Just a few more weeks until lights out and away we go, and we have 33 entries for the Runoffs. 33. At Indianapolis. This couldn't have worked out any more perfectly.
It feels a little surreal. I remember listening to one of the ad hoc calls back in the early days of 2020 while we were all cooped up and not racing when someone came up with the idea for the 35th anniversary. I wish I could say it was me but it was most likely one of the champs on the call, not the chump.
We may fall just short of our initial goal, but you know what they say: Aim for the moon and if you fail you still end up with 33 entries. Besides, it's something like a 1,462% increase over the previous decade's average (Defer can check my math).
One look at the entry list and the first thing you'll notice is the field is STACKED. By my count, there will be 8 National Champions on the grid with a combined 17 Runoffs gold medals between them. And a few others that should have a gold but don't, yet. I used to think it was comical when NASCAR drivers bragged about a top-15 finish. Now, I get it.
The Runoffs has its haters but let's be honest, there is nothing quite like it (very similar to the Indy 500). You commit and work all year for this one day. You sacrifice so much in the hope that the stars align and the racing gods smile down on you. But fate can be a fickle mistress sometimes (case in point: VIR 2019).
It's a tough week. One session a day is not ideal. And we all better be prepared for traffic on every lap of every qualifying (which come to think of it, is probably my best shot of being on pole!). If you know that going in it will make the event that much better for you.
But this race at this track - regardless of your feelings of the layout - is something special. The speedway IS motorsports in this country, full stop. The life-changing moments those grandstands have witnessed, the innovation, the heartbreak, the lives risked and lost. If you aren't humbled when you step foot onto these hallowed grounds, read more history.
They say you don't win the Indy 500, but that the track picks its winner. I think the Runoffs are exactly the same. All the blood, sweat, and tears comes down to this.
I wonder who she'll pick this year.