With the first race of the Month of May – that is to say qualifications for the Indianapolis 500, not the GMR Grand Prix – now in the books, it’s time to both look back at the weekend that was and look forward to the weekend that is to come! To accomplish that, I’m pleased to once again join forces with my good friend George Phillips of Oilpressure.com for another episode of Two Sites Unite.

In what is probably a surprise to no one, we two old curmudgeons had strong feelings about this past weekend’s events and how the new qualifying format leaves much to be desired, though I think we would also both admit that A.) things are never going back to how they used to be, and B.) it could be a lot worse. I guess that make this format a good compromise. There were certainly things to enjoy last weekend, but we both agreed that the confusion at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session and the lull during Sunday’s Last Row Shootout both warrant some reconsideration by the rules makers before we get back to Indianapolis for the 2022 running.

Finally, we look forward to this coming weekend’s 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500. We discuss whether Team Penske can recover from their poor qualification showing and have success in the race, whether the race will ultimately play out in favor of experience, or whether one of the young guns starting in the first three rows can buck the recent trend of “more seasoned” Indianapolis 500 winners.

And finally, ONE OF US has the courage to go on the record early with our pick to win this weekend. Let us know if you agree (and if the other should have put their pick down without waiting until the last minute).

As always, we look forward to your comments so please let us know what you think of this discussion.