1. Will Power deserved this one. Power actually made a big jump, going from 14th in practice to pole position and in the race, no one touched him. We get these races every now and then, they occur more frequently at Mid-Ohio, and today was no different.
Power was gone, and after a rather frustrating 2020 season, this is a day he needed and reminder of how his dominance. We haven't seen the dominant, buzzsaw Will Power since his championship. You look at his last five or six seasons, he has done well and won races, but he hasn't been the championship contender we saw from 2010 to 2014. He has these days, the wins from pole position while leading over 75% of the race, at least once a year, but that's it. He doesn't do it three or four times.
Some of it is on Power. He is prone to mistakes. It is a reason why he was championship runner-up three consecutive years and each year he led entering the finale. This year is no different. He threw away some results. Others were lost because of pit mistakes. When everything clicks, though, we get this, and it is pure brilliance when it occurs.
This is Power's first victory at Mid-Ohio, a track that would be his if not for Scott Dixon. He has five pole positions at the track, started on the front row nine times in 12 starts and holds the best average starting position among active drivers and his average finish is only behind Dixon. He probably would have three or four victories at this track if it were not for Dixon.
Because of Dixon, we lose sight of Power's place in IndyCar history. Dixon has the championships and the victories, but Power has carved out his own legacy that will last for a long time. Today, he earned his 60th pole position, he is seven off Mario Andretti's record. That record will be his. Not this year because there are only four races to go, but possibly late next season or two years from now. Today was Power's 38th victory, he is sixth all-time and one behind tying Al Unser for fifth.
Power is going to get to 40 victories. He will likely get at least 43 and slide ahead of Michael Andretti for fourth all-time. You cannot rule out a second championship, though that is getting hard to see with each passing year.
I think it was last year when Power said he thought this was a golden generation for IndyCar or a second golden age and he is right in a regard. This is some of the deepest competition we have seen, and we are seeing possibly two 40-victory club members compete head-to-head for over a decade. It is grand to watch, and Power deserves the recognition.
2. Josef Newgarden held second all race, but as he said in his post-race interview, he just lost a tenth a lap to Power. When you lose a tenth a lap over a 75-lap race, that is how you end up finishing 7.45 seconds off the race winner. Newgarden didn't put a wheel wrong, and he needed that today, because Scott Dixon did not have a great run and Newgarden made up ground.
With Dixon in tenth, Newgarden took 20 points off the championship lead with four races to go. He is going to need to take at least another 30 points to force this to the finale. On a day when Dixon faced greater challenges, Newgarden did all he could but win. This is what he needed, though it is only step one in his final charge to reclaim the Astor Cup for a second consecutive season.
3. I think Alexander Rossi had the second-best car today, but he ended up third, which is what he needed in this season from hell. Rossi went long on his first stint and got up to fourth through that pit cycle. He took on the alternate tire and was racy but got caught behind teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay.
If Rossi had gotten ahead of Hunter-Reay early in that second stint, this could be a completely different race. I think Rossi finishes second, because Newgarden struggled at the end of that second stint, but perhaps he challenges Power in a sprint to the line.
Rossi was the first to come for the final round of pit stops, and it worked getting him ahead of Hunter-Reay, but he couldn't sprint over that final stint. He had fight worn tires and save some fuel.
The key for tomorrow is Rossi has to qualify on one of the first two rows. He has to cut his workload in half for the race. If he can do that, he could pull out his first victory tomorrow. Victories are all that matter for Rossi. He has been mathematically eliminated from the championship.
4. I feel like every other road course race Graham Rahal is clawing his way up the field and he goes from eighth or ninth to third, fourth or fifth. Rahal was giving it his all for third and for a few laps it looked like Rossi was going to fall behind Rahal. That wasn't the case, but Rahal went from eighth to fourth and it was another impressive drive.
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five and this is a day Andretti Autosport need. Both Hunter-Reay and Rossi were in the top five all race. Rossi was better, but Hunter-Reay was the fifth-best car and he always runs well here. It is a little disappointing he went from second at the start down to fourth immediately. That might have cost him a position in the final running order.
6. Felix Rosenqvist had a good pace through the middle and end of the race and finished sixth. Though Rosenqvist got his first victory at Road America, the results this year are lackluster. The last three races are getting Rosenqvist back on the right path. This year has thrown everyone through a loop. A lot of guys are having down years, but Rosenqvist has Chip Ganassi to answer to and Ganassi is quick on the trigger. Top ten finishes and intact race cars at least keep Ganassi satisfied.
7. Jack Harvey was quietly seventh after starting fifth. Harvey didn't stand out. He didn't make any massive passes, but he didn't make any massive mistakes either. This is what Meyer Shank Racing should want, top ten finishes after top ten finishes and the team gets a chance to improve tomorrow.
8. Rinus VeeKay was stellar today, and so was Ed Carpenter Racing as a whole. VeeKay went long on each of his stints and it paid off in the end, even if it wasn't VeeKay charging in the final stint. He could keep up and he did not struggle on tires. He made a daring pass on Colton Herta on the outside of turn four and it stuck. I thought VeeKay would take a step back today because he has made mistakes this year and ECR has off days from time-to-time, but this was a pleasing day for him and the team.
9. Colton Herta was one of the final cars to stop and I thought he would have had the pace with a few lap fresher tires, but he fell into ninth and stayed there.
I thought the strategy to play if you were going long on the first two stints was primary tires, primary tires and then ending with the alternate for the final sprint to the finish. Herta did stop earlier than I thought the final stop would come. He stopped with 24 laps to go and that would have been long on the alternate tire.
This was a caution-free Mid-Ohio race, the third consecutive. Mid-Ohio does not have many cautions. I am surprised no one went longer on the first two stints and stopped with 19 or 20 laps to go and taken the alternate tire. Maybe there will be different strategies tomorrow.
10. We touched upon Scott Dixon finishing tenth, which is a good result when you consider he started 17th, his second-worst starting position at the track. In qualifying, he got out in the wrong part of the group and set his fastest lap when others had a track that was getting faster still on track.
It looked like Dixon was going to finish higher than tenth, but he struggled in the second stint and he really just pulled out a top ten finish, passing Conor Daly at the start of the final lap.
11. Patricio O'Ward and Álex Palou were 11th and 12th. O'Ward did not stand out much today. Palou was the final car to stop today and, like Herta, his lap times were not much quicker despite stopping late. Conor Daly dropped to 13th on the final lap after being in the top ten all race. Daly's tires were gone. This was a better day than 13th for him.
12. Santino Ferrucci started where he finished in 14th. Marcus Ericsson was surprisingly slow in qualifying, ending up 21st. Ericsson went long on each stint, but the pace wasn't there to be better than 15th.
13. Guess where Max Chilton finished? 16th? You would be correct.
14. Takuma Sato and Simon Pagenaud were 17th and 18th. Sato does not run well at Mid-Ohio. There is no explanation for it. Mid-Ohio is one of his worst tracks. Pagenaud wasn't starting at the rear today, but he spun early after running up the inside of VeeKay and that took him out of it, ruining a tenth place starting position.
15. Let's wrap up the field: Oliver Askew was anonymous today and it appeared Askew would be competitive to his teammate O'Ward considering they started on the same row. Zach Veach was Zach Veach and finished 20th. A.J. Foyt Racing is somehow getting worse with Charlie Kimball in 21st and Dalton Kellett in 22nd.
Marco Andretti was dead last, and the day started off encouraging. Andretti was in the top ten in practice and qualified 11th and then, apparently, the team didn't get the right setup on the car before the cars were impounded. Andretti was slow for that entire first stint, he was more in the way than anything else, but I have to ask how the team does not get the proper setup on the car before the impound time before the start of the race. I might get that for a new team, but Andretti Autosport, a team with multiple championships, multiple Indianapolis 500 victories and is consider a third of IndyCar's big three, that cannot happen, and this team won the Indianapolis 500 pole position a month ago. There are no excuses.
16. Dixon was critical of the shorter race distance. The 75-lap distance did take out the two-top or three-stop option out of the race, but there was still room in how you place the two pit stops. Because of this year and the increased number of doubleheaders, I get running shorter races. These teams would be exhausted running two 90-lap races in consecutive days. It is a one-off thing for this year. Let's not take it too much to the heart.
Also, the tires did fall off, but it was not as dramatic as past years. All I can think is this race falling in the middle of September when it is slightly cooler than early August or late July made a big difference compared to previous Mid-Ohio races.
17. We race much earlier tomorrow, 1:00 p.m. ET and there is qualifying to set the field only a few hours before that. Only four races remain, and the second Mid-Ohio race is pivotal in deciding whose championship hopes live into autumn and whose championship hopes die with the end of summer.
