Indy 500

FACTS AND FIGURES

* Event -- Today, the 90th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

* TV -- Televised live by Channel 7. Coverage begins at 9 a.m.

* Distance -- 500 miles; 200 laps around the asphalt-on-brick Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, a 2 1/2 -mile rectangular oval.

* Sanctioning body -- Indy Racing League; also open to Champ Car, USAC, NASCAR, SCCA, Formula One and other drivers through international FIA listing.

* Race cars -- Open-cockpit, open-wheel and single-seat, with three-liter, 670-horsepower normally aspirated Honda HI6R Indy V-8 engines.

* Pace car -- Chevrolet Corvette, driven by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

* Race start -- 10 a.m. PDT from a flying start, following warmup, parade and pace laps.

* Finish -- Standings are unofficial until posted by the IRL.

* Number of starters -- 33 cars, three abreast in each of 11 rows.

* Pole position -- Sam Hornish Jr., who averaged 228.985 mph in four-lap qualifications. Will start first, the inside of the front row.

* Slowest qualifier -- Rookie Thiago Medeiros of Brazil, who averaged 215.729 mph. Will start 33rd, the outside of the 11th row.

* Fastest rookie -- Marco Andretti, son of Michael and grandson of Mario Andretti, who averaged 224.918. Will start ninth.

* Slowest rookie -- Medeiros.

* 2005 winner -- Dan Wheldon, who averaged 157.603 mph for his first win at Indianapolis.

* Former winners in race (6) -- Al Unser Jr. (1992, 1994), Buddy Lazier (1996), Eddie Cheever (1998), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004), Dan Wheldon (2005).

* Rookies in race (5) -- Marco Andretti, P.J. Chesson, Arie Luyendyk Jr., Thiago Medeiros, Townsend Bell.

* Youngest in race -- Marco Andretti, 19 (Born March 13, 1987).

* Oldest in race -- Eddie Cheever, 48 (Born Jan. 10, 1958)

* Most previous races -- Al Unser Jr. (17).

* Foreign-born (14) -- Helio Castroneves, Brazil; Felipe Giaffone, Brazil; Kosuke Matsuura, Japan; Vitor Meira, Brazil; Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Tony Kanaan, Brazil; Tomas Scheckter, South Africa; Dan Wheldon, England; Arie Luyendyk Jr., Netherlands; Max Papis, Italy; Airton Dare, Brazil; Stephan Gregoire, France; Thiago Medeiros, Brazil.

* Field average in qualifications -- 222.688 mph (Record 228.648 mph, 2002)

* Qualification record -- 236.986 mph, Arie Luyendyk, 1996.

* Race record -- 185.981 mph, Arie Luyendyk, 1990.

* Closest finish -- 0.043 of a second, Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear, 1992.

* Purse -- Depends on attendance and accessory awards; 2005 payoff was a record $10.3 million, of which winner Dan Wheldon received $1.54 million (not a record) for Andretti Green Racing.

* Crowd -- Estimated at 400,000. Speedway never discloses attendance but acknowledges to more than 250,000 reserved seats in permanent stands and room for 100,000 or more in the infield.

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THE STARTING LINEUP

*--* Pos. No. Driver Chassis MPH ROW 1 1. (6) Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara 228.985 2. (3) Helio Castroneves Dallara 228.008 3. (10) Dan Wheldon Dallara 227.338 ROW 2 4. (9) Scott Dixon Dallara 226.921 5. (11) Tony Kanaan Dallara 226.776 6. (4) Vitor Meira Dallara 226.156 ROW 3 7. (55) Kosuke Matsuura Dallara 225.503 8. (8) Scott Sharp Dallara 225.321 9. (26) r-Marco Andretti Dallara 224.918 ROW 4 10. (16) Danica Patrick Panoz 224.674 11. (2) Tomas Scheckter Dallara 224.659 12. (20) Ed Carpenter Dallara 224.548 ROW 5 13. (1) Michael Andretti Dallara 224.508 14. (15) Buddy Rice Panoz 224.393 15. (90) r-Townsend Bell Dallara 224.374 ROW 6 16. (7) Bryan Herta Dallara 224.179 17. (27) Dario Franchitti Dallara 223.345 18. (52) Max Papis Dallara 222.058 ROW 7 19. (51) Eddie Cheever Dallara 222.028 20. (91) r-P.J. Chesson Dallara 221.576 21. (14) Felipe Giaffone Dallara 221.542 ROW 8 22. (92) Jeff Bucknum Dallara 221.461 23. (41) Larry Foyt Dallara 221.332 24. (21) Jaques Lazier Panoz , 221.151 ROW 9 25 (5) Buddy Lazier Dallara 220.922 26 (17) Jeff Simmons Panoz 220.347 27 (31) Al Unser Jr. Dallara 219.388 ROW 10 28. (12) Roger Yasukawa Panoz 218.793 29. (88) Airton Dare Panoz 218.170 30. (97) Stephan Gregoire Panoz 217.428 ROW 11 31. (61) r-Arie Luyendyk Jr. Panoz 216.352 32. (98) PJ Jones Panoz 215.816 33. (18) r-Thiago Medeiros Panoz 215.729

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r-rookie; field average: 222.688 mph

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IRL SCHEDULE

*--* June 4 Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Watkins Glen, N.Y. June 10 Bombardier Learjet 500 Fort Worth June 24 SunTrust Indy Challenge Richmond, Va. July 2 Kansas Indy 300 Kansas City, Kan. July 15 Firestone Indy 200 Nashville July 23 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225 West Allis, Wis. July 30 Firestone Indy 400 Brooklyn, Mich. August 13 Kentucky Indy 300 Sparta, Ky. August 27 Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix Sonoma, Calif. Sept. 9 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Joliet, Ill.

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POINTS LEADERS

*--* Rank Driver Points Behind Wins Winnings 1 Helio Castroneves 146 Leader 2 $392,850 2 Dan Wheldon 104 -42 1 $284,350 3 Sam Hornish Jr. 94 -52 0 $234,150 4 Scott Dixon 92 -54 0 $219,050 5 Tony Kanaan 89 -57 0 $235,300 6 Kosuke Matsuura 80 -66 0 $172,100 7 Bryan Herta 77 -69 0 $176,600 8 Vitor Meira 64 -82 0 $162,700 9 Dario Franchitti 63 -83 0 $170,000 10 Felipe Giaffone 61 -85 0 $150,200

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