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| Indianapolis 500 glory highlighted Ryan Hunter-Reay's season |
The 2012 IndyCar champion started 2014 with a bang. Other than the accident with Josef Newgarden at Long Beach that cost a handful of drivers shots at victories, Hunter-Reay came out firing on all cylinders. Second at the season opener in St. Petersburg followed by a commanding victory at Barber and second place at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis had him second in the championship, only a point back of Will Power.
Indianapolis 500 qualifying did not go to plan for Hunter-Reay. He was the slowest of Andretti Autosports five entries on Saturday, granted he was only 12th but he definitely thought he had a shot at pole position. On Sunday, Hunter-Reay was not able to make up time like plenty of other drivers and he dropped back to 19th on the final grid while his teammates started second, sixth, seventh and 12th. When the green flag fell to start the 98th Indianapolis 500, Hunter-Reay methodically worked his way to the front and took the lead on lap 100. From 19th on the grid, Hunter-Reay led a race-high 56 laps and held off three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves by 0.060 seconds to become the first American winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Sam Hornish, Jr. in 2006.
Hunter-Reay appeared to be on his way to his second championship with a 40-point lead after his Indianapolis 500 victory but as quickly as he was on the mountain top, he fell right back down. Two accidents in each qualifying session at the Belle Isle cost him valuable starting positions and an accident in race one followed by mechanical issues in race two dropped him from points leader to third, 27 points back of Will Power. An engine failure at Texas made it three poor results in a row before he got back on track at Houston with a seventh and sixth place finish. However, trouble caught up with him again at Pocono as suspension issues ended any chance at a promising finish.
Iowa was not going Hunter-Reay's way before the final caution where he made the right decision to pit and he was able to charged to the front on fresh tires and ruined Ganassi's night after Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon had dominated are were set for a 1-2 finish. It was his third victory of the season but more poor results followed. Contact while running for a podium position with Kanaan ended his race one at Toronto and a late accident in turn three caught out Hunter-Reay. He shot himself twice at Mid-Ohio. Once by speeding in the pit-lane and the second time by spinning by himself. He could have been in contention for a victory but had to settle for tenth.
Suspension problems cost Hunter-Reay again at Milwaukee after he worked his way into the top ten after starting nineteenth. He was able to finish second at Sonoma but it was too little, too late as he was eliminated from championship contention. At Fontana, he was running toward the front and was in contention for victory before he had a lazy spin off of turn four, causing the only caution of the race. He couldn't stay on the lead lap and finished 16th and sixth in the championship, two points out of the top five.
Ryan Hunter-Reay's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 6th (563 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 6
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 195
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 10.647 (11th)
Average Finish: 10.888 (9th)
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| Three podiums highlighted Carlos Muñoz's Rookie of the Year Campaign |
The 2014 Rookie of the Year was no surprise. Everyone had pegged Carlos Muñoz to take the honor and we were all wondering how big was the gap going to be between Muñoz and the next closest rookie. Muñoz was top rookie by a comfortable margin. Eighth in the final championship standings, 111 points ahead of the next best rookie. However, unlike Hunter-Reay, his season started rather poorly. Seventeenth at St. Petersburg, 23rd at Barber after a suspension issue and 24th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis after he plowed into the back of his fellow Colombian Sebastián Saavedra, who stalled from pole position. The only bright spot was third at Long Beach after surviving all the attrition.
His second Indianapolis 500 was just as memorable as his first. He started seventh and finished fourth in a race where Andretti Autosport took four of the top six. Belle Isle was a good weekend for Muñoz in his first appearance on the physically demanding street circuit. He ended up with a seventh and eighth in Detroit. After finishing midpack at Texas, Muñoz finished third at Houston 1 despite starting last, making it a Colombian 1-2-3 as Carlos Huertas shocked the IndyCar paddock and Juan Pablo Montoya finished second. In race two, Muñoz came back down to earth after tapping the wall while in the top ten. At Pocono, Muñoz would turn it around with another third place finish and was the best Andretti drive all day.
He had an average night at Iowa finishing 12th and a pair of 17th at Toronto. Mid-Ohio saw his best career start on a road course in fourth and that's where he finish as he ran with the big boys all day. An accident at Milwaukee and a bad run at Sonoma was made up for at Fontana where he finished eighth after running with his teammate all night.
Carlos Muñoz's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 8th (483 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 5
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 11 (12th)
Average Finish: 12.555 (15th)
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| Marco Andretti has a good 2014 season but victory eluded him once again. |
It has to be difficult when ninth in the championship still can't get you any respect. Marco Andretti had a really good season but his last name makes the expectations from the microscopic IndyCar to be win the championship or win the Indianapolis 500 to get any type of respect.
He got into the back of Jack Hawksworth at St. Petersburg but he rebounded with a eighth at Long Beach despite having to make an extra pit stop and second at Barber behind his teammate Hunter-Reay. A 14th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis was made up for in the "500" where he picked up a third place finish after leading 20 laps. It was his sixth top ten finish in nine Indianapolis 500 starts.
After the month of May, Andretti's season was good but not great. He picked up six top tens in the final thirteen races but his best finish was eighth. He made a great start at Texas but his night ended in a great ball of fire after three laps. Pit lane speeding at Pocono cost him a shot at victory in his home race but he was able to work his way back up to ninth. The engine quit on him again at Iowa. At Milwaukee he was the top finishing Andretti driver but could only manage a 13th place finish. He managed eighth at Sonoma and 11th at Fontana.
Marco Andretti's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 9th (463 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 2
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 23
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 3
Average Start: 12.882 (15th)
Average Finish: 12.166 (11th)
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| The Canadian James Hinchcliffe left a lot on the table in 2014. |
James Hinchcliffe's season could have been much better. After winning three races in 2013 and finishing eighth in the championship, success was few and far between for the Canadian. His struggled went from St. Petersburg through Indianapolis, despite starting well in races. He started second in three of the first five races, including the Indianapolis 500 but his best finish was seventh at Barber. Of course, it wasn't all his fault. He was collateral in the Newgarden-Hunter-Reay accident at Long Beach and he was hit in the head by debris in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and suffered a concussion. In the "500" he and Carpenter got together heading into turn one on a restart while both were in contention for victory.
Belle Isle was the first great weekend for Hinchcliffe where he started second in both races and finished sixth and fifth. The rest of his season feature a bunch of peaks and valleys. A fourteenth at Texas was followed by a fifth at Houston 1 and that was followed by a fourteenth in Houston 2. He finished sixth at Iowa and matched his best finish at his home race with an eighth in Toronto 1 but his home weekend ended with an 18th in race two.
He would finally score his first podium at Mid-Ohio thanks in part to going from 17th to sixth on lap one after avoiding the accident between Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti. Milwaukee started out great but he couldn't recover from a practice accident and finished 19th. He started fourth at Sonoma but fell to 12th and he finished fifth at Fontana, his best oval finish of 2014.
James Hinchcliffe's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 12th (456 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 4
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 75
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 5
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 7.941 (3rd)
Average Finish: 12.388 (12th)
Head-to-Head
Better Finish: Ryan Hunter-Reay was top Andretti driver in seven races (STP, Bar, GPOI, 500, Hou 2, Iowa, Son), James Hinchcliffe in five races (Det 1 & 2, Tor 1, MO, Fon), Carlos Muñoz in four races (LB, Tex, Hou 1, Poc) and Marco Andretti in two races (Tor 2, Mil).
Better Qualifying Position: Hinchcliffe was top Andretti driver in qualifying in eight races (Bar, 500, Det 1 & 2, Tex, Hou 1 & 2, Son), Hunter-Reay in six races (STP, LB, GPOI, Tor 1 & 2, Fon), Muñoz in three races (Poc, Iowa, MO) and Andretti in one race (Mil)
Can Andretti Autosport and Honda overcome Chevrolet's dominance? Chevrolet won the final six races and 12 of 18 in 2014. Andretti Autosport is Honda's top team even after losing Hinchcliffe to Schmidt Peterson. Hunter-Reay has won at least one race in each of his five seasons at Andretti Autosport and as the clear team leader, it is expected that he will be able to carry the Andretti Autosport banner into 2015.
Can Muñoz and Andretti step up to the plate and help Hunter-Reay carry the weight? Muñoz had a promising rookie season after two excellent seasons in Indy Lights. Andretti is always a contender on the ovals and his road course prowess has improved since the introduction of the DW12 chassis. Surprisingly, Muñoz didn't lead one lap in 2014. I expect that to change in 2015.
Who will be Andretti Autosport's fourth driver? Indy Lights drivers Zach Veach and Matthew Brabham could use another year of development before coming to IndyCar full-time. Veteran Justin Wilson is on the market and on paper he would be a great addition. GP2 and Formula E driver Daniel Abt tested for the team at Barber in October and signing the young German would a be forward thinking hire.
Can Honda and Andretti Autosport get out of their own way? Out of the top teams, Andretti Autosport can't seem to avoid mechanical gremlins and it was the same in their two seasons with Chevrolet. Plenty of times the team has had fast enough cars to challenged for victory but were not able to go the distance like Penske and Ganassi. With the introduction of aero kits in 2015, any missteps in development could keep Andretti Autosport behind the 8-ball and make the season be an 17-week battle upstream.
