INDIANAPOLIS -- Carb Day practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is just one hour out of an available 40 hours of track time in the lead-up to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 (Sunday 11 a.m. ET, ABC, WatchESPN and the ESPN app).
But as the last time the 33 cars and drivers are on the track before the biggest race of the year, teams take that last hour very seriously. That was especially applicable this year because Carb Day featured the hottest temperatures so far in the month of May: more importantly, the kind of hot, humid conditions that are expected on race day.
It's notable that, when the track has heated up over the last week, the Chip Ganassi Racing cars have usually emerged at the top of the time sheets. Andretti Autosport has also looked good in the heat, with drivers from those two teams posting six of the fastest nine laps on Carb Day.
Outright speed is one thing, but pit stop strategy and car preparation play a big part in the equation, too. In that regard, Team Penske is peerless in the Verizon IndyCar Series, and especially at Indianapolis, where Roger Penske's cars have won a record 16 times.
With all that in mind, here is ESPN.com's ranking of the eleven teams participating in Sunday's race.
1. Team Penske: Even though Team Penske's top qualifier for this year's race is Will Power in sixth place, Indy car racing's most successful team still rates as the favorite to take home the Borg-Warner Trophy. Among all the multicar teams in the series, Penske is the only one that features four topflight, championship-caliber drivers. Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya are multiple Indy winners; championship leader Simon Pagenaud is the hottest driver in the sport; and Power's speed and desire are unquestioned. With four potential winners, Penske can take radical strategy chances if necessary, and the team's execution on critical pit stops is second to none. You can be certain that, with this being the 100th running of the 500 on the occasion of Team Penske's 50th anniversary, winning this year would be even more special than usual for Mr. Penske.
2. Chip Ganassi Racing: A rival engineer pointed out that, the hotter it gets, the more speed Ganassi finds. Admittedly aided by a big tow, Tony Kanaan was 1.5 mph faster than the next driver (Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz) and four-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was right there in third. Both are Indy winners (Dixon in 2008, Kanaan in 2013) and both should contend on race day. Charlie Kimball is a steady, smart competitor who has shown over the past couple of years that he is as fast as anybody on his day. Rookie Max Chilton must be considered a long shot. "I think what we have what it takes to be in it," said team owner Chip Ganassi. "We've got the speed to get to the front."
3. Andretti Autosport: Starting from the outside of the front row, Ryan Hunter-Reay is cited by many as their favorite on Sunday. But the same rival engineer who pointed out the Ganassi cars' speed in the heat also questioned Andretti's race setup. It didn't seem to be a problem on Carb Day, as Munoz was second fastest, with Hunter-Reay and rookie Alexander Rossi fifth and sixth. Although Hunter-Reay might represent AA's best shot at victory, Munoz has become known as an Indianapolis specialist and the team is very impressed with the way Rossi adapted to the fast IMS oval. Don't forget Marco Andretti, who has never won the 500 but boasts a brace of second- and third-place finishes. And it's not unreasonable to think that Townsend Bell, on a break from the television booth, is capable of contending for the win.
4. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports: From 2012 to 2014, Pagenaud scored his first Indy car race wins and emerged as a top-five championship contender while driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. People wondered whether the driver flattered the team or vice versa. While Pagenaud has gone on to great success at Team Penske, SPM has held its own with James Hinchcliffe. The combination's momentum was slowed by Hinchcliffe's crash at Indianapolis last year, but he returned to the Speedway this year to claim pole position. Top-10 qualifying performances by Mikhail Aleshin and Oriol Servia showed that the SPM Hondas have plenty of speed, but their ability to remain quick over 500 miles of racing remains in question.
5. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Graham Rahal is 26th on the grid, but he is the most popular dark horse candidate in the field. His race-day speed and aggression have been repeatedly on display the past couple of years, and he is very pleased with his car on old tires in race trim. A top-10 finish is the goal for rookie Spencer Pigot.
6. Ed Carpenter Racing: Josef Newgarden is on the brink of Indy car superstardom, and he'll start Sunday's race from the middle of the front row as Chevrolet's top qualifier. JR Hildebrand came within one corner of winning the 500 as a rookie in 2011, and owner/driver Ed Carpenter's ties to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway run deep. ECR could push its winning car back to its shop on nearby Main Street in the town of Speedway if it prevails Sunday.
7. AJ Foyt Racing: Takuma Sato is another driver who came oh-so-close to winning at Indianapolis, and the Japanese driver's "No attack, no chance" motto makes him a fan favorite. Jack Hawksworth and Alex Tagliani are starting on the back row and can't be considered threats to win.
8. KVSH Racing: Sebastien Bourdais is a championship-caliber Indy car driver, but he has never taken a liking to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rookies Matt Brabham and Stefan Wilson aren't likely to provide much backup.
9. Dale Coyne Racing: Gabby Chaves ran fast in practice and Conor Daly is shaping up as a steady, dependable performer, but envisioning him winning at Indianapolis is a bit of a stretch. Not as much of a stretch as Pippa Mann, though; she crashed twice this week. Oval-track specialist Bryan Clauson has a better shot.
10. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: Dropped after one season by Ganassi Racing, Sage Karam is back at Indy with the team he impressed for as a rookie a couple of years ago. He could crack the top 10 but is not a threat to win.
11. Lazier-Burns Racing: Buddy Lazier is a former Indianapolis 500 winner, but this small, family-run team is up against much stronger competition than what was around in 1996.