Ed Carpenter will start 10th, and could in be for a big day in Indianapolis. Gavin Lawrence/Getty Images

Five bold predictions

1. It will be 500 miles, flat out. With chassis, engine and tire reliability at an all-time high, all 33 drivers will have to run as hard as they can on every green-flag lap to have any chance of a top-five finish. Indianapolis is no longer an endurance test, it's a sprint.

2. It will be one of the most competitive races in Indy 500 history. All 33 drivers will have Dallara cars, Honda engines and Firestone tires. It's the first time that's happened at Indianapolis. The Hondas and Firestone tires are exactly the same, but there are differences in the Dallaras. Teams can do development work in the suspension and shock areas, but none to the bodywork and it will give some drivers a slight technological advantage. But the race will be decided more by the driver and team than the technology.

3. Expect plenty of crashes. There are several contributing factors to a substantial attrition rate from crashing: The pace will be fast and drivers without the cars to keep up will overdrive and suffer the consequenes; there are 11 rookies, the most since 1997, and they're prone to mistakes; as the oil and rubber goes down, the track gets much slicker than its been all month.

4. Buddy Lazier will drive from the back row to a top-10 finish with an underfunded team. The 1996 Indy winner had only 61 laps in practice before qualifying with 13 minutes remaining on Bump Day for Hemelgarn Johnson Racing, which didn't complete building the car until three days before. Lazier drove for owner Ron Hemelgarn from 1996 to 2004 and he's reunited with much of the same crew, including engineer Ronnie Dawes. Lazier was also second in 1998 and 2000 and was fifth in 2005 driving for Panther Racing. He's a savvy racer who knows how to get to the front.

5. Ed Carpenter will finish in the top-five. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch considering Carpenter is starting 10th, in the inside of the fourth row, but a top-five would be a major achievement for Vision Racing. Carpenter may drive for a team owned by Tony George, his stepfather and IndyCar Series founder, but he's proven he belongs in the series and the 500. He was fifth at Homestead-Miami in the season opener this season.

Five things IndyCar hopes to gain from this year's Indy 500

1. A television rating that goes up and is better than NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. All good things flow from an increased television rating.

2. A title sponsor. IndyCar hasn't had a title sponsor since 2001 and has made it a top priority for next season. It desperately needs a high profile and active marketing partner to invest in the series and also needs funding to increase its point fund and purses. The IndyCar champion receives $1 million; NASCAR's Sprint Cup receives about five times more.

3. Sponsors for teams. Unificaition has raised the car count for Indy and the rest of the IndyCar races to a solid level, but some of that was created by the deal George made with Champ Car teams to provide free chassis for this season. The teams need sponsors to gain stability and a few more cars wouldn't hurt, either. Those 1.5-mile tracks IndyCar runs on can handle 32 cars and that would put on a much more entertaining show. The 500 is the major selling point to sponsors and one that is perceived as revitalized will be a dramatic breakthrough.

4. More leverage in its television deal with ABC/ESPN. The 500 has managed to keep a rights fee and its races on ABC/ESPN for IndyCar through the split, but only seven of the 18 races are on ABC. ESPN is the best you can do on cable, but the over-air ABC viewership would be an automatic boost of at least 20 percent in viewership. IndyCar would like to get more races on ABC.

5. An earlier sellout for the 2009 Indy 500. The race used to be an automatic sellout within two weeks after the race and it added to the mystique and glamor of the 500, the world's best attended sporting event. A sold out race by June would deliver a message the Indy 500 is fully healed.