Round 6: The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500. May 17 - 29, 2022.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 6: The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500. May 17 - 29, 2022.

With the first practice session and the Rookie Orientation Program starting today, it's time to start the thread for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500. Exciting times.

After the disruptions to the 104th running of the Indy 500 by the Covid pandemic, last year's 105th running was back where it belonged on the calendar, the Memorial Day weekend and this year's race is no exception. However, at one point there were some doubts as to whether there might be a field of 33 cars this year, something that has been a feature of the Indy 500 since 1934, except for extenuating circumstances when the field expanded to 35 starters in 1979 and 1997. The 33rd entry spot was eventually filled, as Cusick Motorsports in partnership with DragonSpeed, announced they were entering the race with Stefan Wilson driving.

This year there will be eight former winners, three of whom are multiple winners and seven Rookie drivers.

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Qualifications :
Qualifying will use the same two-day format that was first used in 2019.
For an entry list of 33 or more cars, those cars outside of the top 30 are considered not to have qualified, as only positions 1 - 30 will be locked in on Day 1.

Day 1.
Saturday 21,
12:00 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. All cars entered will be guaranteed at least one attempt. Additional attempts are allowed, time/weather permitting.

Cars ranking 1–12 will advance to Second Round Qualifying.
Cars ranking 13–30 will be locked-in to those starting positions, and will not re-qualify.
Cars ranking 31–33 will be entered into the Last Chance Qualifying.

Day 2.
Sunday 22.
2 p.m. Last Chance Qualifying session will be held. Entries ranked 31st and lower on Saturday will have at least one attempt to qualify. Qualifying speeds from Saturday will be erased. Additional attempts will be allowed, time/weather permitting, until 3 p.m. Starting positions 31–32–33 will be filled.

4 p.m., the second round of qualifying will be held. Cars that are ranked 1st - 12th on Saturday will have one guaranteed attempt. Qualifying speeds from Saturday will be erased. Cars will go out in reverse order, 12th - 1st. The top six cars will advance to the final round. The cars ranking 7th through 12th will be locked-in to those starting positions.

5:10 p.m., the final round of qualifying will be held. Cars that are ranked 1st through 6th during the second round will have one guaranteed attempt. Qualifying speeds from the Top 12 session will be erased. Cars will go out in reverse order, 6th - 1st. The top six starting positions will be set, including pole position.

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History
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the world's oldest, purpose-built tracks that is still in use. In 1905 Indiana businessman Carl G. Fisher, envisioned building a circuit after watching some of the world's earliest car races in France. He felt Europe had the upper hand in car design and thought one reason was the lack of permanent testing facilities for American car manufacturers. After another visit to Europe and seeing the banked oval at Brooklands, England, he decided to build his own track.

Fisher convinced local businessmen James A. Allison, Arthur Newby and Frank W. Wheeler to join him in purchasing Pressley Farm, five miles outside of Indianapolis and totalling 328 acres for about $72,000. On March 20, 1909, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway company was incorporated and construction began that month.

The track surface consisted of packed soil covered by two inches of gravel, two inches of limestone covered with a solution of tar and oil, or taroid, one–two inches of crushed stone chips, also drenched with taroid and topped with crushed stones.

The first motorsport event was a series of motorcycle races planned over two days, under the sanction of the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM), starting on August 14, 1909. Concerns about the track surface stopped the event part way through day one. Five days later 15 teams arrived for the first car event, held over three days. This was not without incident. On day one Wilfred Bourque suffered a rear-axle failure, resulting in his car flipping end over end on the main straight, before crashing into a fence post, killing him and his mechanic Harry Halcomb. On day three the right front tire blew on Charlie Merz's car, knocking down five fence posts and dozens of spectators, killing two as well as his mechanic Claude Kellum. Ten laps later, after another accident, the race was cancelled.

The AAA, American Automobile Association, announced it would boycott further events unless the surface was changed. A concrete surface was considered but the track owners decided to pave the entire facility with bricks, after tests proved their durability. Five Indiana manufacturers supplied 3.2 million, 10-pound bricks. Each was hand laid on a 2 inch bed of sand, then leveled and the gaps filled with mortar. A concrete wall 33 inches tall was also constructed in front of the main grandstand and around all four corners to protect spectators. The final brick was made of gold and laid in a special ceremony by Governor Thomas R. Marshall.

In December 1909, the track reopened for testing, with speeds of up to 112 mph being reported. Racing returned the next year, with a series of short races held over the three main holiday weekends: Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.

The following year, 1911, racing was just confined to Memorial Day and the very first 500 mile race was held on May 30. It was won by a former racer and Marmon engineer Ray Harroun, who came out of retirement for just one race, driving the legendary Marmon-Wasp. Since then, the event has usually been held on the Sunday before Memorial Day, though there have been exceptions, due to World Wars I and II, the weather intervening and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Some 500 Records and Trivia:

1911: Ray Harroun was the first winner of the 500, driving a Marmon-Wasp.
Race Time: 6:42:08.039.
Average speed: 74.59 mph (120.04 km/h).

1913: Jules Goux of France was the first European and the first Rookie, excluding the innaugural race, to win,
1920-21: Ralph DePalma was the first driver to take consecutive Poles.

1922: Jimmy Murphy was the first driver to win the race from pole position.

1936: Louis Meyer was the first driver to win three times, 1928, 1933, 1936. It was after his third win that the Lois Meyer asked for a glass of buttermilk, something his mother had encouraged him to drink on hot days, hence the tradition of the bottle of milk.

1940: Wilbur Shaw was the first driver to win back to back races, 1939-1940

1947: Mauri Rose and Bill Holland, scored the first team 1, 2 for entrant Lou Moore

1952: Art Cross won the first Rookie of the Year Award.

1961: Sir Jack Brabham was the first driver to race a rear engined car, a Cooper-Coventry Climax

1965: Jim Clark became the first Scotsman to win and first driver to win in a rear engined car, in the Lotus 38-Ford.

1966: Graham Hill won The 50th Indy 500, in a Lola T90-Ford and was the first Englishman as well as Rookie winner since 1927.

1967: Parnelli Jones raced the first gas turbine powered car, the Granatelli STP-Paxton Turbocar.

1977: Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500.
A.J. Foyt was the first driver to win 4 times

1989: Emerson Fittipaldi became the first Brazilian driver to win.

1990: Arie Luyendyk became the first Dutch driver to win

1992: A.J. Foyt became the oldest driver to start the race at 57.

1992: Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds in the 500's closest finnish.

1992: Lyn St. James won the first Female Rookie of the Year Award.

1995: Jacques Villeneuve became first Canadian driver to win.

1996: Arie Luyendyk sets a new 1 lap track record of 37.895 seconds, 237.498 mph (382.216 kmh) and a new 4-lap average track record of 2:31.908, 236.986 mph (381.392 kmh). He also recorded an unofficial 1 lap of 00:37.616 seconds, 239.260 mph (385.052 kmh). Will Arie Luyendyk's 24 year old lap records be finally broken this year? I doubt it.

1997: Arie Luyendyk became the first Dutch multiple winner, 1990 and 1997

1999: Kenny Bräck became first Swedish driver to win,

2005: Danica Patrick became the first female driver to lead the Indy 500.

2008: Scott Dixon became first New Zealand driver to win.

2009: Danica Patrick finished 3rd, the highest position for a female driver.

2016: Alexander Rossi won the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, the first Rookie since 2001.

2017: Takumo Sato became the first Japanese driver to win.

2018: Will Power became the first Australian driver to win.

2020: Takuma Sato became the first Japanese multiple winner, 2017 and 2020.
The was the first 500 to be held behind closed doors, as well as being held in August, due to the Covid-19 pandemic

2021: A record nine former 500 winners took part, three were multiple winners.
Helio Castroneves, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021
Takuma Sato, 2017, 2020
Simon Pagenaud, 2019
Will Power, 2018
Alexander Rossi, 2016
Juan Pablo Montoya, 2000, 2015
Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2014
Tony Kanaan, 2013
Scott Dixon, 2008

2021: Helio Castroneves became the fourth driver to win 4 times, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021.
It was the fastest race, with a time of 2:37:19.3846 and an average speed of 190.690 mph (306.885 km/h)

There have been 10 Rookie winners:
Ray Harroun, 1911 (inaugural race)
Jules Goux, 1913
Rene Thomas, 1914
Frank Lockhart, 1926
George Souders, 1927
Louis Meyer, 1928
Graham Hill, 1966
Juan Pablo Montoya, 2000
Helio Castroneves, 2001
Alexander Rossi, 2016

There have been 9 women drivers:
Janet Guthrie, 1977-79
Lyn St. James, 1992-97, 2000
Sarah Fisher, 2000-04, 2007-10
Danica Patrick, 2005-11, 2018
Milka Duno, 2007-09
Ana Beatriz, 2010-12, 2021
Simona de Silvestro, 2010-12, 2021.
Katherine Legge, 2012, 2013
Pippa Mann 2011, 2013-2017, 2019

The driver with the most wins is 4.
Hélio Castroneves: 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021
Rick Mears: 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991.
Al Unser Sr.: 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987.
A.J. Foyt: 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977.

The team with the most wins:
Team Penske, 18.
1972, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2018, 2019.

The driver/team owner with the most wins:
A.J. Foyt. 1964, 1967, 1977.

Current driver with the most wins:
Hélio Castroneves. 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021.

The car number with the most wins is #3 with 11.

The team with the most Poles:
Team Penske, 18.
1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2019

The driver with the most Poles:
Rick Mears 6,
1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991

The starting grid position with the most wins is Pole, with 21.

The car number with the most Poles is #1, with 13.

Chassis manufacturer with most wins, Dallara 21.

Engine manufacturer with most wins, Offenhauser 27.

Tyre manufacturer with most wins, Firestone 70.

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Track layout:


Length: 2.5 Miles (4.02 Km)
Straightaways: 5/8 of a mile (1000 m)
Short chutes: 1/8 of a mile (200 m)
Turns: 4, with 9.2º banking. 1/4 of mile (400 m)

Track Record:
1 lap record:
Arie Luyendyk, May 10, 1996. 00:37.895 seconds, 237.498 mph (382.216 kmh).
Reynard 94i-Ford Cosworth XB,
Indy Racing League.

4 lap average record:
Arie Luyendyk, May 12, 1996. 2:31.908, 236.986 mph (381.392 kmh),
Reynard 94i-Ford Cosworth XB,
Indy Racing League.

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Last year's race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2021/05/05-30-racemorning

Pole:
Scott Dixon,
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6
Combined four lap average 2:35.3837 minutes. 231.685 mph (372.861 km/h)

Winner:
Hélio Castroneves,
Meyer Shank Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6.

Laps: 200
Distance: 500 Miles (805 km)
Race Time: 2:37:19.3846
Average Speed: 190.690 mph (306.886 km/h).
Fastest lap: Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Lap 116. 39.5874 sec, 227.345 mph, (365.876 km/h)

Caution periods: 1
Laps: 1 - 3


Race broadcast:
NBC May 29th, 12:30pm ET. 4:30pm UTC, 5:30pm BST
Sky Sports F1, 5:30 pm BST