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#Post#: 30--------------------------------------------------
Chevy drivers hoping Honda's advantage closes during Indy 500
DIR By: The Referee
Date: August 17, 2020, 9:02 pm
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Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and Tony
Kanaan, the 2013 Indy winner, knew on Friday night where they
would be starting the Indianapolis 500. Will Power, the 2018
Indy winner, had a pretty good sense, too.
None expected to be competing in Sunday's nine-car pole
shootout. None did.
After two years of chasing the powerful, Chevrolet-powered cars
at Indianapolis, Honda finally came up with a package that
caught and surged past its rival manufacturer with a disparity
so wide, only four Chevy drivers qualified in the first 17 spots
on the 33-car starting grid.
"It wasn't hard," Kanaan said Sunday. "You know what you've got,
so you can't be surprised by it. We saw the signs on Friday, and
you can't stress about things you can't control. It's like
trying to predict the weather. Someone asks you if it's going to
rain tomorrow? I don't know. The weatherman doesn't know half
the time."
What was readily apparent at the Brickyard this weekend, though,
was the wide advantage Honda had when series officials cranked
up the horsepower Friday.
Honda drivers held 13 of the top 15 spots in practice that day,
prompting questions about whether some traditionally strong
teams at Indy, such as Team Penske and Ed Carpenter Racing,
might be holding back.
Saturday's results rebuffed any such notion. Honda driers
claimed the top five seeds and eight of the nine spots in the
shootout, and nearly swept the first 12 starting spots.
Rinus VeeKay, a 19-year-old rookie from the Netherlands, was the
only Chevy driver to qualify in the first four three-car rows.
The Carpenter driver qualified fourth, the inside of Row 2, with
a four-lap average of 230.704.
Sunday's post-qualifying practice showed the gap might be
closing.
While pole winner Marco Andretti again topped the speed chart
with a fast lap of 224.122, Chevy drivers led by three-time
winner Helio Castroneves had four of the top 10 spots. The
Brazilian posted a 224.067.
"We've all been really happy with the cars in race trim,"
Castroneves said after qualifying a career-worst 28th on
Saturday. "You hate to start that far back, as you need to pass
a lot of cars and use some strategy, but it can be done from
there."
Points leader and five-time series champion Scott Dixon, who
settled for the No. 2 starting spot, brushed the wall in
practice but made it back onto the track later in the day.
None of the Chevy drivers, except VeeKay, were immune from the
qualifying woes.
Two-time series champ Josef Newgarden, the lone Penske driver
still seeking an Indy win, was the second-fastest Chevy. He
starts 13th, the inside of Row 5, after posting a 230.296.
Power, the Australian who is Newgarden's teammate, qualified
22nd at 229.701. Carpenter a three-time pole winner was 16th at
230.211. The other Penske driver, defending race winner Simon
Pagenaud of France, starts from the No. 25 spot.
They weren't alone.
Kanaan, of Brazil and who drives for A.J. Foyt Racing, will
start from the middle of Row 8 after going 229.154, while
Alonso, of Spain, qualified 26th at 228.768. Alonso was 11th in
Sunday's practice despite a pit road spin in the McLaren Arrow
SP No. 66 car.
"I think we are better for the race than in qualifying pace,"
Alonso said. "Ideally, you would like to start in the front, but
we don't have the pace, so let's see what we have."
But most drivers expect the disparity to close significantly on
race day.
"Honda seemed to have the advantage in qualifying trim, but in
race trim, I don't think the edge is as evident as it's looked
the last two days," said Colton Herta, a Honda driver who will
start 10th for Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport.
The Chevy drivers certainly hope that's the case.
They were more competitive before the power boost and held the
top five practice spots early in practice after it was turned
off, too. Plus, racing conditions could help.
"We think we've got a great race car underneath us, though we
weren't where we wanted to be yesterday," Newgarden said before
the shootout. "But 13th is not too far toward the back, and now
we can focus on the race."
The recent results aren't encouraging for a quick turnaround,
though.
When Chevy swept the front row each of the past two years, it
won both races with Power and Pagenaud. When Honda took four of
the top five starting spots the previous two years, it also
reached victory lane twice -- with Alexander Rossi in 2016 and
Takuma Sato, of Japan, in 2017.
The bigger challenge might be attempting to make up for what has
already been lost, track position.
In a race most drivers believe will be difficult to pass, the
Chevy teams might have to rely on strategy, pit stops and timely
cautions to close the gap -- or Honda could dominate again.
"When we ran race setup, everybody was pretty similar," Kanaan
said. "You look at the past when Chevy was dominating, it was
still competitive. But you never like being in the other
situation."
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