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PHILLIPS: A Bumper Crop
Written by: David Phillips
Senior writer, RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
05/06/2008 - 11:06 AM
Indianapolis, Ind.
 
Newman/Haas/Lanigan's pair of Indy rookies are part of a strong group of newcomers for the Month of May. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Thanks to a veritable perfect storm of emerging young talent and idiosyncratic nomenclature – to say nothing of a long overdue measure of political and fiscal common sense – the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 promises to feature one of the strongest crop of rookies in history.

On the one hand you have what might be called the natural emergence of “homegrown” talent in the forms of the past two Firestone Indy Lights (nee Indy Pro) Series champions Jay Howard and Alex Lloyd, along with ’07 runner-up Hideki Mutoh and Jaime Camara, winner of the ’05 Firestone Freedom 100. Then there is Ryan Hunter-Reay who, although he has six IndyCar Series starts and ’07 Rookie of the Year honors on his résumé, has never competed in the Indianapolis 500 itself. Indeed, were the ’08 rookie class to go no deeper than Messrs. Camara, Howard, Hunter-Reay, Lloyd and Mutoh it would already be stronger than some previous Mays, such as the fabled class of ’79 which featured Howard “Howdy” Holmes. Enough said.

(In contrast, consider 1963 which included Art Malone, Al Miller . . . and Jim Clark, Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser. 1965? Bill Foster, Bobby Johns, Masten Gregory, Arnie Knepper, Mickey Rupp, George Snider . . . and Mario Andretti, Gordon Johncock. Joe Leonard and Al Unser.)

As you may have gleaned by now, though, this is no average May in Indianapolis. Thanks to the unification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car, there is a host of other newcomers on hand. And while some of this group – Franck Perera, Mario Moraes, and E.J. Viso – are still wet behind the proverbial ear – the likes of Enrique Bernoldi, Mario Dominguez, Oriol Servia, Will Power and Justin Wilson bring a powerful lot of experience ranging from Formula 1 to Champ Car wins and near-championships to the table. Then there’s a callow 19-year-old named Graham Rahal who won his first race in this unified era.

By most measures, of course, Messrs. Bernoldi, Dominguez, Servia, Power, Rahal and Wilson are not rookies. But, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway like the Indy 500 itself, is unique in both its challenges and its traditions. Remember, even world champions Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Nigel Mansell competed in their first Indy 500s
as rookies.

Assuming all goes well for the newcomers over the next two weeks, more than 40 percent of this year’s starting field could be rookies. That prospect has already caused some to speculate that this year could produce the first rookie winner since two fellows named Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya did the job in successive Mays back in 2001 and Y2K. Like many of this year’s rookies, Castroneves and Montoya brought considerable experience along with them in their inaugural Indy 500; but like Clark, Hill and Mansell they still had to face the special challenge that is the Month of May for the first time.

“This is a very difficult place, and the race is incredibly difficult too,” opined ’07 winner Dario Franchitti on Monday. “I think the rookies, the guys who haven’t been here before, are going to have their work cut out. The rookie teams as well; they are going to have to have their work cut out because their are certain tricks to making these cars go fast and it takes a while to learn those as a driver, an engineer and a mechanic. It will be tough. And then you look at those drivers at the top of their game and the teams at the top of their game, it makes it difficult. I think as far as the talent of the drivers and the teams, it’s definitely up there. They just need experience.”

Certainly it would be an upset were one of the rookies to win the race. With all due respect to Messrs. Castroneves and Montoya, this year’s field is considerably deeper in driver and team talent than those they faced less than a decade ago. Even if no rookie downs a bottle of milk on the afternoon of May 25, however, one of them is sure to be named rookie of the year. And make no mistake, just as winning the first “unified” Indy 500 will be special, so – unlike some previous years – the title “2008 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year” figures to be very meaningful indeed.

David Phillips is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.
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