The Voice Top 6 Sing-Off Special Tweet-By-Tweet

And then there were six. As Season 5 of "The Voice" enters its final month, the remaining contestants take the stage on Monday (Dec. 2) to fight of America's vote, tackling two songs each.From left to right - Cole Vosbury, Will Champlin, Matthew Schuler, Tessanne Chin, James Wolpert, and Jacquie Lee. Image Credit: Zap 2 It via NBC


The Voice Top 6 Sing-Off Special Tweet-By-Tweet

Last night, the singing talent search television program The Voice was nearing the end of its Fall 2013 edition (fifth season) with just six singers left in the mix. Cole Vosbury - Team Blake Shelton, Will Champlin - Team Adam Levin, Matthew Schuler - Team Christina Aguilera, Tessanne Chin - Team Adam Levin, James Wolpert - Team Adam Levin, and Jacquie Lee - Christina Aguilera. CeeLo Green's choices as singer's to coach did not make it to this round so he is left to just sit and judge the performances of his fellow singing coaches.

The fun in New Media is that everyone is able to have and, more importantly,  express an opinion.

Using Twitter has its benefits primarily because it limits one to express these opinions to 140 characters or less ... including hashtag communications channel indexing.

Carson Daly designed a special RIDES Magazine edition of the KIA Soul transformed for The Voice - as it was displayed at the LAAuto Show - SLIDESHOW Link. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Now that there are only 6 singers in the running to be crowned the winner of The Voice, each had to sing two songs in order to fill Monday night's two-hour episode: one assigned by their coach and one they can pick in dedication to a source of inspiration.

This The Voice judges chair replica was stationed in the KIA Stand at the LA Auto Show along with Carson Daly's The Voice KIA Soul! Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE as he registers his button push for Tessanne Chin as the winner of this Season Five of The Voice. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

The following is a Tweet-By-Tweet review of the evenings performances with added video links to each opinion entry:

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE What about Cole Vosbury on a Hall & Oats classic? #thevioce #finalsix #colevosbury #TeamBlake

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE WOW - gotta' love Tessanne doin' a Marley classic - THE BEST #thevoice #finalsix #tessanne #TeamAdam

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Matthew Schuler was saved last week and now we don't know why with a 1D choice of song - weak #thevoice #finalsix #matthewschuler #TeamChristina

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE WillChamplin takes on Sam Cooke and looses himself in a good way - winning #thevoice #finalsix #WillChamplin #TeamAdam

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE James Wolpert tackles the White Stripes and misses the mark on arrangement and command #thevoice #finalsix #JamesWolpert #TeamAdam

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Jacquie Lee takes on Janis Joplin and hammers it - She's just 16? WOW #thevoice #finalsix #JacquieLee #TeamChristina

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE First round to #Tessanne, #WillChamplin, #ColeVosbury, #JacquieLee, #JamesWolpert, #MatthewSchuler - #thevoice #finalsix #roundone

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Cole Vosbury continues with a blues theme without a hat - it is a little slow and unemotional #thevioce #finalsix #colevosbury #TeamBlake

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Tessanne, singing Katy Perry kills the electro-tinged power ballad - has to win it all - REALLY #thevoice #finalsix #tessanne #TeamAdam

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Matthew Schuler is given a Percy Sledge/Michael Bolton blues song - does surprisingly well #thevoice #finalsix #matthewschuler #TeamChristina

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Will Champlin is tasked with Avicii's "Hey Brother" - starts rough but finds itself by the end #thevoice #finalsix #WillChamplin #TeamAdam

 Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE Jacquie Lee sings a coach Aguilera song - "The Voice Within" - she is too young to match a 2002 Aguilera #thevoice #finalsix #JacquieLee #TeamChristina

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE James Wolpert does very well with a cheesy Meatloaf overplayed hit - moves up but this is it #thevoice #finalsix #JamesWolpert #TeamAdam

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE
Second round to #Tessanne, #MatthewSchuler, #JamesWolpert, #WillChamplin, #ColeVosbury, #JacquieLee - #thevoice #topsix #roundtwo

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE
Best of The Voice season prediction - #Tessanne, #JamesWolpert, #WillChamplin, #ColeVosbury, #JacquieLee, #MatthewSchuler - #thevoice #topsix

So there you have it with video links - the winners will be updated here after tonight's The Voice Season Five finale when the votes are revealed.

UPDATES:

Wish Matthew was saved. But James is entertaining too. Cant complain really #TheVoice

— I Am Who I Am (@silentlyl0ud_) December 4, 2013

You've saved @JamesPWolpert with the #VoiceSave!

— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) December 4, 2013

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE
Round 1 performance by #MatthewSchuler leaves #Tessanne, #WillChamplin, #ColeVosbury, #JacquieLee, #JamesWolpert as your #topfive on #thevoice


Post Show UPDATE I:

On December 17th, 2013, The Voice winner is announced and the viewers voted for Tessanne Chin as the season five winner of The Voice.

Tessanne Chin: "Unconditionally" The Voice USA 2013 - The Live Top 6 Performances - YouTube video >>>

Post Show UPDATE II:

Image Credit: Dany-TheVoiceIDF via YouTube

The Voice Winner Tessanne Chin Performs at the 125th Rose Parade

The season five winner of The Voice joined fellow finalists Jacquie Lee and Will Champlin as featured performers at the 125th Rose Parade on New Year's Day.

The trio performed Tessanne's single "Tumbling Down" while standing on top of a Voice-themed floral float that featured a large, red, "The Voice" judges chair decorated Rose Parade style.

The Voice Float in the Rose Parade (Tessanne Sing Tumbling Down at 5:30) Download - YouTube video >>>

 

Image Credit: Dany-TheVoiceIDF via YouTube

This excerpted and edited from Yahoo TV -

'The Voice' Rose Parade Float Suffers Malfunction
By Lyndsey Parker | Yahoo TV – Wed, Jan 1, 2014 2:37 PM PST

Much of NBC's broadcast of the 125th annual Tournament of Roses Parade seemed like one long hype campaign for "The Voice's" float, ridden by Season 5 winner Tessanne Chin and her fellow finalists Jacquie Lee and Will Champlin. But when the float finally wound its way through the streets of Pasadena, absolutely nothing came up roses for the "Voice" trio.
----
And then there was the technical glitch that forced Hoda [Kotbe] and Al [Roker] to babble for more than five interminable minutes while Tessanne, Jacquie, and the "Adam lookalike" awkwardly waved and waited. For a moment, it didn't look like Tessanne would perform at all ("She's not singing?" Al barked incredulously), before, around the 5:30 mark in the video above, she finally got to belt a mere 47 seconds of her single "Tumbling Down." Sad trombone.

It seems this particular float's roses had their share of thorns.
[Reference Here]

One last look. @Tessanne @jacquieleemusic & @willchamplin, what a way to kick off 2014. Season 6 returns Feb. 24! pic.twitter.com/115L7pjQEz

— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) January 1, 2014

… notes from The EDJE

The ‘Bizzaro World’, Jack-Booted, Freak-Show Of HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Image Credit: itmakessenseblog.com

The ‘Bizzaro World’, Jack-Booted, Freak-Show Of HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius appears before Congress – Let the ‘Bizzaro World’, jack-booted, freak-show begin:

The Madame Secretary Kathleen Sebelius began her answers by proposing that the regulation that amends the law that insurance companies could not longer carry the policies they currently have with consumers – or face penalty – did not allow these consumers to have a policy. The fact remains that consumers could no longer KEEP the policy they had as the President promised.

After blaming the sub-contractors for all of the website problems, Kathleen Sebelius was asked for the name of who was responsible for the debacle – it took Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius over 3 minutes to finally place herself as the person who was ultimately responsible after trying to lay the responsibility at the feet of the sub-contractors.

Friends, meet your new ‘DADDY’ and decision-making ruler over the care for your life. We no longer can make any decisions on whither to expend effort and our own resources on health insurance – YOU MUST buy health insurance – and relinquish the specific decisions that effect the depth and level of actual care in our lives. The Government calls this LAW the Affordable Care Act … we call it ObamaCare.

It took the Madame Secretary nearly a half an hour to point out that the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) was, in fact, the LAW which we must all comply.

The Madame Secretary loved using the term ‘consumers’ for people having to purchase these Government mandated insurance plans – let’s just use the proper term of SUBJECTS! When it is the LAW we all must purchase the few plans (not tailored directly to our needs) mandated by a Government and not available on an open and free market basis, we are no longer customers or consumers.

Further, the Madame Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also loved using the term ‘Health Security’ to explain a benefit of the Affordable Care Act/ObamaCare. These are two words that do not belong together under any philosophical construct. Our individual health and its care is never secure for it is at the will of God, genealogy, and the strength of our own habits – for a Government to assume it can MAKE health and its care ‘secure’ is a tyrannical joke.

Madame Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asserted that consumers/subjects are full of anticipation over the ability to review and purchase their new insurance plans – Anticipation? Let’s just say ANXIETY-riddled fear.

Lastly, there is no security over the information that is shared with any of the healthcare.gov websites – NONE! If there is no security over the government computers that hold the information held that WIKILEAKS exposed, how can anyone assume that their personal information is secure with an UNTESTED and transforming website that did not work since its launch on October, 1, 2013?

Health care is not a right as the politically progressive love to assert, it is only a process – at best.

This very ugly chapter in the history of our radically oriented Personal-Rights and Personal-Freedom based country is just beginning. It is pretty tough when the Supreme Court will not even affirm the basic tenants of the United States Constitution, let alone to have ANY political party stand for them - Democrat or Republican.

Presently - The Obama Administration dictates what constitutes a "grand-fathered" insurance plan ... you know "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan" ... all plans that deviate by as little as one dollar offered by a free-market insurance company to an individual is deemed CANCELLED. Whereas, a plan, no matter how it may change, sold to members of specific organized Unions are deemed "grand-fathered".

We are living in a non equal-access ‘Bizzaro World’, jack-booted, freak-show of a centralized government paradigm.

Peter Brock At AutoBooks-Aerobooks

Peter Brock - Brock's new book on the creation of the first Corvette Sting Ray tells the inside story, from the foreign inspiration to the adoption of prior dreams that never made it, to the actual design of the prototype that did. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Peter Brock At AutoBooks-Aerobooks 
By: Randy Berg

On an unassuming corner of Burbank California, there lies a book shop steeped in the history of the automobile and aero industries that seeded the area with creative gusto. Saturday morning coffee is a tradition with the locals. You never know who is going to stop by and what car you might see when you visit. The book store has great friends, and they don't mind sharing.

It was a great privilege to meet Peter Brock; the very influential automotive design icon from across many brands and eras. On September 7, 2013, Peter was able to introduce his latest book, "PETER BROCK - CORVETTE STINGRAY Genesis of an American Icon," to a group of automobile culture enthusiasts, journalists, and friends (which may all be people who share these same descriptions).

Peter gives much credit of the survival of the Corvette to Bill Mitchell; and understates his contribution to a formative period of Corvette evolution; the '63 Stingray. The book is coffee table worthy; chock-a-block full of beautiful pictures, original sketches, and personable Corvette history as it happened.

Autobooks-Aerobooks Burbank, CA. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Jay Leno, Stewart Reed & Peter Brock book shopping. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Peter could write a few other books - parked out front was the beautiful  Superformance Brock Daytona Coupe based on his original design for Shelby. Thought ugly on first review, the design was an aerodynamic winner on the track. Success has followed Peter in each wind direction.

Peter Brock's personal 2005 Superformance Brock Daytona Coupe. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Corvette Stingray. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Datsun 710. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Triumph TR4A IRS. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

Citroën Traction Avant - Itself an innovative car (in 1934!) showcasing the first mass-produced front-wheel drive car. Image Credit: Randy Berg, Special Car Store

(ht: Special Car Store with edits by Edmund Jenks)

... notes from The EDJE

“Rush”, The Film - An Automotive Lifestyle POV

Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt - Entry ticket to a Brembo sponsored advanced screening to Ron Howard's "RUSH", a spectacular big-screen re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, which will make its U.S. public release in selected theaters on September 20, everywhere else on September 27. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks

“Rush”, The Film - An Automotive Lifestyle POV

By: James Groth, Miles Ahead Communications for The Motor Sports-Report

The film “Rush” is appropriately named and delivers a high-octane adrenaline rush that is non-stop and intense.   Director Ron Howard has given race fans a film that will rank with the all time greats of “Le Mans”, “Bullitt” and “Winning”.  He meets the standard of those iconic films and has set the current bar higher for race and car based films. This is not “Driven” or “Days of Thunder” this is the serious approach to racing films and it’s a checkered flag finish for “Rush”

Before Howard could deliver a film of this quality and magnitude he had to satisfy his investors and the studio that this project would have broad appeal to a general audiences as entertainment.  He succeeded by having Peter Morgan write a strong character driven story that has the 1976 Formula 1 Championship as its base. The intenseness is properly balanced between the action on the track and between the twin lead characters James Hunt and Niki Lauda.  The intensely level is into the “red line” of my tachometer and had me unable to sit still during some race scenes.  The track action shots seem to meld seamlessly with the CGI to where it is not an issue.

Race fans will not be disappointed with the F1 cars and the selected racetracks.  The scenes in the rain are the most impressive rather than the expected crashes. Many of the crashes are hard to watch because of the reality of death and major injury that was and to a much lessor degree are part of the sport.  While the 1950’s and 1960’s were the worst for driver fatalities it was still a major factor in 1976.  Director Howard communicates that fear and shows it needs to be heeded or pay a high price.

It terms of general audience appeal, Director Howard scores major points for exceptional entertainment without predictability and stereotypes.  Howard captures the essence of era’s style and attitude. The clothing is period correct as are the beautiful women wearing them. “Rush” features gorgeous women throughout the film that are not overplayed, Olivia Wilde is spot on as James Hunt’s wife.  

Serious consideration for “Best Supporting Actress” should be given to Alexandra Maria Lara for playing the role of Lauda’s wife. Alexandra Maria Lara is silent but strong during adversity and tragedy, yet she remains sensual and is a calming force.  She is the winner in the end…

Motor Press Guild photographers, journalists, and motor culture public relations operatives gather for a special screening of Ron Howard's 'RUSH' put on by Brembo. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

The heart of Morgan’s story is the rivalry between Hunt and Lauda to be the best in their sport and win the F1 Championship; each has their own unique style. Playboy driver Hunt is played perfectly by Chris Hemsworth. Hunt is a man absolutely willing to die on the track to win and who lives even more reckless off the track.

The casting is exceptional throughout but the choice of Daniel Brul (with an umlaut over the u) was brilliant, as is his performance as F1 World Champion Niki Lauda. Mr. Brul deserves a nomination for his depiction of a complex man, ever calculating and perhaps until now misunderstood champion.  Brul’s performance will also be remembered for how we are able to warm up to Lauda’s manner.  

Austrian by birth Lauda has a drive to succeed that is unmatched by his fellow top drivers.  Lauda takes every bit of his God given ability and finds ways to maximize it in what he is best suited for F1, the elite level of motor racing. He has even calculated his risk of death to be 20%.  Lauda is willing to chance his life at 20% but we learn not a single percentage point beyond.

Lauda is best at finding a edge over the competition at every level, design, weight, drag coefficient and tolerating pain… Lauda’s best strength though is his will.  He is stronger willed than the competition and is the upmost logical about every decision he makes. We get words of wisdom from him as well as examples of how to race to win and live to tell about it.  With all this going for him Lauda is respected but not liked by the fellow drivers, so states Hunt.  I appreciate that Lauda retains a “Gentlemen Racer” attitude but he backs down to no one.

This film is significant to Brembo as it tells the story of the 1976 season, when Lauda’s Ferrari with Brembo brakes was a key player in one of the most epic chapters of Formula 1. It was in 1975 that Enzo Ferrari first asked Brembo, the Italian manufacturer of high-performance braking systems, to equip his legendary Scuderia Ferrari with brake discs. Image Credit: RUSH, the film via Brembo

Background:

I know this era well having taken part by covering the first Formula 5000 and F1 Grand Prix of Long Beach for magazine.  By the time the McLaren team was racing at Long Beach in 1982 and 1983 I was with Jaguar Cars Inc. as West Coast Advertising &PR Mgr. Thanks to Leyland Bus & Truck, Jaguar was a sponsor of the Williams Team winner Alan Jones in 1981 and 1982 & 1983 a sponsor of the McLaren Team.

At Long Beach in 1982 Niki Lauda won with his McLaren MP4/1B-Ford with teammate John Watson finishing sixth.  For 1983 veteran John Watson won in the McLaren MP4/1C-Ford and Lauda finished second in his MP4.  During these years as a sponsor we had “meet the driver” events that I put on at local restaurants, affording all of us one on one time with the drivers. The film depicts how Lauda was always seeking an edge, ones that eventually got adopted into the sport, at this period he had found a new edge.  As part of his intense training and conditioning he now had a regimented diet.  

Lauda was not fond of these types of events so my time with him was brief but positive.  I had longer conversations with teammate John Watson who spoke of the planned meals Lauda ate three times a day, prepared by the team nutritionist for him. Watson was on it too but only for one meal a day.  It’s common these days, but for the time Lauda once again was a pioneer.  The competition between the cars and drivers was extremely close, so any edge counts.  Given the rigors of the sport it was conditioning that would help make enough of a difference for Lauda to repeat as a World Champion after 1975 again in 1977 and 1984.   

  

Dario Franchitti Enjoys Some Downtime Before Indy's GoPro Sonoma

Dario Franchitti Enjoys Some Downtime Before Indy's GoPro Sonoma

Last week, between races, IndyCar stand out driver for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Dario Franchitti visited the motor culture event that coincides the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Vintage Motorsports TV's Thomas Stahler had a chance to chat with Dario at the Automobilia (vintage items, posters, books, and etc. for exchange) tent for a few minutes before Dario had to engage into what he does best ... drive.

This next weekend, Dario will be competing in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma with an incredible field of championship-minded drivers where Dario holds a unique distinction. Dario Franchitti's average finish in competition at Sonoma Raceway is the highest of all of the leading drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES TOP 10 AT SONOMA - Image Credit: indycar.com

To look at this information from a stack ranking perspective ... one can say Dario Franchitti has a distinct performance advantage on the track at Sonoma Raceway.

Top 10 In 2013 Championship Points Chase Sonoma Raceway Finishing Record Plus Two Honorable Mentions - Top average finishing position stack ranking:

Dario Franchitti - 3.4

Ryan Briscoe - 6.7

Scott Dixon - 7.1

Will Power - 7.3

Helio Castroneves - 7.5

Justin Wilson - 8.3

Tony Kanaan - 9.0

Simon Pagenaud - 11.0

Marco Andretti - 15.1

Ryan Hunter-Reay - 15.2

James Hinchcliffe - 16.5

Charlie Kimball - 23.5

Interesting analytical look at the facts ... but let's just run the race, 'cause that's why we race ... OKAY?

... notes from The EDJE

Democrat Political Party Leadership On Invasive Keystroke Surveillance

If you thought the National Security Agency's collection of Verizon phone-call data was bad, wait until you hear about the seven-year-old, previously undisclosed classified government program that works with nine very major U.S. Internet companies to secretly scrape your online life and has become "the most prolific contributor" to President Obama's daily intelligence report and is "increasingly" important to the NSA. Caption Credit & Image Credit: theatlanticwire.com

Democrat Political Party Leadership On Invasive Keystroke Surveillance

At what point in time does having the ability to have a private life cease to be viable in a Bill-Of-Rights, Rule-Of-Law, Constitutionally protected society?

The answer can be found when a Government becomes so big and fearful of its citizens that it violates the trust between the institutions of Government and the citizens these institutions were established to serve on behalf of the citizens.

Yesterday, a United Kingdom news service, The Daily Guardian, issued a second in a series of information articles about the United States Government’s information gathering programs run by the National Security Agency and other government institutions under the mission of curbing terrorism.

The first information based article highlighted that Verizon was turning over, wholesale, all phone call information it had on its hundreds of millions calls per day, to the NSA for the Government to use however it saw fit to use. The information included phone numbers, time of call, location of both phones on the call, duration, an other key digital data that was associated with the call in a practice that has been termed by some as a DRAGNET.

The information in the second article in as many days from the UK’s Guardian (where are the American news services on this exposure and investigation of this information?) highlights that this Democrat Political Party led Government was also collecting EVERY KEYSTROKE a person types on the internet in order to communicate the who, what, when, where, and why they are.

This excerpted and edited from The Guardian -


NSA snooping on massive amounts of personal data from major U.S. Internet companies
By Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian – Thursday, June 6, 2013


The participation of the internet companies in PRISM will add to the debate, ignited by the Verizon revelation, about the scale of surveillance by the intelligence services. Unlike the collection of those call records, this surveillance can include the content of communications and not just the metadata.

Some of the world’s largest internet brands are claimed to be part of the information-sharing program since its introduction in 2007. Microsoft – which is currently running an advertising campaign with the slogan “Your privacy is our priority” – was the first, with collection beginning in December 2007.

It was followed by Yahoo in 2008; Google, Facebook and PalTalk in 2009; YouTube in 2010; Skype and AOL in 2011; and finally Apple, which joined the program in 2012. The program is continuing to expand, with other providers due to come online.

Collectively, the companies cover the vast majority of online email, search, video and communications networks.
(Reference Here)

T R U E   C O L O R S !!

The Bush Administration first found folks to be suspicious of … then asked for phone record information about these individuals … and followed the trail.

The Democrat Political Party led Obama Administration uses this post 9/11 law – the Patriot Act – to cast a net on ALL individuals, assuming that ALL of us are potential terrorists. 

After using information to target Obama Administration questioners through the power of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), does anyone believe that this broad net information would be used for your personal good??? – THIS is why the United States HAS a Constitution and a Bill-Of-Rights backed with a Rule-Of-Law.

Senator Barack Obama ran for President saying that the Bush Administration practice was un-American and that his government would do away with these snooping practices – in practice, however, he lied to each and everyone of us and is collecting information on each and everyone of us – WITHOUT DUE CAUSE OR SUSPICION!

President Barack Obama’s T R U E   C O L O R S !!!


**Article first published as Democrat Political Party Leadership on Invasive Keystroke Surveillance on Technorati**

Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 1 Results >>> @TheEDJE – Dale Coyne Racing nets a P1 Conway and a P3 Wilson for a double podium finish after waiting 25 years for first win. Top 10 – 1 Conway, 2 RHR, 3 Wilson, 4 Dixon, 5 Castroneves, 6 Franchitti, 7 Newgarden, 8 Power, 9 Rahal, 10 Jakes!!! Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves by finishing 5th captures the season points through six of nineteen races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet

The IZOD IndyCar Series experimented with a format of holding two street/road course races at the same venue over the same weekend and by most anyone's standards, the weekend was a great success. This was be the first time IndyCar had tried this format for this type of racing (not an oval) and going in, people wondered if the physical demands of driver and track could hold up to the pressure and rigors of two 70 lap races in two days ... after all, the drivers were not just turning the car to the left all the time and last year, parts of the track surface came apart with about 25% of the race still to be run. Another concern was the potential of the typical spring pop-up shower but the weather only became a bit of a factor during the first qualifying session on Friday - the rest of the weekend was fine.

In hosting the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series doubleheader in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans, there are several new features to the street circuit for the race weekend **Extended the circuit to create more overtaking opportunities. A half-mile straightaway between Turns 2 and 3 has been added **More than 100,000 square feet of road surface has been refurbished **Curbing at Turns 3 and 4 has been reworked or removed to create tighter turns and, consequently, more overtaking opportunities. Image Credit: IICS

The first race was an exciting affair that featured passing due to the new, longer and wider configuration and very few YELLOW Flag cautions. The race was won by a first time winner from a smaller team that has two British drivers for street/road course races - Mike Conway driving for Dale Coyne Racing's Sonny's Bar-B-Que sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12. Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne's full-season driver of the Boy Scouts of America sponsored Honda-powered Dallara DW12 had won the only other races for the team with two wins (one street/road course and one oval) came in at P3 giving the team a first-time double podium.

Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Justin bends over to congratulate Mike Conway on his first ever IZOD IndyCar Series win in Race 1. Image Credit: IICS

Before the Dual in Detroit Race 1 was run, in the morning's warm-up and Race 2 qualifications session, Mike Conway had already secured the Pole position for Race 2 so there was a lot of anticipation for Conway to become a double race winner for this first Dual in Detroit and take home a $50,000 prize in doing so.

Winning sportcar and Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports driver, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud became the second first-time IZOD IndyCar Series race winner in as many days. Pagenaud started from row 3 in P6 ... six positions better than he finished Race 1 on Saturday at P12. He's the sixth different winner -- from six different countries -- in seven races and the fourth first-time winner this season (Hinchcliffe, Sato, Conway, and Pagenaud). Image Credit: Simon Pagenaud via FB

The following New Media entries are a combination of Tweets from Twitter and comments from the author in observance to the events that transpired during the Dual in Detroit Race 2 … welcome to the 7th race of this 19 race IZOD IndyCar Series 2013 season -

@stephanie_b_89
"@INDYCARPR: FULL COURSE YELLOW: Car No. 2 makes contact with the wall. #DetroitGP #IndyCar" @AJDinger : (

@Joshua_Rogers
Dinger wads up another car. Perhaps he needs to stick with vehicles with fenders. #IndyCar #DetriotGP

@DawnsKiss
@12WillPower Leader #IndyCar #Dual2 #Detroit under caution

@estradawriting
Power apparently got past Conway before the yellow light. Willy P your new leader. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@DannieAsphall
"@INDYCARPR: Back to green on Lap 4. @Mikeconway26 took the lead entering Turn 1 on Lap 5. #DetroitGP #IndyCar"

@HalfShaftBlues
#IndyCar powerhouses Mike Conway & Dale Coyne Racing continue their dominance, while plucky upstarts like Penske & Ganassi keep hope alive.

@ComingToTheFlag
Simona in the wall. Full course caution. #indycar

@MattEmbury
oh and Simona de Silvestro's dead in the water turn 9. Crash. #indycar #detroitgp

LAP 10 of 70 - 1-Conway 2-Power 3-Pagenaud 4-RHR 5-Jakes 6-Dixon 7-Viso 8-Wilson 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Castroneves

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 13

@ScottManifold
Reds should last longer today with more rubber down. #indycar

@MattEmbury
@IAIndyFan Several as I predicted before the race, interesting though that Power and Pagenaud stayed out on reds. #indycar #detroitgp

@WoodsiesGarage
Josef Newgarden slows on the backstretch as the track goes yellow again. Most of this race has been run under caution. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@AutoweekRacing
Cation out again for crash involving @tagliani. Sheesh. #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@jopijedd
I think it is time for the traditional "Ed Carpenter struggling with the fact that this circuit has corners in BOTH directions"... #indycar

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 15

@BaronVonClutch
.@EJVISO has damage after contact with @h3lio's car. #IndyCar

@TomcatNASCAR
16 laps of #IndyCar is already more exciting than 375 laps of #NASCAR.

@Pablomg228
Difference between Indy and F1: Indy drivers have the guts to try to pass in places like this #detroitgp #indycar

@BoBarkfield
Detroit...crash city! #indycar #DetroitGP

@MattEmbury
Oh and Hunter Reay has a busted suspension, wall contact likely #indycar #detroitgp

LAP 20 of 70 Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Power 3-Pagenaud 4-Dixon 5-Jakes 6-Kimball 7-Castroneves 8-Wilson 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Franchitti

@tonydizinno
Yellow again, wiping out an 8.8 second lead for @Mikeconway26, aka the Stig, aka Conweezy. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

No one is riding on REDS after a round of pitstops on 4th caution - for debris

Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Dixon 3-Kimball 4-Wilson 5-Franchitti 6-Kanaan 7-Vautier 8-Sato 9-Bourdais & 10-Saavedra Top 4 have not pitted

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 23

@CarlsonsRaiders
Meanwhile, they're back to green once again in Detroit! #Indycar #DetroitGP

Vautier touches Sato and sends TAKU in the wall

@FormulaThoughts
Takuma no! :( #SuperSato #Indycar

With all of the YELLOW Flags - 5 now - three fuel strategies seem to playing out

Top 10 - 1-Conway 2-Dixon 3-Franchitti 4-Kanaan 5-Vautier 6-Power 7-Pagenaud 8-Bourdais 9-Hinchcliffe & 10-Andretti - Top 2 yet to pit

@RLenziBlade
It's official: At the 26th lap, half of the #DetroitGP has been run under caution. #IndyCar

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 27

YELLOW Flag - Power gets punted from behind, Wilson, Carpenter, Viso, Tagliani, and Briscoe all involved - Sebastien Bourdais is the culprit on the punt that collected

everyone - Hinchcliffe busts a wing on the way through

@CarlsonsRaiders
Will Power clearly pissed at Bourdais, decides to just throw his gloves rather than the double birds this time. #Indycar #DetroitGP

@npssandy
@indycaradvocate At least it wasn't the track falling apart this year... #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Riiiight ... it's just the drivers that are falling apart

LAP 30 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Kanaan 2-Dixon 3-Vautier 4-Franchitti 5-Bourdais 6-Conway 7-Pagenaud 8-Andretti 9-Jakes & 10-Kimball

@jimlefko
Crazy amount of crashes/cautions at #indycar race at Belle Isle. Infinitely more entertaining though than seeing MConway drive solo in front

@elmondohummus
You know, this race really DOES represent Detroit: No matter what efforts you bring, it all goes downhill. #indycar

@FilipCleeren
Restart order: 11 55 10 7 25 83 9 18 77 67 4 6 1 16 3 20 #detroitgp #indycar

Top 10 - 1-Kanaan 2-Vautier 3-Franchitti 4-Bourdais 5-Andretti 6-Kimball 7-Dixon 8-Conway 9-Pagenaud & 10-Rahal

GREEN Flag Restart - LAP 37

Conway is just carving up the field and he making it look easy - passes three cars left-right-left

@neilhudson
Conway already up to fourth, will be third when Bourdais serves his penalty if he even waits that long #IndyCar

@4TheLoveOfIndy
Vautier to the lead. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

LAP 40 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Vautier 2-Conway 3-Kanaan 4-Kimball 5-Dixon 6-Franchitti 7-Pagenaud 8-Saavedra 9-Jakes & 10-Andretti

@WoodsiesGarage
Vautier pits, giving Conway the lead again. >1s lead over Kanaan. Kimball P3, 2.6s behind Conway. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

LAP 42 - Conway already is 2.7 seconds in the lead over Kanaan - WOW!

@racer_27
First Hinch and Will Power is back too! All hail #IndyCar mechanics. #DetriotGP

@spunk72
Man, @Mikeconway26 is driving this race LIKE A BOSS.  #Indycar  #detroitgp

@Deke15
 That replay of Conway passing the Ganassis looked like he DROPPED THE HAMMER and the others were standing still. #IndyCar

Kanaan pits and comes back out in 12th

@4TheLoveOfIndy
This is Ganassi's best shot at a win so far in 2013. Currently occupies 2-3-4. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@drewallennews
Charlie Kimball gaining on Conway #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@racewithinsulin
No. 83 current lap time: 80.2126 for P2. Conway P1 at 82.4594. #DetroitGP #IndyCar -PLR

First time in two races and Conway gets passed ... Kimball in the lead

@mfriedman_63
Really, almost anyone can win these Indycar street races. Except the expected favorites! #DetroitGP #Indycar

@drewallennews
Pagenaud gets around Conway. Those tires are done. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway in the pits - back on Blacks! - Conway out at P6

LAP 50 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Andretti 4-Franchitti 5-Conway 6-Rahal 7-Kimball 8-Dixon 9-Kanaan & 10-Saavedra

@kenspi
This--> “@curtcavin: Great tweet from @BourdaisOnTrack "Seb avoids all the mess." Uh, he helped cause the mess. #IndyCar”

@MADMAUtwotwo
3-wide racing on the streets of Detroit!!!!! @IndyCar #indycar

@miller_j18
once they've figured out how to not hit each other, this is getting good! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway up to P4 - Pagenaud and Jakes will need to pit for sure

The race is between Franchitti and Conway - first four cars are Honda-powered

@carbonconcepts
Why no Conway in-car?  #indycar #detroitgp

Pagenaud in and out and ahead of the Franchitti Conway battle

@IndyCar
Great battle between Conway and Franchitti for 3rd. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@INDYCARPR
Of note: these are the first laps led on road/street course for @JamesJakes. #DetroitGP #IndyCar

@michaelw2000
Anyone notice that Power is getting closer to Bourdais?!?! LOL!!! I sense a "Duel" coming! About 4 sec difference! #DetroitGP #IndyCar

Conway passes Franchitti on LAP 57 - 28 seconds behind Pagenaud - Jakes in and comes out in P2 ahead of Conway

LAP 60 of 70 - Top 10 - 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Conway 4-Franchitti 5-Dixon 6-Andretti 7-Kimball 8-Rahal 9-Kanaan & 10-Castroneves

There is racing all through the top 10

@drewallennews
Pagenaud is one of those drivers who has constantly been knocking on the door. Does he get his first win today? #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@4TheLoveOfIndy
Kanaan pits from ninth. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@OfficialGinaN
Top two have never won #IndyCar race... Makes it more exciting! #DetroitGP

@99forever
In the top 3, Pagenaud and Jakes both just set fastest laps of the race. Jakes's was faster. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

The top 3 cars are all in sight of each other - what a grand street course race ... real ChampCar racing is back bigtime!

@WoodsiesGarage
Vautier spears the wall during another ad break, now stalled. Bourdais also went off but is still going. Local yellow. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@julesia18
ABC is picking the WORST times to go to commercial!!!! #indycar

LAP 65 of 70 - Top 5 are 1-Pagenaud 2-Jakes 3-Conway 4-Dixon 5-Franchitti and the field is stable unless something happens

@CarlsonsRaiders
Pagenaud is the fastest guy on track right now, doesn't look like Jakes or Conway have anything for him. #Indycar #DetroitGP

@indycaradvocate
Jakes trying to hold on to P2. Big day for Pags and Jakes both. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

@Jose_Galvan
The lethargic ABC @IndyCar announcers are describing an exciting race as though it were a medical procedure. Come on! #indycar

@IndyCar
. @simonpagenaud out up front with just a couple laps to go! #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Conway closes on Jakes at 2 LAPS to go

@TheoTradeMark
Two laps to go. Conway trying to battle Jakes for the 2nd #DetroitGP #Indycar

WHITE Flag

@therossbynum
At this point the circus clowns just tumble out of the clown car. Exhausted. Clown union preparing strike as we speak.  #IndyCar #DetroitGP

Race 2 Podium drivers congratulate each other during the cool down lap at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. Image Credit: Nicolas Dura via Twitter

@mfriedman_63
A podium of Schmidt/Peterson, RLL, and Coyne??!! Are you kidding??!! :) #Indycar #DetroitGP

@scottaltimaman
Oui Oui! Pagenaud wins! #IndyCar

@CrashGladys
BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD! 6 winners in 7 races, from 6 different countries. It doesn't get any better than THAT, race fans! Epic

@AutoweekRacing
Pagenaud wins #DetroitGP ahead of Jakes and Conway, but Conway was the undisputed star of this race and the weekend. #IndyCar

@BaronVonClutch
.@simonpagenaud Wins Race Two at the @detroitgp! Pagenaud also banked the fastest lap of the race. #IndyCar

First win for proven ALMS sportscar series winner Simon Pagenaud.

@ScottManifold
What a wacky year! Someone predicted that right? Nice job podium! Pagenaud, Jakes, Conway #indycar #detroitgp

Honda-power captures the top 5 positions with more horsepower than Chevy-power ... in DETROIT!!!

Overnight television ratings for ABC's live telecast of the second race of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit on June 2 grew 14 percent over last year's Sunday telecast, which also aired on ABC.

The network earned a 0.8 overnight rating, up from a 0.7 overnight for last year's race at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. The June 1 race, which was new this year, earned a 0.7 overnight rating on ABC.

... notes from The EDJE


**Article first published as Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit Race 2 Tweet-By-Tweet on Technorati**

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

A joyous Michael Andretti as he basks in the glow of being the team owner of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay while fielding questions from the press just after the last race of the season at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?

The month of May, 2013, at the famed two and a half mile rectangle/oval located at Speedway, Indiana has been dominated by cars prepared and driven by Andretti Autosport. During the week leading up to Pole Day, which took place last weekend, saw all five cars comfortably posting speed times in the top 10 with the consistency usually reserved by Penske Racing or Target Chip Ganassi (who, under their direct banner, have fielded five cars combined).

On Pole Day, Andretti Autosport cars made it to the “Fast Nine” shootout for the pole … the only other multiple car team to place all of its cars in the final cut was Penske Racing (P5. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8264 (228.099) | P6. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.8342 (228.087) | P8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.0596 (227.762)) leaving Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TGR) locked out – TGR’s Dixon and Franchitti are P16 and P17 respectively (row six).

The Andretti Autosport DW12′s qualified at P2. (26) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.6581 (228.342) | P3. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7139 (228.261) | P4. (5) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.7907 (228.150) | P7. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy 02:37.9614 (227.904) | P9. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy 02:38.5411 (227.070).

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay just moments after he pits his #1 DHL sponsored Dallara-Chevy at the end of the race that rewarded him with enough points to secure the 2012 IICS driver championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

If qualifying position and overall team performance were the solid gold predictors in the outcome of a race run, then one would have to give the inside track to ANY Andretti Autosport team car and driver.

When one adds the calculation of team performance to the winning of races, Andretti Autosport is also given the edge starting the last half of 2012 – when Ryan Hunter-Reay won Race #8 of a 15 race season at the Milwaukee Mile, Race #9 Iowa, and Race #14 through the streets of Baltimore and eventually seizing the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) Driver Championship  – then continuing the performance during the first four races of the 2013 season with James Hinchcliffe winning Race #1 at St. Petersburg and #4 at Sao Paulo, not to forget the win by last year’s IICS champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in Race #2 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama – the team is on a roll.

James Hinchcliffe prays in the cockpit of his Andretti Autosport Go Daddy sponsored Dallara-Chevy before taking to the track. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Lastly, through four races of the 2013 season, the consistency of performance can not be ignored. The driver championship standings with over 20% of the season being run has Andretti Autosport season regular drivers Marco Andretti standing at  P2, James Hinchcliffe at P4, Ryan Hunter-Reay at P6, and EJ Viso at P11. And, again, the pinch-hitter for the INDY 500, Carlos Munoz sits as the top qualifying driver for the team at P2 – WOW!

A shootout in the INDY 500 by Andretti Autosport drivers is a very real possibility because the team, and the way the second season DW12 cars have been prepared, would allow this to happen.

Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe take to the ‘Brickyard’ for set-ups. Marco sets a speed of 225 on the first day of practice laps leading all cars that ran on the first day of May practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Image Credit: IZOD IndyCar Series

This excerpted and edited from SB Nation -

2013 Indianapolis 500: Power ranking the field of 33
By MattWeaver on May 21 2013, 10:00p 

Instead of compiling a traditional power rankings list like we normally do on Tuesday afternoons at SB Nation IndyCar, this week’s post will rank the top-10 drivers most likely to win the Indianapolis 500-mile Race.

Drivers can typically be lumped into three groups entering the month of May:

1.) The top-10 drivers that have the easiest path towards winning the Borg-Warner Trophy.

2.) The group of 10 that will need some help or a little bit of luck.

3.) The final 13 that are best described as a long shot.

Conceivably any of the 33 drivers have a shot after 500-miles, as fuel strategy has generated some surprise winners over the last century. That’s one of the many reasons the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is still the greatest race in the world – it’s still the 500-mile sweepstakes.

And yet, there is still a clear hierarchy led by traditional powers Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Our top-10 picks to win the 2013 Indianapolis 500 can be found below, with an explanation for each of the top contenders. For reference’s sake, we’ve also included a complete ranking to the last driver.

1. Marco Andretti
The entire month of May seemingly has been dedicated to Andretti Autosport, the Andretti Curse and Marco Andretti’s career resurgence. While just a little off the pole speed on Saturday, the number 25 team appears fastest in traffic, picking up a toe [TOW] and several other deciding factors in traffic.
—-
He’s also number 1 on the power rankings list because he’s shown the most consistent speed at Indianapolis since teams unloaded the DW12 oval model last May, leading the most laps of the 2012 race and dominating the practice sessions leading up to the 2013 race.

2. Ed Carpenter
One of the biggest misconceptions about the buildup to this year’s Indianapolis 500 is that Ed Carpenter is some sort of heartwarming underdog victory after capturing the pole on Saturday afternoon. Sure, Ed Carpenter Racing doesn’t have the same budget as Penske or Ganassi, but he is the most prolific oval racer of the post-split era.

3. Carlos Muñoz
With reservation, a 21-year-old rookie makes the podium in the most-likely to win the Indianapolis 500 power rankings post.
—-
Only Marco Andretti has shown quicker pace in practice, and Muñoz has looked confident running in a pack with his Andretti Autosport teammates. He’s looking to do what JR Hildebrand couldn’t do in 2011, and that is winning this race in just his very first attempt — so don’t be surprised if it actually happens.

4. Hélio Castroneves
If youthful disregard could win on Sunday for Muñoz, experience and patience will do it for Hélio Castroneves. There is more than one way to win this race, and it will be interesting to see how Castroneves approaches another attempt to win his fourth Borg-Warner.

5. Dario Franchitti
Repeat everything that was said about Hélio Castroneves in regards to Dario Franchitti. The only thing placing Castroneves over Franchitti is his Chevy turbocharger which appears much-stronger at Indianapolis. Dario is also looking for his fourth win at the Speedway.

6. Will Power
Based on his championship finishes over the past three seasons, Will Power has inherited the title of Team Penske’s number 1 driver. With that title comes a lot of responsibility at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but not a lot of success thus far.
—-
Will Power can absolutely win this race. And in a season where he has somehow gone winless through four-consecutive road and street course events, wouldn’t a victory in the Indianapolis 500 just make sense?

7. James Hinchcliffe
The Go Daddy Andretti driver has been sneaky competitive at Indianapolis, qualifying 13th for Newman/Haas in 2011 and finishing sixth in last year’s race. Brimming with the confidence off two wins to start the 2013 season and the powerful Andretti Autosport backing his entry in 2013, Hinchcliffe could finally and completely break out of her shadow with a win in the Indianapolis 500.

8. EJ Viso
Andretti Autosport has seemingly concentrated the raw potential of EJ Viso, and that could again show itself with a surprise victory in the Indianapolis 500.

9. AJ Allmendinger
Casual observers were quick to point out that AJ Allmendinger’s lack of results in his first two races back in Indy car was a sign of his inability to drive these cars after six seasons or the result of his mixed commitments to both IndyCar and NASCAR.
—-
Like any Penske car, the No. 2 has speed the driver has shown the ability to wield it for brief practice or qualifying spurts, but can he do it for 500 miles? That’s the only question separating AJ Allmendinger from the Borg-Warner trophy.

10. Scott Dixon
In a repeat of last season, Honda and Target Chip Ganassi Racing look to be just off the pace set by their Chevrolet rivals. But like last season, Honda and Ganassi will rise to the occasion and will be a constant threat for the lead in the late stages of the race.

The Borg-Warner Trophy – this image never gets old. Image Credit: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Lost in the shuffle between the legendary Dario Franchitti/Takuma Sato duel last year was that Scott Dixon was leading the Indianapolis 500 up until three laps to go. That isn’t likely to change on Sunday.

11. Ryan Hunter-Reay
12. Tony Kanaan
13. Takuma Sato
14. JR Hildebrand
15. Ryan Briscoe

16. Alex Tagliani
17. Charlie Kimball
18. Graham Rahal
19. Justin Wilson
20. Oriol Servia

21. Townsend Bell
22. Simon Pagenaud
23. Simona de Silvestro
24. Josef Newgarden
25. Sebastien Bourdais

26. James Jakes
27. Sebastian Saavedra
28. Conor Daly
29. Tristan Vautier
30. Pippa Mann

31. Buddy Lazier
32. Ana Beatriz
33. Katherine Legge
(Reference Here)

Predictions are a funny thing because when the race is run, the story always takes on an edge that can never be calculated for. This is why we race, and watch American open wheel races – F1 has nothing like this.

Broadcast Information:

The Memorial Day weekend tradition returns with the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, beginning at 12pm ET from famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ABC airs the race for the 49th straight year, beginning with a one-hour preview show Sunday at 11am ET. The production will use 84 cameras, including three on-board cameras each on 12 of the 33 cars. Viewers can also choose a live streaming video feed from the on-board cameras on ESPN3. Marty Reid calls the race with analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever. Lindsay Czarniak hosts, with Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch reporting from pit row.

… notes from The EDJE


** Article originally posted as "Will The 97th INDY 500 Become An Andretti Autosport Shootout?" at Motorsports Unplugged**