Will Power has a tendency for pulling races out when it doesn't seem to be his day. When he made his first pit stop after the first caution, the only one of the front-runners to come in, it felt like, oh well, another behind the eight ball for Power. Then the second caution fell in his favor and he was up to second and from there he was showing the most muscle. On that final pass for the lead on Scott Dixon, Power put the hammer down and was gone and maybe Dixon had more to play with and he was willing to let Power push it and potentially having to make a stop before Dixon but in a season where Power has had plenty of misfortune, his best day comes in the rain.
Nobody likes a rain-shortened race, it is incomplete in a way but I think if this race ran the final 72 laps Power would likely have still come out on top.
2. This could be a missed opportunity for Scott Dixon, as he could have won his second consecutive race and he left ten points on the table but it is still a respectable result and he has narrowed the deficit in the championship to 52 points. It is a manageable gap for Dixon. After the first lap caution, when all Penske entries are running 1-2-3 and Dixon was fourth it felt like Dixon was going to be in the mix. This wasn't going to be a race where the Penske drivers ran away with it and Dixon would drop back. Sure enough, Dixon was up at the front for the entire race and he has four consecutive podium finishes heading into the final three races.
3. We will breakdown Simon Pagenaud's start later but in another 500-mile race he was at the front. Pagenaud was not as dominant as he was in the Indianapolis 500 and when green flag runs got longer it seemed like that is where Pagenaud lost ground. Once again, we will not know how fuel mileage would have decided this race but I think the Chevrolets caught a slight break in this one and when five Hondas are taken out immediately that also helps.
4. It appears Santino Ferrucci was the darling on the day and he finished fourth again on an oval. Ferrucci has three top ten finishes in four oval starts. He hasn't put a wheel wrong this season. That is what is going to earn him rookie of the year. While every other rookie finds a way to stub a toe or two, Ferrucci has kept it clean. Don't get me wrong, there is part of me that thinks this is one good year and he has been fortunate not to face much adversity this season. We saw how he broke down in Formula Two. These results do not cancel out his previous behavior and true change has only occurred when faced with the same scenario a melt down does not happen a second time.
5. Josef Newgarden is fortunate to be fifth. This felt like a day where Newgarden could have really taken control of the championship and he didn't. This kind of feels like after Pocono in 2015 when Juan Pablo Montoya was third in the race but he could have finished first or second and just one position would have given Montoya the title. I think Newgarden, and even Ferrucci, benefitted from the likes of Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato and Felix Rosenqvist being out at the start. It would have been an entirely different race had those five not been eliminated before completing a lap. This could have been a worse day for Newgarden than it turned out to be.
6. Outside of the top five, I do not have a strong feel on the rest of the results. Ed Carpenter was sixth and he seemed to get better as the race went along. This was a good day for him.
7. Sébastien Bourdais spent the entire day in the top ten but could not challenge the front runners and I guess seventh is right for him.
8. Tony Kanaan gets an eighth place finish and I am not sure how. At no point did it seem like Kanaan was picking off one driver at a time and was on the move forward. It is nice that he got a good result and I wish qualifying had taken place and Kanaan been given the opportunity to start further up the grid because he might have been competitive.
9. Graham Rahal gets another top ten finish but ninth is a tad disappointing. On a day when two front runners, a Ganassi car and a teammate were taken out, I felt like this could have been Rahal's day to compete for a podium finish and possibly even a victory. The RLLR cars were strong in the Indianapolis 500 and Rahal was fighting for a top five before his accident with Bourdais in that race. Rahal has eight consecutive top ten finishes but I bet he wants more.
10. Charlie Kimball got a top ten finish. Good for Charlie Kimball. Conor Daly was 11th. Good for Conor Daly. Good for the entire Carlin organization.
11. Quickly through the rest of the field: Marcus Ericsson looked good at the start and then dropped like a rock. I guess finishing on the lead lap in your first Pocono start is a minor success. Zach Veach and Matheus Leist did nothing. Marco Andretti's rough oval results continue. Colton Herta had another spin when looking good. Spencer Pigot threw away a good opportunity.
12. This is where it gets messy and we will start with the start.
How Simon Pagenaud can be second in line long before the start/finish line, directly behind Josef Newgarden who started first, when Pagenaud was starting fourth and there be no call for a jumped start then I don't know what is a jumped start.
IndyCar has to get its starts in order. How many races have cars single-file before the line, cars three-wide before the line and it looks nothing like chaos? On top of that, the entire grid is covered by a napkin coming to the start and with all these cars bunched up the leader is toying with the throttle and stacking the field up.
I worry that IndyCar is too focused about action and, at a place like Pocono, I worry IndyCar is too focused in re-creating seven-wide at every possible opportunity that it hurts the actual start. I think the starting grid, especially at an oval, should be spread out a little bit. Using Pocono as the example, when the leader is at the start/finish line, taking the green flag for the I think the rear of the field should still be in turn three. For starters, it would decrease the possibility of having eight cars pile up at the start but it would also allow for some margin for error. Last year we have Graham Rahal run into the back of Spencer Pigot. These cars need some room to breathe at the start of a 500-mile race.
The cars also have to stay in line. No more of second place falling in behind the pole-sitter, no more of single-file. I am not sure if it a case of IndyCar needing rules or needing to enforce its rules. The starts need to be cleaner, especially at ovals but it is also true for road and street courses. The standard has to be higher. It was not that long ago IndyCar would have waved off that start and it should have today. The standard has to be higher and that leads us to the second point of the start.
How Simon Pagenaud can be second in line long before the start/finish line, directly behind Josef Newgarden who started first, when Pagenaud was starting fourth and there be no call for a jumped start then I don't know what is a jumped start.
IndyCar has to get its starts in order. How many races have cars single-file before the line, cars three-wide before the line and it looks nothing like chaos? On top of that, the entire grid is covered by a napkin coming to the start and with all these cars bunched up the leader is toying with the throttle and stacking the field up.
I worry that IndyCar is too focused about action and, at a place like Pocono, I worry IndyCar is too focused in re-creating seven-wide at every possible opportunity that it hurts the actual start. I think the starting grid, especially at an oval, should be spread out a little bit. Using Pocono as the example, when the leader is at the start/finish line, taking the green flag for the I think the rear of the field should still be in turn three. For starters, it would decrease the possibility of having eight cars pile up at the start but it would also allow for some margin for error. Last year we have Graham Rahal run into the back of Spencer Pigot. These cars need some room to breathe at the start of a 500-mile race.
The cars also have to stay in line. No more of second place falling in behind the pole-sitter, no more of single-file. I am not sure if it a case of IndyCar needing rules or needing to enforce its rules. The starts need to be cleaner, especially at ovals but it is also true for road and street courses. The standard has to be higher. It was not that long ago IndyCar would have waved off that start and it should have today. The standard has to be higher and that leads us to the second point of the start.
13. Where do we start with this accident, other than it wonderful that no one was seriously injured?
I have to break this down intricately because it is no straightforward and it requires a lot of thought.
It was a bit of déjà vu to have another accident in turn two almost immediately with a car grazing the catchfence and an ensuring lengthy red flag.
It did not take long for people to say IndyCar should not race at Pocono due to the danger. Of course, with any action there is an equal and opposite reaction and saying IndyCar should leave Pocono brought out just as large of a crowd defending the race's existence.
When it comes to danger there are many things to take into consideration. Do people not want to race at Pocono because the track itself is dangerous? Let's think for a second and realize Pocono is not a dangerous racetrack. The track is not falling apart. The walls are not outdated that could potentially fall over if a car made contact with it. The track does not have potholes that are a hazard. The track is up to standard.
There are many combinations that lead to the situations we have seen at Pocono. It is part track, it is par car and it is part driver.
When you are driving at 220 MPH, bad things are going to happen. You cannot completely avoid injury. If you have an accident at 220 MPH, there is a chance a driver is going to get hurt. That is just common sense the same way that injuries are possible when two football players or hockey players collide at full speed. Something is going to happen and somebody might get hurt.
Pocono is a 2.5-mile oval with long straightaway. Those high speeds are bound to happen but, while the track lends itself to speed, the car itself is capable of reaching those speeds. Is Pocono dangerous or is Pocono dangerous because of the speed? In that case, there are a handful of other circuits IndyCar goes those where those speeds are achieved. The difference is we have been fortunate not to have these types of accidents at Indianapolis or Texas. That doesn't mean these accidents will never occur at Indianapolis or Texas. Texas used to have this same linger feeling that many carried into Pocono.
Texas severely altered the careers of Davey Hamilton and Kenny Bräck but it has been a while since someone has been seriously injured at that track. It was only three years ago Josef Newgarden was hurt at Texas but he returned to the car immediately. Maybe we would feel differently if Newgarden had been hurt worse than he was that day but nobody talks about Texas the way Pocono has been talked about over the last few years.
The only push back I will give to the Pocono is too dangerous crowd is why not make it safer? It seems like the only answer for some is leave Pocono but that is in a sense giving up, as if nothing can be done and I don't think IndyCar or any series should accept that concession. In a series that has worked tirelessly to make the cars safer and it will continue into 2020 with the introduction of the aeroscreen, why are we not doing the same or demanding the same when it comes to the racetracks? When faced with this adversity the leading option should not be give up but rather evolve and improve.
There is one constant variable when it comes to Pocono, Texas, Indianapolis and mostly every racetrack where we have seen these big accidents, especially the ones that have hurt drivers, and that is the catchfence. Every year we seem to have this conversation and nothing has been done about it. Nothing was done after Hamilton and Bräck's accidents. Nothing was done after Ryan Briscoe's accident at Chicagoland. Nothing was done after Dan Wheldon's accident at Las Vegas. Nothing was done after Robert Wickens' accident last year. Why has nothing been done?
Once again, cars are going 220 MPH, not every injury can be prevent nor should we expect no injury to ever occur but if we are doing all we can to make sure the cars are safe, why aren't we doing the same at racetracks? Every year we talk about the outdated nature of catchfences and nothing is done. There has been no evolution introduced. Pocono could extend the wall around two miles of the 2.5-mile oval and that would solve part of the solution. We wouldn't have to worry about cars being shredded to pieces and the injuries that could come with that. That is going to cost money but nothing is cheap. If the series and the teams are willing to absorb extra costs for safety then the tracks have to do the same. Safety is an all hands on deck effort. Everyone has to be involved and in a way every racetrack is complicit in the lack of safety evolution of the catchfence and there is no excuse.
This isn't entirely on Pocono and Will Power and Scott Dixon came to the defense of the circuit after today's race. Power said these have been unfortunate accidents that could happen anywhere. Dixon said the drivers could do better. Drivers have to calm down at the start of these 500-mile races. There is too much of a premium of getting positions at the start and we have seen time and time again a 500-mile race playing itself out. These races need patience. There is also a fluky nature to what has happened at Pocono. If Justin Wilson is a foot to the left or right that debris doesn't hit him and he is probably still alive. That incident could have happened anywhere. It nearly happened the year prior in the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis with James Hinchcliffe.
We are fortunate that there hasn't been a major accident involving a car getting into the catchfence at Indianapolis. Would there be the same level of vitriol had these accidents occurred at Indianapolis?
It seems like this is the end of IndyCar at Pocono and it seemed like it was the end regardless if an accident like the one we saw today occurred or not. IndyCar was ready to move on and a lot of it seems to come down to how the place makes people feel but what happens when another track is full of sad memories?
Yes, Justin Wilson died and Robert Wickens was severely hurt at Pocono. Those are horrible memories but drivers have been killed and severely hurt at Indianapolis and no one is protesting that Indianapolis should be removed from the schedule. Drivers have been killed at Toronto, Laguna Seca, Fontana and Milwaukee and notable drivers have been hurt at Texas and Road America. If IndyCar stops going to every racetrack where there are sad memories there are only going to be six races on the schedule.
That is the cynic in me coming out. There is going to be pain in life. We can't always run from it or avoid it or hide it. If we try to run, avoid or hide the difficult parts of life we cease to live. We stunt ourselves as individuals if when faced with pain we attempt to cut it out of our life. We have to face our pain. We have to embrace it, study it and incorporate it into who we are going forward otherwise we are not complete.
When faced with these hardships, IndyCar should not shy away when facing situations that are deemed too dangerous. We should strive to continue to improve and make all aspects safer so events such like Pocono can be able to continue.
I have to break this down intricately because it is no straightforward and it requires a lot of thought.
It was a bit of déjà vu to have another accident in turn two almost immediately with a car grazing the catchfence and an ensuring lengthy red flag.
It did not take long for people to say IndyCar should not race at Pocono due to the danger. Of course, with any action there is an equal and opposite reaction and saying IndyCar should leave Pocono brought out just as large of a crowd defending the race's existence.
When it comes to danger there are many things to take into consideration. Do people not want to race at Pocono because the track itself is dangerous? Let's think for a second and realize Pocono is not a dangerous racetrack. The track is not falling apart. The walls are not outdated that could potentially fall over if a car made contact with it. The track does not have potholes that are a hazard. The track is up to standard.
There are many combinations that lead to the situations we have seen at Pocono. It is part track, it is par car and it is part driver.
When you are driving at 220 MPH, bad things are going to happen. You cannot completely avoid injury. If you have an accident at 220 MPH, there is a chance a driver is going to get hurt. That is just common sense the same way that injuries are possible when two football players or hockey players collide at full speed. Something is going to happen and somebody might get hurt.
Pocono is a 2.5-mile oval with long straightaway. Those high speeds are bound to happen but, while the track lends itself to speed, the car itself is capable of reaching those speeds. Is Pocono dangerous or is Pocono dangerous because of the speed? In that case, there are a handful of other circuits IndyCar goes those where those speeds are achieved. The difference is we have been fortunate not to have these types of accidents at Indianapolis or Texas. That doesn't mean these accidents will never occur at Indianapolis or Texas. Texas used to have this same linger feeling that many carried into Pocono.
Texas severely altered the careers of Davey Hamilton and Kenny Bräck but it has been a while since someone has been seriously injured at that track. It was only three years ago Josef Newgarden was hurt at Texas but he returned to the car immediately. Maybe we would feel differently if Newgarden had been hurt worse than he was that day but nobody talks about Texas the way Pocono has been talked about over the last few years.
The only push back I will give to the Pocono is too dangerous crowd is why not make it safer? It seems like the only answer for some is leave Pocono but that is in a sense giving up, as if nothing can be done and I don't think IndyCar or any series should accept that concession. In a series that has worked tirelessly to make the cars safer and it will continue into 2020 with the introduction of the aeroscreen, why are we not doing the same or demanding the same when it comes to the racetracks? When faced with this adversity the leading option should not be give up but rather evolve and improve.
There is one constant variable when it comes to Pocono, Texas, Indianapolis and mostly every racetrack where we have seen these big accidents, especially the ones that have hurt drivers, and that is the catchfence. Every year we seem to have this conversation and nothing has been done about it. Nothing was done after Hamilton and Bräck's accidents. Nothing was done after Ryan Briscoe's accident at Chicagoland. Nothing was done after Dan Wheldon's accident at Las Vegas. Nothing was done after Robert Wickens' accident last year. Why has nothing been done?
Once again, cars are going 220 MPH, not every injury can be prevent nor should we expect no injury to ever occur but if we are doing all we can to make sure the cars are safe, why aren't we doing the same at racetracks? Every year we talk about the outdated nature of catchfences and nothing is done. There has been no evolution introduced. Pocono could extend the wall around two miles of the 2.5-mile oval and that would solve part of the solution. We wouldn't have to worry about cars being shredded to pieces and the injuries that could come with that. That is going to cost money but nothing is cheap. If the series and the teams are willing to absorb extra costs for safety then the tracks have to do the same. Safety is an all hands on deck effort. Everyone has to be involved and in a way every racetrack is complicit in the lack of safety evolution of the catchfence and there is no excuse.
This isn't entirely on Pocono and Will Power and Scott Dixon came to the defense of the circuit after today's race. Power said these have been unfortunate accidents that could happen anywhere. Dixon said the drivers could do better. Drivers have to calm down at the start of these 500-mile races. There is too much of a premium of getting positions at the start and we have seen time and time again a 500-mile race playing itself out. These races need patience. There is also a fluky nature to what has happened at Pocono. If Justin Wilson is a foot to the left or right that debris doesn't hit him and he is probably still alive. That incident could have happened anywhere. It nearly happened the year prior in the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis with James Hinchcliffe.
We are fortunate that there hasn't been a major accident involving a car getting into the catchfence at Indianapolis. Would there be the same level of vitriol had these accidents occurred at Indianapolis?
It seems like this is the end of IndyCar at Pocono and it seemed like it was the end regardless if an accident like the one we saw today occurred or not. IndyCar was ready to move on and a lot of it seems to come down to how the place makes people feel but what happens when another track is full of sad memories?
Yes, Justin Wilson died and Robert Wickens was severely hurt at Pocono. Those are horrible memories but drivers have been killed and severely hurt at Indianapolis and no one is protesting that Indianapolis should be removed from the schedule. Drivers have been killed at Toronto, Laguna Seca, Fontana and Milwaukee and notable drivers have been hurt at Texas and Road America. If IndyCar stops going to every racetrack where there are sad memories there are only going to be six races on the schedule.
That is the cynic in me coming out. There is going to be pain in life. We can't always run from it or avoid it or hide it. If we try to run, avoid or hide the difficult parts of life we cease to live. We stunt ourselves as individuals if when faced with pain we attempt to cut it out of our life. We have to face our pain. We have to embrace it, study it and incorporate it into who we are going forward otherwise we are not complete.
When faced with these hardships, IndyCar should not shy away when facing situations that are deemed too dangerous. We should strive to continue to improve and make all aspects safer so events such like Pocono can be able to continue.
14. Turning back to the championship, when you see Alexander Rossi is out before a lap is completed and Josef Newgarden is second, it was quick to write off the championship but with three races to go, Newgarden is only 35 points ahead of Rossi, 40 points ahead of Pagenaud and 52 points ahead of Dixon. Let's look at it this way: the gap from Newgarden to Rossi is what it should have been if Newgarden had just finished fourth at Mid-Ohio.
Rossi is still in this and not just because of double points. There are still two races and things can change, things will change. This championship is far from over.
Rossi is still in this and not just because of double points. There are still two races and things can change, things will change. This championship is far from over.
15. This was much more writing than I initially thought it would be. Let's get some rest because Gateway will be here soon.
