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| 2014 couldn't have ended any better for Will Power |
Will Power ran all but one lap in 2014. You don't run a more championship-caliber year than that. He didn't win as many races as seasons past but he still dominated the season. Even when he put a wheel wrong, he came out golden. Long Beach he makes contact with Simon Pagenaud, no penalty, finished second. Grand Prix of Indianapolis he makes contact with Scott Dixon and he gets a pit lane penalty but still finished eighth. Indianapolis 500 he is hit with a pit lane speeding penalty yet recovers to finish eighth. Race one from Detroit he started 16th, takes out Pagenaud again and still won becoming the first winner to start outside the top ten in the history of Belle Isle. Race two he runs over Josef Newgarden, this time gets a penalty and finished second.
The only time Power put a wheel wrong and it cost him all season was Houston 1 where he got into the tires and finished a lap down, the only time he didn't finish on the lead lap and Pocono where he blocked Hélio Castroneves and got penalized. But even at Pocono, it worked out for Power as he still managed a top ten. Unlike previous seasons, Power brought the car home. It wasn't wreckers or checkers. He managed top fives in races he wasn't in contention and when he was in contention, he dominated. Power led 74 of 110 on his way to victory at St. Petersburg, 145 of 228 at Texas where he finished second, 229 of 250 at Milwaukee on his way to his third and final victory of the season.
He nearly threw the championship away... twice. First at Sonoma, where he led 33 of the first 36 laps before having a lazy spin at turn seven dropping him out of contention from victory but he didn't panic. He didn't try to set the world on fire to get back to the front. He drove with his head and his teammate and championship rival Castroneves faltered being apart of two cautions and ultimately Power finished 10th, ahead of the Brazilian in 14th. At Fontana, Power screwed the pooch in qualifying. Castroneves took pole position while Power started last on the grid after battling understeer. However, 500 miles is a long race and Power took his time working his way to the front and Castroneves ultimately fell out of contention after a pit lane penalty, handing the title to Will Power.
Will Power's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 1st (671 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 7
Top Fives: 8
Top Tens: 15
Laps Led: 623
Poles: 4
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 7.647 (2nd)
Average Finish: 6.444 (1st)
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| For another year, Hélio Castroneves was the bridesmaid and not the bride |
Consistent but not enough is the theme to Hélio Castroneves' career. He consistently finishes at the front of races but doesn't get enough victories to win a championship and father time will soon not be kind to the Brazilian. For the fourth time in his career Castroneves finished runner-up in the championship and for the second consecutive year and sixth time in his career he entered the final race with a shot at the championship but could not break through.
Castroneves finished tied for the second-most podiums in 2014 with six, one fewer than Power. Unlike Power, only one of Castroneves' podium saw him standing on the top step. Four of his podiums came before the halfway mark of the season with a third at St. Petersburg, a third at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and finishing second after a duel with Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Indianapolis 500. He dominated the second race from Belle Isle on his way to victory. At Pocono, all he could do was settle for second as Juan Pablo Montoya walked away with that one and the same could be said for race one from Toronto where Castroneves was no match for the pole-sitter Sébastien Bourdais.
After that podium, the season was all downhill for Castroneves. His best finish in the final five races was 11th. Toronto 2 slipped away as he got caught out on tire strategy as the track conditions went from dry to wet and back to dry. His Mid-Ohio race was over before it started as he suffered throttle issues and failed to take the green flag and ultimately started four laps down and ended the race four laps down in 19th. He had could hold a candle to Power at Milwaukee where he finished 11th and at Sonoma he was in two incident, neither major but both were set backs. Front wing damage on the first lap and contact with Bourdais derailed a chance for Castroneves to take a chunk out of Power's lead at Sonoma.
Castroneves flipped the script at Fontana. He started out trailing Power by 51 points but when the green flag fell, he held a 30-point lead with Power starting at the back. However, as Power moved toward the front, Castroneves started to lose positions and eventually the championship lead and a pit lane penalty was the final nail in the coffin for Castroneves' championship hopes.
Hélio Castroneves' 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 2nd (609 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 6
Top Fives: 7
Top Tens: 10
Laps Led: 282
Poles: 3
Fast Sixes: 5
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 6.058 (1st)
Average Finish: 9.444 (5th)
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| 2014 was as if Juan Pablo Montoya never left IndyCar |
The most impressive driver in IndyCar in 2014 was Juan Pablo Montoya. Almost fourteen years since his last start in IndyCar, almost seven years since his last start in an open-wheel car and Montoya finished fourth in the championship. The Colombian did struggle. His first four races saw him finish 15th, 4th at Long Beach after surviving all the attrition, 21st and 16th.
At the Indianapolis 500, Montoya started to turn the curve. He started tenth and worked to the front by getting better fuel mileage than everybody else only to have his race stunted by a pit lane speeding penalty but he was ultimately able to overcome the penalty to finish fifth.
Ovals clearly suited Montoya as he finished third at Texas and won Pocono from pole position after leading 45 laps. He charged to the front at Iowa and was in contention for a top five before contact with Ed Carpenter ended his night. At Milwaukee he started third and finished second as Power destroyed the field on the mile and Montoya led a race-high 85 laps at Fontana before coming home in fourth. He scored more points than everyone else on ovals with an average finish of 5.166 and starting position of 6.5.
Over the course of the season, Montoya improved on road and street circuits. He ran at the front for most of the first Houston race and was in contention for victory before Graham Rahal ran over Tony Kanaan prior to the final restart. He was able to work his way to a fifth place finish at Sonoma after starting 19th.
Juan Pablo Montoya's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 4th (586 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 4
Top Fives: 8
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 167
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 10.352 (9th)
Average Finish: 9.666 (T-6th)
Head-to-Head
Best Finishing:
Will Power- 8 (STP, LB, Bar, Det 1, Tex, Tor 2, MO, Mil)
Hélio Castroneves- 5 (GPOI, 500, Det 2, Iowa, Tor 1)
Juan Pablo Montoya- 5 (Hou 1 & 2, Poc, Son, Fon)
Best Qualifying Position:
Power- 9 (STP, Bar, GPOI, 500, Tex, Tor 1, MO, Mil, Son)
Castroneves- 8 (STP, Det 1 & 2, Hou 1 & 2, Iowa, Tor 2, Fon)
Montoya- 1 (Poc)
After expanding to three cars in 2014, Team Penske will become a four-car team in 2015 with the addition of Simon Pagenaud. All four of Penske's 2015 drivers finished in the top five of the 2014 championship. Everyone believes that now that Will Power has one championship that the floodgates have now opened but his own teammates might slow Power's roll. Pagenaud finished in the top five every year he raced with Schmidt Peterson and is now with arguably the best team. You don't think he will pose a challenge for Power?
Juan Pablo Montoya needs to improve on road courses and street courses if he hopes to challenge for the championship because the Colombian can't bank on finishing in the top five on each oval and with the Indianapolis 500 being the lone oval race worth double points in 2015, there will be less rewarded at Pocono and Fontana where he won and finished fourth.
Does Hélio Castroneves have enough in the tank to do more than necessary to win a title? For the last two seasons he has found himself in contention but not by doing anything special. Winning one race isn't going to be enough for a championship and with all the talent overflowing at Penske, someone has to be the bottom and it very well could be Castroneves come 2015.
Penske will surely have at least one, if not two and maybe three drivers mathematically eligible for the title heading to Sonoma in late-August 2015. How far could Penske's dominance go? They won't win all the race. Between Ganassi, Andretti, CFH and SPM, someone will beat Penske. The DW12-era has seen 8 different winners, 10 different winners and 11 different winners in it's three seasons with 2014 matching an all-time high for winners in a season. Throw in aero kits and it could be a wrinkle that levels the playing field even more.
Penske is set up to light the world on fire but we have seen the top teams struggle. Tony Kanaan didn't win with Ganassi until the final race of his first season. The last two seasons Ganassi has had to wait until the second half of the season to win their first race. Andretti Autosport won five of the first ten in 2013 and only managed one podium in the final nine races that season. Even Penske has been prone to struggle. Will Power didn't score his first podium of 2013 until June and didn't win until late-August before winning three of the final five.
Next season will see the introduction of long awaited aero kits as well as the possibility of talented drivers shut out by Europe joining the grid. There has already been over three months since the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season finale and we are still just over three months until the first race of 2015. As autumn enters it's final weeks, we look forward to winter when aero kits will be homologated and driver line-ups finalized. Testing will soon be upon us and the longest offseason in motorsports will eventually come to an end.
