Anything can happen, even a bald Danica

Might there be a rematch at the end between Sam Hornish Jr. and Marco Andretti, who last year staged one of the most dramatic finishes in Indy history?

How about Marco vs. his own father, Michael Andretti, who senses he finally can win on his 16th and final start at the Brickyard?

Will Danica Patrick, the only one of three women in the race with a legitimate chance to win, get her head shaved in Victory Lane?

Or will her two most boisterous teammates, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti, stow their clippers because one of them has won a duel between the two veterans who have run well at Indy, only to be thwarted by bad breaks? (Both of their heads already are buzzed.)

Or maybe Helio Castroneves, starting from the pole, will become the first three-time Indy winner among active drivers.

Even if Dan Wheldon runs away and leaves the field, like he has the past two years, there'll be drama: Will he or won't he be bridled by luck? Last year, he was, by a cut tire. In 2005, he wasn't and won.

The weather forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain, and if the race is postponed, it will be rescheduled for Monday, Memorial Day — back to the old tradition begun in 1911.

But if the race only is shortened by rain, then the elements themselves could help determine the winner. Once 101 of the scheduled 200 laps are completed, the race is considered official.

After that, whoever happens to be leading if a deluge comes would be declared the winner.

Patrick, if she had caught a lengthy caution at the right time while leading late in the race in '05, might have won. She says she has her strongest car since then, now that she's an Andretti Green Racing teammate of the two Andrettis, Kanaan and Franchitti.

If she wins at Indy — or anywhere this season — she'll be shorn of her nationally recognizable long, dark hair, the notorious AGR pranksters have vowed.

"She's got this flat spot on the back of her head that she keeps talking about," Franchitti said. "You'll all see it at some point."

Patrick will start eighth, Sarah Fisher 21st and Milka Duno 29th. But Fisher is returning from a two-year absence, having run at Indy five times — with a best finish of 21st in 2004. Duno, from Venezuela, is a rookie.

Wheldon, who won for AGR in '05 but now drives for Chip Ganassi, knows what it's like to be a target of the AGR pranks, and had some friendly advice for Patrick: Submit to the sheering.

"Put it this way: If she doesn't, she won't be considered a team player," Wheldon said. "So I would advise her to."

Plus, "it will help her in the long run," Wheldon cracked, alluding to the past year's subsiding of Danica Mania. "Britney Spears did it, and it definitely raised her profile again."

Find several Indy 500 multimedia presentations including the starting lineup at azstarnet.com/multimedia

today

• What: Indy 500

• When: 10 a.m.

• TV: Channel 9