O'Ward has a habit of struggling significantly on the least optimal tire. Either he is way off on the alternate runs it at a crucial time when the rest of the field isn't or he starts on the wrong tire, falls back and cannot get out of the hole. This was a balanced race from O'Ward and AMSP. The car was at the front the entire time. He didn't fall out of the race and though he wasn't really pressing VeeKay over the first 60 laps, O'Ward was there to make up the ground in the final pit cycle. He kept himself in the conversation and it paid off.
2. Two consecutive races Álex Palou had a strong pit stop get him positions. Palou jumped VeeKay in the final pit cycle, and it felt like Palou was going to really push O'Ward for the victory. The Spaniard was closing at one point but didn't quite have the tires to catch O'Ward. Palou made it close. This is 11 podium finishes in 20 starts for Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou is back in the championship lead. Every race is like this for him. He might not have a victory, but Palou is still the driver to beat. He doesn't have a bad day and the team isn't going to cost him races either.
3. This was a missed opportunity for Rinus VeeKay. He was untouched for most of this race and wasn't ever in much danger of losing the lead. He wasn't pulling away, but it was set up if VeeKay hit his marks, he was going to take a dominant victory. But today showed how much better O'Ward is as a driver. O'Ward made a move stick on cold tires. That shouldn't happen especially after the lead VeeKay had.
It was an encouraging day for VeeKay. We know he is quick, but he isn't quite at that level. I think Ed Carpenter Racing gave him a good pit stop, good enough to win this race, but VeeKay was caught napping at the worst possible time.
4. You do not stumble from 19th to fourth on a two-stop strategy, and Will Power was a big mover all race. He was into the top ten when the race restarted on lap 36. He made a few more passes and for the first time since 2010 Power has opened a season with four consecutive top five finishes, this result coming from an unlikely position.
It is strange to say it but if Power could figure out this qualifying thing he might win a few races. Power has been smart this season. Veteran know-how is lifting Power up the order. He has been around long enough that a starting position of 19th isn't deflating Power's spirit and he can take his car from the back to the front with relative ease.
5. For the second consecutive race, Scott Dixon turn nothing into something. From 13th on the grid, Dixon made up spots and the Ganassi crew again aided in Dixon's drive forward, putting further up the order. This was an impressive drive for Dixon considering it was his first time starting outside the top six at Barber. Part of this weekend started to worry me. It has been 365 days since Dixon last won an IndyCar race and he will go 366 days without a victory for the first time since 2005. It is too early to write Dixon off, but we need to see fewer days like this and the one we saw at Long Beach.
6. Scott McLaughlin was struggling late in the race and he should be counting his blessings he hung on for sixth. One Colton Herta mistake likely saved McLaughlin's finish. This was a good day for McLaughlin after how bungled up Long Beach went. He was at the front the entire race, but really was stuck. The car didn't seem to improve. He was in the top four for most of the opening half of the race and then dropped back as others got better. Still a good day. This isn't the day you want, but this is the day you have to take, especially if you want to be champion. Just don't take too many of these days.
7. Oh, Andretti Autosport... sigh... I am not sure this team can catch a break, and this was a good day for the team!
Romain Grosjean looked good today, and he was the top finishing three-stop driver. That shouldn't have been the case and Grosjean shouldn't have been the top Andretti finisher, but he should have been in the top ten. I actually think the one caution for Callum Ilott's spin help Grosjean, even though his second stop came under caution and he was shuffled back. Grosjean didn't look great after the first pit stop while Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden were moving. Maybe Grosjean would have had a strong final two stints, but I fear if this race stayed green, Grosjean wouldn't have been in as a great track position and his final stint would have been him stuck in the middle of the pack and just outside the top ten. The caution set Grosjean back but he was on the alternate tire and could make positions more easily.
8. Good day for Graham Rahal, but nondescript. Started ninth, finished eighth. Didn't really look to be a threat. Rahal was stuck where he was all race. That is kind of Rahal's MO. If he has a good starting position, Rahal stays there, doesn't do much. If he has a bad starting position, he can make up eight to ten positions and get everyone's attention. This was really a race set for Rahal to take a chance. I know the three-stop strategies didn't quite play out because of the caution, but Rahal should roll the dice from ninth on the grid. Grosjean started eighth and went for it. Grosjean was only a position ahead of Rahal at the checkered flag, but Grosjean at least went for it.
9. Stop if you have heard this before: Alexander Rossi was in the back half of the top ten, but he spent the first portion of the race in the top five only to lose ground because his tire management is putrid. Oh? This happened in the last race, and I clearly copy and pasted this from what I wrote post-Long Beach? Damn right I did. To be fair, this wasn't so much on Rossi's tire management. He actually drove well, but he was fourth in the middle of the race, between McLaughlin and Palou, and Rossi ended up ninth, six spots behind Palou and three spots behind McLaughlin.
I don't think Rossi is in the best position to succeed. Is he a needy driver and is too reliant on the race car having to be close to perfect to win races? Maybe. I don't think Andretti Autosport is helping. There has been too much shuffling. I think it is a miss that Andretti didn't try to pair Rossi with Ray Gosselin. Gosselin was Hunter-Reay's engineer for years and Gosselin moved to Ilmor to overlook the Chevrolet program. If Andretti could have kept Gosselin and paired him with Rossi, things could be much better and through four races we could be writing about the rebound Rossi has made from the last two years. Instead, it is more of the same.
10. Oh Colton Herta... I think for the second consecutive race Herta had the best car in the field, and it was wasted. Credit to the team trying a three-stop strategy. Herta was bit because if Callum Ilott spins ten laps later, Herta might be sitting in control of this race. He would have already made his second pit stop and emerged somewhere in the top ten with likely every car ahead of him still needing to make their second pit stop while also saving fuel. Even after the Ilott caution, Herta was charging. He wasn't going to win the race, and he likely wasn't going to get on the podium, but he was definitely going to finish in the top five.
And then overdrove the car after getting frustrated behind McLaughlin. Herta had already made up a few positions to get to McLaughlin's gearbox and then Herta undid all his work in one mistake. It was too aggressive of a move on McLaughlin, similar to his accident at Nashville last year. The talent is there but the control isn't for Herta. This is another race where he tossed away a promising finish. Yes, it was not going to be a victory, but he has to at least be in the conversation for the championship and taking a podium result and turning it into a 23rd and taking a fifth and turning it into a tenth is the opposite of what Herta must do.
Three cars in the top ten for Andretti Autosport
11. Simon Pagenaud was on the two-stopper and turned 24th on the grid into 11th. He didn't make mistakes and used his experience to turn a horrible Saturday into a positive Sunday. He definitely benefitted from the caution and a handful of drivers running the three-stop strategy, but Pagenaud made the most of it.
12. Marcus Ericsson was on the three-stop strategy, didn't quite work out, but he still recovered to finish where he started. Net neutral day for Erisson.
13. Takuma Sato did nothing and finished 13th.
14. Josef Newgarden was on the three-stop strategy, looked good after his first stop and was well ahead of Herta, but after his second stop Newgarden lost positions early on the restart and didn't quite have the speed. He got stuck in the middle of the field and finished 14th. Was he the 14th-best driver today? No, he was probably better, but he was the three-stopper where it backfired the most. If the race stays green all the way through, I think Herta still beats Newgarden, but I think Newgarden is in the top five.
15. This might be the first time I can say let's quickly run through the field and actually get through about nine drivers: Christian Lundgaard has been anonymous through four races, but he was the top rookie finisher today in 15th. Felix Rosenqvist blew another race. He was in the top ten for basically the entire first half of the race and then he dropped like a stone before his final pit stop. Once the stop was done, he was outside the top ten and then dropped to 16th late. Rosenqvist might not make it through the season. Devlin DeFrancesco finally had a good day and was 17th, but it is only 17th.
Jack Harvey went to the three-stop strategy, but I don't think the pace was there for it to be much more than a top fifteen finish. Conor Daly was 19th and on the three-stop strategy, but none of it matter. He didn't make up any spots early. He was never going to finish much better than this. Meanwhile, VeeKay is leading 57 laps and finishing on the podium. Ed Carpenter will have a difficult decision to make and listening to his heart is costing him.
It was a tough weekend for David Malukas, and you wonder how things would have gone if he didn't have the qualifying accident. Hélio Castroneves got a penalty for spinning Jimmie Johnson. Hard to blame Castroneves considering Johnson's pace, but even before the penalty Castroneves likely wasn't going to finish in the top fifteen. Kyle Kirkwood had a slow first pit stop while attempting the three-stop strategy. That killed his day before it ever got going.
Dalton Kellett was 23rd and Jimmie Johnson was 24th. Sounds about right. Tatiana Calderón was 26th, dead last. Sounds about right.
16. I am giving 25th its own mark because Callum Ilott had a breakout weekend that vanished on him with one mistake. Ilott was competitive all weekend. He was around the top ten in each practice and then qualified 11th. Things clicked for Ilott and Juncos Hollinger Racing this weekend and then Ilott missed the mark entering turn seven and spun off course. The car was beached and that was the lone caution. Ilott was falling back on worn tires prior to that spin. He had dropped to 14th, but Ilott needed a clean race. I don't think he finishes in the top ten, but Ilott use needed to run all the laps with no issues.
It was one mistake. I hope this weekend is a sign of good things to come. At least mechanical problems did not trip this group up. But there are no guarantees. It was promising.
17. This might become a weekly thing at least for road and street courses but compare Colton Herta's race and even Romain Grosjean's race and Josef Newgarden's race to the rest of the field. All three of those drivers were active and gave us a reason to watch. Why? Three-stop strategy. One caution flipped this race into the favor of the non-risk takers.
If IndyCar made it so every team had to use each tire compound twice then everyone would be on the three-stop strategy, but we would see variations. Some would run long. Others would stop when Herta, Grosjean and Newgarden did. Some would stack the compounds and go alternate, alternate before end with two stints on the primary tires. Some would mix and match.
This was a good race, we did see Will Power and Scott Dixon both finish in the top five after starting outside the top ten, but one caution made it easy for the leaders. Let's make it so every driver has to be aggressive. Let's open that window and force teams to get creative. Let's try it once. We have two Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course races when no one asked for those. Let's make the second race an experimental race where each compound must be used twice. I think it would be worth it for IndyCar.
18. The good news is the schedule is picking up. It is May and in less than two weeks we will have another race, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
