Questions and Notes for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis

Power looks to continue hot streak

With three-straight top-five finishes to start the 2014 season, Team Penske's Will Power leads the Verizon IndyCar Series point standings as the series heads to Indianapolis for the Month of May. Can he continue his strong start to the 2014 season by scoring another win at Barber?

Who will be the first?

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is the first event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Who will join the famed names of Harroun, Gordon and Rossi as the first winners of an inaugural race at IMS?

Hunter-Reay aims for back-to-back victories

Ryan Hunter-Reay rides the momentum of another win at Barber Motorsports Park into the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Hunter-Reay trails Will Power by 18 points heading into the inaugural race. Can Hunter-Reay make it two-in-a-row at IMS?

Dixon off to strong start in title defense

Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon has shown he's a contender to repeat as Verizon IndyCar Series champion. The New Zealand native won the Indianapolis 500 in 2008. Can Dixon continue his strong start to 2014 and claim his first victory on the IMS Road Course?

Conway aims for second win of 2014 at Indy

Mike Conway was a surprise winner at Long Beach, inheriting the lead with three laps remaining and returning Ed Carpenter Racing to the winner's circle. Now, the Englishman looks for another milestone - helping the team win its first entrant championship. Can Conway win again and help the team stay near the top of the standings?

Team Penske looks to continue Indy domination

Team Penske has won 15 Indianapolis 500s and team owner Roger Penske will look to add another trophy to his team's collection during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis with three strong cars. Helio Castroneves won the inaugural race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2010. Can he, Will Power or Juan Pablo Montoya score another win in Indy?

Andretti looking to move up

After finishing a career-best fifth in the 2013 standings, Marco Andretti is looking to finish with a championship for the first time in his career. Driving for his father Michael's team, Marco, who won on the Road Course in Indy Lights in 2005, hopes to add to his family's storied racing history in 2014.

Montoya look to pick up where he left off

Juan Pablo Montoya is still adapting to his return to Indy car racing, but a fourth-place finish at the streets of Long Beach shows the former champion doesn't have that much more rust to shake off. Montoya, the 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner, made six starts in F1 on the road course, but never finished on the podium. Can he achieve another Indy milestone and get back to winner's circle?

Familiar to some

The new 14-turn, 2.434-mile road course took 70 local construction crew members 35,400 hours to transform the old IMS road course for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. But the track is still familiar to Verizon IndyCar Series drivers who have raced and won on the course. Sebastien Bourdais won the first sports car race on the track in 2012, while Marco Andretti won the first Indy Lights race on the course in 2005. Takuma Sato earned his first Formula One podium on the track in 2004.

The Ganassi-Andretti engine swap

Chip Ganassi has a habit of shaking things up for his team on a regular basis. This year, his Verizon IndyCar Series team switched to the Chevrolet engine. Meanwhile, Andretti Autosport, which won the 2012 championship with Chevrolet power and driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, has made the move to Honda. Although Honda and Chevy ended up nearly equal in terms of race wins in 2013 (Will Power's victory in the season finale tipped the balance in favor of Chevy, 10-9), Scott Dixon won the championship with Honda. For the first time since INDYCAR's 2.2-liter turbo V-6 specification was introduced, Honda will utilize twin turbochargers.

Generation Next

James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud and Charlie Kimball all scored their first win in 2013, finished top 10 in the championship standings and established themselves as the next stars of the sport. Will 2014 be the year a new, young star becomes a champion?

Home-grown heroes

The Verizon IndyCar Series features a group of home-grown drivers who represent the stars and stripes in the most diverse series in motorsports. Former series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, race winners Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Charlie Kimball and Graham Rahal and rising star Josef Newgarden all worked their way up the American open-wheel ladder to reach the Verizon IndyCar Series.

All-American effort

Second-generation driver Graham Rahal will look to return Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to victory lane sporting the colors of the Army National Guard. Can he fulfill the promise he showed early in his career with a strong performance at Indianapolis?

Briscoe returns to Chip Ganassi Racing stable

Ryan Briscoe returns to the team where he started in Verizon IndyCar Series career - Chip Ganassi Racing. The Australian, who has seven wins to his credit, will drive the No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, renewing the relationship that began at the Indianapolis 500 in 2013. How will Briscoe fare in his second go-around with Chip Ganassi Racing?

Milestones & Records:

· Should Scott Dixon win the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, he will join A.J. Foyt, Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win four Indy car titles in his career. Foyt won seven championships in his career, while Andretti, Bourdais and Franchitti each won four titles.

· With his next victory, Scott Dixon will tie Al Unser Jr., for sixth on the all-time wins list. Dixon, the active leader for wins, won his 33rd race at Houston's Reliant Park in October 2013.

· With a victory in 2014, Scott Dixon will extend his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to 10.

· Will Power's win at St. Petersburg extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to eight.

· With his next victory, Sebastien Bourdais will move into sole possession of eighth place on the all-time wins list. Bourdais is tied with Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy with 31 wins.

· With his next victory, Helio Castroneves will tie Rick Mears for 11th place on the all-time wins list. Castroneves won his 28th race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8, 2013.

· Helio Castroneves needs two earned poles to reach 40 career poles in his Indy car career. Castroneves is the active leader with 38 pole positions.

· With one pole in 2014, Scott Dixon will extend his Verizon IndyCar Series streak to eight consecutive seasons.

· Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 219th consecutive start, which would extend his all-time record. Scott Dixon with 160 straight starts (sixth all time), Marco Andretti with 136 straight starts (13th all time) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (19th all time) with 110 straight starts are the only active drivers with a streak of more than 100 consecutive starts.

· Helio Castroneves is the active leader in starts with 280, which is eighth on the all-time list.

· Tony Kanaan has 279 starts, which is ninth on the all-time list.

· Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves are the active leader in top-five finishes with 112, which is tied with Bobby Unser for eighth on the all-time list.

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