Jalopnik IndyCar Fantasy League: Don't Forget to Make Your Indy 500 Picks
Former winners of the Indy 500. Standing, from left to right: Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alexander Rossi. Sitting, from left to right: Will Power, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon.Photo: Chris Owens / Penske Entertainment
Here’s a heads-up for my fellow Jalopnik IndyCar Fantasy League competitors: Don’t forget to make your picks for the 2022 Indianapolis 500! This is a big weekend for points, and you don’t want to miss out. All you need to do is head over to the official IndyCar Fantasy League page and make your picks for the Jalopnik League.
Things will look a little different this weekend. Instead of having $100 to select four drivers whose performance will count toward your overall weekend score, you’ll have $200 to select eight drivers. I know that sounds like a lot of money, but with eight former Indy 500 winners in the field, countless other great picks, and tons of dark-horse contenders, you can run out of money pretty quickly if you’re not careful. (I know I did!) As usual, you’ll also predict the podium and the fastest lap.
If you’re wondering who to pick, well — I think a lot of people are! The Indy 500 is generally pretty unpredictable, and no matter how accurate you think you’ll be, there are undoubtedly going to be some surprises.
Take Scott Dixon, for example. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has a great shot at winning the race from pole position — but the last time he had pole, he crashed on lap 53 and brought out a red flag. Or you could pick Helio Castroneves and hope he wins a record-setting fifth 500 — but it’s been decades since someone won the race from that far back on the grid.
Me? I’m picking the underdogs this year. For my ultimate winner, I’m torn between Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay — I keep flip-flopping, and I’m pretty sure I’ve made a different prediction every time someone asks me to guess the winner. All I know is that we’ll only be able to tell when we see the results as the checkered flag flies!
