WATCH OUT FOR CHICANE-ERY
The temporary chicane on Pratt Street always causes issues over the course of the Baltimore weekend. One could probably guess it is not a very well-liked portion of the two-mile street circuit among those in the IndyCar paddock, but consider the alternative – going straight on and launching over a set of light rail tracks – and you see why it’s there. But cars can easily wind up in the wall while rumbling over the curbs here. We’ll see what kind of impact it has on today’s 75-lap race.
MULTIPLE PASSING ZONES
The neat thing about Baltimore is that there are several good opportunities to make up ground on the track. Turns 1 and 3 are probably the best passing zones on the course, as both of them are hard-braking, right-hand corners that come off of long straightaways. You’ll find a lot of action – and close calls – in these two sections.
DIXON’S REVENGE?
To some, Scott Dixon was royally hosed last weekend with his pit road violation at Sonoma. To others, INDYCAR made the right call. No matter your viewpoint on the matter, expect Dixon – your pole sitter for today’s race – to be raring to go as he tries once again to narrow the gap to Helio Castroneves, who holds a 38-point edge over him. If Dixon can win and melt that deficit down to say, 20-25 points, it’s a good day for him.
STREET FIGHTING SIMON
Last year at Baltimore, the proverbial ‘move of the race’ award went to Simon Pagenaud, who earned a podium finish after pulling off an eye-popping run that saw him go from sixth to the lead on a restart at Lap 37. The Frenchman has already won this year on a street circuit (Detroit, Race 2), and he’ll start toward the front this afternoon. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him factor into the outcome.
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IZOD IndyCar Series – Grand Prix of Baltimore
STARTING GRID
Row 1
9-Scott Dixon
12-Will Power
Row 2
77-Simon Pagenaud
19-Justin Wilson
Row 3
67-Josef Newgarden
55-Tristan Vautier (rookie)
Row 4
3-Helio Castroneves
1-Ryan Hunter-Reay
Row 5
83-Charlie Kimball
14-Takuma Sato
Row 6
27-James Hinchcliffe
15-Graham Rahal
Row 7
98-Luca Filippi (rookie)
11-Tony Kanaan
Row 8
4-Oriol Servia
25-Marco Andretti
Row 9
78-Simona de Silvestro
20-Ed Carpenter
Row 10
6-Sebastian Saavedra
5-E.J. Viso
Row 11
18-Stefan Wilson (rookie)
7-Sebastien Bourdais
Row 12
*16-James Jakes
*10-Dario Franchitti
Drivers in italics will start on Firestone alternate tires (“reds”).
*Jakes (going over five-engine limit), Franchitti (unapproved engine change) penalized grid spots.
