Team Penske

When Team Penske owner Roger Penske decided to move his team to Ford after the 2012 season—a season that his driver, Brad Keselowski, won in Dodge's final season in NASCAR—a long learning curve was a likelihood.

To an extent, that's what happened in 2013, as Keselowski joined Tony Stewart in winning a championship one year and failing to make the Chase the following season (Stewart won the title in 2005 and missed the Chase in 2006).

But 2014 has been without question one of the best—if not the best (Keselowski's championship season notwithstanding)—Team Penske has ever enjoyed. That success continued in Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race with Joey Logano winning and Keselowski finishing second.

With two races remaining to make the Chase, Team Penske has now won six of the first 24 races on the Sprint Cup schedule to date—a full quarter of the races thus far.

Granted, Hendrick Motorsports has won nine races between Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

But Logano and Keselowski have made it abundantly clear that they're not in this battle to simply have a good showing in the Chase. No, they're both in it to win it and have put HMS directly in the bull's-eye.

Logano is having a season unlike any other. Still just 24 years old, he's living up to all the hype and expectations that preceded him throughout his racing career.

With Saturday night's win at Bristol, Logano proved that he won't be making the Chase just to make a cameo. With three wins—he's the fifth driver to amass that many thus far—he's ready to take the biggest step of his career and win a Sprint Cup championship.

And with the new format for this year's Chase, where four drivers will square off in the season finale at Homestead in a winner-take-all battle, a strong argument can be made that this is Team Penske's championship to win, and maybe not so much the case for Team Hendrick.

Logano endured four lengthy seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing which saw him in the shadows of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. He never really had a chance to spread his wings and grow like Penske has let him since he joined the organization prior to last season.

This isn't Little Joey anymore. This is a potential champion we're talking about.

And adding to the mix is Logano's teammate, Keselowski. The duo has meshed so well and so quickly together that it's almost at a point where you don't know where one ends and the other begins.

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They're not just on the same page; they're on the same book. Added to that is a new philosophy of sorts, where if one or both drivers don't feel they quite have the car to win, they're going to give it their all to manage a top-five finish in each and every race.

"From a driver's standpoint, I think both Brad and myself understand that we need to work together to be able to run well, right," Logano said in the post-race media conference:

We're a two-car team out there. We need to work very tight together to make it work. And I think that's the same throughout all of Team Penske, you see that all the way through.

Brad says it all the time, and I say it, too, I'd much rather finish second to Brad than beat him and finish 14th. That's the attitude we've got to keep throughout this whole thing. Yeah, I see ourselves racing for a championship and I see that becoming tough, but I think we're aware of what we need to do to go fast every week, and we'll keep that throughout everybody.

Even though Keselowski already has one Sprint Cup championship, he's kind of in the same position as Logano: They're a couple of guys who have so much to prove to so many people.

Logano wants to prove he's a bona fide championship contender.

"We can win this thing," Logano told ESPN in Victory Lane.

Or, as Allen Gregory of the Bristol Herald Courier put it: "The maturation of Joey Logano continues."

Meanwhile, Keselowski wants to prove that 2012 was not a fluke year. He doesn't want to be known as a one-hit wonder.

Honestly, I would not be surprised to see both Logano and Keselowski make up one-half of the four-driver field heading into Homestead. And if they happen to wind up first-second in the race and the championship, I don't think either one will be upset if he came up short to the other.

Keselowski and Logano have adopted somewhat of a "one for all and all for one" mantra and have worked it to perfection. In so doing, they've led a collective renaissance of Team Penske that extends throughout the boardroom and all the way down to the lowest-paid janitor.

This is an organization that many people doubted would have an easy transition from Dodge to Ford.

Yet here we are a season-and-two-thirds with Team Penske in the Ford fold, and it has emerged as the most dominant Ford-powered organization. Penske's No. 1 rival, Roush Fenway Racing, has become a virtual shadow of its once-great self, with Carl Edwards is bolting at the end of this season for Joe Gibbs Racing, following Matt Kenseth, who left after the 2012 season.

But this isn't about who the best team is in the Ford stable. No, this is about Team Penske and how it could very well be the best team right now heading into the upcoming Chase.

And how the hottest team right now may very well be on the way to becoming the giant-killer of the mighty HMS.

Unless indicated, all quotes are from an official NASCAR transcript from Saturday's post-race press conference.

Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

With nearly half of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in the books, it's obvious that Hendrick Motorsports is again fielding the teams to beat.

Then again, it could be argued that Hendrick is fielding—or semi-fielding—a whole lot of teams.

In addition to the four teams officially under the HMS banner, a number of other teams are also fueled by Hendrick-powered engines. In the case of Stewart-Haas Racing, it's receiving technical support and assistance from Hendrick as well.

For the sake of this argument, let's limit this to the four Hendrick teams of defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne and the one Stewart-Haas team of driver Kevin Harvick.

Johnson, Gordon, Earnhardt and Harvick have all shown they have what it takes this season to contend for a championship.

Kahne is obviously still working on it, but he's on the cusp of being eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and almost certainly needs only one win over the next nine races to guarantee himself a spot.

Under this year's new format regarding qualification for the Chase and the elimination rounds that will follow, one win likely gets you in. If you can get on a subsequent hot streak, who knows?

Even so, the only teams outside the Hendrick umbrella of influence who appear to have any chance of derailing the HMS-fueled championship train are the Team Penske Fords driven by Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

Let's start defending this theory by pointing out who else is out there.

Joe Gibbs Racing? Sorry, but not this year. Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have each won one race, but Matt Kenseth—last year's title contender who finished runner-up to Johnson—has yet to win this year.

Furthermore, these guys just haven't been fast enough collectively to run up front anywhere close to as consistently as the Hendrick boys have.

Michael Waltrip Racing? Like the JGR Toyotas, the scaled-down MWR operation has yet to figure out most of the 1.5-mile tracks. Neither Clint Bowyer nor Brian Vickers has won a race yet.

Roush Fenway Racing? No way. This is the most perplexing operation of all, as the RFR Ford camp supposedly shares information with the Team Penske Ford camp and vice versa, but it hasn't come anywhere close to matching the Penske cars or drivers in performance.

It definitely makes one wonder just how much information is being exchanged between RFR and Penske. Penske drivers Keselowski and Logano have been just fine on the all-important 1.5-mile tracks. Meanwhile, the RFR group has been groping in the dark at those venues.

Take the megateams of JGR, MWR and RFR out of the mix, and you are left with Hendrick vs. Penske.

Travis Geisler, competition director at Team Penske, recently told Tom Jensen of FoxSports.com that the cooperation that Logano and his crew chief, Todd Gordon, have with Brad Keselowski and his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, has been critical to the organization's efforts this season.

Geisler also noted the importance of both Keselowski and Logano getting off to relatively solid starts this season, with all the rule changes NASCAR implemented.

Keselowski won the third race of the season at Las Vegas and won again last Saturday night at Kentucky—a pair of 1.5-mile tracks. Logano won two of three races during one stretch in April, winning first at 1.5-mile Texas and then at the Richmond short track.

Speaking with Jensen, Geisler elaborated on his team's success:

I think the biggest asset to us right now is teamwork. Both teams are working off of each other and confidence. When you come out and you have a big rules change and some car changes -- the aero package changed a fair amount from what we've ever had before -- when we came out and had some success both guys were able to gain some confidence that their direction was working and it was generating results. That's the hardest thing to do is get confidence and what your mindset is on how you're approaching your setups week in and week out.

Geisler also said that Team Penske has stressed making certain much of the work is done back at the shop to make sure the race cars handed off to Keselowski and Logano are fast even before they hit the track. This stands in stark contrast to the approach of some organizations, RFR among them, that rely more on making big changes to correct problems once they arrive at a track for a race weekend.

Geisler continued:

There's kind of a philosophy on how you create your setup to show up with and right now we're showing up and we have decent speed in the cars and that just continues to build that confidence that you know what you're doing and you can generate a setup that will run well when you're sitting at your desk at the shop. So that's huge when you go to these last 10 (races).

Basically, the season now can be broken down into two parts: these nine races left before the Chase—when the 16 Chase participants are determined—and then the final 10 races that make up the Chase.

Johnson, who owns a series-high three wins and is best positioned to survive the new elimination format to the end, is clearly the man to beat. Harvick and at least two of Johnson's three true Hendrick teammates aren't far behind.

With that said, Team Penske is lurking right there too—far apart from anyone else. Keselowski offered another reminder of that by winning at Kentucky.

Unless otherwise noted, all information in this article was obtained firsthand by the writer.

Joe Menzer has written six books, including two about NASCAR, and now writes about it and other sports for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.

A.J. Allmendinger made his much anticipated (and long overdue) open-wheel racing return at Sebring this week.

While pundits will be quick to point out that he posted the 12^th best time from a group of 13 drivers, I would like to highlight that Allmendinger was only 0.671 seconds off pace-setter Takuma Sato’s best time. If you’d really like to compare apples to apples, he was only 0.208 seconds off teammate Helio Castroneves’ time.

Not bad for a guy whose last open-wheel outing was back in 2006.

While it’s only a test, there is reason to believe that this could blossom into a ride—whether it’s full-time or not remains to be seen, but all signs point to a partial schedule.

A part-time ride isn’t something to write off. In fact, it can actually be quite liberating.

Think about it—if Allmendinger does manage a partial schedule and returns to his winning ways, we have the benefit of watching him drop in every couple of races to take points away from Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay or whoever else may be in the hunt for the championship.

Not possible, you say? He’s been out of the cockpit of an open-wheel car far too long to have an impact. That might be true, but Allmendinger’s homecoming resembles the same path other Penske drivers have taken.

As history demonstrates, IndyCar’s latest "Renaissance Man" won’t be taking a revolutionary road home.  Let’s look at the evidence.

Ryan Briscoe: In between Briscoe’s winning ways, it’s easy to forget that he was cast out of IndyCar racing and also had to find his way back to greatness. The former Toyota F1 test driver landed one of the most coveted seats back in 2005 when he signed with Chip Ganassi Racing. Despite leading the most laps at St. Petersburg, Briscoe never really found his form. Both his season and career almost came to an abrupt and violent end at Chicagoland Speedway.

Fully recovered from his injuries, Briscoe spent the next two seasons in limbo racing a variety of different cars in various series. But all of that would change in 2007.

Jumping into the American Le Mans Series with Penske’s newly-built (and very sexy) LMP2 Porsche, Briscoe would put the car in victory lane three times and finish third in the final ALMS point standings.

Briscoe was also tapped by Jay Penske, Roger Penske’s son, to race for his burgeoning IndyCar team at the Indy 500. He didn’t disappoint, qualifying seventh and finishing fifth. The following season he was promoted to Team Penske’s IndyCar program, and went on to win seven races in five seasons.

Will Power: With the way this man muscles an IndyCar around a track, it’s difficult to believe that he could ever be without a job. When Power’s ride at KV Racing evaporated with his Australian wine sponsorship at the end of 2008, the Aussie racer who won the final Champ Car race in Long Beach was left to watch from the sidelines.

However, just like fellow countryman Briscoe, Team Penske came calling with a part-time opportunity for 2009.

Power’s response?

In only six starts he managed one win, two poles, and two podiums. In fact, Power’s worst finish was ninth at Kentucky. To put that into perspective, Robert Doornbos started every race in 2009 for Newman/Haas Racing, and ninth place was the best he could pull off.

And we need little reminder of the impact he made when Team Penske gave him a full-time ride. Yes, he’s been the IndyCar Championship bridesmaid for the last three seasons, but he has notched 14 wins during that period—more than any other driver since 2010.

We’ll have to wait and see if Penske can replicate this magic with Allmendinger. One thing is for certain, the IndyCar series talent pool just got a whole lot deeper.

Welcome home, A.J.

For more racing news and banter, follow Victor Genova on Twitter.

To say the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season had a different look and feel to it would be a massive understatement. There was the DW12 chassis, three engine manufacturers, new rules, new drivers and new penalties. It was also the first season without Dan Wheldon.

Even with all of these changes, the series continued to rebuild what was once the premier racing league in America. It was a phenomenal season, and there were highs and lows that the sport can learn from going forward.

Best Race Outside of Indianapolis: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

This race is always exciting, but this year's event had some interesting twists and turns, including a fantastic finish. Before the race, Chevrolet announced they were changing engines in all of their cars, resulting in 11 cars incurring the 10-position grid penalty. The first lap featured contact between Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden, which ended Josef's day.

The real story was rookie Simon Pagenaud catching leader Will Power over the final few laps, getting to the rear of his car on the final turn. Power held on to win by 0.8 seconds, with James Hinchcliffe earning his first career podium after contact between Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay on the final lap.

This race also featured a spectacular crash between Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal. The end result was Rahal being put on probation for making a dangerous blocking move on Marco. There were nine lead changes among seven different drivers in one of the closest finishes in a long time.

Most Disappointing Team: KV Racing

Entering this season, it looked as though KV Racing would be the team to challenge Penske and Ganassi for wins. That didn't happen though, as each of their three cars failed to win a race. Tony Kanaan had some solid runs, but also some he would like to forget.

Rubens Barrichello's first season in IndyCar went about as expected. He was close to getting a podium at Sonoma, but his fourth place finish was as close as he would get. EJ Viso looked like a much-improved driver early in the season, but while the crashes were down, so was his overall performance on the track.

Biggest Turnaround From 2011: Helio Castroneves

Last season Helio finished outside of the top 10 in the standings, and failed to win a race for the first time in a decade. This year he had two wins, and finished fourth in the Championship.

Biggest Heartbreak: Takuma Sato, Indy 500

Everyone remembers where they were when this happened. Did he make his move too early? Did Dario pinch him down? Does it matter? These are all questions that may get different answers, but the fact is neither driver did anything wrong. They were going for the win on the final lap of the biggest race in the world.

What a monumental win it would have been for Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and his fans on the other side of the world. Right behind Sato would be Will Power's crash in the season finale this year in Fontana.

Hardest Crash: Josef Newgarden at Sonoma

Through no fault of his own, Josef Newgarden takes the unwanted award for hardest crash in 2012. He wasn't on the lead lap, but had warmer tires than Sebastien Bourdais, who just pitted.

Bourdais didn't want to get stuck behind him, so he was pushing. His cold tires got him off course, and when he came back onto the track, he collected Newgarden and they went into the outer retaining wall.

The impact from Josef's car actually moved the concrete barrier back a few feet, and sent tires flying everywhere. Both drivers were somehow able to climb out of their cars, but Newgarden's left index finger would require surgery. The complex surgery was enough to keep him out of the following weekend's race at Baltimore.

Atta Girl Award: Simona de Silvestro

Perhaps no one has earned this award more than Simona did this season. She and the HVM Racing team did an outstanding job of keeping their nose to the ground and moving forward, despite being stuck with the worst engine every single weekend.

Since Indianapolis (which didn't last long for her), she is the only driver to be powered by a Lotus engine. Imagine showing up to work each and every day, knowing that you had virtually no shot to get a top 10, let alone win a race.

While others have been complaining nonstop on their behalf, Simona and the HVM crew let things roll off their backs and just kept moving forward. When this team moves to a Chevrolet or Honda next season, look out, because they will be right there in the thick of things.

Biggest Surprise: Simon Pagenaud

Most of us knew coming into the season that Pagenaud would turn some heads, but even I was a little surprised by his success. Simon was the runaway winner for Rookie of the Year, and did it in impressive fashion. Eight times he finished in the top seven, and recorded four podium finishes on his way to a fifth place spot in the Championship standings.

Biggest Disappointment: Marco Andretti

In 15 races this season, Marco only recorded three top 10 finishes. His dismal 16th place finish in the Championship standings was a combination of bad luck and poor performance. He should bounce back next year, especially with his two teammates performing at such a high level.

Dario Franchitti was a candidate for this award, but even as bad as his overall season went, he did still win his fourth Indy 400 this year. That makes up for any and all bad things during the season.

Worst Moment: Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

The return to Belle Isle was eagerly anticipated going in, but now it is looked back on as one of the worst events of the season. There wasn't a challenge for the lead all race, as Scott Dixon was dominating everyone. The only thing that could slow him down would be the track actually falling apart—which it did.

The strips of sealant on the street were being pulled up due to the suction from the cars. Drivers were running over the strips and crashing, most notably James Hinchcliffe, who until that point hadn't had a DNF. One of the chunks he ran over sent him into the tire barrier, ending his day. He was frustrated, as were all the drivers.

Best Moment: Helio Castroneves Winning in St. Petersburg

It was the first race of the season, the first race since the loss of Dan Wheldon and in his backyard. After not winning a single race in 2011, Helio found his way to the front, and took the checkered flag at St Pete. His celebration with the Dan Wheldon Way sign on the newly named road seemed like some sort of story book ending.

Another candidate for this award could be the lap around IMS that Bryan Herta took in Dan's 2011 Indy 500 winning car just before this year's race. Dario's celebration in victory lane was touching as well. Anything, really, associated to the memory of Dan.

Will Power knows his best shot at winning the IZOD IndyCar Series title is this weekend at Baltimore. He won from the pole here last year and looks to do the same again this weekend.

Power won the pole for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Baltimore, the last non-oval race on the 2012 schedule. If he leaves Maryland with at least a 54-point lead in the standings, he can clinch the championship without even showing up at the season-ending race in Fontana, Calif.

Five different teams were represented in the Firestone Fast Six. Those drivers included Will Power, Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Mike Conway and Dario Franchitti.

Power destroyed his previous track record from last year by 2.7 seconds. He was nearly a full second faster than Scott Dixon. Conway was second quickest but will move back 10 spots due to an engine-change penalty. That will move Dixon up alongside Power on the front row.

This is the third straight pole for Power and his fifth of the season. He claims yet another bonus point for the championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay will be starting 13th on Sunday.

Qualifying was filled with multiple drivers having problems through the chicane. Graham Rahal had a scary crash that was reminiscent of Mark Martin’s crash at Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Nearly a third of the field lost control through this area of the course. All drivers were okay.

The Grand Prix of Baltimore can be seen live at 2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. You can also listen to the race on IndyCar Radio. The green flag will waive around 2:45 p.m.

It sounds crazy to say it, but Will Power failing to win the championship again this year would be a great thing for the IndyCar Series.

I think every IndyCar fan would agree that he is going to win a championship in the very near future. Despite his lack of success on the ovals, it’s safe to say he is the best driver in the Series.

The Australian already has 29 career poles and 18 wins in the sport, and he is only 31 years old.

I liken Power’s path to that of LeBron James in the basketball world.

For years, James had been labeled as the best in the sport, but he was never able to win a championship. Seemingly every year the biggest question entering the NBA season was if he would finally win it all.

The same could be true for Power heading into the 2013 IndyCar season.

We know LeBron finally captured his first championship in 2011-12, and the world has been talking about him ever since.

If Power has a major breakdown and loses it again this year, the racing world will surely take notice. That would create some serious buzz around the sport.

If Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves or, improbably, Scott Dixon wind up winning their first title this season, it could also create some great media coverage for IndyCar. Power currently holds a 36-point advantage over Hunter-Reay with just two races remaining.

It is an interesting debate, but it probably won’t matter after this weekend’s race at Baltimore. Power won the inaugural event from the pole last year, and he might very well do the same thing again this year.

Depending on what happens to the other contenders, it could almost make him a lock for the championship before the season-ending 500-mile race at Fontana on Sept. 15.

The temporary suspension of A.J. Allmendinger for violating NASCAR's substance-abuse policy may have been due to that extra cup of nighttime sleep medicine, but it appears to be much more serious with the swift action taken by the sanctioning body.

Allmendinger has until Tuesday to have the "B" sample of urine tested. It was taken in conjunction with the "A" sample at Kentucky.

Silence from the driver, who secured the ride of his life in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, is deafening. He has not made a comment, nor was he insistent that the second sample be tested.

 It seems obvious what the results will be.

Allmendinger cannot be presumed innocent until proven guilty in an incident such as this. Whatever the chemicals were, they apparently were serious enough that NASCAR did not want him racing.

The suspension, that is temporary at this point, is because Allmendinger could have become a danger to himself and others behind the wheel of the No. 22.

Penske Racing signed Allmendinger for one year to drive the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge after the departure of Kurt Busch.

Currently he is ranked 23rd in the point standings with one top-five and three top-10 finishes. Certainly, he has faced problems with the car that were not of his making.

His performance is lackluster at best, overall. His finishes have been inconsistent, though he had two ninth-place finishes at Sonoma and Kentucky.

Sam Hornish Jr. drives the Nationwide car for Penske Racing where he is ranked fourth in the point standings.

It is no secret that Hornish wants to be back in a Cup car. He had an opportunity to do that for Penske after switching to NASCAR in 2007 and it didn't work out too well.

Hornish won the 2006 Indianapolis 500 for Penske, so the boss at Penske Racing has a definite soft spot for the driver.

Penske is also a businessman and took him out of the Cup car when sponsorship crumbled. Hornish was out of a racecar for a while, then brought back to Penske's Nationwide car part-time in 2011.

He has only won one race in the Nationwide series.

Hornish will be in the No. 22 for the race in New Hampshire. His commitment is to the Nationwide series and to going for the title. There are conflicting locations for races in the two series coming up.

Perhaps Penske will jet his driver back and forth between the two series as needed and keep him in the No. 22 Dodge for the remainder of the season.

It would be an opportunity for Hornish to show how much he has developed as a Cup driver and just how well he can perform.

On the flip side, it may prove he is not suitable to drive such a high profile car with a sponsor that expects wins and strong finishes.

Regardless of the outcome with Allmendinger's drug testing results, he should be out at Penske.

There is always the substance abuse program that could possibly get him reinstated if he is suspended from NASCAR. It would seem a waste of time, though, because he is damaged goods.

Allmendinger was arrested for drunk driving in October 2009. He pleaded no contest and was put on probation by NASCAR for the remainder of the season.

Allmendinger, 30, has driven for a variety of teams in NASCAR, but his performance does not produce wins. He runs well in spurts, but lacks consistency.

Substance abuse is perhaps one of the most egregious activities that a driver can become connected with. They know, as drivers, that they can't take much more than an aspirin without letting NASCAR know.

Zero tolerance must be the rule, being that they drive 3400 pound cars at high speeds within inches of one another.

If it turns out the test was wrong and Allmendinger is totally clean in the matter, then Penske may allow him to drive in what will be left of the season after all the issues are resolved.

Should that be the case, Allmendinger will likely be cut from Penske Racing at the end of the season anyway because now it is the driver who has let down the team and the boss.

There are several free agents that could produce considerably better results than Allmendinger or Hornish in the No.22. Should a third team be considered, Hornish would be the lead candidate.

It is sad to see circumstances like this even become an issue because it is bad for Allmendinger and for NASCAR.

Some people garner a level of success and think they are above the rules. For Allmendinger, his opportunity to drive the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was a dream ride with an elite team.

It appears Allmendinger totally blew his opportunity and it may well be game over for his career in NASCAR.

The weather at the Indianapolis 500 may just be as hot as the action on the track. Temperatures are expected to hit the mid-90s by race time.

Fans will need to be prepared to brave the elements to watch the action, and the heat could translate to 140 degrees on the track. Curt Cavin of USA Today spoke of the danger of melting tires, and he quoted rookie driver Josef Newgarden with this concern for today's race:

"There's a lot of rubber down, and it's hot," rookie driver Josef Newgarden said. "It's difficult to know what the car wants, what it doesn't want and what it wants for 500 miles on Sunday." 

I can only imagine what it will feel like for drivers on a day like this. These conditions are part of what makes it so tough to do this for a living. Even if you're not a fan of the sport, almost anyone can respect the dedication and poise it takes to perform in these conditions.

Team Penske has been just as hot as the temperatures. They are 4-0 this season, and team member Ryan Briscoe is the pole-sitter today. My prediction is that owner Roger Penske will improve to 5-0, and that Briscoe will become his 16th winner at Indy, but there will surely be formidable challengers.

The 25-year-old Marco Andretti will try to duplicate some of the success of his legendary grandfather Mario Andretti, who won the race in 1969. But Marco's father, Michael, never did win the Indy 500.

No matter how it unfolds, it should be an exciting race. 

If you're like me, and would just as soon catch the race in the comfort of your own central air conditioner, ABC has all the coverage you'll need to make your race day an enjoyable one.

Here is a breakdown of the TV coverage for the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500.

(Info from LA Times.)

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It's hard to predict which Penske Racing driver will win the Indianapolis 500. But given the year the team has already had in 2012, it's a safe bet that one of their drivers will be drinking milk on Sunday.

For one, the team has won each race thus far in 2012, a clean 4-0. And they've also won the pole for the fifth time this year, with Ryan Briscoe leading the pack.

But Briscoe may not be the most dangerous Penske rider in the field. Helio Castroneves already won the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg this year alongside third- and fourth-place finishes. Oh yeah, and he's a three-time Indy 500 winner.

Let's not forget about that.

Nor should we forget that Will Power—who probably has the best name in racing and should consider being a motivational speaker with a moniker like that after his racing days are over—has been on fire in 2012, with three wins and two poles.

With both Castroneves and Power sitting in the second row, it's hard to imagine that one of these three Penske riders won't take home the win in Indianapolis.

Sure, nothing is guaranteed. James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay are serious contenders from the front row, as is Marco Andretti lurking in row two.

Dario Franchitti has won twice, and has led the race for 306 laps in his career.

JR Hildebrand was a tragic, last-turn wreck away from taking the race last season, truly a choke for the ages (though it did clear the way for Dan Wheldon to win, whose memory will be honored this weekend).

And Scott Dixon (293) and Tony Kanaan shouldn't be ignored.

But still, I can't shake the premonition that Sunday will be another winning day for the Penske Racing team.

You pick the driver; I'll just stick to my pick of the team.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets will gladly have another as well.