After looking back on the best races of the 2010s for IndyCar, today we will look at the ten best drivers from IndyCar this decade.
How do you determine the best? Championships and rice victories help lift some drivers above others but how do you separate the champions and the race winners from one another? It is purely subjective at that point. You start to look at the impression a driver left on the psyche. Is a driver remembered for his successes or his failures? Was this driver overcoming the limitations of the equipment or do the results undershoot the potential of the car?
I did have to set one criteria when sorting out who were the best IndyCar drivers from the 2010s. You had to win one race.
If you couldn't win one race out of 169 races held over a ten-year period then get out of here. So to save you time, if you came here looking for Vitor Meira, Simona de Silvestro, Alex Tagliani, Oriol Servià, J.R. Hildebrand, Tomas Scheckter, Gabby Chaves, Tristan Vautier, Ed Jones, James Jakes, Mikhail Aleshin, Rubens Barrichello, Francesco Dracone, Bertrand Baguette, Pippa Mann, Jack Hawksworth, Sage Karam, Conor Daly, Matheus Leist, Felix Rosenqvist, Danica Patrick or Robert Wickens they were not even considered for the list.
Twenty-four drivers won in IndyCar this decade, which means the likes of Carlos Huertas, Charlie Kimball, Mike Conway, Marco Andretti and Dan Wheldon were all up for consideration for being one of the ten best IndyCar drivers this decade. However, and this may break the hearts of many, none of those five drivers made it.
With all the parameters set, let's dive into this, shall we?
10. Sébastien Bourdais
Starts: 131
Wins: 6
Podium Finishes: 13
Top Five Finishes: 26
Top Ten Finishes: 61
Pole Positions: 3
Average Finish: 12.2
Seasons with a Victory: 5
Championships: 0
Reasons For the Ranking: One of the more underrated drivers from the decade is Sébastien Bourdais.
The numbers are not all that flashy but for a driver who never raced for Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing or Andretti Autosport, Bourdais was impressive. He won six races across five seasons and, while he competed in nine seasons, Bourdais only ran a full season six times. He only won at four different tracks.
Toronto was a condensed doubleheader weekend after the Saturday race was rained out. He won the final Milwaukee race. He won consecutive years at Belle Isle, one because of a bit of fortunate in timing of a caution and the other because he ran a more aggressive strategy and could make his final pit stop and not lose the lead. He won back-to-back years at St. Petersburg, the first being from 21st on the grid in his first race back with Dale Coyne Racing, and the other was after Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi got together, allowing Bourdais to sweep through the door and steal a victory.
Bourdais turned Dale Coyne Racing into a contender. His best championship finish was seventh but he also had top ten championship finishes with KV Racing. He did more with less and how none of the top three teams in IndyCar swooped him up is asinine!
9. Hélio Castroneves
Starts: 139
Wins: 8
Podium Finishes: 33
Top Five Finishes: 53
Top Ten Finishes: 96
Pole Positions: 15
Average Finish: 8.8
Seasons with a Victory: 5
Championships: 0
Reasons For the Ranking: Hélio Castroneves was a consistent driver, constantly picking up top ten finishes, but we saw him do less with more and underachieve compared to his teammates.
It is hard to put a guy who was in the top five of the championship seven times in the decade in ninth but Castroneves never had flashy numbers, even in championship-contending seasons.
He had three seasons without a victory including two that were consecutive. He won multiple races in a season only twice, 2010 and 2012.
In 2013, Castroneves led the championship entering the penultimate weekend at Houston but he had only one victory, five podium finishes in 16 races and he had only six top five finishes with only one top five finish in the prior seven races to the Houston round. He was not lighting the world on fire.
With all that said, you could count on Castroneves to finish fifth to seventh. He seemed to have a knack for finishing fifth or seventh. He had 33 finishes of fifth, sixth or seventh. That is equal to his number of podium finishes! He was a good guy and he built off those good results. You can have six finishes of sixth or seventh in a season but what you do in the surrounding ten races will dictate your championship and Castroneves would have those results be fourth or third or eighth or ninth.
There were not many seasons where Castroneves was having an abundance of retirements or finishes outside the top fifteen. That deserves recognition even if it could have been better.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya
Starts: 52
Wins: 4
Podium Finishes: 12
Top Five Finishes: 22
Top Ten Finishes: 34
Pole Positions: 1
Average Finish: 9.1
Seasons with a Victory: 3
Championships: 0
Reasons For the Ranking: The return of Juan Pablo Montoya was unexpected but it gave IndyCar another glimpse of arguably the greatest drivers of this generation.
Montoya only participated in four seasons and in his final year, 2017, he only started the two Indianapolis races. Both those results were top ten finishes.
He won two more 500-mile races, including a second Indianapolis 500, 15 years after his first. He never trailed in the championship in 2015 only to lose it on tiebreaker.
It was a case of a world-class talent returning to IndyCar and, despite being slightly past his prime, Montoya was still competitive. What could have been Montoya's career if he never left IndyCar? Don't get me wrong; he made the right choice. He went to Formula One and won seven races including Monaco and Monza. He went to NASCAR and finished in the top ten of the championship with a Ganassi team that was average. He cycled back to IndyCar and showed he still had it after it appeared he would never step into a single-seater, never run the Indianapolis 500 again.
We are thankful he came back. It was a treat to see him work his craft.
7. Alexander Rossi
Starts: 67
Wins: 7
Podium Finishes: 19
Top Five Finishes: 28
Top Ten Finishes: 44
Pole Positions: 6
Average Finish: 8.3
Seasons with a Victory: 4
Championships: 0
Reasons For the Ranking: Alexander Rossi took to IndyCar like a duck to water and he is poised to be one of IndyCar's top drivers in the 2020s.
Rossi won the Indianapolis 500 on debut in fluky circumstances but Rossi matched the pace with his elder Andretti Autosport teammates all month and he had to use an alternative strategy after a botched pit stop. He has shown he is more than one fluky day in May and his performances, especially in 500-mile races, show the depths of his talent.
Rossi and Montoya are a lot alike in that both are focused drivers that are not easily mesmerized. When both made their debuts at Indianapolis they were accused of not respecting the event but it was really a case of drivers not intimidated by the place. It was another race, not that Indianapolis was not special or meaningful, but it was another race as in the objective was victory. It doesn't matter where the race is, how big the trophy is or how much money is on the line. These two drivers are cutthroat drivers with no fear and will push the line without being reckless.
In four seasons in IndyCar, Rossi has won a race in all four seasons. He has found his groove and it is unfortunate he has not already claimed his first championship. He is knocking on the door and it seems inevitable the door will open for him.
6. Ryan Hunter-Reay
Starts: 169
Wins: 15
Podium Finishes: 41
Top Five Finishes: 59
Top Ten Finishes: 93
Pole Positions: 6
Average Finish: 10.47
Seasons with a Victory: 7
Championships: 1
Reasons For the Ranking: Ryan Hunter-Reay is simultaneously one of the forgotten drivers of the decade and Hunter-Ready had one of the most forgettable decades in IndyCar.
Hunter-Reay had the third-most victories this decade and most victories for an American driver. He is one of only five drivers to reach double figures in IndyCar victories this decade. He won a championship. He won an Indianapolis 500. What else could you ask for?
The one negative to Hunter-Reay is while he won a championship, his 2012 championship was only one of two times he finished in the top five of the championship and he finished in the top ten of the championship in nine of ten seasons. He had the third-most victories but he had three winless seasons.
You would take Hunter-Reay's decade but it could have been more and we will remember Hunter-Reay for misfortune. No other driver in the 2010s had as rotten luck as Hunter-Reay. He very well could have two more Indianapolis 500 victories if his teammate Townsend Bell did not get into him on pit lane in 2016 and if his engine had not failed him in 2017. He lost the lead at Pocono in 2016 after his car had an electrical hiccup only for the car to re-boot halfway through the lap and he charged back to third.
He had a collision at Long Beach in 2014 after leading 51 laps on his out lap. In 2017, he had an engine failure at Long Beach after being the best car that day. He was the best car at Texas this year but got the strategy wrong. He very well should have won the first race of the decade at São Paulo but simply didn't have the tires in the final laps.
This all seems negative but it should be noted that Hunter-Reay was exceptional and he has nothing to be disappointed about.
5. Simon Pagenaud
Starts: 138
Wins: 14
Podium Finishes: 32
Top Five Finishes: 57
Top Ten Finishes: 100
Pole Positions: 11
Average Finish: 7.9
Seasons with a Victory: 5
Championships: 1
Reasons For the Ranking: Simon Pagenaud was one of the most consistent drivers of the decade and combined with speed it led to great results but there were plenty of times where Pagenaud could not get himself into the fight.
Let's be clear, Pagenaud was marvelous. In 138 starts this decade, he was running at the finish of 130 of them! He was on the lead lap for 116 of them! Simon Pagenaud had more victories than he had retirements in the 2010s and his number of victories was level with number of lapped finishes! That is incredible.
Pagenaud is a smart driver. He rarely oversteps the limit or puts himself in a dangerous position. The guy completed every lap in the 2017 season. In the eight full seasons, Pagenaud's lowest percentage of laps completed was 95.1% in 2013. He gets the job done and if you are always finishing on the lead lap you are likely finishing in the top ten or top five.
The one knock against Pagenaud is in five seasons with Team Penske he has twice had winless seasons. In four seasons he led fewer than 100 laps. Despite three winless seasons in his eight full seasons, Pagenaud was in the top five of the championship six times.
There are not many surefire drivers in IndyCar but Pagenaud is one. Only twice has he had multiple retirements in a season and he has never had more than two retirements in a season!
At least one more championship is bound to be Pagenaud's if he keeps up this form into the 2020s.
4. Dario Franchitti
Starts: 67
Wins: 8
Podium Finishes: 27
Top Five Finishes: 38
Top Ten Finishes: 48
Pole Positions: 11
Average Finish: 7.8
Seasons with a Victory: 3
Championships: 2
Reasons For the Ranking: Because Dario Franchitti beat his teammate Scott Dixon and Will Power in three of the four seasons he competed in this decade.
Remember this guy? Remember Dario Franchitti? You may have forgotten he raced in the 2010s but he did and he won the first two championships of this decade. He won two of the first three Indianapolis 500s this decade.
When people have the debate "who is better: Scott Dixon or Will Power?" Dario Franchitti's name has to come up because he beat both of them consistently for years.
We didn't get to see Dario Franchitti for majority of this decade. It has been six years since Franchitti's career was cut short at Houston but for the first two years of the 2010s, Franchitti was a pure winner. He figured out to win and did not make the mistakes Will Power became known for. It was almost a case if Dario Franchitti got the championship lead it was over and if he had a shot at the title going into the finale he won it.
The two championships Franchitti won this decade he was not leading the championship entering the final race and the same was true for his 2009 championship.
Franchitti was a smart driver, a genius if you will. He got better as he aged. We only got to see him drive the DW12 chassis for two years and those were two of his toughest years but then again anything after three consecutive championships is going to look mundane. We will never know if he would have figured it out but it would have been crazy to think he couldn't solve it.
3. Will Power
Starts: 168
Wins: 33
Podium Finishes: 66
Top Five Finishes: 84
Top Ten Finishes: 112
Pole Positions: 49
Average Finish: 8.6
Seasons with a Victory: 10
Championships: 1
Reasons For the Ranking: Will Power led the decade in victories, podium finishes and pole positions and but left too much on the table.
Power entered the season finale leading the championship on four occasions and only won one championship. We cannot overlook that Power led the championship going into the finale of the first three seasons of this decade and did not win any of those championships. This really could have been the decade of Will Power but mistakes cost him even when they didn't have to. Ryan Hunter-Reay was not having a great 2012 finale while Power was running around the top five. He just had to bring the car home and drive a smart race and he spun out with no pressure from anyone just a little over 100 miles into the race.
The 2012 finale should not be held as what dictates where Power is ranked but to tell the complete Will Power story we have to talk about all the times the title was in his control and he could not close the deal.
Championships aside, Power did win the most races this decade, nearly nine more than the next driver (we will get to him shortly) and he won 49 pole positions. The next closest driver was Hélio Castroneves with 15 pole positions. That is a beat down of epic proportions. Power won pole position for 28.99% of the races this decade. That is better than one in every four races.
Power's raw speed is the biggest takeaway from this decade. It got him a lot of victories but the impression Power has left on IndyCar is his ability in qualifying to go out in the Fast Six on a road or street course put down a lap that is nearly a half-second quicker than the next best guy or going out, eeking his way into the Fast Six and then winning pole position by a tenth of a second after not being in the top five of a session up to that point. And if he doesn't qualifying on pole position he is starting somewhere in the top five.
Here were Power's average starting positions by season this decade: 2.2, 3.6, 6.0, 4.3, 8.5, 4.1, 5.7, 4.4, 2.8, 5.9.
You know what is crazier though than Power's average starting positions? That year he averaged a starting position of 8.5... that was his championship year! Power's worst year statistically in terms of qualifying was his one championship! Figure that out! He was still the fourth-best qualifier that season and if you take out Ed Carpenter, who was third-best but only ran the oval races, Power moves into the top three.
There was a transformation this decade in Power. He became an oval master. His lack of oval results is arguably what cost him championships in 2010, 2011 and 2012. His average finish on ovals in those seasons were 11.375, 9.571 and 19.0 and he had only one oval victory in those three seasons. His average finish in the last three seasons on ovals were 8.5, 8.333 and 10.4 and he won five races on ovals, five of Power's eight victories in the last three seasons were on ovals. That is an incredible development over ten years.
Power was in the top five of the championship in every season this decade; no other driver can say that. He got his elusive championship and he won the Indianapolis 500 as well as four other 500-mile race victories and he is one of six drivers with at least five 500-mile race victories. His name is alongside the like of A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford. He is breathing down Mario Andretti's neck for the all-time record in pole positions.
For all his hiccups, Power had an astonishingly historic decade.
2. Josef Newgarden
Starts: 134
Wins: 14
Podium Finishes: 29
Top Five Finishes: 45
Top Ten Finishes: 75
Pole Positions: 8
Average Finish: 10.5
Seasons with a Victory: 5
Championships: 2
Reasons For the Ranking: Josef Newgarden was the American hope that lived up to expectations.
Newgarden came in as this heralded American hopeful. He had won the Team USA Scholarship, won at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, had good results in Europe and came home when the money got tight only to immediately win the Indy Lights championship and ended up in IndyCar.
Things started out rough. Though he showed speed, Newgarden did not have a top ten finish in his rookie year with Sarah Fisher Racing. Newgarden grew with the team and results slowly came. In his sophomore year, Newgarden could taste his first career victory at São Paulo but was out-witted. For three seasons he was developing. He probably could have gotten his first career victory in at least four or five races from 2013 and 2014.
Everything added up for 2015, he got his first career victory at Barber, his second career victory at Toronto and, as a driver for the merged CFH Racing, Newgarden entered the 2015 finale at Sonoma with a shot at the title. It was a slim shot but a shot nonetheless. He was included in the promotional material with the Team Penske drivers of Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power, Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal.
We talked above about Sébastian Bourdais doing more than less. Newgarden did the most with less. He turned Ed Carpenter Racing into a championship contender. He won at Iowa with a healing clavicle and didn't miss a race after suffering the injury at Texas. As much as people wanted Newgarden to stay with ECR and potentially win a championship there, he was always ripe for Team Penske and in year one with Team Penske he won the championship.
Newgarden really hasn't put a wheel wrong in eight seasons in IndyCar. He hasn't had the errors the likes of Power and nor has he coughed up leads in the championship. He definitely had growing pains and had periods where results just were not going his way but he has always persevered. For a guy whose back was up against the wall from the start he has always pulled through.
A lot of things went his way that many young drivers have not gotten. Sarah Fisher found a driver and stuck with him through a tough rookie year. When Fisher merged her team with Ed Carpenter's team, Newgarden stayed on board, got a victory and when Fisher pulled out of the organization, Newgarden remained in the ECR fold. He has had people behind him no matter what and that is key to his career.
It is kind of fitting one of the early Road to Indy beneficiaries won the final IndyCar championship of the decade. Newgarden came in at the right time. There was money there to get him into IndyCar and give him a significant opportunity. It was a springboard to greater things. It led to a ride with Team Penske and two championships. That is mission accomplished for the program.
Newgarden is the poster boy for the ladder system. You can enter and one day end up at Team Penske and win the championship. You are good enough. The sky is the limit.
1. Scott Dixon
Starts: 169
Wins: 24
Podium Finishes: 64
Top Five Finishes: 96
Top Ten Finishes: 126
Pole Positions: 11
Average Finish: 7.38
Seasons with a Victory: 10
Championships: 3
Reasons For the Ranking: Does this require any explanation?
Scott Dixon won three championships. He was in the top three of the championship in eight of ten seasons.
He won in every season this decade. The only other driver to do that was Will Power.
Dixon cemented himself as one of IndyCar's all-time greats in the 2010s. There were the three championships but he now sits on 46 victories, third all-time. He has 46 runner-up finishes, second all-time, ten behind Mario Andretti for the record. He has 115 podium finishes, third all-time and only four behind A.J. Foyt for second. He has 165 top five finishes, second all-time, 38 behind Mario Andretti for the record so Andretti should be safe there. He has 321 starts, sixth all-time, nine starts from passing Al Unser, Jr. for fifth. He has led 5,601 laps, sixth all-time, 201 laps behind Al Unser for fifth.
In 2013, Dixon was 49 points back of Hélio Castroneves for the championship lead with three races to go. He won that championship by 27 points, a 76-point swing. Dixon entered the 2015 finale 47 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya, won the race and won the championship on tiebreaker. His 2018 championship was the only one in which he entered after having controlled the championship for majority of the season.
Dixon did more than win championships; he had remarkable drives. He won at Mid-Ohio from 22nd, dead last on the grid, after a 39-lap final stint. He wiped the floor with the field at Watkins Glen. He held off Josef Newgarden at Road America and he had, not one, but two Texas races he manhandled. This year's victory at Mid-Ohio was another case of Dixon being better on alternate tires and when it came to a late battle he successfully fended off a charging Felix Rosenqvist.
Dixon left an impression on IndyCar this decade. Ask ten people a memorable Scott Dixon performance from this decade and you could get ten different answers. He is not going to be remembered for one moment or one race or one season. It is everything. That is the hallmark of the all-time greats. You can see or hear the name and have a flood of memories fill your mind. You could talk for an hour about that driver and never repeat the same thing.
Scott Dixon set the gold standard for IndyCar in the 2010s. He will turn 40 years old in 2020. It is hard to imagine he will run the entire decade of the 2020s but, like Dario Franchitti with this decade, Dixon could leave his mark on the 2020s in a handful of seasons.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
