INDIANAPOLIS -- Seven years removed from the last time she was practically engulfed by such a media throng at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick anticipated her reception on Thursday afternoon.

Welcome to media day for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, where each of the 33 drivers in Sunday’s race are assigned a table to speak to reporters for one hour. Patrick was hidden behind her pack from the moment the session started.

“I don’t regret any of the moves I’ve made,” she said of leaving INDYCAR to drive in NASCAR in 2011. “Unless I ate something I wasn’t supposed to and I’d regret that.”

Patrick, who intends to retire from racing after this event, qualified seventh in the No. 13 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing.

“It wouldn’t be so dramatic if I wasn’t gone for seven years,” she said. “I’m sure I would have a few less people standing here.”

Carpenter, who will start from the pole for a third time, remembers Danica Mania from when she finished fourth in her Indy 500 debut in 2005. He saw the value to adding her to the team for this much-publicized “one-off” because she has an excellent track record at IMS, which means she can win, while also boosting ECR’s profile.

“She’s one of the few people in the world who doesn’t need a last name and everyone knows who you’re talking about,” Carpenter said. “She’s definitely been a big part of the history of the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. And at the same time, the Indianapolis 500 was a big part of putting her name on the map. It’s fitting that she’s ending her career here.”

Seated to Patrick’s right was reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion and current points leader Josef Newgarden, who qualified fourth in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. His media contingent was about half the size.

“We’ve had a good start to the year,” he said. “I think we have all the ingredients necessary to be good here. We have an opportunity to win the race.”

Seated to Patrick’s left was defending Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, who will start 16th in his No. 30 MI-Jack/Panasonic Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato’s group of reporters was half the size of Newgarden’s. He conceded the responsibilities of being a winner have continued.

“Back in the car, I always enjoy,” he said. “Sometimes I struggle and I’m frustrated, but I do my job. Then I jump out of the car and I have to do some other (public relations) jobs, which I do enjoy. I’m OK with that.”

Sato is one of six winners in the field. One of them — Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves — has been answering the same question for nine years: “What would it mean to win a fourth Indy 500?”

“That means we still have an opportunity,” said Castroneves, who will start eighth in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet. “And if we have an opportunity, that means we can do it. Obviously, I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”

Another former winner, 2016’s Alexander Rossi, has been asked the same question ever since he had an issue in qualifying on Sunday and qualified 32nd in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda for Andretti Autosport.

He’s well aware the farthest back Indy 500 winner was from the 28th position in 1911 and 1936, but Rossi was in 28th place with 95 laps to go in his Indy 500 victory two years ago.

“If you qualify 32nd because you’re slow, you’re not going to drive to the front,” Rossi said. “If you qualify 32nd because you have an issue and you don’t feel that you should be there, then you have a pretty big opportunity. You have a lot of different pit stops. You have a lot of potential for strategy to be out of sequence. There’s just a lot of different ways you can play it if you have a fast car. If you have a fast car, any strategy looks good.”

Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won the 2014 Indy 500 from the 19th starting position, will roll off the line from 14th this time in the No. 28 DHL Honda for Andretti Autosport.

“I’ve been there twice,” he said. “It’s a long race. It’s 500 miles. Settle in and start picking ‘em off, one by one. We won the race from P19, so I don’t see why he can’t do it from 32nd.”

And what about the history of nobody winning from farther back than 28th?

“It was a little bit different back then,” Hunter-Reay said.

Sebastien Bourdais qualified an Indy 500-best fifth in the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan. He’s a year removed from a frightening qualifying crash in Turn 2, when he had the speed to win the pole, but instead missed the race and was sidelined for much of the season.

The Frenchman's return is one of the more inspiring stories this month of May. He couldn’t resist a quip when asked if this was his best shot to win the Indy 500.

“No,” he said, “that was last year.”

The 33 drivers have a final practice on Friday to get their cars right before the race. The 60-minute session on Miller Lite Carb Day airs live at 11 a.m. ET on NBCSN.

The 102nd Indianapolis 500 will be carried live at 11 a.m. Sunday on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network. Tickets for the race are available at IMS.com.