Honda frantically trying to catch Chevrolet before Indy 500

They had little to celebrate Monday, though, not after Honda was smoked by rival manufacturer Chevrolet for the third time this season. Chevrolet claimed its third win in three IndyCar races this season with yet another dominating performance on Sunday.

After grabbing the first six spots in qualifying, Chevy drivers went on to sweep the podium. Only two Honda drivers finished inside the top 11, and through three races this year, the Chevy camp has led 422 laps to 18 for Honda.

With the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 rapidly closing in, Honda teams are downright scared they don’t have a chance to win the biggest race of them all.

“I just want a fair shot,” said Graham Rahal, who carried the Honda banner last season with two of the manufacturer’s six victories and was the only Honda driver legitimately in the title race. “There’s too much money, there’s too much sponsorship, there’s too much on the line for us to show up and know the best that we’re going to finish at the Indy 500 is 15th. That’s not fair to our sponsors, it’s not fair to us as teams.”

Chevrolet has steamrolled the competition since it returned to the series in 2012. The manufacturer has won three of the four championships since 2012, and two of four Indy 500s.

What is not clear is who is to blame for the unbalanced competition.

It’s probably true that Honda incorrectly assessed Chevrolet’s commitment to winning.

Honda got some satisfaction by winning the Indy 500 in 2012, and again in 2014, and it began to look like Indy is the only race that really matters to the manufacturer. If Honda executives can kiss the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then none of the other races really matter.