Castroneves stays grounded ahead of Indianapolis 500

Helio Castroneves, right, jumps onto teammate Sam Hornish Jr after Castroneves won the pit stop competition during the final day of practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Tell Helio Castroneves he's one of the favorites in today's Indianapolis 500 and he just shrugs his shoulders and grins.

"Yeah, me and 10 other guys," says the two-time Indy winner.

It seems the 91st edition of the Memorial Day weekend classic is just about anybody's race.

Several the Indy Racing League's best-known drivers are at the front of the 33-car field for the 800km event -- pole-winner Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti in the first of 11 rows of three, followed by Scott Dixon, defending race winner Sam Hornish Jr and 2005 winner Dan Wheldon in row two. Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick and last year's runner-up Marco Andretti make up row three.

Add Michael Andretti, Marco's father and last year's third-place finisher, in the middle of row four, and that's a strong list of possible winners.

Five Kanaan, Franchitti, Patrick and the two Andrettis -- drive for Andretti Green Racing.

"When we showed up at this race last year, we weren't fast enough," Franchitti said. "We wound up with four cars in the top seven of the race, but that was through perseverance, good strategy and making the right decisions. This year, I feel that we've got five cars that are fast enough."

But Team Penske's Castroneves and Hornish and Target Chip Ganassi drivers Wheldon and Dixon have won six of the last seven 500s and are just as fast.

From Castroneves to Michael Andretti, their four-lap, 16km qualifying efforts were separated by just more than two seconds.

Asked handicap the race, Hornish said, "It wouldn't surprise me if anybody in the top 11 won this race. But the competition for the win is probably going to come from Tony Kanaan. Obviously, I feel that Wheldon, Helio and myself are three guys who have won before and know what it takes to do that."

Kanaan raced at Indianapolis five times and never started worse than fifth. Since crashing while leading near the midway point in 2002, the Brazilian always has finished in the top eight, with a second-place run in 2004.

Michael Andretti has come agonizingly close to joining his father, Mario, as an Indy winner. Michael, who came out of retirement last year at 44 to race against his then-19-year-old son, led with four laps to go before being passed first by Marco and then by eventual winner Hornish.

"I've never been able to get to that 500th mile without a problem," Michael said. "Maybe there's a scenario there, yet. I was thinking it was there last year. It almost worked out. But, that's the only reason I'm back this year. I think I can win this race."