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| Scott Dixon fell short of defending his championship |
The Kiwi's title defense started well at St. Petersburg with a fourth place finish. At Long Beach, Dixon was leading late but couldn't stretch the fuel mileage and ended up 12th. He scored his worst career finish at Barber Motorsports Park this season when he came home in third position behind the Andretti Autosport 1-2 of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti. One of these years he will get to the top step of the podium in Alabama.
Dixon didn't qualify well for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and contact with Will Power put him in the kitty litter and a lap down. He was able to score fastest lap and get back on the lead lap but at that point it was too little too late. He started in the middle of row four for the Indianapolis 500 and had worked his way to the front before hitting the turn four wall on lap 168. An average first race in Detroit was followed by a stellar run from 22nd to fourth in race two and that wasn't even his most impressive drive of the season. We will get to that in a moment.
A top five at Texas was followed by two rough races in Houston. He got into the turn nine barrier and collected his teammate Charlie Kimball and he had brake issues in the second race. He had to start 15th at Pocono but he methodically worked his way up to fifth. He would have finished second at Iowa if it weren't for Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden pitting under the final caution and charging past Dixon dropping him to fourth. The Toronto doubleheader treated him much better than Houston as he finished fifth and seventh North of the Border.
Then Dixon ran the race that will define his career. After having to start dead last at Mid-Ohio, Dixon proved he was the undisputed king of fuel mileage as he went on to smash the record for furthest back a winner has come from at the famed track. The record was eighth, Dixon made it 22nd. The wave of momentum continued until the end of the season as he would finish fourth at Milwaukee, win Sonoma after holding off Ryan Hunter-Reay and finish second at Fontana behind his teammate Tony Kanaan.
Scott Dixon's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 3rd (604 points)
Wins: 2
Podiums: 4
Top Fives: 11
Top Tens: 12
Laps Led: 97
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 5
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 9.176 (6th)
Average Finish: 8.277 (2nd)
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| The Brazilian ended 2014 on a high note with a victory |
Speaking of the Brazilian, his first season with Ganassi proved the 39, going on 40-year old still has it. He finished sixth at St. Petersburg and was collateral at Long Beach thanks to Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay coming together. He started last at Barber but did what he does best, gaining 14 spots and coming home in ninth. He quietly finished tenth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but struggled in Indianapolis 500 qualifying, ending up on the inside of row six.
Kanaan entered as the defending Indianapolis 500 winner but it became clear early he was not going to make it back-to-back triumphs. He ran out of fuel at the end of a stint and tore up the gearbox during the process. He returned at Belle Isle and score his first podium with Ganassi with a third in race one followed by a ninth in race two. He'd finish behind Dixon in sixth at Texas and was in contention for victory in Houston 1 only to have Graham Rahal run into the back of him coming to the final restart. In race two, he had a tire rub drop him out of contention for a top five but he was able to manage a tenth place finish.
For the second consecutive year, Kanaan found himself in position to win at Pocono but for the second consecutive year, the cookie didn't crumble into his favor. After deciding to go off sequence to try and stretch fuel, it backfired on him and they had to make an extra pit stop and just missed out on a top ten with an 11th-place finish. Then came Iowa. He dominated Iowa. No one could hold a candle to him all night as he led 247 of 300 laps. Until Hunter-Reay and Newgarden put on new tires. Then Kanaan was a sitting duck and a victory turned into a third place finish in the blink of an eye. Toronto would feature two more podiums, a third in race one and a second in race two after stalling on lap one but still no victory and it appeared Kanaan was never going to get a victory.
Mid-Ohio ended with a first corner accident and the focus shifted to Milwaukee. At the famed mile Kanaan had nothing for the Penske drivers Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya but he was able to come home third, his fourth podium in five races. Kanaan tried to go off sequence on fuel again at Sonoma and just like Pocono it didn't pan out as he ended up 13th. Heading to the season finale, it appeared likely Kanaan was going to have his third winless season in four years. However, Kanaan put together a fantastic race fending off his teammate Dixon, Ed Carpenter and Montoya on his way to victory in the season finale.
Tony Kanaan's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 7th (544 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 6
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 12
Laps Led: 407
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 3
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 9.235 (7th)
Average Finish: 9.277 (9th)
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| Ryan Briscoe fell short of expectations in 2014 |
Boring. That is what Ryan Briscoe's season was. He finished tied for tenth in the championship with Sébastien Bourdais but the Frenchman won the tiebreaker thanks to his victory in Toronto 1. Briscoe came close to victory once all year. At Belle Isle 1 when he was off sequence and ended up in the lead with 16 laps to go but it was false hope as he had to make another pit stop. His lone top five was fourth at Pocono.
He had a good year. Ten top tens, only four drivers had more but Briscoe was never at the front. He pieced together a season of finished sixth through tenth with a few finishes on the outside looking in. But he rarely put a wheel wrong. He completed the second most laps all season, running all but 21 of 2395 over 18 races (he finished a lap down at Texas and 20 down at Long Beach). Briscoe is a competent driver. He is probably more talented than he gets credit for but after being gift-wrapped a seat at one of the top two teams in IndyCar when Dario Franchitti retired, he failed to produce the quality results a seat like that should yield. It may have cost him his job.
Ryan Briscoe's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 11th (461 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 10
Laps Led: 5
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 4
Average Start: 10.444 (8th)
Average Finish: 12.235 (14th)
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| Passing was a theme of Charlie Kimball's season |
While Charlie Kimball finished two positions behind Briscoe in the championship, his season was anything but boring. He was awful in qualifying. Just awful. Only Sebastián Saavedra and Carlos Huertas were worse in qualifying. However, Kimball turned it into a game. He would start in the back but work his way to the front. No one made up more positions than Kimball in 2014 as he averaged gaining 3.888 positions from his spot on the starting grid.
Kimball put together a few sensationalized drives. He went from 23rd to fifth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, 20th to third in Belle Isle 2, 19th to fourth in Houston 2, 16th to 4th in Toronto 2. He made up double-digit positions from his starting position on seven occasions. You have to wonder how much better Kimball would have finished in the championship if he started in the top ten more than three times. Another place to look for improvement is ovals. His best oval finish in 2014 was tenth at Texas and Iowa but he failed to finish on the lead lap in the other four ovals.
Charlie Kimball's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 14th (402 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 4
Top Tens: 10
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 16.411 (21st)
Average Finish: 12.5 (14th)
Head-to-Head
Best Finishing:
Scott Dixon- 6 (STP, LB, Bar, Tex, MO, Son)
Tony Kanaan- 6 (Det 1, Iowa, Tor 1 & 2, Mil, Fon)
Ryan Briscoe- 3 (500, Hou 1, Poc)
Charlie Kimball- 3 (GPOI, Det 2, Hou 2)
Best Qualifying Position:
Dixon- 9 (LB, Bar, GPOI, 500, Hou 1, Iowa, Tor 2, Son, Fon)
Kanaan- 7 (STP, Tex, Hou 2, Poc, Tor 1, MO, Mil)
Briscoe- 2 (Det 1 & 2)
Kimball- Never was the top qualifying Ganassi driver.
It's amazing to think that Ganassi Racing's four drivers all finished with double-digit figures in the top ten column. Dixon and Kanaan will be championship contenders in 2015, it's just a matter of if Kimball can take that next step and if Briscoe stays with the team. Briscoe could be replaced by Sage Karam, who finished ninth on debut in last year's Indianapolis 500 driving for Dreyer & Reinhold Racing on loan from Ganassi.
Can Ganassi avoid getting caught asleep for the first half of the season like they have become prone to doing the past two seasons? Starting on a good foot could be the difference between a championship for this team. In 2013, Will Power ended on a high note, winning three of the final five. Ganassi ended winning three of the final four and had at least one car on the podium in the final seven races. Charlie Kimball has to improve his qualifying results. If he can do that, another win could come his way. If Briscoe does stay on, he has to get multiple podiums to save his job. Karam is waiting in the wings and is highly touted. Unless Briscoe gets multiple podiums and is in contention for a victory or two in 2015, it will be very easy for Ganassi to sack Briscoe for a second time.
If Chevrolet's aero kit comes out of the box ahead of Honda's, 2015 could look a lot like 2009 with Penske vs. Ganassi every single weekend. It could be a very long season if that is the case and like most things IndyCar, people will be pissed.
