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IndyCar Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix preview, predictions

By Brittany Frederick

Cars on track during qualifying for IndyCar's Phoenix Grand Prix. Photo Credit: Chris Jones/Courtesy of IndyCar
Cars on track during qualifying for IndyCar's Phoenix Grand Prix. Photo Credit: Chris Jones/Courtesy of IndyCar /
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Will Helio Castroneves celebrate with an IndyCar victory at the Phoenix Grand Prix? We preview and predict Round 4 of the Verizon IndyCar Series season.

The Verizon IndyCar Series comes to Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night for the 2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, and aside from that name being a lot to say, there may also be a lot to watch in the fourth race of the year.

This is the first time IndyCar will be racing on an oval, and the first time the league will be racing at night. That means everything gets a little different and who will be able to adapt? Team Penske is once again up front after qualifying, including last week’s race winner Josef Newgarden, but it could also be a big night for Ed Carpenter Racing.

JR Hildebrand scored big on Friday with a top five spot on the grid, and while it was a shock to see Ed Carpenter finish last, he’s got a ton of experience at Phoenix Raceway and also drove well in the test day so it would not be surprising at all to see him be the next driver to claw from the back of the field toward the front—which does seem to be a trend this season.

WEATHER FORECAST:

There will be no weather issues for the Phoenix Grand Prix. Weather.com predicts clear skies with a low of 62 degrees and zero chance of rain. But it’s the desert, so that’s no surprise.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH:

  • Penske back to perfect?: Team Penske has dominated qualifying throughout the entire Verizon IndyCar Series season, but they haven’t been able to translate that into wins until Josef Newgarden last week in Alabama. Can they make it two in a row and reestablish themselves as the class of IndyCar? Can Newgarden double down considering that he qualified fourth on Friday night? Both things are possible.
  • JR Hildebrand’s return: Ed Carpenter Racing’s JR Hildebrand will get back behind the wheel for the Phoenix Grand Prix, after missing the Grand Prix of Alabama thanks to a hand injury. You can certainly drive with a hand/wrist injury (ask Newgarden, who did it last year after this collision) but it will be interesting to see how Hildebrand performs. So far, he seems like he’s actually better post-accident—he qualified third.
  • Scott Dixon’s day: Defending race winner Scott Dixon starts eighth on Saturday. That’s not ideal, but it’s not terrible either. Dixon can perform on this track, and if he’s able to repeat, he would not only get his first win of 2017 but the first win for Chip Ganassi Racing under the Honda banner. There’s a bit on the line for him here.

PREDICTION:

Phoenix is the first oval track of the 2017 IndyCar season, so it’s not fair to lean too heavily on the statistics from the first three races in predicting this one. That being said, the evidence at hand has us favoring experience up front. Newgarden has been fast all weekend and was also fast in the test day at Phoenix during the offseason, so we expect that he’ll pick up his second straight victory.

Who else will run up front? Don’t sleep on Dixon, who was victorious at Phoenix last year and has to be hungry for a win after Newgarden bolted by him in the closing laps of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. And if Will Power can avoid another flat tire, he drove very well last week and nothing says he can’t do so again. We believe Penske and Ganassi will fill out the top three spots with Newgarden, Dixon and Power.

Next: IndyCar Phoenix Grand Prix qualifying results

The 2017 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix takes place at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, April 29 at 9 p.m. ET. For the latest IndyCar news throughout race weekend, follow the Motor Sports category at FanSided here.