Do You Care?

Today they race for 500 miles around an oval track in Indianapolis in the "greatest spectacle in racing."

But as a betting man, I would comfortably wager that the vast majority of Americans couldn't name three drivers in today's race (sports fans even).

I can remember as a child that the race seemed to have a certain importance in the social tapestry. Why has the race fallen so far behind America's newest racing obsession NASCAR?

Of course, the split between IRL and CART has hurt, but more than that I believe the abundance of non-American drivers hurts the sport as well. We all know Americans are arrogant enough to ignore any sport that does not prominently feature successful bearers of the Stars and Bars (think of soccer or how far tennis has fallen since the days of Agassi, Sampras, Courier, Chang).

For this sport to become front page news again, a little driver of the female sort needs to reach the checkers first. Her name: Danica Patrick.

Really, I just wanted to show the world that I can and will handicap anything and everything.

My selections:

Sam Hornish, Jr. - The chalk by all accounts, Hornish sits on the pole today and has been, as they say in the game, "fast all month." Although I believe Hornish will win, I could never bet this at 4-1.

Buddy Rice - Here's my value play. This sneaky driver is always competitive and seems to have had a fast car by the end of qualifying. This currently trades at 27-1.

Tony Kanan - Was clearly at the top of his sport a few years ago. To my mostly untrained eye, he seems to offer a nice price a 10-1.

Indy 500

Cute as a button.