Seventy-five percent of the year is behind us. Days are shorter than nights in the Northern Hemisphere. The weather is hospitable but will soon start to bite. We are hitting single-digits in terms of races left in most calendars. Some have already awarded hardware. September is hard month to fathom. It is summer one weekend and the next it feels like the year is over. There is beauty but a melancholy expands as the month goes on.
IndyCar Tidbits
We are diving into the weeds again now that another IndyCar season is over. We are getting into the mess you cannot find anywhere else. Some of this you will be accustomed to. Other parts are places you probably didn't even think you would ever visit. Hopefully, you learn something from this deep-dive into the season that was 2024.
The Champion
It does get hard to write about a driver after his third championship, but Álex Palou is his own measuring stick.
Last year and this year had some similarities, but after Palou clinched the title with a race to spare, it was going to be difficult matching his 2023 season. It was still great, but something more down to earth, reachable for the competition but still out of their grasp.
Victories were down, from five to two. It is the second time in three seasons the champion had two victories or fewer. Will Power's 2022 title came with one victory. Prior to Power, every champion since Gil de Ferran's 2001 CART title had won at least three races. Both of de Ferran's championships in 2000 and 2001 saw him only win two races.
For as good as Palou was, he was only on the podium five times, the fewest for a championship since Scott Dixon's four in 2015. The next most recent champion to have five podium finishes or fewer was Greg Ray in the 1999 Indy Racing League season, but that was only a ten-race championship. Ray was on the podium in half the races.
Palou's podium percentage of 29.411% is the lowest since Dixon's 25% in 2015. You must go back to Tony Stewart's 1997 IRL championship to find the next time a driver had a podium percentage below 30%. Stewart's podium percentage was 20%, but it was only a ten-race championship.
The numbers pick up in the top five and top ten finish columns. His 13 top five finishes made this the fourthtime in the last six seasons the championship had at least 13 top five finishes. It wasn't always like that.
From 2012 through 2017, the most top five finishes for a champion was ten. The average number of top five finishes for a champion over that six-year span was 8.6667. In the last seven seasons, the champion has averaged 12 top five finishes.
It is just a theory, but it might have something to do with the car because the numbers we have been seeing since 2018 look a lot like the final years of the Dallara IR05/07 chassis that preceded the DW12 chassis.
Every champion from 2007 through 2011 had at least 13 top five finishes. The teams knew that Dallara chassis inside and out, and it allowed Chip Ganassi Racing to dominate. When the DW12 chassis came out, it mixed up the field a bit. Good teams struggled. Even though this chassis has evolved with the universal aero kit and aeroscreen, the teams know these machines, and we are watching another Ganassi driver win consecutive championships.
Palou's point total was slightly below average. His 544 points were 58.55% of the maximum total, below the 62.517% the championship has averaged since reunification. This was the third time in the last four seasons the championship has scored less than 60% of the maximum points total after five consecutive seasons where the champion cleared 60%.
Let's end on the third championship because Palou has reached a pretty exclusive club in a very quick period of time.
A.J. Foyt, Scott Dixon, Mario Andretti, Sébastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti, Louis Meyer, Ted Horn, Jimmy Bryan, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Bobby Rahal, Sam Hornish, Jr., Palou.
Thirteen drivers have won three championships. It is a collection of some of the all-time greats and there are even more greats missing. Palou took five seasons to get there. At the end of 2020, when Palou was announced as a Chip Ganassi Racing driver after a good rookie season at Dale Coyne Racing, I don't know anyone anticipated Palou winning three championships in the next four years. Who would? Even the best to race you do not expect to win three titles in five years with the competitiveness of IndyCar. The most titles Dixon has won in a five-year period is two.
At the end of his third championship season, Palou has made 81 starts. The eras have changed. Louis Meyer only made 22 career starts, and most seasons only had single-digit championship events during Meyer's career. Only three races made up the 1933 calendar. From 1933 to 1941, the longest calendar over that period was six races, and that ended up being the bulk of Ted Horn's career. The calendar was consistently around a dozen races over A.J. Foyt's first five seasons in IndyCar, in which he won three championships.
But let's compare Palou to some more contemporaries. At the end of Sam Hornish, Jr.'s third championship season, Hornish had made 99 starts. Sébastien Bourdais had only 60 starts at the end of his third title season in 2006, but only one of Bourdais' first four seasons consisted of more than 14 races. It took Dario Franchitti well over a decade into his career to reach three championships. Franchitti had made 215 starts by the time he had three. Scott Dixon was relatively young when he won his third title, but he had made 220 starts as Dixon's third title was a decade after his first.
As great as Dixon has been and as much as he been the bearer to re-write the IndyCar history book, Palou is in a position to be a dominant driver IndyCar has never seen. Motorsports in the 21st century is littered with what appear to be unstoppable drivers.
Michael Schumacher won five consecutive World Drivers' Championships only to be followed by Sebastian Vettel winning four on the spin and Lewis Hamilton winning six in seven seasons. Now Max Verstappen is working on his fourth consecutive title, though Lando Norris may have something to say about that.
Sébastien Loeb won nine consecutive World Rally championships and then Sébastien Ogier won six consecutive WRC titles and eight in nine seasons.
Even Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive NASCAR Cup championships, tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt on seven titles, and it only took Johnson 15 seasons to get there. All seven of his championships came in an 11-season period.
Is IndyCar ready for a driver who could completely dominate a decade? Until proven otherwise, Palou is going to be the best driver in IndyCar for years to come. He will be beaten, but at this rate, it doesn't look like it will happen often.
The Locals
It is also important to check how the Americans did and they did... fine?
Some years have been better. Some years have been worse.
American drivers combined to win four races, the fewest since three in 2016.
This was the 14th consecutive season multiple Americans won a race.
There were five Americans in the top ten in the championship, the most since 2020, which was the third of three consecutive seasons with five Americans in the top ten in the championship.
Eight American drivers ran at least 70% of the races, enough to be considered series regulars in 2024. This was the third consecutive season with exactly eight regular Americans. In case you are wondering who qualified as regulars, they were Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden, Santino Ferrucci, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal, Sting Ray Robb and Nolan Siegel. Yeah, Siegel ran 12 races, enough to qualify as a regular.
This doesn't even count David Malukas, who ran ten races and Conor Daly, who ran seven races.
This was also the first time the Indianapolis 500 was won in consecutive years by an American since 1991 and 1992. Of course, it was Newgarden winning the Indianapolis 500 for a second consecutive year, and he became the first American driver with consecutive Indianapolis 500s since Al Unser in 1970-71.
We are in the midst of a stretch of four consecutive years without an American champion. We have not had a five-year run without an American champion since 2007 to 2011.
Electric Feel
The big concern this season was the introduction of the hybrid system, especially when it was announced the system would not be introduced until after the Indianapolis 500.
Going into the first hybrid race at Mid-Ohio, many were wondering if this system would turn the championship upside down and if the teams that had more testing time with the system would greatly benefit. There was also the worry the unknown could cause more mechanical issues and take good teams out of the picture for something that was not in their control.
The season is over and how did things change with the introduction of the hybrid?
Let's break the season into two parts.
Here are the points prior to the introduction of the hybrid system:
| Driver | Points |
| Álex Palou | 285 |
| Will Power | 262 |
| Scott Dixon | 253 |
| Colton Herta | 217 |
| Kyle Kirkwood | 210 |
| Patricio O'Ward | 208 |
| Alexander Rossi | 198 |
| Scott McLaughlin | 188 |
| Josef Newgarden | 181 |
| Felix Rosenqvist | 176 |
| Christian Lundgaard | 156 |
| Santino Ferrucci | 154 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 150 |
| Romain Grosjean | 144 |
| Marcus Armstrong | 129 |
| Graham Rahal | 127 |
| Rinus VeeKay | 114 |
| Linus Lundqvist | 113 |
| Pietro Fittipaldi | 97 |
| Kyffin Simpson | 88 |
| Agustín Canapino | 86 |
| Christian Rasmussen | 82 |
| Sting Ray Robb | 78 |
| Théo Pourchaire | 75 |
| Jack Harvey | 70 |
| Tom Blomqvist | 45 |
| Callum Ilott | 39 |
| Nolan Siegel | 35 |
| Luca Ghiotto | 27 |
| Hélio Castroneves | 26 |
| Conor Daly | 21 |
| Kyle Larson | 21 |
| Takuma Sato | 19 |
| David Malukas | 14 |
| Ed Carpenter | 14 |
| Tristian Vautier | 12 |
| Colin Braun | 10 |
| Ryan Hunter-Reay | 6 |
| Katherine Legge | 5 |
| Marco Andretti | 5 |
And here is how the points looked from just the hybrid races:
| Driver | Points | Position Change From Non-Hybrid Position |
| Scott McLaughlin | 317 | +7 |
| Colton Herta | 296 | +2 |
| Álex Palou | 259 | -2 |
| Patricio O'Ward | 252 | +2 |
| Will Power | 236 | -3 |
| Josef Newgarden | 220 | +3 |
| Santino Ferrucci | 213 | +5 |
| Kyle Kirkwood | 210 | -3 |
| Scott Dixon | 203 | -6 |
| Rinus VeeKay | 186 | +7 |
| Marcus Armstrong | 169 | -4 |
| Alexander Rossi | 168 | -5 |
| Linus Lundqvist | 166 | +5 |
| Christian Lundgaard | 156 | -3 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 147 | -2 |
| David Malukas | 134 | +19 |
| Felix Rosenqvist | 130 | -7 |
| Graham Rahal | 124 | -2 |
| Nolan Siegel | 119 | +9 |
| Romain Grosjean | 116 | -6 |
| Sting Ray Robb | 107 | +3 |
| Conor Daly | 98 | +10 |
| Kyffin Simpson | 98 | -3 |
| Pietro Fittipaldi | 89 | -5 |
| Christian Rasmussen | 81 | -3 |
| Jack Harvey | 73 | -1 |
| Katherine Legge | 56 | +13 |
| Toby Sowery | 45 | N/A |
| Ed Carpenter | 31 | +7 |
| Agustín Canapino | 23 | -9 |
| Théo Pourchaire | 16 | -7 |
| Jüri Vips | 11 | N/A |
| Hunter McElrea | 6 | N/A |
It should be noted a few drivers were big gainers because they ran more races after the hybrid was introduced (see David Malukas), and some drivers ran less races after the hybrid was introduced (see Agustín Canapino).
The real thing to compare is championship position prior to the hybrid introduction and after the hybrid introduction.
| Driver | Pre-Hybrid | Post-Hybrid | Change |
| Álex Palou | 1st | 1st | - |
| Will Power | 2nd | 4th | -2 |
| Scott Dixon | 3rd | 6th | -3 |
| Colton Herta | 4th | 2nd | +2 |
| Kyle Kirkwood | 5th | 7th | -2 |
| Patricio O'Ward | 6th | 5th | +1 |
| Alexander Rossi | 7th | 10th | -3 |
| Scott McLaughlin | 8th | 3rd | +5 |
| Josef Newgarden | 9th | 8th | +1 |
| Felix Rosenqvist | 10th | 12th | -2 |
| Christian Lundgaard | 11th | 11th | - |
| Santino Ferrucci | 12th | 9th | +3 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 13th | 15th | -2 |
| Romain Grosjean | 14th | 17th | -3 |
| Marcus Armstrong | 15th | 14th | +1 |
| Graham Rahal | 16th | 18th | -2 |
| Rinus VeeKay | 17th | 13th | +4 |
| Linus Lundqvist | 18th | 16th | +2 |
| Pietro Fittipaldi | 19th | 19th | - |
| Kyffin Simpson | 20th | 21st | -1 |
| Agustín Canapino | 21st | 27th | -6 |
| Christian Rasmussen | 22nd | 22nd | - |
| Sting Ray Robb | 23rd | 20th | +3 |
| Théo Pourchaire | 24th | 28th | -4 |
| Jack Harvey | 25th | 25th | - |
| Tom Blomqvist | 26th | 30th | -4 |
| Callum Ilott | 27th | 33rd | -6 |
| Nolan Siegel | 28th | 23rd | +5 |
| Luca Ghiotto | 29th | 34th | -5 |
| Hélio Castroneves | 30th | 35th | -5 |
| Conor Daly | 31st | 26th | +5 |
| Kyle Larson | 32nd | 36th | -4 |
| Takuma Sato | 33rd | 37th | -4 |
| David Malukas | 34th | 24th | +10 |
| Ed Carpenter | 35th | 32nd | +3 |
| Tristan Vautier | 36th | 38th | -2 |
| Colin Braun | 37th | 40th | -3 |
| Ryan Hunter-Reay | 38th | 42nd | -4 |
| Katherine Legge | 39th | 29th | +10 |
| Marco Andretti | 40th | 42nd | -2 |
| Toby Sowery | N/A | 31st | N/A |
| Jüri Vips | N/A | 39th | N/A |
| Hunter McElrea | N/A | 41st | N/A |
Throw out the drivers who either had their seasons end prematurely or who ran more races in the second half of the season than the first half of the season, there is no clear sign the hybrid benefited any teams or drivers over others, nor does it look like any teams or drivers suffered more than others.
There are too many variables into why drivers moved around. Scott McLaughlin improved five spots from where he was in the championship prior to the introduction of the hybrid system, but six of the final nine races were on ovals, and McLaughlin was the best driver on ovals this season. Will Power was second in the championship entering the season finale and the biggest cause for him dropping to fourth was his lap belt not being secured at the start of the season finale at Nashville. The hybrid system had nothing to do with Power's late drop in the championship.
Meanwhile, Rinus VeeKay, driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, which was not part of the core contingent of hybrid testing teams, improved four spots in the championship after the hybrid was introduced. Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi each lost three spots despite being on teams that were regular hybrid testers.
The hybrid had its moments but it wasn't any more of a factor in the championship than the engine, and we saw plenty of engine failures over the second half of the season. Álex Palou's inability to start the second Milwaukee race on time was due to a battery issue that would have occurred without the hybrid system. Heck, a penalty stemming back to the first race of the season over manipulating the push-to-pass system affected the championship more than the hybrid system.
For all the concerns the hybrid system would flip the championship, it hardly changed a thing.
No Repeat Finishes
To another evergreen topic to end of each season, back in June during our midseason tidbit gathering, we covered that seven drivers had not had a repeat finish through the first eight races. Who held on the longest over the final nine races?
Here is where we stood at the end of June:
Alexander Rossi (sixth, tenth, 25th, eighth, fourth, fifth, 18th, third)
Felix Rosenqvist (fifth, ninth, fourth, tenth, 27th, eighth, 14th, 11th)
Marcus Ericsson (23rd, fifth, 18th, 16th, 33rd, second, ninth, tenth)
Marcus Armstrong (25th, 12th, ninth, fifth, 30th, third, 26th, 22nd)
Linus Lundqvist (21st, 13th, third, 24th, 28th, 22nd, 12th, 17th)
Kyffin Simpson (12th, 19th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 23rd)
Sting Ray Robb (24th, 18th, 26th, 22nd, 16th, 21st, 17th, 20th)
We lost four immediately in the next race at Mid-Ohio.
Marcus Ericsson was fifth for the second time this season. Ericsson had finished fifth at Long Beach. A position behind him, Alexander Rossi was sixth and had finished sixth at St. Petersburg. Sting Ray Robb had his second 16th-place finish. The other was at the Indianapolis 500. Kyffin Simpson also matched his Indianapolis 500 finish at Mid-Ohio, finishing 21st.
That left three drivers remaining. We lost one at the race after that. Linus Lundqvist was 21st at Iowa, matching his St. Petersburg result.
And then there were two.
Both Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong made it through the Iowa weekend, but both didn't make it to the Olympic break.
Armstrong was fifth at Toronto, and he had finished fifth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. That left Rosenqvist as the last one standing.
Rosenqvist made it through Gateway but in the 14th race of the season at Portland, he had his first repeat finish, finishing 14th. He had been 14th at Road America.
For the second consecutive season, the longest streak before the first repeat finish was 13 races. This is also the third consecutive season the driver to go the longest without a repeat finish had a last name that began with the letter "R." This might be something to keep an eye on in 2025.
Non-Repeating Lineups
Forty-three drivers competed in an IndyCar race this season, the most since 2021, but it wasn't just the number of drivers that ran. It was the constant changes.
There was a driver change after 13 of a possible 16 races this season.
Colin Braun ran St. Petersburg, but he was out of the #51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing at Long Beach, and Nolan Siegel was in. Callum Ilott had to miss Long Beach due to FIA World Endurance Championship responsibilities and Théo Pourchaire came to IndyCar in the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Siegel was out of that car at Barber Motorsports Park and Luca Ghiotto made an unexpected IndyCar debut. Ghiotto continued onto the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and the field was identical from Barber to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The Indianapolis 500 was always going to add six cars to the field, but Ilott was back in the #6 McLaren. Katherine Legge also took over the #51 Honda.
At Detroit, Jack Harvey was back in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, and the #18 Honda was back as Siegel failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Harvey had a new teammate as Tristan Vautier made his first IndyCar start in seven years in the #51 Honda. Pourchaire returned to the #6 McLaren. There was a driver change. Tom Blomqvist was removed from Meyer Shank Racing's #66 Honda and Hélio Castroneves took over.
Vautier would not continue to Road America, and Ghiotto was back. We thought that would be the only change. Then Agustín Canapino was removed from the #78 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing, and Siegel was making an unexpected start.
At Laguna Seca, Canapino was back, but Siegel remained in IndyCar as he took over the #6 McLaren entry. This was also David Malukas' debut in the 2024 season as he took over the #66 Honda from Castroneves.
The only driver change heading to Mid-Ohio was Ghiotto out of the #51 Honda and Toby Sowery in for his IndyCar debut.
Legge was back in the #51 Honda at Iowa and Ed Carpenter was back in the #20 Chevrolet in place of Christian Rasmussen.
You would think there would no way a driver change could occur in the middle of a doubleheader weekend, but a back and neck injury forced Jack Harvey out of the car and Conor Daly was put into the #18 Honda for the second race of the Iowa weekend.
Dale Coyne Racing did a full line change heading to Toronto. Sowery was back to make in the #51 Honda, and Hunter McElrea made his IndyCar debut in the #18 Honda. Rasmussen was also back in the #20 Chevrolet. That was thought to be it but then Alexander Rossi broke his wrist on Friday, and Pourchaire returned in the #7 McLaren.
After the Olympic break, Rossi returned for Gateway. Carpenter was back in the #20 Chevrolet. Canapino was out of the #78 Chevrolet and Daly was announced as the driver for the remainder of the season. Legge was also back in the #51 Honda.
Sowery got one more start in the #51 Honda at Portland. Rasmussen was back in the #20 Chevrolet. Jüri Vips also joined the grid in a fourth Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry.
Heading to Milwaukee, Legge took over the #51 Honda, and that was the final driver change of the season.
Over the final three races, the same 27 drivers started every race. That was the longest streak of an unchanged driver lineup for the entire 2024 season.
In total, there were 28 driver changes in entries from race-to-race, and that is not including one-off entries whether it be at Indianapolis or Jüri Vips at Portland.
Fastest Lap Records
Last year, out of pure curiosity and surprise there was no accurate record of something that is included in every IndyCar box score post-race, I gathered data on fastest laps to set up an all-time ranking. Information could only be found through the 1993 season, and with 2024 over, it is only right to give an update.
Ten different drivers scored a fastest lap this season.
Josef Newgarden led the way with four fastest laps. Scott Dixon had three. Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin each had two. Kyffin Simpson, Álex Palou, Christian Lundgaard, Colton Herta, David Malukas and Patricio O'Ward each had one.
Where does that leave these drivers in the fastest lap record book?
Dixon's three fastest lap moves him up to second all-time on 39, two behind Sébastien Bourdais' record.
Newgarden became the fifth driver to reach 30 fastest laps in a career.
Palou has 12 and he is tied with Ryan Hunter-Reay for 14th all-time.
O'Ward has eight, tied with Tony Stewart for 24th.
Ericsson and Herta are each tied with six fastest laps in their careers. McLaughlin and Malukas are each tied with four. Lundgaard has two fastest laps. Simpson became the 120th driver since 1993 to score fastest lap in an IndyCar race.
One other fastest lap note before moving on. Newgarden had three consecutive fastest laps from Mid-Ohio over the Iowa doubleheader. It was the first time a driver had fastest lap in at least three consecutive races since 2007 when Bourdais had a six-race run of scoring fastest lap.
No, Colton Herta is not Close to Will Power's Pole Pace
There was some buzz this summer when Colton Herta won his third pole position of the season and he ended the season on 14 pole positions that Herta is threatening Will Power's record for most pole positions in IndyCar. Though Power did not add a pole position to his career total and he will head into 2025 stuck on 70 poles in his career, he does not have to worry about Herta.
How do we know this? Because we talked about this just over two years ago, and Herta wasn't close then.
At the end of May 2022, Herta had eight pole positions in 54 starts. That was a batting average 0.14814. At that time, Power didn't even have the record yet. He was on 64 pole positions and Mario Andretti still held the record at 67. We figured at that time for Herta to reach Andretti's mark at the pace Herta was at, it would take until about 2045, granting the schedule remain consistent and average 17 races over that period.
Herta ends 2024 with 14 pole positions in 99 starts, a dip in his batting average to 0.1414 over 28 months late, and now the record is three higher than it was when we first explored this topic.
Let's say it will take 71 pole positions to get the record. At this rate, it would take Herta until his 503rd start to reach 71 pole positions! That is 101 more starts than Scott Dixon presently has in his career. That is 86 starts more than Mario Andretti's current record for most IndyCar starts. Herta is essenitally an entire Scott Dixon career away from possibly breaking the pole position record and Herta is one start away from 100 in his career. Herta would be looking at hitting this mark during the 2048 season and late in the 2048 season at that.
Unless Herta has a run where he is winning eight pole positions a season for five consecutive seasons, stop talking about Herta surpassing Power's record. Have a more realistic expectation! Herta could get 50, but we are a long way from even considering that practical.
Last to First
When Josef Newgarden finished last in the second Milwaukee race, something crossed my mind, when was the last time a driver finished last in a race only to win the race following it? With Nashville Superspeedway as the season finale, it felt like a very plausible conclusion to the 2024 season.
It didn't turn out that way but I found that the last time a driver went from last in one race to first in the next was Will Power in 2019. Power had finished last at Gateway and then won at Portland. It wasn't even the only time in the 2019 season for such a thing to happen.
Scott Dixon was last in the first race of the Belle Isle doubleheader that year after clipping the barrier, but Dixon returned and won the next race the following day.
This had me wondering, how many times in IndyCar history has a driver won the race following a last place finish?
I went through all 1,759 races recognized in the IndyCar record book to find out. When I first started digging, I wasn't sure how many would be the correct answer. If it happened twice in one season, it surely had happened a few times more, but we have also gone five full seasons without it happening, so it could not be a regular thing.
What is the answer?
It has happened 30 times.
1. Lewis Strang
Last in the Presolite Trophy Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 19, 1909. It was a nine-car race.
First in the G&J Trophy Race at IMS the following day.
These were the ninth and tenth races in IndyCar history based on the series' record book.
2. Eddie Hearne
Last in the second heat race of the Liberty Sweepstakes at Uniontown Speedway on May 16, 1918. This was an eight-car race.
First in the next heat of the Liberty Sweepstakes later that day.
3. Billy Arnold
Last (14th) at the Michigan State Fairgrounds on June 9, 1930.
First at Altoona Speedway on June 14, 1930.
4. Wilbur Shaw
Last (45th) in the George Vanderbilt Cup race at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York on October 12, 1936.
First in the 1937 season opener, the Indianapolis 500 on May 30.
5. Rex Mays
Last (11th) at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta on September 2, 1946.
First in the Indianapolis 100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on September 15, 1946.
6. Art Bisch
Last (33rd) in the 1958 Indianapolis 500.
First at Milwaukee on June 8, 1958.
7. Rodger Ward
Last (18th) at Springfield on August 22, 1959.
Won at Milwaukee on August 30, 1959.
8. Eddie Sachs
Last (18th) at DuQuoin on September 7, 1959.
Won at Syracuse on September 12, 1959.
9. A.J. Foyt
Last (18th) at Syracuse on September 9, 1961.
Won the Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on September 16, 1961.
10. Rodger Ward
Last (26th) at Trenton on September 22, 1963.
First at Sacramento on October 27, 1963.
11. Gordon Johncock
Last (21st) at Trenton on April 15, 1973.
First in the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
12. A.J. Foyt
Last (24th) at Michigan on September 15, 1974.
First at Trenton on September 22, 1974.
13. Johnny Rutherford
Last (33rd) in the 1977 Indianapolis 500.
First at Milwaukee on June 12, 1977.
14. Rick Mears
Last (22nd) at Michigan on July 16, 1978
First at Atlanta on July 23, 1978.
15. Mario Andretti
Last (20th) at Michigan on September 16, 1978
First at Trenton on September 23, 1978.
16. Mike Mosley
Last (33rd) in the 1981 Indianapolis 500.
First at Milwaukee on June 7, 1981.
17. Michael Andretti
Last (25th) at Cleveland on July 8, 1990.
First at the Meadowlands on July 15, 1990.
18. Paul Tracy
Last (27th) at Miami on March 5, 1995.
First at Surfers Paradise on March 19, 1995.
19. Arie Luyendyk
Last (22nd) at Phoenix on March 23, 1997.
First in the 1997 Indianapolis 500.
20. Arie Luyendyk
Last (28th) at Texas on September 20, 1998.
First at Las Vegas on October 11, 1998.
21. Cristiano da Matta
Last (25th) at Fontana on October 29, 2000.
First at Monterrey on March 11, 2001.
22. Sam Hornish, Jr.
Last (27th) at Texas on October 15, 2000.
First at Phoenix on March 18, 2001.
23. Scott Sharp
Last in the 2001 Indianapolis 500.
First at Texas on June 9, 2001.
24. Dario Franchitti
Last (18th) at Denver on September 1, 2002.
First at Rockingham on September 14, 2002.
25. Sébastien Bourdais
Last (18th) at Milwaukee on June 5, 2004.
First at Portland on June 20, 2004.
26. Sam Hornish, Jr.
Last (19th) at Michigan on July 30, 2006.
First at Kentucky on August 13, 2006.
27. A.J. Allmendinger
Last (17th) at Montreal on August 27, 2006.
First at Road America on September 24, 2006.
28. Ed Carpenter
Last (25th) at Baltimore on September 2, 2012.
First at Fontana on September 15, 2012.
29. Scott Dixon
Last (22nd) at Belle Isle on June 1, 2019.
First at Belle Isle on June 2, 2019.
30. Will Power
Last (22nd) at Gateway on August 24, 2019.
First at Portland on September 1, 2019.
I guess 30 sounds about right. I probably would not have guess the high but I wasn't going to guess ten times either.
It is a weird thing where it happens in spurts, but then will go extended period without occurring. The Split gave it more chances for it to occur, happening nine times over that 12-year period. Even before that it would happen twice in one season and then only happen twice over the next dozen years. We are kind of due for it to happen again.
By the way, with all this last-place data gathered, we are going to have some fun with it over the winter. Stay tuned!
Montoya Madness
We end on one that is not directly tied to IndyCar this year, but we must acknowledge Juan Pablo Montoya, because Montoya was the greatest of his generation.
The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner returned to NASCAR competition this month when he ran the Watkins Glen Cup race for 23XI Racing. It was ten years, one month and 19 days between Cup starts for Montoya. His last Cup start prior to Watkins Glen was the 2014 Brickyard 400.
Montoya had gone a decade between starts in a series before. That would be IndyCar!
October 29, 2000 was Montoya's final start for Chip Ganassi Racing at Fontana before he left for Formula One to drive for Williams. His next start would be March 30, 2014 with Team Penske at St. Penske, 13 years, five months and one day later.
How many drivers have gone a decade between starts in IndyCar and NASCAR?
The only answer is Montoya, and before you say Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 World Drivers' Championship only went eight years, seven months and 28 days between NASCAR Cup Series starts, from Sonoma 2013 to the 2022 Daytona 500. Villeneuve still holds the records for longest time between IndyCar starts at 18 years, seven months and 17 days.
Montoya's Watkins Glen start does ruin a fun little fact in his career. Prior to that race, his final starts in Formula One, IndyCar and NASCAR had all come at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
October Preview
The IMSA season will conclude with Petit Le Mans on October 12. Every class championship is still up for grabs, but a few classes are closer than others.
The GTP championship was turned upside down after a post-race penalty at Indianapolis.
The #7 Porsche of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr lead with 2,630 points. The #6 Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy was disqualified from the Indianapolis after the car was found modifications to a wiring harness were outside homologation. The #6 Porsche dropped from third to tenth in the classification and is now 124 points back of its sister car. The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Sébastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande have an outside shot at the title, 164 points behind the #7 Porsche. The #7 Porsche will clinch the title with a finish of fourth or better.
It is a three-way battle in LMP2.
Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann have the #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca leading with 1,919 points. Riley Motorsport has yet to win this year but the #74 Oreca of Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson still has a shot at the title, 98 points off the top. Ryan Dalziel has a puncher's chance in the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca being 123 points back.
It is a two-driver battle in GTD Pro.
Laurin Heinrich vs. Ross Gunn.
Heinrich has 2,887 points, and he is coming off his third victory of the season in the #77 AO Racing Porsche.
Gunn is 99 points off Heinrich but the driver of the #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin has one victory this season.
All Philip Ellis and Russell Ward will have to do to clinch the GTD championship is avoid trouble. The drivers of the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG have 3,006 points. The closest rival is the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW of Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, but Turner is 222 points back. Ellis and Ward must finish 17th or better to clinch the GTD championship.
Other events of note in October:
Indianapolis has another endurance race, and this one is eight hours and will feature Álex Palou.
Formula One returns to Austin and Mexico City.
MotoGP bounces to Japan, Australia and Thailand.
NASCAR has a few more races.
The Bathurst 1000 will take place as well as Surfers Paradise.
The World Superbike championship will be decided.
