Welcome back to the #INDYCAR Fantasy Challenge driven by Firestone. We hope you had a nice break from taxing your brain to come up with the highest-scoring Verizon IndyCar Series fantasy squad.
Experience, experience, experience is the motif I followed in choosing my team for this weekend’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.
The field of 22 drivers entered this weekend have a total of 14 race wins in 500-mile events. The quartet of drivers I’ve drafted have 64 percent of those trips to victory lane.
It also doesn’t hurt that three of my squad finished in the top four at this year’s Indianapolis 500, and the quartet combined to lead 144 of the 200 laps that made up this year’s “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Will Power ($30), the winner of the three of the last four 500-mile superspeedway races, including the past two ABC Supply 500 events at Pocono Raceway, will anchor my four-driver squad this weekend. In the five Verizon IndyCar Series races held at the “Tricky Triangle,” the Aussie has an average finish of 4.0, the best among active drivers, and has led in each of those races as well.
With 34 500-mile and 43 superspeedway starts, veteran Tony Kanaan ($18) is my "value" pick. The winner of four superspeedway races during his 21-year career has led in all five races at Pocono Raceway. Those five races led are part of a more extended streak of 16 straight superspeedway races, going back to the 2012 Indianapolis 500, that that has seen the Brazilian lead a lap. It also doesn’t hurt AJ Foyt Racing driver was one of only five drivers – and the only non-rookie – to test on the 2.5-mile oval last week.
It easily could have been all downhill for Alexander Rossi ($32) after winning in his first superspeedway race, the 100th Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil in 2016. However, his results since have shown that the former Formula One driver has a knack for superb results in 500-mile events. The Californian has led all five of his starts on the 2.5-mile ovals that the Verizon IndyCar Series visits. Outside of a crazy pit-road encounter with Charlie Kimball and Helio Castroneves at Pocono in 2016, he has finished those races on the lead lap and inside the top seven.
Ed Carpenter ($20), who sat on the pole and finished second at the Indianapolis 500 in May, is currently in the top five (among drivers competing this weekend) in 500-mile race starts, wins, poles, podiums and number of races led.
My foursome set me back $100, the first time this season that I’ve spent “max” dollars on my team. Be sure to get your selections in before the green flag waves just after 2 p.m. ET Sunday. Don’t forget to tune into the ABC Supply 500 on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
Even if you haven’t been playing the #INDYCAR Fantasy Challenge all season, you can still join this weekend and be in the running for weekly prizes. To sign up or choose your team, visit fantasy.indycar.com.