@Speed • Your Interactive News Home

[dave carr]

I know I'm not a great judge of driver talent. I watch a guy dominate a race in a lower series and I'm convinced that championships are in his future. Often when that guy does advance to a higher series only to struggle mightily I find myself scratching my head and wondering "what happened?"

Like the stock market, a driver's past accomplishments aren't a perfect predictor of future success, but it can be interesting. Here is a mini quiz about the accomplishments of this year's Indy 500 field before they were driving Indy Cars.

1. How many drivers in this year’s Indy 500 have USAC Sprint Car or USAC Midget feature wins on their resume?

a. 1
b. 3
c. 8
d. 10

2. This driver once won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race at Long Beach.

a. John Andretti
b. Ed Carpenter
c. Dario Franchitti
d. Danica Patrick

3. This driver has more Formula Atlantic wins than any female driver.

a. Ana Beatriz
b. Sarah Fisher
c. Danica Patrick
d. Simona DeSilvestro

4. This driver won Indy Lights races on both the oval and road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

a. Marco Andretti
b. Ed Carpenter
c. Jay Howard
d. Alex Lloyd

5. This driver’s resume includes five class wins in ALMS and three class wins in the Rolex Sports Car Series

a. Marco Andretti
b. Milka Duno
c. Sebastian Saavedra
d. Tomas Scheckter

6. This driver has never won a series championship above Go Karts despite finishing second six times

a. Helio Castroneves
b. Tony Kanaan
c. Dario Franchitti
d. Vitor Meira

7. This driver won a GP2 race at Monte Carlo

a. Will Power
b. Mike Conway
c. Raphael Matos
d. E.J. Viso

8. This driver won 12 times in 25 races to win the 2001 British Formula 3 Championship

a. Dan Wheldon
b. Justin Wilson
c. Takuma Sato
d. Tomas Scheckter


Answers:

1. a (John Andretti, Sarah Fisher, Davey Hamilton)
2. d
3. d
4. d
5. b
6. a
7. b
8. c