1. On a day that start with another mess of a start, the second Texas race turned into a thriller, as the timing of the cautions turned it into a fuel-mileage derby, but one of intrigue as some drivers attempted to go full tilt while others were conserving to make it on two stops. While Scott Dixon dominated, the final half of the race saw a shakeup. The timing, not just of the pit stops but a caution, shuffled up the field and positioned Josef Newgarden in the lead with Patricio O'Ward in second after running third most of the race.
O'Ward again benefitted from stopping a lap later than the leaders and he battle the two-time champion Newgarden in the closing stages. While everyone had stopped around the same point, Newgarden continued to conserve and O'Ward went full blast in the final 25 laps to take the lead. O'Ward's first victory was always coming. He topped testing at Texas in March, and it felt like it was a possibility but far from a guarantee this weekend. The first two races saw O'Ward dropped the ball in advantageous positions. With Dixon leading and Graham Rahal also competitive, it felt like O'Ward was set for another podium finish, but again falling short.
The opportunity presented himself and O'Ward went for it. He won this race. The team positioned him to win this race. There were no concerns with fuel or tires. He could run full song and no one else kept up.
Through four races, three IndyCar winners are in their early-to-mid 20s and are either sophomores or juniors in IndyCar. None of those three have a championship. The only other winner is Dixon, the mainstay on IndyCar for the last two decades. Add to it Newgarden is a two-time champion, and he is only 30. Alexander Rossi has been a championship contender and has yet to turn 30. IndyCar finds itself set up for the next 15 years with a top crop of drivers and we are seeing the first fruits of what should be a prolific period.
2. Josef Newgarden was about to steal another Texas victory if it had not been for O'Ward. This was sneaking into his back pocket. Again, the caution fell in Newgarden's way. It was going to be a good day, a solid top ten, but he wasn't going to win this race on pure speed. It is a good day for him in terms of the championship. He made up some ground.
3. Graham Rahal did look like a possible winner and he was the one guy who could set up a pass entering a corner. Even last night Rahal could carry the speed off of turn four and make a run down the front straightaway to the outside of a driver into turn one. That was the only way someone could make a pass. He took the lead from Dixon, but his fuel concerns kept him from commanding the race. Rahal's team said he was good on fuel to lead and then he back out of it. I don't know if he couldn't do it or if he didn't have the confidence to do it. O'Ward jumped him and Dixon on the pit cycle, so maybe it wouldn't have matter, but this was a key chance for Rahal, and it didn't work out.
4. For the first 150 laps, it looked like Dixon was going to put together one of the most dominant weekends in IndyCar history. It looked like he was going to tie Mario Andretti and he was going to leave Texas with another mammoth championship lead after four races. Dixon lost out big time on strategy and we do not say that often. Unlike last night, Dixon didn't have traffic in his favor in this race. He couldn't draft up on a lapped car or use a lapped traffic to buffer him from the other leaders. Fourth is still a good day and he is still in the lead.
5. Colton Herta bounced back from his wheel bearing failure to get fifth. Herta did not fly to the front. This was a much more methodical race. Yesterday could haunt his season. He easily dropped 25-30 points.
6. Simon Pagenaud went unnoticed in sixth. That seems to be how it goes for Pagenaud. He will finish in the top ten, but not make any waves. Top ten finishes are a good thing, though he needs more.
7. Álex Palou had another impressive start, but he dropped off and ended up seventh. Not a bad day, but if O'Ward and Herta are going to finish ahead of him regularly, then seventh is not going to be enough.
8. Eighth was more apt for Scott McLaughlin. Second yesterday was somewhat of an overachievement. He was likely only seventh or eighth best yesterday and a caution or two went in his favor. It was a little tougher today, but McLaughlin competed through it. He didn't slide back and look lost.
9. Rinus VeeKay bounced back to finish ninth. With the youth movement in IndyCar, VeeKay is hanging on the periphery. He has the speed, but it is unclear if he will breakthrough beyond the fringe of the top ten.
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay got his first top ten! It was not a spectacular day and when a third of the field is eliminated before halfway it is easy to get a top ten. Hunter-Reay just needed a good day. Tenth isn't something to do flips over, but it is better than how things have been going.
11. Quickly through the rest of the field: Ed Carpenter was 11th. Marcus Ericsson had a pit lane infraction for improper lane usage. Another strange penalty for him. Will Power was fighting for a top five but got onto the PJ1 lane in turns three and four and he had to lift and skate through. He was dropped to 13th. Takuma Sato did not stop under the final caution because he was on an alternate strategy. He wasn't going to go far, and he had to stop with 37 laps to go, dropping him a lap down.
12. Tony Kanaan was in the opening lap incident and the team made repairs to get him 15th, two laps down. Felix Rosenqvist was the final caution when he lost his right rear tire because it was not properly secured after his final stop. Does Rosenqvist survive the month of May? O'Ward is a race winner and is thrashing the Swede head-to-head. Arrow McLaren SP has a short leash. Rosenqvist may soon find out how short it is.
13. Jack Harvey had the same right rear wheel bearing issue that ended Herta's race on Saturday. It is a shame because Harvey looked set for another top five run. James Hinchcliffe could only do 30 laps after the opening lap incident.
14. And we have come to the opening lap incident. We have done this numerous times. After Pocono 2018, after the first Gateway race last year and even after an iRacing event.
It is time for IndyCar to make an adjustment. It's not one issue. The pole-sitter brings the field down too slow. The drivers at the back are too aggressive. IndyCar allows this to happen, but a change needs to be made. It is not a good thing when every year we can pencil in one race where a half-dozen cars will be out before we even get to turn one. Alexander Rossi's championship is effectively over again because of a first lap accident that he was caught in. He was just collateral damage. Sébastien Bourdais had the weekend from hell in A.J. Foyt's backyard. Conor Daly continues to get caught into something.
Pietro Fittipaldi was a little quick on the throttle, but the leaders have to go and the field should be spread out. IndyCar positions these cars so when the field stacks up a quarter of the field will be eliminated. We see notable spacing at the Indianapolis 500 and we should see that at all ovals. I know some of these races have been difficult for passing, but we cannot have it a cut-throat start where everyone is only looking out for themselves.
The start procedure must be adjusted, but we also need a penalty system to discourage drivers taking each other out on the start. It either needs to be a fine or a points penalty or a race ban. Maybe if a driver causes or contributes to an opening lap accident, in the next oval race that driver has to complete a 30-second stop and hold at the start. When everyone is coming to the green, that driver has to pull onto pit lane and stop in his or her pit box and wait.
IndyCar needs to do something, and it cannot be afraid to show some teeth for the sanctity of its race.
15. It seemed like it took 342 race laps for Texas to become conducive for passing. It was only on the straightaways. If a driver couldn't get the move done entering the corner, he had to lift. A few passes were made mid-corner, but it was the exception. As we saw with Power, that upper lane was unusable. That is what has made Texas frustrating. If that was usable, a driver could continue a run entering a corner and carry it through. Instead, everyone had to lift or risk being in an accident.
I was surprised that Texas was only a two-day show. I thought with it being a doubleheader and IndyCar running alone without a NASCAR Truck race on Friday night the series would practice at night and rubber in the track. If IndyCar decides to continue this doubleheader next year, Friday should be a test day. Give the teams enough tires to run for four or five hours from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. and let them work in the racetrack. It rained on Friday and Saturday this weekend so this year might have been lost, but if the drivers get a chance to spend hours on the track and prepare it, maybe a second lane can develop.
IndyCar and Texas cannot expect 90 minutes of practice will be enough. Frankly, we know the surface is not up to standard, but I doubt Texas is going to do anything to change it. It tried washing away the PJ1 and that didn't work. Something drastic must be tried and there are no excuses for doing less than that in 2022.
16. And now we get a week off. Three weeks culminating in a doubleheader is a hell of a way to start a season. Next up, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The most intense time of the season is ahead of us.
