First Impressions: Pocono 2018

1. I am exhausted. I am not sure I have had a more tiring day at a racetrack. But I survived and I am going to kind of wing this and not really dig deep and I have yet to watch the broadcast. I will save that for tomorrow.

2. This was an old school 500-mile race. The kind where one driver said I am going to run as fast as I can and let's see if you can keep up. That is what Alexander Rossi did today and he picked up his second consecutive victory, his second 500-mile race victory, this third victory of the season and he closes in on the championship lead. This has been an impressive season for Rossi and while he has given away a lot of points now is the time to collect and Rossi is taking them in bunches. There is still a lot of time left in the season but Rossi is peaking at the right time.

3. The one driver who could keep up with Rossi was Will Power and it seemed Power was going to win his third consecutive Pocono race and third consecutive 500-mile race. For another race, Power found a way to the lead when he didn't seem to be in contention. This race was a lot like a road course race. Rossi was gone at one point, 11 seconds clear of the field and then he hit traffic and couldn't make it through. Power went from 11 seconds to one second back and pushing Rossi. What benefited Power was he made ground when Rossi was stuck behind Pagenaud and Power was able to leapfrog ahead of Rossi but Rossi ran him down and Rossi deserved this one. He led 180 laps. It was a beat down we haven't seen in a 500-mile race in a long time.

4. Somehow Scott Dixon finished third and once again on his worst day he ends up on the podium and while he lost a fair share of points, he still leads the championship. He really didn't have a chance at victory but once again he was able to rake in the points. He was slightly off strategy but he found a way to the front when others appeared to be better.

5. Sébastien Bourdais was fourth and the final car on the lead lap. I can't recall the last time this few cars finished on the lead lap for a 500-mile race. I am sure it happened more recently than I think. I remember the 1999 Indianapolis 500 didn't have that many lead lap finishers and maybe one of the last 500-mile races in the CART-era had few lead lap finishes. Bourdais was solid today. He kept his nose clean. Ironically, Bourdais was the last one to get in his car before the restart and it wasn't a minute or two after everyone else. Everyone else was strapped in and Bourdais was on his cellphone, riding in the golf cart up the pit lane. It read of someone confident and somehow conflicted. But we will talk about that tomorrow.

6. Josef Newgarden rounded out the top five in a day where fifth was probably the best he was going to do. He didn't quite have it to compete at the front. For part of this race he was seventh or eighth but it typical Team Penske fashion it found a way to use pit strategy to make up a handful of positions and it this case it greatly benefitted Newgarden.

7. Zach Veach was a darling today. He was making passes and he was challenging the likes of Newgarden, Bourdais and Pagenaud in this one. He looked comfortable out there and he has made big strides in the last three races.

8. Going back to this being more like a road course race, Marco Andretti stopped early and when from sixth to third and spent a fair share of the race there. However, it always felt Andretti wasn't going to end up on the podium and either Dixon, Bourdais or Newgarden would collect the hardware. Sure enough that turned out to be true. Andretti did well today but his early stop forced him to save fuel and he couldn't hold on to the positions. Andretti doesn't seem to be a driver who can save fuel and that is fine but he can't be put on a fuel save strategy. Let him go all out.

9. Simon Pagenaud finished eighth and he seemed to be eighth all day. He didn't quite have it and it seems to be that kind of year for him.

10. Charlie Kimball finished ninth and it is kind of hard to believe. Then again, this wasn't a race to focus on ninth. He just kept turning laps and that is what Kimball does on a frequent basis and if you keep finish laps then the finishes will follow. He might not be the most popular driver but he can get results and he is helping Carlin greatly.

11. And rounding out the top ten is Ed Carpenter. He was up in that group with Bourdais, Newgarden, Andretti, Veach, Pagenaud and Dixon but he faded. While his team seems to have Indianapolis figured out, Pocono remains a mystery.

12. A.J. Foyt Racing gave Matheus Leist a terrible strategy and he was forced to make an extra stop with 14 laps to go. He still ended up 11th but he could have been in the top ten.

13. Ed Jones finished three laps down in 12th and Max Chilton was four laps down in 13th.

14. Let's go to the start because that is what royally screwed Graham Rahal's day. The start-stop nature of IndyCar starts the last few races nearly caused an accident at Mid-Ohio and did this weekend. Unfortunately, Rahal was the guy to run into the back of another competitor and it ruined Spencer Pigot's day. This is something that will be tackled in greater detail tomorrow but on top of the damage that forced Rahal a lap down, he was penalized another two laps. Impressively, Rahal only finished four laps down and he was three laps down from like lap 12 so he had a strong car but was never going to catch up.

15. We are going to tackle the Robert Wickens accident now but not in great details. I haven't been able to digest a replay. I saw a few at the track but it is hard to break it down in that setting. It is unfortunate for him because he has been spectacular. We have been here before with these accidents. They can't be avoided. It is terrible it happened so early and a lot of drivers were done after six laps. More specifically, a lot of Honda drivers were done after six laps. Wickens and Ryan Hunter-Reay were two possible contenders. James Hinchcliffe and Takuma Sato both can't get a break in Pocono. Pietro Fittipaldi gets a career-best finish but only because there weren't 23 cars in this race. He is another driver who can't seem to get a break regardless of what he is driving.

16. I need some time. Everything will be visited tomorrow. I just need time. It is late. It is nearly 10:00 p.m. ET. This was a 12-hour day from leaving to head to the race to pulling into the driveway. Accident and two-hour red flag aside, this was a fun race. It was a different race than what we saw last year at Pocono. There is a beauty in a 500-mile race and IndyCar should have a Triple Crown. Even better, these cars did 188 laps of consecutive green flag racing. The average speed was 191.304 MPH. Should something be done to the universal aero kit after two iffy showings on 2.5-mile ovals? Maybe. IndyCar will undoubtedly explore it but a different race does not mean a worse race. The strategy was fun and passes could be made but they were challenging. Isn't that what we want? We want a driver to earn a pass. It was great to be there and the crowd was really good. It had to be better than last year and not many left during the red flag. Dario Franchitti even commented on the radio broadcasted how good the crowd looked and how amazed he was that the crowd stayed. It was an emotional day. We sat wondering if we were watching another man die and three hours later were standing cheering a race into turn two for the lead. It was a long day.

17. And IndyCar will be back at it in six days. Scott Dixon's championship lead to Alexander Rossi is 29 points, Josef Newgarden is 66 points back and Will Power is 81 points back. After today, it seems to be a four-horse race.