103rd Indianapolis 500: First Impressions

1. How could anyone have doubted Simon Pagenaud over the last season and a half?

I get he had won a race and never really had a race he dominated but he kept finishing in the top ten. He kept starting in the top ten. He kept up his streak of consistency and bringing the car home in one piece.

Pagenaud had 14 top ten finishes in the 17 races last year and ended the season with ten top ten finishes on the trot. He ended the month of May with three top ten finishes from four races. Not a bad record. In the 54 races before the start of May 2019 he had 27 top ten finishes, 44 top ten finishes and ten finishes outside the top ten. He might not have won a race but he had not lost a step. He was putting himself in the right position for the results to come.

Pagenaud had the best car today, if only by 0.2086 seconds. He controlled the field from the get go and led laps. He did not face early challengers for the lead and his dominance nearly cost him. The fuel mileage was not there for any of the Chevrolets but with Pagenaud being the knife cutting through the air, the drag led to shorter stints and it nearly cost him the Indianapolis 500. The Hondas were making better fuel mileage and it was falling into Alexander Rossi's lap. Rossi ended up controlling the pace from second position. Pagenaud was trying to slow the field to 215-216 MPH laps but Rossi was running 223 MPH and forced the Chevrolets to increase their pace.

The race was turning into Pocono 2018 and Rossi was set to tell the field to keep up and it looked to be his with just north of 20 laps to go when Rossi took the lead into turn three. Seconds later, Sébastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal made contact and that accident turned the race into a 32.5-mile sprint with no fuel conservation necessary and it allowed for Pagenaud to have a straight fight with Rossi.

The final 32.5 miles was a back-and-forth battle the likes we had not seen all year for the lead. Pagenaud took the lead at the restart, Rossi took the lead the following lap and the drivers traded the lead down the stretch. With three laps to go, Pagenaud left the inside open into turn one and Rossi took the victory. This race was not the slipstream affairs of the 2012-2017 where the leader appeared to be a sitting duck at the end of each straightaway. It could have been Rossi's but Pagenaud made the move Rossi couldn't, to the outside and it allowed the Frenchman to regain the lead entering turn three with two laps to go.

Rossi's car was not capable of making the same outside moves that he was known for last year. Many times Rossi looked to the outside when trying to make up a position but he stalled out at the entry of the corner and he had to rewind and do it all over again.

In the closing laps, it became Pocono 2017 where Will Power had Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi following but unable to make a pass with Power's ever changing line to break the draft. Pagenaud kept his car active on the final lap, diving to the inside early before jumping out in the middle of the straightaway and then getting back to the inside before the corner. The final time into turn three Pagenaud was able to seal up the inside, forcing Rossi to make a futile look on the outside. Rossi stalled out and the only hope was to draft off the Frenchman and win a drag race.

Pagenaud was gone. The draft was not going to be there for Rossi and Pagenaud became responsible for Roger Penske's 18th Indianapolis 500 victory.

This May was damn close to perfection for Pagenaud. He won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, taking 51 of a possible 54 points. He took the nine points for pole position, he led over half the race, he won the race and now he has the championship lead, though by a single point. Every driver enters May just wanting to win the Indianapolis 500, taking 163 of 166 points from the two races is more than any driver could imagine.

One year after Will Power won his first Indianapolis 500 years after winning a championship and many race victories, Pagenaud adds the Borg-Warner Trophy to his Astor Cup and he no longer finds himself in the group of champions without an Indianapolis 500 victory. An Indianapolis 500 victory should not be the end all be all in a driver's career, it shouldn't be validation of a driver's greatness and like Power, Pagenaud can silence whatever critics linger around.

2. Alexander Rossi had the drive of the day. He was controlling this race and it all came after two pit stops with re-fueling issues. It is hard to say the Bourdais-Rahal caution bit Rossi considering the caution for Marcus Ericsson's pit lane spin save Rossi from losing incredible amounts of time. It all leveled out, Rossi didn't lose time because of his fuel probe issue, Pagenaud didn't lose time because of fuel conservation.

I wish the race would have played out without that caution because it would have been interesting to see if Rossi and Honda could have taken over and a day that saw Chevrolets take up the top three positions for great majority of this race.

Rossi came back from the issues. We have seen drivers face the adversity, bang on the steering wheel out of anger and unravel, spin making an aggressive move, slapped the wall due to a lack of concentration and leave a race even angrier. Rossi didn't over step the line but he was taking all the risks. He went one-handed into turn one after the lapped car of Oriol Servià held him up. He went to the edge of the grass entering turn three, forcing it three-wide with Bourdais and Conor Daly and came out the other side clean and one position up the order. Rossi wasn't going to blink today and it was going to take someone beating him for him not to win this Indianapolis 500.

Pagenaud beat Rossi today but it wasn't because Rossi made a mistake. It was a one-on-one battle and Pagenaud made the moves at the right time.

3. Where did Takuma Sato come from?

Sato was not mentioned once until the final restart and he benefitted from the Bourdais-Rahal caution. Sato had just made his final stop and instead of going to the tail end of the lead lap cars he ended up in the middle of it all and the first time Sato was positioned to make meaningful passes he completed each one.

He lost a lap early and was as low as 31st but Sato kept going and in his 40s he has found control and not sacrificed a lick of speed. A fantastic result for him and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

4. Josef Newgarden didn't have what it took to match Pagenaud today and Newgarden took the lead mostly to help give Pagenaud the tow the Frenchman had not received all day. Newgarden loses the championship lead but he is one-point behind his teammate in what should shape up to be a great title fight with not only the two Penske drivers but Rossi and others.

5. Will Power had his own comeback after being sent to the rear of the field after making contact with a crew member on a pit stop.

Prior to the Bourdais-Rahal incident, Power was in a similar spot as Sato. If that caution does not come he drops outside the top ten and that is where he likely finishes. He made his stop before that caution, came out in the middle of the front-runners in the back half of the top ten and in the final 13 laps he charged to fifth.

IndyCar race control was consistent with the calls for pit lane infractions and it is good the officials were enforcing the rulebook.

6. Ed Carpenter finished sixth in a day where he may have been too patient. He was set running behind Pagenaud because he did not want to be the driver burning the fuel and stopping two or three laps earlier than the rest but in his waiting, he allowed Pagenaud to stay ahead, allowed Rossi and Newgarden to get pass and in the end Carpenter didn't have the fire for a late fight. Sixth place is a great result but Carpenter wants more than that.

7. Santino Ferrucci will win Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year with his seventh place finish in what was a great driver for the Nutmegger. Ferrucci was making passes throughout the field. He was not wild and he didn't over step the line. He made a great save on the Bourdais-Rahal caution, sliding through the turn three grass but keeping the car straight. It was a nice drive and he will deserve this honor.

8. Ryan Hunter-Reay did not have his greatest Indianapolis 500 car but he likely knew that and the veteran didn't overdrive the car. He knew the limits and got an eighth place finish, which will be good for his championship hopes. He was pretty equal to Ferrucci and those two ran around each other all race.

9. Another man who was around Ferrucci and Hunter-Reay all race was Tony Kanaan and Kanaan got off the snide with a ninth place finish, his first top ten finish in ten races. Kanaan was not a front-runner but it was great to see he was able to complete all 500 miles and pull out a top ten finishes.

10. Conor Daly had never finished all 500 miles in the Indianapolis 500 before today's race and somehow he should be disappointed with a tenth place finish. Daly was in the top five late and that Bourdais-Rahal caution may have cost him a few spots. Daly could not do what Rossi did but he was in the top ten for nearly the entire race and I can only hope this career day leads to more offers down the line for Daly.

11. James Hinchcliffe goes from 32nd to 11th and bravo to him after a hairy qualifying weekend last week. It was a promising result for him.

12. James Davison jumped into the top ten early but he was spun on pit lane on his first stop when Hélio Castroneves got into the rear of the Australian. Davison may have been on his way to overshooting his pit stall but Davison rallied and it was another great one-off for him.

13. This was kind of the race I expected from the other two Ed Carpenter Racing: Both cars would be strong but faded and Ed Jones was not really in the discussion after the first 200 miles. He still came home in 13th, not bad but that has to be a tad disappointing after all the pace he showed during the race.

14. Spencer Pigot was one of the few cars not to stop before the Bourdais-Rahal caution and while he was the leader at that time he was sent to back after his pit stop and it dropped him from top ten contention. It was a good day for Pigot but the result might say otherwise.

15. Matheus Leist finished 15th and I am not sure he was mentioned once during the race.

16. Pippa Mann finished 16th and I am not sure she was mentioned once during the race. Leist and Mann just kept running and stayed on the lead lap.

17. Scott Dixon got a bit of damage in the Bourdais-Rahal accident after contact with Charlie Kimball and that ruined a top ten finish for Dixon. He was around Ferrucci, Hunter-Reay and Kanaan all race and he worked his way into the top ten but was never a factor for the lead outside of when he cycled to the front during pit stops.

18. Hélio Castroneves got a penalty for his contact with Davison and he was multiple laps down all race. Then he got in Rossi's way while at least two laps down. It is purely coincidentally Rossi was the driver each time lapped cars notably impeded a lead lap car but for the consistency with pit lane infractions the blue flag is consistently not used and that is a shame because it puts the leaders at a disadvantage and hat shouldn't be the case.

19. Sage Karam was not a factor but moved up to a 19th place finish.

20. J.R. Hildebrand rounded out the top twenty and he was a bit stronger than that and was on the edge of the top ten early. This wasn't the greatest Indianapolis 500 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing but both cars made the race.

21. Jack Harvey was not a factor and finished 21st. It was a respectable six races for Meyer Shank Racing and now the team will take off the next three races.

22. Rossi came Oriol Servià a hard time when he was getting squeezed to the pit wall and it seems odd Servià would race a lead lap car like that. He wasn't impeding Rossi but trying to keep Rossi behind him and it was to no benefit of Servià to hold up Rossi. I wish IndyCar did a better job displaying blue flags, especially on an oval where a lapped car could easily take out a front-runner and that is a precedent IndyCar should not allow to be established.

23. Marcus Ericsson was running well all race and month. He was keeping his nose clean and was in position for a top ten finish and then he spun entering the pit lane and there went his chance at Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.

24. Jordan King's first Indianapolis 500 was not great and it was worse that one of his pit crew members was hurt. I am not sure if we see King again. He is back in Formula Two. He showed pace on road and street courses last year. I think he is a good driver and he could be a full-time IndyCar driver but it appears he is still feeling out where he could land permanently in motorsports.

25. Charlie Kimball found himself in the top ten late and this was a great Charlie Kimball-esque day until he had nowhere to go where Bourdais and Rahal got together. I do not know if Kimball could be in contention for a full-time seat down the road but I got to think he could help A.J. Foyt Racing. He drives into the top ten constantly and he did it today as Carlin's only driver in the field and the two regular drivers were on the sidelines.

26. This was the race from hell for Marco Andretti. He dropped from 10th to 22nd before the first caution on lap six. He was struggling with handling all race and he was quickly multiple laps down. He finished five laps down in what was pegged to be a dream race for the Andretti family. I know it was the 50th anniversary of Mario Andretti's only Indianapolis 500 victory but it might be time to slide into the shadows. No more tribute liveries, no more big television reveals, no more appearances on late-night television and it is not because Andretti is a bad guy. I am ok with him being in IndyCar because he finishes in the top ten of the championship more times than he doesn't but let's keep in check the expectations. He is only 32 years old but it is pushing eight years since his last victory. He is a good guy but when it comes to a face of the series there are other drivers that should get the spotlight.

27. Graham Rahal and Sébastien Bourdais got together and ruined both their chances at top ten finishes, one of them could have finished in the top five. It kind of sucks neither got the result they deserved because both were strong.

28. Felix Rosenqvist and Zach Veach were caught in the Rahal-Bourdais incident. Rosenqvist was getting fuel mileage akin to Dixon and I don't know if it would have got him a top ten result but he seemed to get into a groove and improve as the race went on. Veach was not really mentioned in this race aside from the Gainbridge commercials that were paired with an uninterrupted onboard from Veach's point of view.

29. Let's finish up the field, Kyle Kaiser got in the marbles, spun, saved it and then overcorrected and the Fairy Tale for Kasier and Juncos Racing ended in the turn four wall. I hope to see them back and not just at Indianapolis. I wish Kaiser got a greater opportunity at IndyCar.

30. Ben Hanley had his car break early and while DragonSpeed should be thrilled to make the race I bet they wanted more from this experience. Hanley wasn't the only one to break and Colton Herta had a gearbox failure after three laps. Since winning at Austin, Herta has finished 24th, 23rd, 23rd and 33rd. The high is gone for the kid. He is facing reality.

31. NBC did a great job with its coverage. The expanded pre-race covered pretty much everything. It wasn't a rushed pre-race and trying to jam in a few big stories in an hour. Everyone got some recognition.

I will admit, it wasn't the clean race from the booth, notably Paul Tracy. He makes four or five minor mistakes a race, whether it is misidentifying a corner or a car or a date and those add up. He said Kaiser's accident was in turn two; it was turn four. He was about three laps late on Rossi's pass on Daly. He said Andretti got into the back of Davison on pit lane when it was Castroneves.

On top of that, he mispronounces at least three or four names incorrectly, most notably, Hélio Castroneves, he gets the name of a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner wrong nine times out of ten and that isn't good. If he is doing it on purpose because of 2002 it is not funny and it definitely is not professional.

I think Tracy could be better in a limited role, like on the pit box. I am not sure Danica Patrick should come back. She is a recognizable name but I am not sure she added to the broadcast and it seemed like every comment related to her.

Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell were strong. The pit lane reporters were strong. Kevin Lee was on top of the Castroneves contact with Davison and quickly explained what happened. I want more Jon Beekhuis. He is technically minded and great at explaining not only what happens during a pit stop but also what that does to a race car with the best example being front wing changes on Newgarden to increase downforce. Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast were clean professionals.

I said this after the 24 Hours of Daytona but Dale Earnhardt, Jr. does his homework. He asked poignant questions during this race and brought more to the broadcast. At Daytona, I wanted him and Beekhuis paired on the pit box because I think they would play off each other well with Beekhuis able to answer and thoroughly explain Earnhardt, Jr.'s inquiries. I would be slow to shift Beekhuis to the pit box and take him off pit lane and Tracy would not mesh with Earnhardt, Jr. I don't know if the answer is in another person to fit in between Mike Tirico, who was fine, and Earnhardt, Jr. and I can't put my thumb on who that could be.

One final thing on talent, Robin Miller was underused. The man just got acknowledged for 50 years of work at the Speedway and his dedication to IndyCar racing and he got a brief word during the pre-race. I would not have put him on the pit box but if we are going to be hitting up Rutledge Wood for 30 seconds every hour from a different spot around the racetrack, we could have hit up Robin Miller even if it is a brief word with an older face or adding a historical perspective to this race, somewhat akin to what Donald Davidson does on the radio.

Overall, this felt like a big event again. It got the time it deserves. Adjustments can be made and I think the network will work on the kinks for 2020.

32. How do I want to end this? There are 100 things I want to say.

I am happy to see John Menard get his Indianapolis 500 glory after all these years.

I want the start time of the race to move up a little bit. A race like this does not need a longer pre-race show. People are tired of waiting. The gates open at 5:00 a.m. Let's get it going. Can we get start time closer to 12:25 p.m.?

I don't know where this race stands but it had 29 lead changes, the lowest of the DW12-era but it was fantastic. This was the first time a driver led more than 50% of the race since 2010 but it was fantastic. It was the first time the pole-sitter won since 2009 but it was fantastic.

I don't know what a great race is but it is not easily defined in number of lead changes, number of laps led, number of laps led by the driver that led the most laps, lead lap finishes, lap of the final lead change and margin of victory. A great race does not meet a minimum criteria in a multitude of categories. A great race just happens. It draws out a physical response.

Stomach aches, gasps, shakiness, fist pumps, migraines, tears, shrieks, yelps, cheers, deep breaths, goosebumps, twitches, leaps of excitement, weak knees, sweatiness, heart palpitations, smiles, high-fives, hugs.

A great race is not something you can measure. It is something you feel. I felt something today.

33. 363 Days until the 104th Indianapolis 500.