The penultimate team-by-team preview features Andretti Autosport who won five races in 2013, over a quarter of the races. Andretti Autosport has switched to Honda after two seasons with Chevrolet.
2013 Andretti Autosport Review:
Wins: 5 (St. Petersburg, Barber, São Paulo, Milwaukee, Iowa).
Poles: 5 (Barber, São Paulo, Milwaukee, Pocono)
Final Championship Position: 5th (Marco Andretti), 7th (Ryan Hunter-Reay), 8th (James Hinchcliffe), 15th (E.J. Viso), 28th (Carlos Muñoz).
2014 Drivers:
Marco Andretti
The third-generation driver had his best season in 2013. Though he went winless, Andretti match his personal best for top fives in a season (6) and set a personal best for top tens in a season (15) and finished a personal best fifth in the championship. He also won two poles at Milwaukee and Pocono and was a contender in each before an engine failure and poor fuel mileage took him out of contention. His two podiums came at St. Petersburg and São Paulo, his first career podiums on street circuits.
Number to Remember: 13. Top ten starts for Andretti in 2013.
Prediction/Goals: Marco Andretti will be a championship contender entering Fontana. He, like Will Power, ended 2013 hungry for more and after the improvements he made from 2012 to 2013, you can't rule him out for finding that little bit more. He is going to get multiple victories in 2014, with short ovals being Andretti Autosport's cup of tea, winning seven of the last eight. A goal for Andretti should be to continue to work on his road and street course prowess.
James Hinchcliffe
The Canadian broke through for three victories in 2013 but if he wasn't on the top step of the podium, he was in the wall or garage with mechanical issues. Eleven top tens was a career high for Hinchcliffe but with all his retirements he finished eighth in the championship for his second consecutive season. He has a new sponsor and livery that causes flashbacks to the days of Player's/Forsythe Racing with United Fiber and Data replacing GoDaddy as primary sponsor.
Number to Remember: 14.7. Hinchcliffe's average career finish on permanent road courses.
Prediction/Goals: A goal should be to finish more races. Breaking through and getting his first career pole should also be a goal for Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe will get a win and be in the tough fight for top ten in the championship.
Ryan Hunter-Reay
The 2012 IndyCar champion was on a great title defense with two victories and six podiums in the first half of the 2013 season but once Takuma Sato kamikazed him on the pit lane at Pocono, Hunter-Reay score only one top five and three top tens in the final nine races. Mechanical issues also bit Hunter-Reay along the way with electrical issues at St. Petersburg, Baltimore, Houston 1 and Houston 2.
Number to Remember: 5.666. Hunter-Reay's average starting position in 2013.
Prediction/Goals: Hunter-Reay will be contending for a top five spot in the championship come Fontana. He will get a win or two and like I was saying earlier about short ovals, of those seven wins for Andretti, Hunter-Reay has been responsible for four of them. A goal for Hunter-Reay should be avoiding the mechanical failure bug that plagued his team in 2013. If anyone was happiest about the move to Honda, it will be Hunter-Reay.
Carlos Muñoz
The Colombian took IndyCar by storm in 2013 despite only make three starts. He started and finished second in the Indianapolis 500, earning him the honor of Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. He finished seventeenth as a last second replacement for Ryan Briscoe in the second Toronto race after Briscoe suffered a broken wrist in race one. He also substituted for E.J. Viso at Fontana where he started tenth and was running well in the top ten before a lap 100 accident ended his day. Muñoz won six races in Indy Lights over the last two seasons and finished third in the 2013 Indy Lights Championship behind Sage Karam and fellow Colombian Gabby Chaves.
Number to Remember: 10. Muñoz's Indy Lights career total for podiums in 24 career starts.
Prediction/Goals: Muñoz is the favorite for rookie of the year, although Jack Hawksworth put up impressive laps during the Barber test. Muñoz will get a handful of top tens and be around fifteenth in the final championship standings. I don't see a victory for the Colombian (although Andretti Autosport has won the Iowa race five times with five different drivers and Muñoz's three teammates have all already won the event) but a podium would not be a surprise in his rookie season (seeing as how he finished second on debut in the Indianapolis 500 last year).
Kurt Busch
The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion becomes the first driver to attempt the double since Robby Gordon attempted it in 2004. Busch passed Indianapolis 500 rookie orientation last year driving Ryan Hunter-Reay's car but did not make an attempt in 2013. This year, with the blessing of his NASCAR team owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, Busch will make his first attempt for the Indianapolis 500. Busch has 24 career NASCAR Cup Series wins, 5 Nationwide and 4 Truck Series wins, a podium in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, competed in the NHRA Pro Stock division at the 2011 Gatornationals and tested a Rahal Lola before the 2003 CART season at Sebring.
Number to Remember: 19.38. Busch's average career finish in 13 Brickyard 400 starts. His best finish at Indianapolis in the Brickyard 400 is 5th in 2001. He finished 4th in the final IROC race at Indianapolis in 2003.
Prediction/Goals: If there are more than thirty-three entrants, the goal is to qualify. Once qualified the goal becomes complete 200 laps. Busch will do well in qualifying but traffic and the car setup in race trim will make it a little difficult for Nevadan. He will crack the top twenty but finish a lap down.
Eleven down, one to go. The final team preview will be posted tomorrow. Use process of elimination to figure out who it is. The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season opens this Sunday at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on ABC with green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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