chevy with Carlin Racing.
16. Max Chilton - The Englishman finished his first race with Carlin Racing in 19th. Chilton was involved in that first lap crash last year at Phoenix, but two years ago he finished 7th, which was also when he was Chevy. He returns with Carlin, who also uses a Chevy engine.
17. Robert Wickens - He was so good last week leading 69 laps, but he was taken out with just two laps to go and finished 18th. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was just another Honda team they struggled here last year.
18. Marco Andretti - In two races at Phoenix, Marco has finished 13th and 18th.
19. Matheus Leist - Leist was the first to crash in the IndyCar season after he went off track at St. Petersburg. With AJ Foyt Racing using Chevy's, this was one of the few places they had success last year with both their drivers placing in the top 15.
20. Zach Veach - He almost ran this race last year as a replacement for J.R. Hildabrand, but JR was cleared to race. Veach returns this year with Andretti Autosport, who really struggled last year. Ryan Hunter Reay was their highest placer at 13th.
21. Kyle Kaiser - Also a part time driver, Kaiser will run in his first race of the year as he shares the #32 car with Rene Binder who had a rough day at St. Pete. They run for Juncos racing who is making their debut at IndyCar this year, and they do use a Chevy engine which gives Kaiser a little bit of hope.
22. Pietro Fittipaldi - He joined Dale Coyne Racing on a part time gig this year and this will be his first race of the year. He will share the car with Zachary Claman DaMelo
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