WEBVTT

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- This Sunday is the
greatest spectacle in racing,

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the Indianapolis 500.

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33 drivers will fight for
the Borg-Warner Trophy,

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though it seems like only three

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really stand the chance at winning,

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and they all drive for Roger Penske.

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Team Penske entered the month of May

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as the pariah of the IndyCar Series.

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Officials discovered that they had edited

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their push-to-pass software,

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so their drivers would have
access, unrestricted access,

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to their boost button
during the season opening

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round in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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As a result, the race winner,

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and last year's Indy 500 winner,

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Josef Newgarden was stripped
of his win in Florida

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and disqualified from the
event alongside his teammate

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Scott McLaughlin.

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Most of the other teams
in the IndyCar series feel

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that Penske got a slap on the
wrist and got away with it.

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They feel like Penske could've used

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this illegal software code at
other rounds in prior seasons.

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Though, the IndyCar series,
which I should reiterate,

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is a Penske Entertainment
Corporation property,

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did a thorough investigation

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and feel like Team Penske
only violated the rules

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in St. Petersburg.

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Going into qualifying,

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it seemed to had no effect
on Penske's performance.

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All three Penske cars finished one, two,

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and three in all three
rounds of qualifying.

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The first day, the fast 12,

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and the pole deciding fast six session.

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By the end of Sunday, Scott
McLaughlin had one pole

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for the Indianapolis 500,
with a record pole speed.

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As we wait for race day,

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many wonder could anyone
out there stop Penske?

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As it stands, over the past 15 years,

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the race has only been won
from pole position twice,

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by Helio Castroneves in 2009
and Simon Pagenaud in 2019.

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Both those drivers were
racing for Team Penske.

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While it might sound like
Team Penske already has

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one hand on the trophy,

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two out of 15 is nowhere close to 100%.

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And if I had to pick
a rival to Team Penske

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that could take one of
their cars to Victory Lane,

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I'd say that McLaren has a strong chance,

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that they were the other team

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to get more than one car
into the fast six on Sunday.

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And with the likes of former
winner Alexander Rossi

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and NASCAR champion Kyle Larson,

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as well as young phenom Pato O'Ward,

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it feels like McLaren has all the tools

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to get to Victory Lane,
but we have to wait

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and see if they can
actually execute their plan

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and win the race.

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For more coverage of the Indianapolis 500

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and the biggest stories in
racing, visit jalopnik.com.

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We're saying all this,

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but Roger's still gonna
win on Sunday, right?

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(chuckling)