Nuts and bolts: Indianapolis 500 preview

What: The 101st Indianapolis 500 is the sixth of 17 races on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule.

When: 11:19 a.m. Sunday.

Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile rounded rectangular track.

Weather forecast: 75, scattered thunderstorms.

Broadcasts: TV — ABC, beginning at 10 a.m., host Lindsay Czarniak, Allen Bestwick, Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever in the booth and Jon Beekhuis, Rick DeBruhl and Jerry Punch on pit road. Radio — IMS Radio Network, including AM-920 in Milwaukee.

Last year: Alexander Rossi, a Californian who grew up dreaming of racing in Formula One rather than the 500, became an awestruck winner of the milestone race. Team co-owner Bryan Herta gambled on strategy and coached Rossi to save enough fuel to make the final 36 laps on one tank. While people remember Rossi’s slow final laps, he also recorded the fastest lap of the day while at the back of the field midrace. Carlos Munoz pitted for a splash with four laps to go and recovered to finish second, 4.4975 seconds behind.

Season to date: A different driver has won each of the races: Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg, Fla.), James Hinchcliffe (Long Beach, Calif.), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park), Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix) and Will Power (Indy road course). Pagenaud, the defending series champion, leads the points on the strength of top-five finishes in every event.

The buzz: Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso is skipping his series’ premier event, the Monaco Grand Prix, to race in the 500, drawing attention from around the globe. Given the struggles of his McLaren Honda team in F1, Indy gives the 35-year-old Spaniard a chance to win a race for the first time since 2013.

About the field: There are seven past winners, Buddy Lazier (1996), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000, 2015), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009), Scott Dixon (2008), Tony Kanaan (2013), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014) and Rossi. Lazier is the most experienced driver with 19 starts and also the oldest at 49. Sage Karam, 22, is the youngest for the fourth consecutive year. Four starters are rookies, one fewer than last year.

HANDICAPPING THE RACE

The Honda-powered cars have been faster but less reliable, which adds a wrinkle to trying to pick a winner. How many of the 17 will make it to the end?

The favorites: The pole-sitter Dixon is as good as they come, but concerns about the Honda are legitimate. If the Chevrolets are comparable in speed in race conditions, then betting against anyone from Team Penske — particularly Castroneves and Montoya, but also Newgarden, Pagenaud and Power — would be dangerous. The team has won a record 16 of these.

Best of the rest: Of Dixon’s teammates, the experienced and daring Kanaan always bears watching. Andretti Autosport and its offshoots feature two winners (Hunter-Reay, Rossi), a runner-up (Marco Andretti) and a world champion (Alonso) all starting within the top 10. It’s a Honda team, but some are bound to survive. Two-car Ed Carpenter Racing is smaller than the super-teams — one-third the size of Andretti — but always shows the speed that could take No. 2 starter Ed Carpenter or No. 6 starter JR Hildebrand to victory lane.

Others to watch: Takuma Sato is fearless. Carlos Munoz finished second twice but probably isn’t in as good a position with A.J. Foyt Racing this year as he was with Andretti in the past.