1. Josef Newgarden, on his third attempt, claimed the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge $1 million prize, and Newgarden was the only one to get a crack at it. You might think that would summarize the season so far, but the only repeat winner of the season is third in the championship, as Newgarden's year has been feast or famine. Three victories, four top five finishes and four finishes outside the top ten.
This week was near flawless. After last year's defeat at Road America, combined with a slightly disappointing Belle Isle race and a tough qualifying run yesterday, Newgarden was set to take this one from the competition. Alexander Rossi showed he was the man to beat the first two days, and Newgarden knew the task at hand. Rossi was his only real challenger. Both drivers started on the alternate tires and that opening stint was going to set the tone for the race. Newgarden rode in Rossi's shadow and both drivers stopped on the same lap. Rossi was hung up in traffic exiting his pit stall while Newgarden had a clean out and he was gone.
There was eight seconds behind the two drivers and Rossi had to work just to get back to Newgarden's rear. Rossi clawed, but Newgarden appeared to have this set before a pair of late cautions. The first restart was quickly canceled out when Hélio Castroneves spun coming to the green. On the second restart, Newgarden left Rossi and the rest of the field in the dust.
You would think three victories would have Newgarden as the clear favorite as the second half of the season approaches, but he is third in the championship, 32 points off Marcus Ericsson. But Newgarden is the only multi-time winner this year. The only other drivers that have been close to multiple victories this season are Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta. McLaughlin hasn't been close since the second race of the season. Herta hasn't been consistent enough to be a title threat.
Ever since he joined Team Penske, Newgarden has been in the title mix. He dominated Mid-Ohio last year. He loves Iowa and Iowa hosts two races this year. Not to forget mentioning there is still the second IMS road course race and Gateway. The schedule is set up for Newgarden to come from behind. Someone else has to step up to convince us they have what it takes to be champion. Until then, Newgarden coming out on top through July looks likely.
2. Back on top of the championship is Marcus Ericsson after his stunning runner-up finish. Again, Ericsson had a quiet run, didn't put a wheel wrong and when presented with a chance for a spot late, Ericsson pounced on Rossi, strengthened the Swede's championship lead.
Ericsson hasn't been flashy this year. He has just been smooth, finishing in the top ten, getting the best result possible each day and not driving over his head. The Indianapolis 500 victory is boosting his championship prospects. I am not sure one victory and clicking off top ten finishes will be enough, but so far it has been. Ericsson leads and it isn't by a few measly point, it is a 27-point advantage over Will Power. It isn't massive, but the field has work to do.
3. This was a missed opportunity for Alexander Rossi. The pole-sitter led from the drop of the green flag, but Newgarden remained close to Rossi. The first pit stop would be crucial. Rossi caught a break with a frantic start that saw three cautions in the first seven laps. A historically poor driver on alternate tires, Rossi caught a gift in the opening stint, as he basically had five fewer laps to run on the alternate tires as they were under caution conditions.
But a chain of events could not have fallen worse for Rossi. It wasn't a bad stop, but Scott McLaughlin was entering his pit box as Rossi was ready to go out, he had to hold up and that let Newgarden leapfrog into the lead. Then Rossi lost even more time negotiating traffic. For the second consecutive race, Dalton Kellett and Jimmie Johnson did Rossi no favors. He did end up clawing back on Newgarden's gap, but he went from six-tenths ahead of Newgarden to 7.6 seconds back in about seven laps. At least four of those seconds were lost dealing with traffic. It was more than Rossi could overcome.
When the late cautions came out, it felt like Rossi would get a challenge. He ran some better laps on the primary tires later in stints. However, he had one restart too many. Rossi looked good on the one that was canceled out by Castroneves' spin, but Rossi had no burst on the final one, leaving him prone to Ericsson's jump. Rossi held on for third, but it really wasn't a position he should have been in. This is still a good day, but it could have been much better.
4. Andretti Autosport had a great day across the board. Romain Grosjean took fourth and he was competitive. Grosjean only got one flying lap in the second round of qualifying, and he was a fraction of a second from advancing to the Fast Six. He had a slight twitch in the first corner of that lap. Rossi was the one who advanced over Grosjean. If that lap was clean or Grosjean had multiple laps in that round, this could have been a much different race. Rossi would have failed to advance and Grosjean might have been the one on the front row, possibly even pole position.
Grosjean needed a strong day. The last three races have been dreadful. He was a solid top five car and held off Colton Herta late. It is a step in the right direction.
5. Colton Herta served a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, but he made up five spots in the first seven laps, of which only about three laps were under green flag conditions. The engine penalty was wiped out almost immediately. But Herta was a little off strategy starting on the primary tires. It might have been better if the race had stayed green and he could have picked off a few more spots late in the opening stint, but Herta was always going to need to run the alternate compound, and that stint took him out of contention to push for the podium.
Herta did well and nearly stepped over the line late. He didn't and Andretti Autosport had three top five finishers. Like Grosjean, it is a step in the right direction.
6. With the number of early cautions, we had the rare multi-strategy Road America race. Some cars came in on lap nine under the third caution as it was only about three laps outside the first pit window. Felix Rosenqvist rolled the dice and Rosenqvist would have to run conservative laps to keep it as a three-stop race. It worked. He was a sitting duck late in the stints, but Rosenqvist didn't lose significant chunks of time and he turned it into a sixth-place result.
That might not sound like much considering he started seventh, but I am not sure following the leaders was going to work out for him. He was never going to have a winning strategy unless the caution came out immediately after a pit stop. Either way, Rosenqvist has four consecutive top ten finishes. He is in better form and is reviving his IndyCar career.
7. Scott McLaughlin had a strong day and finished seventh. After the last three results, McLaughlin needed this. He easily tossed away a pair of top ten finishes the last two weeks. This stops the bleeding a bit, but those opening two races are still more flashes in the pan than something significant. McLaughlin still has work to do in IndyCar, but he is competitive. He just needs a little polish.
8. Graham Rahal ran the same strategy as Rosenqvist but was doing it from deeper in the field. It worked and took Rahal to eighth place from 22nd on the grid. Rahal had to do something today. The team is throwing the kitchen sink at it to get results. The qualifying pace isn't there. The team is lost. It has to fling stuff at the wall. It isn't ideal, but it worked today and it is a minor positive to take away, but the search for a permanent solution will continue.
9. Scott Dixon was ninth. We do not write that often about Dixon. Nothing special, not bad, just ninth. Early in the race, it felt like he and Simon Pagenaud passed each other on about eight consecutive laps. This is weird, but Dixon hasn't really factored in any race other than the Indianapolis 500 this season. He hasn't been a regular in the Fast Six. The team has been pointing to qualifying issues as to why the race results have been down. Until we see Dixon qualify better, we will not know if that is the solution and we are running out of races to find out.
10. Before this weekend, I said Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing would have its best weekend of the season. It didn't come easy, but with Christian Lundgaard in tenth, his second career top ten finish and the first time RLLR has had multiple top ten finishers this season, I would say that fits the description. Lundgaard was able to run long and made time late in stints. It kept him in the fight. He needed a good result, and he has it, strengthening his grip on the rookie battle.
11. Speaking of rookies, Callum Ilott was 11th. Solid run for Ilott. He was around the edge of the top ten all race. He is positioning himself for a move upward next year. When I see a highly successful European junior formula driver stepping into IndyCar and performing better than the team he is driving for, I think he is meant for Chip Ganassi Racing. Look at what Ganassi did with Juan Pablo Montoya and Bruno Junqueira. Ilott fits that mold. Let's see how the rest of the season goes, but Ilott is bound for better things.
12. Simon Pagenaud nearly threw his race away in the kink but kept it straight. Pagenaud lost ground, but considering that moment, 12th is a good day. Since joining Meyer Shank Racing, we really haven't seen Pagenaud have a day where everything clicks. We are still waiting for that one great day.
13. Speaking of Meyer Shank Racing, its former driver Jack Harvey was 13th. It is an odd result for Harvey. He was the worst RLLR finish, but in the same zip code as his teammate, but he never really was a challenger for a top ten then again his teammate really didn't run that much better. I cannot say Harvey made a step back considering MSR is running only slightly better. It is definitely a lateral move at the moment, which still isn't the direction Harvey hoped to go.
14. Conor Daly was 14th. That feels right up Daly's alley. It helps Daly that Rinus VeeKay is struggling. We will cover Ed Carpenter Racing here as VeeKay was 17th. VeeKay had an early off drop him down the order. VeeKay has bursts of speed, get the occasional impressive result, but then has stretches where he is woeful. Daly never has any bursts of speeds, but sometimes that is good enough to finish 14th and other times Daly is 20th and you never realize he is out there.
Neither are good problems for ECR. I am not sure how to cure both issues. Daly isn't really picking up the team when it needs someone. It is hard to say beating your teammate in 14th is a good day.
15. Another team that has two drivers doing nothing is Dale Coyne Racing. Takuma Sato was 15th and David Malukas was 16th. Isn't it weird we haven't had a Dale Coyne Racing masterclass strategy performance yet? We are eight races in and we haven't had a DCR car run a three-stopper and pull out a top ten result or a fuel gamble turn an 18th starting position into an eighth place result. Last week, both cars make the Fast Six and neither car finished in the top ten. DCR has two top ten results all season, a tenth at St. Petersburg and a seventh in the wet in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, both at the hands of Sato. This hasn't been a good year for this group.
16. Devlin DeFrancesco ran over Will Power into turn five early in this race and took Power out of contention for any promising result.
There were too many early cautions in this one. It started with Jimmie Johnson spinning from side-by-side contact with Tatiana Calderón. Then Marcus Ericsson and Álex Palou made slight contact, but enough to bend Palou's suspension and force him to park it in the gravel at the exit of turn five. Finally, DeFrancesco runs over Power.
This is a good grid, but we also have to acknowledge the bottom isn't close to the middle let alone the top. DeFrancesco shouldn't be in IndyCar. He should be spending another year in Indy Lights. Calderón doesn't tear up equipment, but she is slow. We know Johnson is out of his element and we haven't even touch upon Dalton Kellett yet.
Someone has to be at the bottom, but the current expectation is the bottom is bound to cause a problem during a race. These four drivers have been response for ten of 30 cautions this season. That is about 15% of the grid responsible for a third of the cautions. We know what we are dealing with in IndyCar.
17. We should probably touch upon Power specifically because he lost the championship lead and has 27 points to overcome. It is doable, but he has to qualify better. He won from 16th at Belle Isle. He wasn't going to win from 15th today and when you start 15th you are more likely to have DeFrancesco run through you.
Despite everything that happened, Power was calm. I think he saw the deficit afterward and feels confident he can get back on top quickly. Two good results and easily flip that gap to Power's favor. Ericsson has been good, but Power must be feeling in his current form Ericsson will not beat him.
18. Let's quickly wrap up the field. Kyle Kirkwood was nowhere and finished 20th, the best A.J. Foyt Racing finisher. It is partially the team, but Kirkwood's hand injury isn't helping.
Simona de Silvestro didn't do thing wrong and was 21st. I am not sure this weekend was going to be much better than that. She hasn't been in an IndyCar on a road/street course in seven years. I hate to say it but de Silvestro's best years were wasted chasing a fruitless opportunity with Sauber F1 and in Supercars in Australia. She has two races left. If he can be competing for 15th-20th, that will be great progress.
Hélio Castroneves was an afterthought in this race prior to his spin. He is classified in 22nd, but this return to full season competition was a step too far. Meyer Shank Racing is seeing it firsthand. Castroneves better get comfortable as a one-off driver. Look on the bright side, he won a fourth Indianapolis 500 when he was a part-time participant. Maybe that is the recipe to success in your late 40s.
19. Not often do you see Patricio O'Ward and Álex Palou in the bottom two positions. O'Ward's car crapped out on him with nine laps to go. Palou's damage was odd. It wasn't hard contact at all. Ericsson just hit Palou in the right place. Ericsson didn't do anything wrong. That was just side-by-side racing. Palou squeezed the Swede more than anything else. It was lap three of the race. Palou should have taken fourth position and lived to fight another day.
20. Slow zones, onboard starters and cranes. Those three things should be on IndyCar's to-do list.
The Johnson, Palou, O'Ward and Castroneves incidents could have just been slow zones. At Le Mans this weekend, when a car stopped on the circuit or there was a minor incident, they would put that portion of the circuit in a slow zone, no one could go faster than 60 or 80 mph, once a car cleared that zone, the cars could go full throttle around the rest of the course.
For the Johnson incident, from the exit of turn one through the exit of turn three could have been a slow zone. Have the cars run at caution speed and once clear, they could race full speed into turn five. It would save us a lot of time and allow more racing to take place.
Another way to prevent at least the Johnson and Castroneves incidents are onboard starters. The next car must have onboard starters. We shouldn't have single car spins with no barrier contact halting the field. It will be 2024 or 2025 when the next regulations are rolled out. IndyCar has to at least get into the 1990s and prevent cars from stalling for spin.
And the Palou incident shouldn't have been more than a slow zone with a crane lifting that car out of the gravel. Why IndyCar doesn't have two or three cranes at each race strategically placed around the course for high incident areas is beyond me. For Road America, the obvious areas were turns three, five and the carousel. When IndyCar goes to Mid-Ohio in a few weeks it would be the keyhole and China Beach on the outside of turn five.
Everything costs money, slow zones are the cheapest option and should already be practiced, but these are little things that can make races significantly better.
21. And now we get a little summer break before returning to competition over Independence Day weekend at Mid-Ohio. It will be a whirlwind third quarter of the IndyCar season. In July alone there is Mid-Ohio, Toronto's return, the Iowa doubleheader and then the second IMS road course race run in combination with the NASCAR weekend. That is not mentioning that the Nashville race is the week after Brickyard weekend. We are about to see five races over 28 days and six races over 36 days.
It is going to get late early. Who will be ready for the dog days?
