Memorial Day weekend signifies many things to sports fans. The release of the Athlon Sports Preseason College Football Magazine (order your custom covers here). The Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs. Major League Baseball is in full swing. However, for someone born in the Midwest and who lived in Indianapolis as a small boy, it means The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

On Sunday, 33 drivers will strap themselves to 1,500-pound racecars and proceed to drive 500 miles around a 559-acre (2.5 mile) oval track at speeds in excess of 220 miles per hour. This is affectionately known as the Indianapolis 500.

Since 1911, hundreds of thousands of fans have flocked to the Indianapolis Motorspeedway to enjoy all that the ‘Spectacle’ has to offer. Roughly 90,000 people attended the inaugural race 98 years ago. The 93rd running this Sunday could see more than 300,000 spectators, celebrities and media members enjoy one of the most exhilarating events in all of sports.

(The mystery of just how many people actually attend this race every year has grown to mythical proportions. The race will not release attendance numbers but a recent study showed the track claims 257,325 permanent seats with infield seating pushing the estimated attendance numbers over the 300,000 mark each year.)

Raceday features a variety of colorful traditions and certainly plenty of pageantry. The 500 Festival Parade, the singing of “Back Home Again In Indiana,” the release of the balloons and the famed call to start the engines all add to the mounting hype that culminates with the green flag. However — and luckily for us race fans — the Indy 500 is truly a month long event. And it starts with Pole Day.

Pole Day

A grueling six-hour session on Saturday, May 9th to be exact. And Roger Penske has been here before. The longtime Indy fixture has seen his drivers start on the pole a record 14 times. He was about to make it 15 as Ryan Briscoe had been sitting on the pole for nearly four hours with a speed of 224.131 mph. With roughly an hour and half left to qualify, Penske rolled out his other driver Helio Castroneves. The effervescent Brazilian is the only driver to win in each of his first two Indy 500 races (2000 and 2001) and has been the pole sitter twice before. In putting Castroneves back onto the track, Penske had to withdraw the driver's current 3rd place time. A risky move.

It paid off as the two-time Indy champion proceeded to post a speed of 224.864 mph and claimed his third pole. Penske extended his own record of pole positions to 15.

“It was a gamble, a big gamble. But we took the chance and it paid off,” the driver said after collecting a $100,000 check for winning the first position (As a side note, it took Castroneves 2:40 to finish his four-lap, 10-mile qualifying effort. That is roughly $38,000 per minute of work. Before taxes Helio. Not a bad gig if you can get it).

With Castroneves and Briscoe starting in the first two spots, Penske can claim two heavy favorites once again. Dario Franchitti — with support from his wife, Franklin, Tenn., native Ashley Judd — will start on the outside of Row 1. Judd made sure, pouring rain or not, she was waiting when Franchitti pulled into victory lane after his 2007 Indy 500 championship.

The next few weeks of action included more qualifying, Bump Day and Carb Day. Each offering something unique to the fans. Bump Day is the most dramatic as cars and drivers are bumped out of the field at head turning speeds. The most watched efforts were that of John Andretti and Richard Petty.

As members of arguably the two most famous racing families in American motorsports history, John and Richard are used to the anxious moments of Bump Day. With their final qualifying attempt of the year, Andretti posted a 221.316 and just nudged his way into the field. A staple at the track during the weeks leading up until the race, it will be the first time that Richard Petty will attend the actual event. And he will be cheering on the classically painted Petty blue and red Window World No. 43 car.

Row 2

The second row begins with another famous family name in the Indy 500 history books: Rahal. Not only does Bobby Rahal have his name (and face) on the Borg-Warner Trophy but he also is a major part of the Rahal-Letterman (as in David) Racing team. Bobby won the 1986 championship and will see his son, Graham, make his second attempt at the trophy from the inside of Row 2. Graham, who actually drives for Newman-Haas Racing, was one of 11 rookies to make their debut last year and has proven to be one of the sports brightest rising stars. He became the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history when he drove to victory in his series debut in St. Pete last season. A win from the young phenom is exactly what a lackluster IRL series needs: A face to carry the sport into the future.

Starting next to Rahal will be the defending Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon. The Target Chip Ganassi driver won starting from the pole position last year and used the big win in the Hooiser State to catapult himself to his second IRL championship (2003).

The outside of Row 2 finishes with a bang as Tony Kanaan and the famous green and white Seven-11 car will start sixth. TK currently leads the points race for 2009 and has been fast all month in practice. He has finished in the top-5 in each of the first three races this year and has never won the great race in May. He is hungry, has great equipment and is my pick to win the race in 2009 — although, Mr. Rahal will be where my rooting interests lie.

The Rest of the Field

The faster of the Andretti family, Marco, starts in the middle of Row 3. The third generation Andretti racer was leading when the white flag fell on the 2006 Indy 500 (right after passing his father Michael for first place) in his first career start in the Spectacle. As he ripped down the front stretch with only yards left of the 500 mile trek, Sam Hornish Jr. made a last second pass on the rookie to snatch the Borg-Warner trophy. It was the single most exciting final lap and finish in Indianapolis 500 history — no offense to the Al Unser Jr-Scott Goodyear finish in 1994.

There is a different level of pressure on young Marco. Carrying the Andretti name around every lap brings with it a steep up and down of emotions. The family starts this race for the 60th time in 2009 amongst three generations of drivers. Yet, they have only one win to show for it — Mario in 1969.

Danica Patrick headlines Row 4 as the highest female qualifier once again. She also claims the highest finish by a woman: 4th in 2005. She has had an up and down start to her career as she attempts to earn respect in the garage. She has won a race and has led at Indy, but has yet to have the breakout season that was expected of her. She currently sits at 5th in the points and a win at Indy would not only be the crowing achievement of her young career but would validate all the hype surrounding her entrance to the series in '05. She also sports one of the nicer, and newer, paint jobs with the all black with orange trim Boost Mobile machine.

Former Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon starts on the outside of Row 6 (18th) in his patriotic National Guard camo-schemed car.

PREDICTION: Tony Kanaan by a wing over Helio Castroneves

The 2009 Indianapolis Starting Grid

Top-10 Race Favorites (* - Indy 500 Champion)

Driver	Odds	No.	Team	2008	2007	2006	2005
Scott Dixon*	15/4	#9	Target-Ganassi	1st	2nd	6th	24th
Helio Castroneves*	15/4	#3	Penske	4th	3rd	25th	9th
Dario Franchitti*	13/2	#10	Target-Ganassi	-	1st	7th	6th
Danica Patrick	9/1	#7	Andretti-Green	22nd	8th	8th	4th
Ryan Briscoe	11/2	#6	Penske	23rd	5th	-	10th
Tony Kanaan	17/2	#11	Andretti-Green	29th	12th	5th	8th
Marco Andretti	12/1	#26	Andretti-Green	3rd	24th	2nd	-
Dan Wheldon*	18/1	#4	Panther	12th	22nd	4th	1st
Graham Rahal	18/1	#02	Newman-Haas	33rd	-	-	-
Will Power	30/1	#12	Penske	13th	-	-	-

Note: Sam Hornish Jr. won the 2006 Indy 500 and now races for Penske in the Sprint Cup.

Did You Know

-An IndyCar accelerate from 0 to 100 mph in less than 3 seconds.

-At roughly 225 mph, IndyCars travel more than a football field per second.

-IndyCars burn approximately 1.3 gallons of fuel per lap equating to less than 2 miles per gallon.

-The 3.5 liter, 100-percent fuel grade ethanol powered engines produce nearly 700 horsepower.

-The tread on the IndyCar tires is 3/32nds of an inch thick — slightly thicker than a credit card.

-Roughly 1 sq. ft. of the car is actually touching the track at any given time.

-At speed, the tread area of racing tires reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit — AKA boiling point.

-Drivers experience G-forces at roughly 4 times the weight of gravity. The same as a space shuttle launch.

-The 1,565-pound car generates 5,000 lbs of downforce at 220 mph. That is enough to drive upside down.

-The original track surface was made entirely of bricks. Now, there are only 3 feet of brick at the start-finish line.

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