I think the rain in and around Indy has stopped for the most part, but there are still spotty showers here and there and possibly more heading this way. And since all it takes is a cupful of rain in the wrong spot to bring the 500 to a screeching halt, it could be a stop-and-go (or at least slow down-speed up-slow down-speed up) type day at the Brickyard. Of course, rain in the morning will likely lead to enough sunshine in the afternoon to get the race in and a chance for every local weather person that called for “thunderstorms that might push us back to Monday” to flop to “I told you all week(end) that the showers were out there, but we would get the sun to finish the race.” It’s a tradition almost as big as the yard of bricks itself.

Any-hoo, in years past, I’ve “picked” the full 33-car field, and realize afterwards that combinations of bad luck and bad drivers makes the last 2/3 (or more) of the field insignificant, so I’ll stick to randomly throwing out 11 names. I’d like to pick Tony Kanaan again, because (again) he’s consistently run well here, but never breaks through. But, I like TK, and if I pick him, he’s got no shot. I like Helio, but picking the winner from the pole always feels like cheating. And I’ve got Dan Wheldon in the office pool, so I don’t feel right jinxing him. Could Sam Hornish, Jr. repeat? I don’t remember a lot about past years, especially before I moved out this way, but he seems to be getting less love than many former champions get around here, much less the defending champ. I’ll call for the repeat.

1. Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Marco Andretti
4. Helio Castroneves
5. Scott Sharp
6. Scott Dixon
7. Dan Wheldon
8. Darren Manning
9. Dario Franchitti
10. Tomas Scheckter
11. Danica Patrick

I just hope for a full race, all 200 laps, and Milka Duno to wake up and remember she’s driving an Indy car out there, not a minivan.