1. After plenty of heartbreak over the last three years, Alexander Rossi had one go in his favor today, though it was due to a teammate's misfortune. Rossi spent much of the first half of the race in second place, first behind Felix Rosenqvist and then behind teammate Colton Herta. Herta was on fire, moving from ninth to first in the first eight laps. Herta remained in front over the next two stints, and Rossi was second but never far off Herta.
Just before the halfway point, Herta slowed through the turn eight and nine section and Rossi took the lead. From there, Rossi picked up where Herta left off. Rossi held a comfortable lead without much threat from the field.
We have seen Rossi have good days over the last three years. He probably should have won at least three or four of the last 49 races, but breaks went against him or just somebody was slightly better. He hasn't been that lost, though this has been a frustrating period for the American.
Andretti Autosport has declined during this period despite the talent behind the wheel. Rossi even said earlier this year he needs to go somewhere where he can win a championship, and that was before the Arrow McLaren SP deal was announced. I think the best has yet to come for Rossi in IndyCar. It is surprising it didn't happen at Andretti Autosport, but IndyCar is changing as we get deeper into the 2020s.
Rossi got off the snide on a day he might not have been the clear best driver, but he will be a force in the near future.
2. Christian Lundgaard was a darling last August when he raced Brickyard weekend in his IndyCar debut. About a year later, Lundgaard is the darling again, but this time it is a second-place finish, ten spots than his debut.
This might be the best example of how spending time in IndyCar can take you a long way. Lundgaard knows the tires and the car better. Last year was going to be daunting even when he was starting fourth. There were so many unknowns that were going to slow him during the race. Most of those are cleared up now. It has still been a tough year for Lundgaard, but he has been one of the better rookies this year. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has struggled across the board for the most part. The last three weeks have seen the team make great strides.
I am not sure we will see Lundgaard repeat this performance later this season, but it is a start. When presented with the opportunity, Lundgaard made the most of it. He has a future in IndyCar and I think RLLR is pleased with its decision to bring him under its tent.
3. Like Mid-Ohio, Will Power did something incredible to get a great result. But instead of being all-out, Power watched his pace. He stopped early for full and went on big fuel save. Cautions were in Power's favor and he turned a first stop on lap four into a three-stop race. Power had lost spots early when Hélio Castroneves drove in hot to turn seven and disrupted Power's momentum. The team took a chance and it turned into a podium finish.
And that gives Power the championship lead. It feels like this is going in Power's favor. He does the smart things and pulls out results when other drivers would be knocked out. Compared to ten years ago, this is impressive. Power was the guy who would find way to lose races and championships. In 2022, he is finding ways to score maximum points and put distance between himself and his championship rivals. I think Power is the guy to beat. He is collecting podium finish. Unless you are winning every race, you aren't going to beat Power at this rate.
4. Scott McLaughlin took a calculated risk today starting on the alternate tire instead of getting the primary tire out of the way. It worked in that McLaughlin caught a caution in the middle of his primary tire stint, the second stint of the race and instead of suffering for ten laps, he could jump off the primary tires before they got bad and it turned into a top ten result.
If that caution doesn't come, McLaughlin might be seventh or eighth in this race. It was going to be a good day, but not feel as good as this. I think McLaughlin should be happy. He is leaps and bounds better than last year. He wasn't even in this position a year ago and now he is regularly fighting for top five results.
5. Considering we went into Thursday uncertain if Josef Newgarden would even be racing this weekend, a top five result is a great weekend. Iowa was crushing because Newgarden looked ready to grab control of the championship before his suspension failed while leading. Instead, Newgarden had a great gap to overcome.
Today, he made up a portion of that. He is still in the fight and he looks great. He needed a strong day for his confidence. All eyes were on him due to his fall and possible injury. If he was off everyone would murmur about Newgarden's condition. A top five result keeps everyone quiet.
6. Rinus VeeKay is putting together good results. Today was a sixth-place finish, his third top ten finish in five races. The problem is he is alternating good and bad results. Fourth, 13th, fourth, 19th, sixth. It is better than last year but VeeKay hasn't been able to repeat the consistency of the start of his 2021 season.
It is lofty expectations to hold a driver to that standard, but that is what it takes to be a championship contender in IndyCar. Ed Carpenter Racing can be in that fight. We saw Newgarden pull the team into it. VeeKay has had moment where he looks ready to be that guy, but then he falters. The team might not be as good as the Newgarden period, and that could be part of it, but VeeKay is the best driver the team has had since Newgarden. He has won races and been on the podium multiple times. His contract is up at the end of the year and he is interested in what is next.
Many teams would like the best of him, but can he limit his bad habits? I don't think ECR can do better than VeeKay at this point. The driver has the advantage.
7. Graham Rahal went from 17th to seventh. He has 11 top ten finishes in 13 IMS road course starts. This is now the eighth time Rahal has started outside the top ten on this course and finished in the top ten. We mention qualifying pace basically every race for RLLR and Rahal. This result doesn't surprise me. I see Rahal qualify 17th or 19th or 15th and think, "Yeah, he will finish eighth." I want to see him and RLLR do better because they have pace. They are a competitive group. If this team every unlocks qualifying pace, it will be in the championship fight again. For now, another impressive top ten finish will do.
8. Chip Ganassi Racing did not have a great weekend. None of the drivers were all that competitive today and the best finisher was Scott Dixon going from 20th to eighth. It is good, but Dixon isn't going to be pleased. He expects better than starting 20th. He wants to win races and he knows if he wants another championship it will require better days than eighth. There are no moral victories in this group.
9. This is a bit of a bummer for Felix Rosenqvist because it is another race he has started on pole position but not really been a factor. Rosenqvist was really poor on the primary tire at the start and he plummeted down the order. The team kept him out there longer than it should and it was questionable what it was waiting for. There was some advantage to shorter stints on alternate tires and being more aggressive, but that didn't feel like a winning strategy today. That feels like a ninth-place strategy and that is what Rosenqvist gets today.
10. Álex Palou was a non-factor and finished tenth. That's all we can say. These days happen. Palou is doing a lot during a difficult period for his career. If the team didn't want him to succeed they would have replaced him. If Palou is still in the car, those guys still want to win and they are trying.
11. Marcus Ericsson prevented what could have been a disastrous weekend with an 11th-place finish from 25th on the grid. Ericsson loses the championship lead, but it basically flips from the position entering today. Ericsson goes from eight up to nine points behind Power.
Starting 25th, Ericsson had to know he likely wasn't going to keep the championship lead today and all he could do is limit the damage. I think he did that today. Exiting within nine points of the top is good considering. This was a good drive. The team called a smart race, but Ericsson is now chasing and Power isn't going to give up much. The battle has only gotten tougher for the Swede.
12. Speaking of limiting the damage, Patricio O'Ward spun on lap one and recovered to finish 12th. O'Ward was on the Power strategy of stretching fuel but couldn't match that pace while conserving fuel. But considering what happened to O'Ward, 12th is decent. He shouldn't be happy, no one should after being spun out from a third starting position, but perspective is important. He could have finished 23rd today and basically needed to win three of the final four races to have a shot at the title. He doesn't need to do that much now. On to Nashville.
13. Let's breeze through the field. David Malukas was ok and finished 13th. That kind of feels like most of Malukas' races, and that is fine. He made some passes, he lost some positions, it evened out mostly. Callum Ilott made some passes in the middle of the field and finished five spots than his starting spot. Fourteenth is a good day for Ilott. Takuma Sato bounced around all race and fell to 15th. Romain Grosjean had a long weekend and stalling on a pit stop didn't help his cause. That left him in 16th.
14. Conor Daly had an immature day. Daly stalled on a pit stop, banged into at least three or four drivers, and got penalized for blocking. Daly is approaching 100 IndyCar starts. He should be above what we saw today. One driver Daly tussled with was Devlin DeFrancesco, who was, brace for it, 18th. That is DeFrancesco territory. Hélio Castroneves is done as a full-time driver. Meyer Shank Racing should move on. MSR has potential to be a top team. It needs another driver to build its future around. Castroneves isn't it. Castroneves is more than up for another Indianapolis 500 attempt, but we can see he no longer has it as a full-time driver. It was a good run.
15. Jack Harvey's 20th-place finish looks worse today. Twentieth never looks good. Harvey hasn't been a factor once this season. I know the team said Harvey is fine for next year. I think Harvey is a good driver and something just hasn't clicked, but you couldn't blame the team if it replaced him.
16. Dalton Kellett was 21st and Kyle Kirkwood was 23rd. A.J. Foyt Racing is bad. Plain and simple. The best thing that could happen to this team is for someone rich to purchase it.
17. Jimmie Johnson was back in his familiar position of 22nd, as expected. Simon Pagenaud ran out of fuel in the middle of his second stint, which is painful considering this could have been a top ten day for Pagenaud. This has been a rough for few weekends for Meyer Shank Racing.
18. This was brutal for Colton Herta. Herta went from ninth to first in the first eight laps. No rain. No funky pit stop strategy. One caution, but Herta made up seven of those eight spots on speed. He was gone. Rossi was the only car remaining close, but Rossi wasn't going to beat Herta. Herta was that smooth today. Clipping the curb at the inside of turn eight was just enough to break the car while in the lead.
This is two consecutive races where the leader has retired from the race, we don't see it that often. For Herta, this is another painful race lost, and it is too common for him. This was mostly out of his hands today, but in his still brief IndyCar career, this is at least the third or fourth race he has fallen through his hands when it has otherwise looked to be his.
He lost Gateway last year with a mechanical failure. He put himself in the wall at Nashville last year. He went overboard at Long Beach when fighting from behind but still in contention. The car failed him in the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg when coincidentally Rossi had an accident while leading and Herta was there to take the lead, but overboost dropped him from the top spot and then he got into the tires to add insult to injury. This happens too often for Herta. Just when you think he has figured it out, he stumbles again. The talent is there, but is it in the healthiest environment for growth?
19. In eight days, IndyCar races at Nashville, the sixth race in 36 days for the series. The final four races are about to begin. Power is nine points up on Ericsson, 32 points clear of Newgarden, 38 points ahead of Dixon, 46 points above O'Ward and 52 points separated from Palou. This picture will change over the next six weeks.
