Five things to watch in Kentucky Indy 300

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Five things to watch in the Kentucky Indy 300 on the 1.5-mile, variably-banked Kentucky Speedway oval:

Breaking up the pack

After last Saturday night’s thriller at Chicagoland Speedway that featured high-speed racing in packs, Kentucky Speedway is more of a handling track that rewards the drivers and teams that have the best setup on the race car for the track conditions. The racing will be close, but the cars won’t be in large packs.

“There is going to be more emphasis on the balance of the car at Kentucky than at Chicagoland,” Marco Andretti said.

Fifth-place starter Hideki Mutoh certainly hopes there is more breathing room.

“It was huge pack racing last week and that is very exciting but also very difficult,” he said.

Keep an eye on Kanaan

At the Indianapolis 500, Tony Kanaan started last in the 33-car field, passed eight cars at the start of the race and made it all the way to second place before he had to pit late in the race for fuel and finished 11th. He started 13th last Saturday and made his way through the pack on the first few laps before finishing fifth. Kanaan gets another chance as he starts 26th.

“Watch the race and see how many cars I pass at the start,” Kanaan promised. “I passed seven cars at the start last week and eight cars at Indy on the first lap so let’s see if I break the record Saturday. It’s going to be an exciting race.”

Bumps play a part

The track surface has worn with age and has accumulated bumps throughout the race course. The bumps used to be most noticeable in the turns, but according to many drivers the bumps are everywhere on the 1.5-mile oval.

“At first it was in one of two spots but now the bumps are repetitive,” Sarah Fisher said. “It shatters my teeth, but not as bad as Nashville Superspeedway used to.”

Kanaan believes the bumps are the worst in the top lane of Turn 4.

“You have to judge how much understeer you have in the car and over the bumps the car becomes really dodgy so you have to be careful,” Kanaan said. “To hold the bottom and hitting the bumps it will get really loose. Because of the nature of this track, you won’t see a pack race.”

How long will the new names stay up front?

With Ed Carpenter starting on the pole, Mutoh fifth, rookie Bertrand Baguette sixth, Mario Moraes seventh and Tomas Scheckter 10th, there’s a different mix up front than other races this season. This could lead to some interesting battles, especially with two cars from Conquest Racing in the top 10 (Baguette and Scheckter) and Carpenter returning to the track where he nearly won his first race last year.

So, for those fans who want to see someone different, keep an eye on these guys. But in Friday night’s final practice session, Carpenter was the only one of these drivers in the top 10.

The backup could produce

Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed in Friday’s qualification attempt and will start last in the 27-car field, but the Andretti Autosport driver was 15th in the final practice session in his backup car. If he stays out of trouble, he is a good candidate to finish in the top 10 or even the top five if pit strategy and a few breaks go his way.