Indy 500: Can underdog Honda over-deliver again?

A quick glance at the starting lineup and speeds throughout the month would indicate Chevrolet has a nice advantage over Honda going into the 99th Indianapolis 500. Just like it did in 2012.

But, as we saw then, Honda bounced back with a 1-2 finish (Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon) and nearly a podium sweep (Takuma Sato crashed going for the win) in a stunning turnaround.

Chevrolet, winners of four of the first five races in 2015, owns the five fastest qualifiers this year and 11 of the top-15 starting spots. Can you say underdog?

"I hate to think of us as an underdog but it's hard to argue with the numbers in front of us," said Allen Miller (LEFT), the race team director for Honda Performance Development. "So I guess it does make us an underdog – but don't count us out."

Even though Justin Wilson and Marco Andretti are the lone Honda bullets in the first three rows, Miller believes there may be a reason.

"We focused on the race more than qualifying," he continued. "We tried to make it the best racing car it could be vs. qualifying. Our primary goal for the year has been this event and the feedback we've got is that our drivers are pretty comfortable in race trim. There is no reason to believe we can't be in contention just because we didn't qualify that well."

Ryan Hunter-Reay gave Honda a thrilling triumph a year ago and it helped take some of the sting out of Chevy winning 12 of 18 races. Of course, Indianapolis is a different animal, an ever-changing track that can be hard to keep up with even for the savviest of drivers and teams. And a couple of factors could play into Honda's hands – temperature and mileage.

James Hinchcliffe won at NOLA last month, thanks to great fuel mileage and lots of cautions, and Miller figures it could be a factor over 500 miles.

"We showed on the road course in New Orleans we had a little advantage on fuel mileage and we've improved another step from the beginning of the season," he noted. "But this is the first oval of the year, so it's hard to gauge."

And the temperature is supposed to be back up in the 80s by Sunday's green flag.

"We've been OK in the heat before and our cars seem to work well either way but the heat might be more of an advantage," said Miller.

Hunter-Reay starts 16th in his quest to repeat, right next to Honda's hottest driver Graham Rahal, coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes. Carlos Munoz (who starts 11th) has finished second and fourth the past two Mays and Oriol Servia (13th) is always good at Indy.

Chevrolet has the numbers and the momentum, but Honda has heart.

"We always seem to be at our best when we're behind and fight our way back," said Miller. "That's our plan this Sunday."

Don't miss a moment of the Indy 500. Get the new INDYCAR 15 app with in-car cameras, real-time dashboard and live team chatter.