We continue with our Round Table members in the discussion regarding the 2012 IndyCar Season and picking our Indy 500 winner, Sunoco Rookie of the Year, and the IZOD IndyCar Series Champion:
- Who will win the 96th running of the Indy 500?
Matthew Hickey – Tony Kanaan, so his beautiful face can go next to Lionheart’s
Kyle Lewis – Tony Kanaan. He finally breaks through and gets the big one.
Kent Muller – My winner of the Indianapolis 500 is Helio Castroneves, I believe he’s going to comeback and win his fourth 500.
DJ Jordan - The winner of the 2012 Indianapolis 500 will be Tony Kanaan. It will be the most emotional race in the history of the 500. There will not be a dry eye in the house.
David Zehr - Tony Kanaan finally gets his first win.
Jerry Cruz – Helio Castroneves wins the 96th Indy 500 with Chevy Power; gets immortalized by winning his 4th time; Ratings explode after that for the season; Tony Kanaan finishes 2nd…
- Which engine will blow 1st at the Indy 500? Any? Why?
MH – Honda because they don’t seem to have it quite figured out yet.
KL – Honda. The pressure is on to keep their clean streak going and they will crack.
KM – I don’t believe there will be any engine failures because they go nearly 1000 miles in testing without blowing one. I don’t believe the teams will push as hard in practice. That saves the miles.
DJ - Gotta go with Lotus being the first engine to blow at Indy. I just think the late start will doom them in an “endurance” type race.
DZ - First engine to blow will be a Honda. Just a hunch mixed with a bit of irony.
JC – I would go with Honda just for the pressure they have to be the “best” and so far in the offseason testing there have been “issues”.
- Which driver is your pick as “Best-in-Class” or “Dark horse” as Oriol Servia did last year?
MH – Josef Newgarden or Simona de Silvestro, people will be shocked at how great Josef is on and off the track.
KL – Gotta go with Servia again, being on D&R is a huge down grade from Newman Haas. Simona as well being on a level playing field, same page as everyone else, leading the charge for Lotus, she will really show her muscle this year and make her mark. Look for these 2 Lotus drivers to really do something big this year.
KM – My dark horse is Sebastien Bourdais. He is great on the twisties and will challenge Will Power a ton this season. On the ovals, I see him as a good threat at Milwaukee and Iowa.
DJ - My candidate for the dark horse award is Graham Rahal. I really believe all the bad strategy calls & bad luck he had last year will reverse itself this year. I see Graham being at least the 2nd best driver at Ganassi.
DZ - Dark Horse pick for me is Simon Pagenaud.
JC – I’m going with Graham Rahal. I just think with a “leveled” playing field he will seize the opportunity. The schedule favors him. Not bad luck as last year!
- Which driver is your pick for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award? Why?
MH – Josef Newgarden, beast mode.
KL – Simon Pagenaud. Best team, best driver eligible for rookie of the year. Rubens if he is full time though!
KM – My rookie of the year has to be Josef Newgarden for right now because he is the only rookie in the series as of right now.
DJ - Josef Newgarden is my pick for Rookie of the Year, providing SFHR gets an engine deal. After seeing him in & out of the race car, he has star quality written all over him. I see him as the driver who will eventually replace Helio at Team Penske.
DZ - Rubens Barrichello. I believe he’ll sign up for the full season of racing.
JC – Even with Rubens Barichello signing I see Josef Newgarden winning the ROY Award based on the oval schedule…but it will be very close!
- Which driver is your pick to be crowned IndyCar Champion? Why?
MH – Will Power, you can only finish second so many times.
KL – Dario Franchitti. I mean seriously how can you pick against the guy? Dominant on any track and when it counts. Knows when to seal the deal. Until he retires, it’s hard to pick against the guy!
KM – Will Power because the schedule favors his strengths. Dario is getting too old and can’t win races like he did before.
DJ - I have to stay consistent with my championship winner. It will be Tony Kanaan. He will use his 500 win as a springboard for the second half of the season to take the title away from Will Power, who will be left wondering what he has to do to win a title.
DZ - 2012 Champion – Will Power.
JC – Will Power will just edge Ryan Hunter-Reay for the Championship. Helio will be leading after Indy but slowly fade to 3rd. RHR will do the opposite and finish strong to take 2nd. Dario fades after Toronto (Karma!).
- Please state your driver ranking for final standings in September. Start with #5 until your Champion pick.
MH – 5) Hunter Reay 4) Dixon 3) Kanaan 2) Franchitti 1) Power
KL – 5- Hinchcliffe – He’ll win his first race this year, and maybe more, as well as leading the Andretti Autosport campaign with Ryan Hunter Reay.
4- Dixon- He’ll have another solid year, win multiple races, but will have mishaps that will, in the end, cost him any shot at the championship.
3- Power- Will dominate the road courses again, win the Mario Andretti trophy, but will slip up on the ovals and a couple road courses that will cost him the championship
2- Kanaan- Great, solid year! Will win multiple races, including the Indy 500, have strong finishes each race, but ultimately won’t be enough.
1- Franchitti- 4-5 wins again, strong finishes every weekend, will ultimately lead him to his 4th straight title.
KM – my final driver rankings are:
5. Rubens Barrichello (if he comes) if not Graham Rahal
4. Sebastien Bourdais
3. Scott Dixon
2. Dario Franchitti
1. Will Power
DJ - 5th place – Graham Rahal – his luck will turn for the better this year
4th place – Ryan Briscoe – another solid season for Team Penske
3rd place – Dario Franchitti – his luck runs out after 3 straight series titles
2nd place – Will Power – finally finishes ahead of Dario, but still no title
1st place – Tony Kanaan – a too good to be true season, Kanaan honors Dan Wheldon with an unbelievable charge to a championship, which starts at the Indy 500.
DZ – 5th Barrichello (will not win but consistently finish well), 4th Dixon (see: Barrichello), 3rd Hunter-Reay (2 wins and a handful of DNFs), 2nd Franchitti (will win 3 times), 1st Will Power (5 wins and one DNF for him this season will find him this season’s champ)
JC – 5th Place – Graham Rahal, 4th Place – Dario Franchitti, 3rd Place – Helio Castroneves, 2nd Place – Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1st Place – Will Power
Tags: dario franchitti, indianapolis motor speedway, indy 500, indycar races, izod, sunoco, will power
Jerry Cruz
