INDIANAPOLIS — Both practice sessions around the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course are complete. So is qualifying. The 25 car field for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix (2 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network) is set.

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Race Day Schedule (All Times Local)

10:45-11:15 am: Warmup Peacock

2:07 pm: Driver Introductions

2:10 pm: Cars to Grid

2:27 pm: Invocation

2:28 pm: National Anthem

2:30 pm: Drivers To Cars

2:39 pm: Command

2:45 pm: Green Flag

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Race Details

Coverage: 2 p.m. ET

TV: NBC

Radio: INDYCAR Radio Network

Computer: racecontrol.indycar.com

Phone: INDYCAR App

Race Distance: 85 Laps/207.3 Miles

Race: 5 of 17

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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Spotter Guide

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Practice 1

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Practice 2

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Starting Lineup

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Who Wins?

The trends say, pick someone from the top 2 Rows.

On the season, the third place starter (Alex Palou) won the season opener in Barber. The second race was won in St. Pete by the pole sitter (Colton Herta). Scott Dixon stared third in his win at the Texas Motor Speedway while Pato O’Ward came from fourth to win a day later.

3rd, 1st, 3rd, 4th….

12 of the last 13 INDYCAR races have been won from a top four starter. Seven of the nine Indy Car races on the IMS road course have also been won from a top four starter.

Five of the last eight here were won by the pole sitter. One more was from the outside of the front row. Five of the final six races in 2020 were won by a front row starter including both here last October.

Furthermore, 36 of the last 37 series races saw the eventual race winner come from a top 10 starting spot. Simon Pagenaud (23rd) last July in Iowa is the only exception since the 2018 season finale. Also, 31 of the last 40 races have been won by a driver coming from the Fast 6.

Starting positions for natural road courses lately (since 2016) 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 7th, 1st, 5th, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 20th, 1st, 4th, 1st, 8th, 2nd, 8th, 2nd, 1st, 7th, 9th, 7th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st and 1st. That’s 31 of the last 32 coming from the top 10 including 18 from the pole and 25 of 32 (78%) from the Fast 6.

All nine races here were won by a Top eight starter, so to get to the bottom of who wins Saturday, lets focus on the top eight then.

Romain Grosjean, Josef Newgarden, Jack Harvey, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Conor Daly, Rinus VeeKay and Colton Herta made up this list. Five of those eight have never won an Indy Car race before while another had just one win. Newgarden (18 wins) and Herta (4 wins) are actually the only drivers in the top nine even to have actually visited victory lane in an Indy Car race.

So, give me Newgarden for the win. He won in October from second and I think he does so again. I’ll take Harvey for a runner-up. He was on the podium as a rookie here in 2019. I’ll take the rookie in Grosjean in third as he says this track suits his driving style.