There was a home winner at Silverstone, and a little bit of controversy that wasn't that controversial if you have a pulse. An American won though it appeared there was an infringement. Some junior series drivers did not get a long at Mid-Ohio. Imola had a red flag. The Norisring had a red flag. For the first time since November 2018, a NASCAR Cup race other than the Daytona 500 had a driver that did not qualify. It was also a historic weekend in Chicago, and not just because it didn't rain. Scott Dixon caught a break and somewhat stole a victory. Mid-Ohio had a good outing, but I want to look a the first ten races in their entirety, especially as the IndyCar season quickly disappears.
Midseason Thoughts
At the start of the season, I wrote about how IndyCar needed a season where neither Chip Ganassi Racing nor Team Penske were a factor. We are getting half of that. The problem is the other half still means it is more of the same. However, we are witnessing a season the likes we have not seen in decades.
Two drivers combined to win the first nine races! It took until the tenth race to get a third winner.
That hadn't happened since 1980. It didn't mean the championship has turned into a stunning one-on-one battle. One driver has run away from the field and no one else can keep up, but there is no reason to panic. We hadn't seen a season start like this in 45 years. It isn't a regular thing. Things are bound to happen again. In the same way, we had a driver win six of the first nine races. We hadn't seen that in 50 years!
It just happens to be the same driver winning.
That should not stop us from at least appreciating and celebrating Álex Palou. For as much as we celebrate the past, there is a reluctance to celebrate the present. There is a borderline disgust whenever something historic happens in the current time period. The problem is anything that does not lead to growth is seen as a negative, but nothing is leading to growth.
Dominant season where a driver puts his name high up in the record books? No growth. Six-way championship fight into the season finale with a combinations of all-time greats and inspiring Americans? No growth. You can choose to be angry either way, or you can embrace what is happening and not worry about what it means for the bottomline of IndyCar.
It was nearly two years ago I was wondering when was the last great IndyCar championship season. We are seeing it right now. Palou did something not done since A.J. Foyt.
Hello?! Are you paying attention?
When someone is in that company, you should be in awe. If it was easy to win six of the first nine races, everyone would be doing it. A vast majority didn't. Palou did. The bar has been reset and the next time it happens, whether it is next year or in 50 years, we will be praising Palou's name.
If we aren't going to see something spellbinding in the championship, we mind as well see an astonishing individual performance.
There is a chance Palou could set the record for most victories in an IndyCar season. Did anyone think that would be possible in their lifetime? Especially with a championship that is only 17 races long?
The record is ten. Eleven is in play, but we cannot get too excited about it until Palou has nine victories with at least two races remaining. Even then it is a monumental ask. Even if he were to fall short by a few races, we don't see many eight-win or nine-win seasons. Sébastien Bourdais won eight in 2007, but those seasons during The Split are flawed. It isn't Bourdais' fault, but it doesn't feel complete. Palou is doing this against everyone in IndyCar and on a variety of circuits. Palou only helped himself with an Indianapolis 500 victory. This isn't going to be a case where Palou could win 11 times and the most noteworthy victory is Road America, which even that is 30,000 feet below the Indianapolis 500 in terms of prestige.
We are watching one of the most complete IndyCar seasons in a long time.
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Team Penske feels lost, and after the dismissals of Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer, the team is in for its worst season in over 25 years.
There are still plenty of races remaining. Penske could win the remaining four oval races and no one would be surprise. The team could win six of the remaining races and it will look like business as usual, but the changes at the team surely have not made this season easy.
It is one thing needing to replace one person. It is another thing to replace the entire head of the table. Cindric, Ruzewski and Moyer weren't only men behind the scenes, they were key figures on the timing stand and moving the chess pieces during the race. As much as success came from the drivers, a fair portion belongs to those men calling strategy. Without those minds in the game, Penske has suffered.
If there has been a key takeaway from this season, it is how much the timing stands and pit crews determine races. Conor Daly had a good run going at Gateway, but he lost the lead because his Juncos Hollinger Racing pit crew is nowhere close to those of Penske, Ganassi, Andretti and even McLaren. The same goes for David Malukas, Christian Rasmussen, and we saw Prema's pit woes play out in full sight when Robert Shwartzman won pole position for the Indianapolis 500.
All the technical might and ingenuity cannot make up for what is simply taking four tires on and four tires off the car. That is an area IndyCar is not going to regulate. There is almost no way IndyCar can spread the talent around on pit lane. Do we want to get into refueling limits like we see in sports car? We could, but the resistance to it will be stark. It is a simple thing that could level the playing field, and it would not change how most people see the race, but it goes back to IndyCar's worst mantra, is it growing the series? If we used that as the deciding factor for everything, IndyCar would end up doing nothing. The series would cease to exist.
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For all the faults we can find with IndyCar and its inevitable championship conclusion, we must acknowledge it is still a series where anyone can be competitive in any given race.
Prior to Mid-Ohio, there had been five different pole-sitters from five different organization in the previous five races. That includes Prema's debut pole position with rookie Robert Shwartzman. Another rookie, Louis Foster, running with one of the teams that has struggled the most over the last two seasons, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, won pole position at Road America. RLLR also had arguably the best car at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis with Graham Rahal, only for tire strategy to cost it a possible victory and podium finish. RLLR is also responsible for the car that led the most laps in the Indianapolis 500.
A.J. Foyt Racing had its best run of finishes in over 20 years. In the month of June, Foyt, Meyer Shank Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing had more podium finishes than Team Penske. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing nearly won the Indianapolis 500. Prema also had a near-victory at Gateway, almost entirely down to fuel mileage, but Prema put itself in position to pull it off.
IndyCar might not be perfect, but we can still go to a race weekend and a team, on its best day, has a legitimate shot at victory.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott Dixon, but did you know...
Lando Norris won the British Grand Prix, his fourth victory of the season.
Shane van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Cup race from Chicago, his second victory of the season. Van Gisbergen also won the Grand National Series race.
Jordan Pepper and Thomas Preining split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from the Norisring.
The #48 VDS Panis Racing Oreca of Oliver Gray, Charles Milesi and Esteban Masson won the 4 Hours of Imola. The #17 CLX Motorsport Ligier of Adrien Closemenil, Theodor Jensen and Paul Lanchè won in LMP3. The #82 TF Sport Corvette of Hiroshi Koizumi, Charlie Eastwood and Rui Andrade won in LMGT3.
Dennis Hauger won the Indy Lights race from Mid-Ohio, his fifth victory of the season. Max Garcia swept the USF Pro 2000 races. Caleb Gafrarar (race one)a and Jack Jeffers (race two and three) split the U.S. F2000 races.
Leonardo Fornaroli (sprint) and Jak Crawford (feature) split the Formula Two races from Silverstone. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (sprint) and Mari Boya (feature) split the Formula Three races.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar has its only doubleheader weekend at Iowa.
Formula E has its penultimate doubleheader in Berlin.
MotoGP will be down the road at the Sachsenring.
World Superbike is at Donington Park.
Supercars has a round at Townsville.
The FIA World Endurance Championship s back in action in São Paulo.
IMSA takes LMP2 and the two GT classes to Mosport.
NASCAR is making a later trip to Sonoma.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed will also take place.
