We are 5/6th of the way through 2020. Daylight Savings had ended in Europe. It is nearing its end in the United States. This long year is almost over and it will, hopefully, feel like a relief when it ends.
The notable championship that ended in October is IndyCar and we are going IndyCar heavy to put a bow on that championship.
IndyCar Tidbits
The IndyCar season is behind us and with a few days to decompress and cipher over the notes and nuggets. How did the 2020 season play out? What was unusual? What was standard? What are a few different ways to look at this unprecedented season?
Season Length
At 141 days, this is the fourth-shortest season in IndyCar history since 1946, but there is a caveat to the three seasons shorter than this one.
The shortest? The inaugural Indy Racing League season at 120 days between its season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando on January 27, 1996 to that year's Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 1996. However, that was a three-race, basically soft-launch season.
The next shortest was the 1946 season, which historically is a mess because initially the American Automobile Association allowed certain "big car" (now known as sprint car) races to count toward the championship due to car count concerns after World War II. There were six Championship Car races and 71 "big car" races that counted toward the championship.
However, car count was not a problem, and while the 71 "big car" races initially were included in the record book, the current IndyCar record book only counts the six Championship Car races. The first Championship Car race was the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, then there were Langhorne, Lakewood, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Milwaukee and the season ended at Good Time Park in Goshen Park, New York on October 6, a span of 129 days.
The other shorter season was the 1979 USAC season, which occurred simultaneously with the USAC/CART split and the original USAC season finale at Ontario Motor Speedway jumped ship midseason to become a CART event. The USAC season started March 25 at Ontario and ended on August 12 at Milwaukee, 140 days in length, one shorter than the 2020 season.
The four shortest seasons in IndyCar history are the start of a split, a debatable interpretation of the first season after the second world war, the start of another split and during a global pandemic.
If you are wondering what the shortest season is without a reason it is not that long ago... it is 2014, which was 153 days long. The next shortest? That would be 2015, which lasted 154 days.
Championship Comparison
Scott Dixon took home his sixth championship and did it with 537 out of a possible 814 points, 65.97% of the maximum points total.
Dixon's point percentages from his other five championships:
2003: 60.9375%
2008: 71.698%
2013: 55.057%
2015: 57.736%
2018: 66.0818%
Dixon's winning percentage of 28.571% was the highest for a championship since Dario Franchitti's 29.411% in 2009. Dixon was the third champion in the last four seasons to finish on the podium in at least half the races. Dixon was in the top ten of 92.285% of the races, the highest since Franchitti's 2007 championship where he was in the top ten for 94.117% of the races.
This was the second consecutive season the winner of the season opener won the championship. The last time that happen was 2005 and 2006 when Sébastien Bourdais did it both years in Champ Car.
One thing to note for 2021: The last time the season opener winner went on to win the championship in three consecutive years was 2001-2003 in the IRL with Sam Hornish, Jr. in the first two years and Dixon in 2003.
Dixon won four races this season and the last 25 champions across the IRL, CART/Champ Car and unified IndyCar have all had at least three victories. The last champion with fewer than three victories was Gil de Ferran in 2001.
Both Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden completed all 1,900 laps. Prior to the season, only two drivers had completed every lap in a season, Tony Kanaan in 2004 and Simon Pagenaud in 2017. Patricio O'Ward completed 1,897 of 1,900 laps, 99.842% of the laps and that is good for 11th-best all-time.
Dixon won this championship at 40 years, three months and three days old, the first champion over 40 since Nigel Mansell in 1993. Only one driver has multiple titles at the age of 40: A.J. Foyt, who won his sixth championship at 40 in 1975 and then won his seventh title at 44 in 1979.
An Admirable Defense
Josef Newgarden fell short of becoming a back-to-back champion and a three-time champion in four seasons.
Should I present the good or rub some salt in the wound? Let's get the pain out of the way.
The Indianapolis 500 was the only double points race this year. It also offered additional points for qualifying in the top nine, as it has for over the last decade. If Indianapolis had been like the other 13 races and presented a maximum of 54 points for a victory, Newgarden's victory at St. Petersburg would have given him the championship with 491 points to Scott Dixon's 490 points for finishing third.
If St. Petersburg was double points, Dixon would have been champion by a point over Newgarden despite Newgarden's victory and Dixon finishing third.
Onto the good...
Newgarden led 455 laps, his third consecutive season leading the most laps. He is the first driver to accomplish that since Alex Zanardi from 1996 to 1998. It was the fourth time Newgarden has led the most laps in a season. The only drivers to lead more seasons in laps are Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Bobby Unser, who all led six seasons, and Michael Andretti and Rodger Ward each led five seasons in laps led. Newgarden and Dixon are tied with four seasons with the most laps led.
Newgarden won four races, the most for a defending champion since Dario Franchitti won four in 2011 in what was Franchitti's second consecutive successful title defense. The last defending champion to win at least four races and not successfully defend a title was Buddy Lazier in 2001.
Newgarden is now tied with Ryan Hunter-Reay for most victories among active American drivers on 18. He and Hunter-Reay are now each two victories away from becoming the 22nd driver with at least 20 IndyCar victories.
Newgarden's victory at St. Petersburg stole the road/street course title away from Colton Herta. Herta entered on 244 road/street course points, seven ahead of Will Power and 25 points ahead of Newgarden. Newgarden scored 31 more points than Herta and took the unofficial road/street course title with 270 points to Herta's 264 points.
This was the eighth time in the last 11 seasons a Team Penske driver has been the top road/street course driver. In the other three seasons, Dixon was the top road/street course driver.
Speaking of Americans
American drivers combined for five victories this season. Newgarden was responsible for four of those victories and Colton Herta got the other.
Five victories are the lowest number for Americans drivers since three in 2016 and two different American winners is the fewest since 2014. However, the average number of victories in a season for Americans since 1992 (all series included, CART, IRL, etc.) is 4.658.
There were five Americans in the top ten of the championship for the third consecutive season. Prior to this three-year period, the last time Americans had at least five of the top ten in the championship was the 2002 IRL season, which had six Americans.
Eleven American drivers competed in at least 70% of the races in 2020. That is the most Americans since 11 did it in that 2002 IRL season.
However, while Americans took five of the top ten, Americans also occupied 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st in the championship. That is a noticeable gap.
Rossi's Rub
It was a season from hell for Alexander Rossi, but how odd was it?
Rossi qualified second at St. Petersburg. It was the only time in 2020 Rossi was the top Andretti Autosport qualifier!
Rossi had five podium finishes, including four-consecutive at one point. The last driver with at least five podium finishes and no victories was Hélio Castroneves in 2015. The only other drivers to do that in the last 15 years was Vitor Meira, who had six podium finishes and no victories in 2006 and A.J. Allmendinger with five podiums and no victories in 2005.
Some good news for Rossi?
The last driver to win the championship after a winless season was Simon Pagenaud in 2016. Other recent examples include Dario Franchitti in 2009, but Franchitti did not contest a points-paying race in 2008, so not quite an apt comparison. Then there is Scott Dixon, whose 2003 IRL championship came after a winless season in 2002 in CART, so not quite an apples-to-apples comparison either but then there is Sam Hornish, Jr. Hornish, Jr. went winless in 2000 and then took the IRL titles in 2001 and 2002.
Sato's Historic Company
Takuma Sato won his second Indianapolis 500 this season and Sato also finished seventh in the championship, his best championship finish, but it got me wondering... how many Indianapolis 500 winners never finished in the top five of the championship?
Lee Wallard
Jim Clark
Graham Hill
Arie Luyendyk
Takuma Sato
That is the list since World War II. Wallard, Clark and Luyendyk were all sixth in the championship at least once. Hill was never classified for the championship due to his Formula One ties.
Power's Tough End
Will Power started on pole position at St. Petersburg and finished last. The last driver to start on pole position and finish last was... Will Power at Austin last year. The time before that... well, technically it is Will Power because he won pole position for the 2016 St. Petersburg race and then missed the race due to an inner ear condition. Power didn't start that race, nor was he classified with a finishing position, but he did get one point for winning pole position, the fewest points earned of the drivers that participated that weekend.
The time before that was Iowa 2012 when Dario Franchitti lost his engine leaving pit lane for the warm-up laps. So again, a driver that did not start a race.
When was the next time a pole-sitter took a green flag and then was dead last? July 8, 2007. Hélio Castroneves had an accident at Watkins Glen.
Kiwi on Top, Kiwi on the Bottom
Scott Dixon won the championship, but Scott McLaughlin made his IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg, and it did not go as planned for McLaughlin. McLaughlin ended up 22nd and scored eight points. Those eight points gave McLaughlin last in the 2020 championship, behind the likes of James Davison, Ben Hanley, Spencer Pigot, Fernando Alonso, J.R. Hildebrand and Sage Karam to name a few.
New Zealander Scott Dixon was on top. New Zealander Scott McLaughlin was on the bottom.
When was the last time first and last in the championship came from the same country?
Well, it just happened in 2017 when Josef Newgarden took the championship and Buddy Lazier was last, but when was the last time it happened for a champion from another country?
That would be 2001, when Gil de Ferran won the title, but Luiz Garcia, Jr. did not score any points that season and shared last with Michael Krumm. It happened the year before that as well with de Ferrarn winning the title and Gualter Salles sharing last on zero points with Jason Bright (more on him in a moment).
Looking over all the IRL seasons, the only other times the champion and last were the same nationality are as follows:
2000 (Buddy Lazier first, Lyn St. James last)
1999 (Greg Ray first, Jason Leffler last)
Kind of surprising considering the IRL was a series meant for Americans.
McLaughlin's Unthinkable Company
McLaughlin's debut had me thinking: How many Bathurst 1000 winners have started an IndyCar race? It is a short list:
Geoff Brabham, Jason Bright and McLaughlin.
Brabham and Bright both won at Bathurst when there were two 1000-kilometer races at Mount Panorama. In 1997 and 1998, there were two races because of a split between the V8 Supercars organizers and the Australian Racing Drivers Club. Brabham won the traditional October race with his brother David Brabham after Paul Morris and Craig Baird were disqualified. Bright won the V8 Supercars 1000-kilometer race in November 1998 with Jim Richards.
Brabham had last started an IndyCar race in 1993. Bright would not make his IndyCar debut until 2000. That year, Bright ran in Indy Lights and finished sixth in the championship. He ended his year with a start with Della Penna Racing at Surfers Paradise. It was Bright's only IndyCar start and he retired after 44 laps. The following year he returned to full-time competition in Australia.
Pagenaud Fighting From Behind
Simon Pagenaud's average starting position was 15.928. The only year Pagenaud had a worse average starting position was 2011 when Pagenaud averaged a 21st-place on the grid, but his three starts were because he was a substitute for three different drivers.
Once was for Ana Beatriz at Barber, who broke both her wrists at St. Petersburg, once for Justin Wilson and Pagenaud had less track time because Wilson got hurt in the middle of the race weekend, and once for Simona de Silvestro, who was not allowed into the country due to visa issues and Pagenaud was an 11th-hour replacement.
Hunter-Reay's Longevity
Ryan Hunter-Reay ends this season with 266 starts, 11th all-time and 15 starts behind Paul Tracy for tenth. Hunter-Reay is 34 starts away from becoming the tenth driver to make 300 IndyCar starts.
A Sophomore Slump
Felix Rosenqvist won a race and finished 11th in the championship. It was only the fourth time a Ganassi driver has won a race and not finished in the top ten of the championship. The others were Bruno Junqueira in 2001 (won at Road America and was 16th), Jeff Ward in 2002 (won at Texas and was 11th) and Scott Dixon in 2005 (won at Watkins Glen and was 13th).
A.J. Foyt's Reason for 2021 Optimism
A.J. Foyt Racing ended the 2020 season with Sébastien Bourdais in fourth and Charlie Kimball in eighth. It was the team's first double top ten finish since Gateway 2017 when Conor Daly was fourth and Carlos Muñoz was ninth. It was the team's first double top ten finish on a road/street course since the second Belle Isle race in 2015 when Takuma Sato was second, Jack Hawksworth was seventh and Sébastien Bourdais won that race.
When was the last time A.J. Foyt Racing had double top ten finishes in consecutive races? In the 2001 season finale, Eliseo Salazar was fourth and Greg Ray was ninth at Texas and in the 2002 season opener at Homestead, Salazar was fifth and Airton Daré was tenth. Remember that when we return to St. Petersburg next March.
Not Bad Rookie
Rinus VeeKay went 12-2 in head-to-head battles against teammates, including going 8-0 against Conor Daly.
Another Way to Look at a Terrible Season
If every IndyCar race was single points, Zach Veach and Marco Andretti would have been level on 151 points and Veach sat out the final three races.
Chilton's Silently Average, Disappointing, yet Encouraging Season
Max Chilton's top ten finish drought is up to 38 races. Chilton's last top ten finish was eighth at Watkins Glen in 2017. In those 38 races, he has only two retirements, Barber 2018 and Toronto 2018. After having only ten combined lead lap finishes in his previous two seasons, Chilton was on the lead lap for all nine of his starts in 2020, completing 800 of 800 laps. Chilton has never had more than nine lead lap finishes in a season.
Ganassi Leads, Penske Closes
The 2020 season started with four consecutive victories for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The 2020 season closed with three consecutive victories for Team Penske
Ganassi and Penske combined for 12 of 14 victories this season.
Other than the pandemic, the delayed start of the season, the number of doubleheaders, Takuma Sato winning the Indianapolis 500 and Colton Herta taking a victory at Mid-Ohio, this season looks a lot like 2009.
For a series heralded for its parity, the victories suggest otherwise. It should be noted 14 drivers stood on the podium this season from seven teams. Of the full-time teams, only A.J. Foyt Racing, Carlin and Meyer Shank Racing did not put a driver on the podium and Carlin won a pole position and MSR had Jack Harvey start on the front row twice, in the top five on five occasions and he started in the top ten in 11 of 14 races.
Nineteen drivers had a top five finish and the only full-time team that did not get a top five finish was Carlin.
Is there parity in IndyCar? Faux parity? Is it close enough to distract people from reality?
I don't know, but IndyCar will promote it either way and fools will continue to believe Ed Carpenter Racing is on the verge of a breakout, six-victory season with AMSP winning three races and Sébastien Bourdais getting a pair of victories with Foyt in 2021, though there is not a snowball's chance in hell any of that will happen.
Cold Weather
Let's give a shout out to cold weather because we saw a few strong races because of cooler temperatures.
We had not one, but two great Harvest Grand Prix races because of the cooler weather. Josef Newgarden might have had a 14.294-second victory, but it was tight throughout the order. It was a four-way battle for the final two podium spots between Alexander Rossi, Rinus VeeKay, Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist. There were battles up and down the top ten.
In the second race, it was closer at the front. Will Power might have led every lap, but Herta and Rossi kept him honest. Scott Dixon had to make up a few positions with a broken floor.
Over in Formula One, we had the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Rain washed out the Friday, but we had Lewis Hamilton take the victory with Max Verstappen keeping Hamilton honest. Daniel Ricciardo got on the podium ahead of Sergio Pérez. Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Pierre Gasly had a fight for fifth. Nico Hülkenberg went from 20th to eighth. Romain Grosjean was ninth. Antonio Giovinazzi got a point.
Portimão was run in overcast conditions. Sainz, Jr. went from seventh to first in two laps. Kimi Räikkönen gained ten spots in one lap. The Portuguese Grand Prix would level out. Valtteri Bottas would take the lead from Sainz, Jr. on lap seven. Hamilton would be leading by lap 20. Hamilton won from Bottas and Verstappen. Sainz, Jr. ended up sixth but Gasly drove up to fifth. Sebastian Vettel drove into the points. Räikkönen missed out on his first points of the season, but it was still an interesting outing.
November Preview
The NASCAR season will end. All that remains is Martinsville and Phoenix.
Joey Logano will have a shot at the Cup championship. Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch are all looking to take the final two championship-eligible spots for the finale.
In the lower two divisions, Chase Briscoe has dominated the Grand National Series and he does not know who will join him in that final. Austin Cindric has had a strong year. Justin Allgaier has won his share of races. Justin Haley won all the plate races but may need to win on a few short tracks if he wants to take the championship. Brandon Jones is hanging in there. Ross Chastain has yet to win a race. Noah Gragson likely has to win at Martinsville to be alive for Phoenix. Ryan Sieg is just happy to be there.
In the Truck Series, Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed have punched tickets to the Phoenix finale. Matt Crafton could make it back and look to successfully defending his championship. Zane Smith and Austin Hill both have won multiple races this season and are not locked into the finale. Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum all have to win at Martinsville to make the finale.
IMSA's season is coming to an end and it has two races left: Laguna Seca and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
The drivers currently leading the Daytona Prototype international championship standings are both out of a ride in 2021. Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe hold an eight-point lead in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac over the #7 Acura of Ricky Taylor and Hélio Castroneves but van der Zande and Briscoe will both be out of the WTR entry after the team switches to Acura next year. Pipo Derani has a shot at the DPi title as he is 12 points back in the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac.
LMP2 and GT Le Mans classes are virtually locked up. There will only be one entry in LMP2 at Laguna Seca with Patrick Kelly on the verge of capturing that title via default with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. All the #3 Corvette of Antonio García and Jordan Taylor have to do is start the final two races and that title is theirs.
GT Daytona is tight with co-drivers Aaron Telitz and Jack Hawksworth separated by two points, but those two will likely be split for the finale at Sebring with Hawksworth remaining in the #14 Lexus and Telitz in the #12 Lexus. Ryan Hardwick and Patrick Long have quietly climbed into this title battle. The #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche drivers are four points behind Telitz despite Hardwick and Long having yet to win a race this season. The #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman are only five points back.
Other events of note in November:
Formula One has three races: Imola, Turkey and the Bahrain Grand Prix.
MotoGP concludes with two races in Valencia and a season finale in Portimão.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters ends at Hockenheim and the championship battle is between René Rast, Nico Müller and Robin Frijns.
Super GT has two races left: Motegi and Fuji.
World Touring Car Cup has two rounds left: Aragón and Adria.
