Published: May 12, 2008 11:57 pm            

Ramblin' Reck: Who will win Indy 500? It’ll be pole-sitter Dixon

Indy has been plagued by lots of rain this month, curtailing activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was dry and pretty nice Saturday, though, and the first 11 spots for the 92nd Indy 500 were filled. Drivers said wind was a factor, but otherwise conditions were good.

Scott Dixon will be on the pole for the first time for the race and he will seek his first win in the big one. Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon will start second and Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe fills out the front row.

Dixon has been solid all season and nearly won the IndyCar Series title last year; he finished second in the 500.

Thus, he is our pick to win the race. If he doesn’t, Wheldon could do it. So could Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti or a darkhorse such as Vitor Meira or Tomas Scheckter.

With most of the good open-wheel drivers in the field except for Paul Tracy, who still is looking for a ride, the race should be another good one and the most competitive in years.

Rose-Hulman grad Tim Cindric is president of Team Penske and grew up in Speedway. He points out that in the race’s best years, only a few drivers really had legitimate chances to win the race. “That’s not so now. The competition is stronger,” he says of the field.

Oriol Servia is one of the new drivers in the race. He will attempt to qualify on Saturday.

He spoke to the media following his first attempt last Saturday. “I have always dreamed of racing at Indy. Of course, I dreamed I won the pole and the race,” he said with a grin.

Hopefully, the rains will hold off some this week to give him, Graham Rahal, Buddy Rice, Davey Hamilton, John Andretti and others a chance to get ready for Saturday’s qualifying session when the final 22 spots will be filled. If it happens, Sunday will be Bump Day.

• • •

• Wildcats busy — South Vermillion had a busy week in softball last week, ending Western Indiana Conference play against Northview and Edgewood.

The Wildcats handed Northview its first defeat in the league, winning 1-0, but lost to Edgewood to finish 5-1 in the conference. That mark will be good for second, or a share of the championship if some team beats the Mustangs, now 4-0 in the WIC.

The Wildcats also could get another shot at Edgewood in the Class 3A sectional that will be played at South Vermillion.

Edgewood also claimed girls and boys track titles and won the boys golf championship last week. Its baseball team is 3-1 with a big game coming up against West Vigo soon.

• • •

• Tom-Cattin’ It — Indiana got another good recruit last week in point guard Verdell Jones from Champaign Central in Illinois.

The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 17.6 points and 6.5 assists his senior season.

Kyle Kuric of Evansville Memorial signed with Louisville as expected. He averaged 20.8 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Tigers.

• Drake and Creighton are the Missouri Valley Conference teams in the NCAA softball tournament. Purdue is another team in the field.

• Josh Phegley socked his 11th homer for IU in baseball last week and has 38 RBIs in Big Ten games, nearing the record of 42 as the former Terre Haute North standout continues a stellar season.

• Former IU player Greg Graham was expected to be named boys basketball coach at Warren Central this week.

• SIU-Edwardsville sought an NCAA Division II softball regional championship last week. Sandy Montgomery of Casey is the coach at the school which will be going to Division I in the future.



Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at treck@ma.rr.com or by mail at 4276 South 5th Street, Terre Haute, IN 47802.

        

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