Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Andretti early favorite to win Indianapolis 500

Wednesday, April 23, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Indianapolis 500 odds

May 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Michael Andretti

7-1

Tony Kanaan

8-1

Kenny Brack

8-1

Scott Dixon

10-1

Helio Castroneves

10-1

Scott Sharp

10-1

Al Unser Jr.

15-1

Felipe Giaffone

15-1

Gil de Ferran

15-1

Tomas Scheckter

18-1

Sam Hornish Jr.

25-1

Buddy Rice

25-1

Dan Wheldon

25-1

Tony Renna

30-1

Jaques Lazier

30-1

Arie Luyendyk Sr.

35-1

Buddy Lazier

35-1

Billy Boat

40-1

Vitor Meira

40-1

Robbie Buhl

45-1

Greg Ray

45-1

Sarah Fisher

50-1

A.J. Foyt IV

55-1

Scott Mayer

75-1

Shigeaki Hattori

100-1

Tora Takagi

100-1

Roger Yasukawa

100-1

Field

7-1

Michael Andretti is the favorite to win this year's Indianapolis 500, according to odds posted by Station Casinos.

Andretti, who has not won Indy in 13 career starts, is listed as a 7-1 favorite to win the 87th running of the race. Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan and Team Rahal pilot Kenny Brack, the 1999 Indy 500 winner, are listed at 8-1.

Surprisingly, two-time defending Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves is listed at 10-1 by Station Casinos. Castroneves, who drives for team owner Roger Penske, will attempt to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indy 500s when he takes the green flag on May 25. Castroneves, 27, of Brazil, was the first driver to win the Indy 500 in each of his first two starts.

Andretti, who is retiring from driving after this year's Indy 500, finished seventh in last year's race for his eighth top-10 finish in the 500. Andretti's best result at Indy came in 1991 when he finished second to Rick Mears.

Al Unser Jr., a Henderson resident and a two-time Indy 500 winner, is listed at 15-1 to earn his third victory at the Brickyard.

Las Vegas resident Tony Renna, who will attempt to make his first start in the Indianapolis 500, is listed at 30-1 to win the race as a rookie. Renna is a former driving instructor at the Derek Daly Performance Driving Academy in Las Vegas. He is driving for Kelley Racing.

Former Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk Sr. (1990 and 1997) and Buddy Lazier (1996) are listed at 35-1.

Practice for the 2003 Indianapolis 500 will begin Sunday, May 4.

A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira, Buddy Rice, Dan Wheldon and Roger Yasukawa joined Renna in passing the speed phases of program and will be eligible to attempt to qualify for the 500.

Kinser passed Sammy Swindell on the final lap of the main event for the apparent victory but the win was taken away when it was determined his car violated the series' new 1,375-pound weight rule. Jason Sides, Craig Dollansky and Chad Kemenah also were disqualified for violating the weight rule, which was instituted at the beginning of this season.

Danny Lasoski, who regained the WoO points lead from Kinser with a fourth-place finish in Friday's preliminary feature, increased his lead over Kinser to 42 points with a sixth-place result in the "A" feature.

Fisichella was declared the winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix five days after the April 6 event when a timing-and-scoring error was corrected. Before the first practice session for last weekend's San Marino Grand Prix, Raikkonen, who initially had been ruled the winner in Brazil, handed the first-place trophy to Fisichella in an official ceremony at the start/finish line.