Formula E ended its season at a new location, and the series completed its 100th race. There was an important dirt race. Porsche did some testing and then signed a new driver. Some rookies did some testing on an oval. Bubba Wallace signed a contract extension. Álex Palou still has Chip Ganassi’s support. Richmond was a slow burn. Kimi Räikkönen and Mike Rockenfeller tested NASCAR Cup cars at Virginia International Raceway. Räikkönen received more attention though. Newman/Haas Racing relics will be going up for auction. Today is Sam Schmidt’s 58th birthday. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
More IndyCar Tidbits!
At the halfway point of the IndyCar season, I picked over some of the facts from the season up to that point and that was not only fun enough to do again, but a lot has happened over the last six races that is worth looking at. With this brief break in the IndyCar schedule before we get into the final weeks of the season, I thought we would go over a few more tidbits from the 2022 season with three races to go.
Second That!
Through the first 15 races, second starting position has produced seven winners this season, and no matter what happens in the final three races, second starting position will have produced the most winners in the 2022 season. It isn't surprising many winner started second. It is a front row starting position, but it just felt inevitable after a stretch of four consecutive races won from second on the grid and it happened five times in six races.
It had me wondering, what is the most victories for a single starting position in a season? I went through every season since 1946 and found out. Here is every season where a starting position won at least seven times.
1969: 2nd - 10 victories
1967: 2nd - 9 victories
1968: 1st - 9 victories
2003 CART: 1st - 9 victories
1966: 1st - 7 victories
1970: 1st - 7 victories
1985: 1st - 7 victories
2004 Champ Car: 1st - 7 victories
2009: 1st - 7 victories
2011: 1st - 7 victories
2022: 2nd - 7 victories
This season is in historic territory. This is only the 11th time in 91 IndyCar seasons since the end of World War II that one starting position has won at least seven races. But it should be noted how the schedule lengths have varied in these seasons.
The 1969 season had 24 races, 1968 had 28 races and 1967 had 21 races. These are the three longest seasons since World War II. Meanwhile, the 2004 Champ Car season was only 14 races. Half the races that year were won from pole position.
Some other fun facts about the most prolific starting position each season:
The worst position to be the sole leader in victories was ninth in 2015, when it won three races, the
second Belle Isle race with Sébastien Bourdais, Iowa with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Sonoma with Scott Dixon.
In 1965, the most prolific starting position was fifth when it won six of 18 races. That included a five-race winning streak which saw Johnny Rutherford scored his first career victory at Atlanta, Jim McElreath win at Langhorne, Joe Leonard score his first career victory at Milwaukee, A.J. Foyt win at Springfield and Gordon Johncock win at Milwaukee. Don Branson had won the season opener at Phoenix from fifth.
The worst starting position to have at least a share in most winners in a season was 14th during the 1998 Indy Racing League season. Fourteenth won the final two races of the season at Texas with John Paul, Jr. and at Las Vegas with Arie Luyendyk. The only other position to win multiple times that year was sixth with Tony Stewart at Loudon and Kenny Bräck at Atlanta.
Passing Statistics
When the universal aero kit debuted in 2018, IndyCar was big on sharing its passing statistics and started including it in the post-race reports. It has been a few years with the universal aero kit and those great races in 2018 now have context in 2022. We still have three races to go in the season, but how do the passing statistics look over the last five seasons? How do this year's races compare?
Average Passes/Passes for Position (2022 numbers)
St. Petersburg: 189.6/136.4 (154/106)
Texas: 424.1667/191 (461/284)
Long Beach: 162.75/103.25 (152/88)
Barber: 175.75/111.75 (178/121)
IMS Road Course: 250/197.444 (471/362 (May race). 280/273 (July race))
Indianapolis: 518.6/365 (423/338)
Belle Isle: 159.57/104.714 (280/148)
Road America: 192/167 (226/191)
Mid-Ohio: 169.833/120.6 (183/149)
Toronto: 165.667/136.333 (145/140)
Iowa: 703.5/256.5 (772/372 (Race one). 812/262 (Race two))
Nashville: 256.5/224.5 (334/285)
Gateway: 232/117.8
Portland: 167.333/123.333
Laguna Seca: 242.5/183
Outside of that impressive 2018 race, St. Petersburg has not broken more than 166 passes in the last four years.
Texas' passes had declined over each of the last five races before this year, which had the most passes since 2019.
Long Beach and Barber were somewhat average in 2022. The IMS road course had its two most active races this year.
The Indianapolis 500 has been declining in the number of passes each year with the universal aero kit. The 2018 race was 633/428. This year was 423/338.
Belle Isle ended its run with its most passes since 2018. Road America was above average as was Mid-Ohio. Toronto was somewhat in the ballpark. Iowa did great. Nashville has only existed for two years but this year had more passes than 2021.
What do we take away? The low downforce oval aero configuration makes it more prudent to be a fuel-mileage race than to try and make passes. That configuration also doesn’t punch the same hole in the air making passes inevitable like it was from 2012 through 2017. Worn out tracks are good for IndyCar. Some tracks have greater days than we expect and tracks fall to earth. Nothing new.
Let's see how the final three races perform.
By the way, the last three Gateway races have had fewer than 200 total passes. Laguna Seca went from 160/145 in 2019 to 325/221.
Andretti vs. Power
When going over the pole position statistics after Will Power won his 66th IndyCar pole position, I found some interesting facts for both Power and Mario Andretti and I thought I would share more of those facts here.
Andretti started on the front row from pole position with Al Unser, Bobby Unser and Al Unser, Jr. for a combined 15 times. Andretti shared the front row from pole position for the 1984 Long Beach Grand Prix with Derek Daly, whose son Conor races against Power. Conor Daly's only IndyCar pole position at Iowa in 2020 saw Power start third, directly behind Daly.
Other drivers who started second to Andretti include Jim Clark (1966 Indianapolis 500), Dan Gurney (1967 Indianapolis 500), and Teo Fabi (1983 Road America).
Johnny Rutherford and Tom Sneva each started second to Andretti only once. Sneva was at Trenton in 1974. Rutherford was at the 1980 season finale at Phoenix.
There is one driver who competed against Mario Andretti, who Will Power shared a front row with when Power won a pole position. That would be Paul Tracy. Though Tracy and Andretti never shared a front row, whether it be Andretti on pole or Tracy on pole, Power was on pole position with Tracy in second for the 2007 Las Vegas season opener for Champ Car.
Power also shared the front row with Marco Andretti, Mario's grandson, at the 2013 Texas race.
Andretti and Power have both won pole positions at Mid-Ohio, Long Beach, Milwaukee, Pocono, Portland and Watkins Glen. And of course, Power has won 66 pole positions, but zero at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the oval, and Power hasn't won pole position at Road America either.
Twenty Oval Victories
After Scott Dixon won at Toronto, tying Mario Andretti on 52 victories, many comparisons were made on how the drivers reach that number, but there is one thing that stood out. Dixon has won 24 times on ovals. That might not sound like much, but in contemporary IndyCar where there are only five or six oval races a season, 24 is quite a number.
But where does 24 oval victories place Dixon? Probably higher than you thought.
It is the seventh most oval victories in IndyCar history behind A.J. Foyt (64), Al Unser (33), Mario Andretti (29) Bobby Unser (28), Rodger Ward (26) and Johnny Rutherford (26).
The only other drivers with 20 IndyCar oval victories are Gordon Johncock (23), Tony Bettenhausen (22) and Rick Mears (22).
That's it. That's the list. Ten drivers.
Dixon is the only driver to start his career in the last 46 years to reach 20 oval victories. The last two drivers chronologically to start their careers and reach 20 oval victories are Mears and Dixon. Mears' first IndyCar start was nearly four years before Dixon was born.
Is it realistic to think anyone else could reach 20 IndyCar oval victories?
The next best active driver is Hélio Castroneves on 18. It is possible, but slightly unlikely as Castroneves is 47 years old.
Who is next? Technically, Tony Kanaan on 15 oval victories. We know Kanaan is in his final IndyCar days, and he could just be an Indianapolis 500-only driver from now until whenever he is done. I doubt Kanaan is going to win five more Indianapolis 500s.
The only other active driver with at least ten oval victories is Josef Newgarden on ten. Newgarden is possible, but it could be close. Newgarden is only 31 years old. He could race 15 more years. Ten oval victories in 15 years? For Newgarden, as long as Iowa is on the schedule, he can pull that off. Plus, we could see the IndyCar schedule get back up to seven or eight oval races a season before Newgarden's career is over. More opportunities makes it more likely for Newgarden or anyone else to reach 20 oval victories.
The only other active IndyCar drivers with more than five oval victories are Will Power and Juan Pablo Montoya, each with nine victories. Montoya isn't going to happen and Power is also unlikely. Power is 41 years old. Unless Power is winning two or three oval races a year for the next four or five years, I don’t think he will reach it.
The likes of Patricio O'Ward, Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta, Álex Palou and Rinus VeeKay are all young, and it is still too soon to say definitively whether any of them will or will not reach 20 oval victories, but at the moment, only O'Ward and Rossi have won on ovals, and they have each only won twice.
This is another reason to appreciate Dixon while we have him. He is doing things we may never see again.
Where Does Marcus Ericsson Rank Among Indianapolis 500 Winners?
Prior to this year's Indianapolis 500, I was looking at Jimmie Johnson's career average finish in IndyCar, which was over 20th at that point, and I wondered, what is the worst career average finish for an Indianapolis 500 winner?
I was thinking about the drivers and the one name that stood out was Graham Hill because I knew he only made three IndyCar starts, all at Indianapolis, one was a victory, and another was an early retirement. I went through every Indianapolis 500 winner, and I was right.
The worst career average finish for an Indianapolis 500 is Graham Hill at 17.3333.
But who are some of the other worse drivers?
Hill: 17.333
Buddy Lazier: 14.559
Takuma Sato: 14.374
Jim Clark: 13.555
Bill Vukovich: 12.818
Arie Luyendyk: 12.771
Troy Ruttman: 12.632
Eddie Cheever: 12.622
Mark Donohue: 12.241
Louis Schneider: 11.941
With that being the bottom ten drivers, where does Marcus Ericsson rank?
Ericsson's current career average finish through Nashville is 11.01667, 56th out of the 74 Indianapolis 500 winners, but it is directly behind A.J. Foyt's 10.899 and ahead of the likes of Ryan Hunter-Reay (11.2375), Tom Sneva (11.2475) and Johnny Rutherford (11.4571).
What does the top of this list look like?
Jimmy Murphy: 3.8653
Ray Harroun: 4.8823
Frank Lockhart: 5.291667
Gaston Chevrolet: 5.4667
Tommy Milton: 5.7941
René Thomas: 6.0
George Souders: 6.0
Ralph DePalma: 6.14
Joe Dawson: 6.2222
Dario Resta: 6.4117
What do all those drivers have in common?
Here are the years they won the Indianapolis 500
1922, 1911, 1926, 1920, 1921 and 1923, 1914, 1927, 1915, 1912, 1916.
They were all winners in the first 14 Indianapolis 500s. Those are ten of the first 15 winners of the race. The missing names are Jules Goux, Howdy Wilcox, the 1924 co-winners Joe Boyer and L.L. Corum, and Peter DePaolo.
Ray Keech is 11th at 6.6363 with Jimmy Bryan being the first post-World War II driver in 12th at 7.129. Then is is DePaolo at 7.4545 and then it is Scott Dixon at 7.5123.
Best the Team is...?
As previously stated in this space, I spent much of my July following the Tour de France and in the Tour de France there is a team classification. The three best riders for each team per stage have their times added and the team with the lowest combined time wins the team classification.
For IndyCar, I am not going to add time, but which teams have the lowest average finish this season? That means across the board. Every entry counts, one-offs and all.
Team Penske: 8.5
Chip Ganassi Racing: 10.175
Arrow McLaren SP: 11.724
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: 13.88
Andretti Autosport: 14.491
Ed Carpenter Racing: 14.593
Meyer Shank Racing: 14.678
Dale Coyne Racing: 15.5
Juncos Hollinger Racing: 17.231
A.J. Foyt Racing: 21.459
That doesn't surprise anyone, although it does make Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's season look a lot better and it hasn’t won a race while Andretti Autosport has won twice.
Brothers First and Last
Something happened at Mid-Ohio this year in the U.S. F2000 weekend that caught my eye.
Michael d'Orlando won the third race of the weekend. Nicholas d'Orlando was 20th, dead last. One brother won the race. Another brother was last.
I wasn't going to go through the U.S. F2000 history book, nor the Road to Indy history book, but IndyCar has had plenty notable pairs of brothers race and I wondered had a pair of brothers ever finished first and last in the same IndyCar race?
There is a lot that could go into this. For example, one brother could be great and another be average. That could lead to such a scenario and IndyCar has had plenty of those pairings.
When was the last time an IndyCar race had a pair of brothers competing?
It was Justin and Stefan Wilson at Baltimore in 2013. Of course, Justin Wilson's final IndyCar victory was in 2012, so it wasn't the Wilsons.
What about Buddy Lazier and Jaques Lazier?
Jaques Lazier's only victory was at Chicagoland in 2001. Buddy Lazier was 11th that day out of 25 cars. Jaques was never last for any of Buddy's victories.
What about Michael Andretti and Jeff Andretti?
Jeff Andretti only made 20 starts with his brother Michael. Four of those races were the Indianapolis 500. Jeff Andretti was quite respectable in his only full season in 1991. His worst finish was 23rd, last place at the Meadowlands, but Bobby Rahal won that race. Jeff Andretti was 22nd at Mid-Ohio, Michael won, but there were 24 cars in that race, and Buddy Lazier was last.
It is a no for the Andrettis.
It was also a no for the Snevas. And the Mears brothers. And the Bettenhausens.
What about IndyCar's ultimate pair of brothers, the Unsers?
Al Unser won on the Indianapolis Raceway Park road course on July 26, 1970. His brother Bobby blew his engine on the opening lap and Bobby was 24th, dead last. But there is more! On February 28, 1971, Al Unser won the season opener at the 2.874-mile oval in Rafaela, Argentina. Bobby Unser was out after three laps, classified in 27th, dead last.
But what about Bobby? Did Bobby Unser ever win a race with Al Unser finishing last?
No. But there was one that was close. Bobby Unser won the 1976 California 500. Al Unser was 32nd out of 33 cars.
Al Unser's victories at IRP and Rafaela are the only two times a pair of brothers have finished first and last in an IndyCar race. Leave it to the Unsers to have a place in IndyCar history. With the looks of things, no other siblings will be competing in IndyCar for at least a few more seasons. In seven or eight years, it could be the d’Orlandos joining the Unsers in the history book. Although I am sure neither wants to finish last. The d’Orlandos may decline joining the Unsers in such company.
Champion From the Weekend
Stoffel Vandoorne clinched the Formula E World Championship with finishes of fifth and second at Seoul.
Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team clinched the Formula E Teams’ championship.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Stoffel Vandoorne and Mercedes, but did you know...
Mitch Evans and Edoardo Mortara split the races at the Seoul ePrix.
Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR Cup race from Richmond, his second consecutive victory. Chandler Smith won the Truck race, his third victory of the season.
Donny Schatz won the Knoxville Nationals, Schatz’s 11th Knoxville Nationals victory.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar's final oval race and final Saturday race at Gateway.
NASCAR is back at Watkins Glen.
MotoGP revisits a slightly re-profiled Red Bull Ring.
Super Formula has a doubleheader at Motegi.
Supercars has a doubleheader at Sandown.
GT World Challenge America has a doubleheader at Road America.
The World Rally Championship contests Ypres Rally Belgium.
