Weekend Motorsports Preview: Monaco and the Indy 500

It is a surprisingly light weekend for racing, partially because of the holiday weekend in the US. However, two of the races are ranked as some of the most famous in the world but both have their flaws.

Formula 1

The Grand Prix of Monaco is one of the most famous and important races on the Formula 1 calendar. Unfortunately, it is often not a great race because the course is so tight; there is very little passing. It is still a great motorsports spectacle. 

The race and qualifying will be held a 2:00pm local time (8:00am EDT or 12pm GMT). The race will cover 78 laps.

Nico Rosberg has led the first two practice sessions. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have also been fast in the sessions.

Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso are within 17 points of one another in the championship. If Vettel fails to perform, it could mean his lead in the championship.

Monaco is one of the few remaining original Formula 1 courses left. The others are Spa, Monza and Silverstone.

Indy 500

We usually do not cover the IndyCar Series in these columns, but the Indy 500 is a special race. At one time it was considered the largest, single day sports event in the world. While the glory days of waned, it is still a very important race. 

The big story of the race so far is from rookie Carlos Munoz from Columbia. He has never driven in an IndyCar Series race before and qualified in second for the Indy 500. He also qualified second in the Freedom 100, which is the shorter support race in the Indy Lights support series. It is possible that he could be the first driver in history to win both races. 

The front row of the race will be Ed Carpenter, Munoz and Marco Andretti. The series' points leader Takuma Sato qualified in 18th place. Last year's winner Dario Franchitti qualified 17th.

The race begins at 12pm EDT (4pm GMT) on Sunday, May 26. 

NASCAR

NASCAR has a 400-lap race at Charlotte Motor Speedway that will cover 600 miles. It begins on Sunday, May 26, at 6:00pm EDT (10pm GMT).

Jimmie Johnson leads the series championship by 44 points.