IndyCar Wrap-Up: The Part-Timers' 2020 Seasons

The midway point of the IndyCar Wrap-Ups brings us to the part-time teams, and this was a difficult season for the part-time teams. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and DragonSpeed had each planned significant part-time schedules. D&R had planned on running four races and DragonSpeed was going to run five. Those plans didn't necessarily work out. D&R was able to run four races, but two were different from its original schedule. DragonSpeed made only one start and it wasn't even going to run that one race.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

After spending the last six seasons as an Indianapolis 500-only entrant, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had committed to an expanded program for 2020, originally planning on running St. Petersburg, the two Indianapolis races and Toronto. The pandemic shook up that plan, but the team did contest all four races held at Indianapolis this season.

It was a tough year for Sage Karam

Sage Karam

This was a little longer of a schedule for Karam. He got to run four races and for the first time he got to compete on the IMS road course. However, more racing did not lead to better results.

What objectively was his best race?
Karam had two finishes of 23rd, one in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and in the first Harvest Grand Prix race. 

What subjectively was his best race?

None of Karam's four starts were all that great. He was lapped in all the races. He never started better than 21st. I am not sure what is better out of his two 23rd-place finishes, starting and finishing 23rd or qualifying 21st and then dropping two spots, one of the spots was a gift because Marco Andretti lost his engine late and was the only retirement, meaning Karam's day is artificially better than it is of minus-two spots on paper.

What objectively was his worst race?
Going along with his two finishes of 23rd, Karam had two finishes of 24th, one in the Indianapolis 500 and the other in the second Harvest Grand Prix race.

What subjectively was his worst race?

In the Indianapolis 500, Karam did go from 31st to 24th, but here is what happened to the ten cars behind him:

James Davison: Wheel catches on fire after four laps.

Marcus Ericsson: Accident

Dalton Kellett: Accident

Oliver Askew: Accident

Conor Daly: Accident

Álex Palou: Accident

Alexander Rossi: Accident

Ed Carpenter: Contact on lap one with Zach Veach damaged Carpenter's suspension and forced Carpenter to pit lane for repairs, but he continued in the race and finished 13 laps down.

Spencer Pigot: Accident with six laps to go while on the lead lap.

Karam was the last place finisher for all intended purposes. Worse yet, the Indianapolis 500 is the one race he has regularly done over the last five seasons. He had never run the IMS road course prior to this year and D&R had not run road course races since 2013. The struggles in those three races are understood. Karam has been running the Indianapolis 500 enough that he should do a little better than this. In his last six Indianapolis 500 starts, his average finish is 26.833 and he has not finished on the lead lap in any of those six starts.

Sage Karam's 2020 Statistics
Championship Position: 29th (32 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 24.25
Average Finish: 23.5

DragonSpeed

DragonSpeed had big plans for 2020 to run a handful of races. However, the pandemic significantly altered its season and it appeared the team was not going to contest any races this year. When there was a late scramble for a 33rd entry for the Indianapolis 500, DragonSpeed was there to save the day.

Ben Hanley came back and ran one more IndyCar race

Ben Hanley

After getting a taste of IndyCar last year, Hanley returned in DragonSpeed's late addition to the Indianapolis 500 entry list. Hanley had won two IMSA LMP2 races prior to his Indianapolis return, including a class victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona. 

What objectively was his best race?
Hanley went from 33rd on the grid to 23rd in the Indianapolis 500.

What subjectively was his best race?

The most important thing for Hanley was he saw the checkered flag. Yes, he was two laps down, but his only other oval start was the Indianapolis 500 the year before, and he dropped out of that race after 54 laps because of a driveshaft failure.

What objectively was his worst race?
Just to change this up, because Hanley only did one race, I think the worst part of DragonSpeed's program was the late notice it had to be the 33rd entry, and how behind the eight ball the team was, and that was not the team's fault. 

DragonSpeed's car was supposed to go to the Top Gun Racing outfit, which was supposed to be for RC Enerson. However, Top Gun Racing pulled out after it was announced spectators would not be allowed at this year's race. The scramble for the 33rd entry led to DragonSpeed piecing together an entry but missed the first two days of practice. 

The team didn't have to worry about being bumped, but it couldn't even do an Indianapolis 500 entry right because of the short notice. Again, it was not the team's fault. DragonSpeed did extraordinary well for the circumstance it was in.

What subjectively was his worst race?

This was supposed to be a big year for DragonSpeed, as it planned to enter five races, St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Texas and Mid-Ohio. Unfortunately, for the second consecutive year, DragonSpeed's plans were significantly altered. Last year, the team did not compete after Indianapolis because of visa issues keeping crew members from traveling from Europe, who worked on the team's European Le Mans Series LMP2 program. 

I wanted to see what DragonSpeed could do, and I was excited that the team could have given at least one or two other drivers a shot. Hanley was only confirmed for St. Petersburg, and Hanley was going to have a few ELMS conflicts. I thought Colin Braun was a possible driver. 

We didn't get to see any of that, and we will not see that in 2021.

Ben Hanley's 2020 Statistics
Championship Position: 33rd (14 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 33.0
Average Finish: 23.0

An Early Look Ahead

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Sage Karam are both suggesting they will divorce before 2021.

I think that might be best. Karam has to drive more than the Indianapolis 500. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing wants to return to full-time competition, but it is big step up from Indianapolis-only entry to full-time IndyCar. This is a much different IndyCar series than when D&R was last full-time, and it is another planet from when D&R regularly field two cars in the Indy Racing League days. 

Teams have gone from part-timer to full-timer in the last few seasons. Meyer Shank Racing has successfully made that transition and has run well. Harding Racing did it but required a lot of assistance and eventually absorption into Andretti Autosport. Carlin wasn't part-time, but it went from Indy Lights into IndyCar. For those three teams, there is also Juncos Racing, which dabbled in IndyCar but could not expand into a series regular despite Road to Indy success. 

In its current state, IndyCar is too big for D&R in D&R's current form. For D&R to be a full-time team, it kind of has to reshape what it is. MSR and Carlin were at least regular race teams. Harding Racing was an entirely new organization and nearly collapsed after its first full season. I know D&R has fielded rallycross teams since it last competed in IndyCar full-time, but D&R is closer to Harding than MSR and Carlin and even DragonSpeed. 

MSR has used partnerships, first with Andretti Autosport, then with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and then back to Andretti, to acclimate to IndyCar. That could be D&R's way back into IndyCar. The Chevrolet options are Team Penske, Arrow McLaren SP, Ed Carpenter Racing, Carlin and A.J. Foyt Racing. The first two Chevrolet organizations are likely not interested in a partnership with a small team. The other three teams are small organizations without that many resources to properly aid a partnership. Maybe an ECR/D&R pairing could help both organizations, but that might sound great on paper and not work in practice. 

DragonSpeed is ending its IndyCar experimentation after two seasons and we never really got to see what this program could do.  

I liked that DragonSpeed was taking it slow and trying to run a part-time program, similar to what Meyer Shank Racing did. I liked that DragonSpeed planned to mix it up, running some road courses and a few ovals. I didn't think Hanley was the team's long-term answer as a driver, but he got a shot and did respectable for a man who was out of single-seater racing for nearly a decade. 

I was hopeful DragonSpeed could run St. Petersburg, Barber, Texas, Indianapolis, Road America and the IMS road course race with the NASCAR weekend in 2021 and get a true sample of the IndyCar season. I was hopeful the team would try a few different drivers. It is sad to see the team move on. 

DragonSpeed was trying to balance a European Le Mans Series program with IndyCar and have a European-based crew run an American program. That cost the team in 2019 because crew members had visa issues and cut its 2019 plans in half. The pandemic killed all regular trans-Atlantic travel and if it wasn't for a vacant 33rd spot on the Indianapolis 500 entry list, DragonSpeed was not going to run an IndyCar race in 2020. 

I wish DragonSpeed could have figured something out and put more roots in the ground here in the United States, but this is not a great time for expansion into any series. Mike Shank wanted to be in IndyCar in 2012 and he had to wait five years before he could make his first attempt as an Indianapolis one-off in partnership with Andretti Autosport. That could be DragonSpeed's future. Just because it did not work out this time doesn't mean the team will not consider a second attempt in the future. 

Losing DragonSpeed hurts, because Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is the last part-time team standing, and D&R is already questioning its future IndyCar involvement. IndyCar needs a few part-time teams to fill out the Indianapolis 500 entry list and occasionally show up for some other events, but they are becoming an endangered species and might not be able to survive in the current climate.

2020 IndyCar Team Preview: The Part-Timers

Like last year, not every IndyCar competitor will be competing full-time and that is a good thing! While IndyCar has a solid grid of two-dozen full-time entries and a few other additional cars from full-time teams, there are two operations that will only run a handful of races in 2020 and this is where we will preview those teams.

One team is making a long-awaited return to an expanded schedule. The other team is hoping to run more races after its 2019 season ended prematurely and could have at least one new driver in the seat.

2019 DragonSpeed Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 18th (St. Petersburg)
Poles: 0
Championship Finish: 30th (Ben Hanley)

2020 Drivers:

Ben Hanley - #81 DragonSpeed Chevrolet
DragonSpeed made its IndyCar but and it brought its trusted ace Hanley for the season opener. The team caught a bit of fortune in its opening race weekend. After ending up at the bottom of the timesheet for every practice session, a timely red flag for Santino Ferrucci's off-track excursion during the first group of the first round saw Hanley advance to round two, as Hanley was sixth when time ran out on the session and many drivers had yet to put in a hot lap. This allowed Hanley to start 12th on debut but in the race true pace became apparent and Hanley dropped down the order. Though he did not get in any incidents, Hanley and DragonSpeed ended its first race in 18th.

The team returned for Barber, qualified 24st, dead last on the grid, and in this race he moved forward, finishing 21st. Hanley had never ran an oval before the Indianapolis 500 and despite lack of expectations of making the race, Hanley made it on the first day of qualifying, ending up 27th at 227.482 MPH, ahead of full-time drivers Zach Veach and Felix Rosenqvist while James Hinchcliffe, Max Chilton, Patricio O'Ward and Fernando Alonso all had to qualify on the second day. Hanley's Indianapolis 500 debut lasted only 54 laps as a broken driveshaft ended the team's race.

DragonSpeed had planned to run at Road America, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca to round out a six-race season but visa issues with crew coming over from Europe prevented the team from entering any races after the Indianapolis 500.

Numbers to Remember:
1: Scheduled race for Hanley in 2020, he is scheduled to run St. Petersburg.

4: Other races DragonSpeed plans to contest in 2020 (Long Beach, Indianapolis 500, Texas, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca).

250: Laps completed out of a possible 400 laps.

2: Hanley was two laps down in two of his three starts in 2019 (St. Petersburg and Barber).

Predictions/Goals:
Finish better than 18th and complete at least 109 laps at St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg is the only race on Hanley's IndyCar schedule and considering that he had not run a single-seater car in nearly a decade when he showed up at St. Petersburg last year, the fact he was only two laps down at St. Petersburg, two laps down at Long Beach and qualified for the Indianapolis 500 when many penned Hanley to miss the race because he had no oval experience and was racing for a team with no oval experience, 2019 was a remarkable year for Hanley.

I am not sure how much more Hanley can get out of his ability in an IndyCar. I think he can improve. The results can get better but it is hard to see him turning into a driver competing for top ten finishes. There is nothing wrong with that. Hanley is a top-notch sports car driver. He has had plenty of success in LMP2 and has done well in LMP1 this FIA World Endurance Championship season.

I think the big goal for Hanley is to get a shot at one of DragonSpeed's other four scheduled races. That is not a guarantee and Hanley has a lot of sports car commitments. Laguna Seca clashes with the European Le Mans Series races at Spa-Francorchamps. Hanley will do St. Petersburg and that will be it but if he gets another shot then good for him.

Colin Braun - #81 DragonSpeed Chevrolet
The 2019 season saw Braun run another year for CORE Autosport in IMSA's prototype class with Jon Bennett as his co-driver. CORE Autosport switched from its Oreca-Gibson LMP2 car, which earned the team vice-champion honors in 2018, to the Nissan Onroak DPI. After winning two races and having five podium finishes in 2018, the team's best finish in 2019 was fourth at Daytona and the team failed to finish in the top five in the final eight races of the season.

CORE Autosport shut down after the 2019 season and Braun moved over to DragonSpeed for the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona. Sharing a car with Hanley, Harrison Newey and Hendrik Hedman, Braun and DragonSpeed won the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Braun's second class victory in the famed event.

Numbers to Remember:
5,447: Days between Braun's most recent single-seater race at Mid-Ohio in Pro Mazda on May 21, 2005 and this year's Long Beach race.

3: Other 2020 IndyCar drivers were in that 2005 Pro Mazda race at Mid-Ohio: Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and Graham Rahal. Raphael Matos won that race.

19: Victories between Grand-Am, American Le Mans Series, WeatherTech Sports Car Champion and the NASCAR Truck Series.

Predictions/Goals:
Braun is not confirmed for any races but he has been heavily rumored to be a potential driver for this program and this would be his long-awaited IndyCar shot. Cutting to the chase, Braun does have a ride in the GT World Challenge America series this year and GTWCA (that is a long acronym) will be at Virginia International Raceway when IndyCar is at Texas and Watkins Glen when IndyCar is at Laguna Seca. I do not know how deep Braun's commitment to GTWCA is but it could mean he will not be able to participate in those two races.

When you consider how long it has been since Braun has run a single-seater car and the team he could possibly be making his debut with the bar should be low. However, we have seen Braun find success in everything from a LMP2 car to a NASCAR Truck. That doesn't mean Braun is going to light the world on fire. That does not mean he is going to carry this team to podium finishes but I think he can get a grip on the car.

Braun was rumored to get an IndyCar test in 2018 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and RLLR was hoping to run him at a third car at the Sonoma finale and last summer the report was multiple IndyCar teams were calling Braun for a potential opportunity. If the teams are sold on this guy, someone who hasn't even tested an IndyCar ever, they are hoping to find a diamond in the rough and run the risk of being fooled.

DragonSpeed is not an established IndyCar team and whatever opportunity Braun gets, if he gets one race, he needs to be at least on par with Hanley. He cannot be running much slower than him and his race results cannot be much worse. If Braun is DragonSpeed's driver of choice for Indianapolis the obvious objective is qualify for the race.

The good news is Braun has plenty of oval experience from his days of running in NASCAR. It will have been eight years, eight months and 22 days between Braun's most recent oval race, a Truck race at Atlanta on September 2, 2011 and the 2020 Indianapolis 500, but that experience doesn't disappear. He may need a little time to knock off the rust but it will come in handy.

2019 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 19th (Indianapolis)
Poles: 0
Championship Finish: 27th (Sage Karam)

2020 Driver:

Sage Karam - #24 Wix Filters Chevrolet
For the fourth consecutive year, Karam and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing partnered for the Indianapolis 500 in 2019. This year saw Karam and D&R face one of its tougher challenges.

Karam was unable to secure a top-30 spot during Saturday qualifying, ending up 33rd on the day at 226.951 MPH, and it forced him to go out in the Last Row Shootout on Sunday against James Hinchcliffe, Max Chilton, Patricio O'Ward, Kyle Kaiser and Fernando Alonso. With Chilton and Hinchcliffe full-time entrants, O'Ward being the highlight touted rookie and Alonso carrying the McLaren name, Karam was thought to be one of the drivers most likely to end up on the wrong side of the bubble but Karam put down the fastest average at 227.740 MPH and slotted himself 31st on the grid.

In the race, Karam never really factored into competing for a top ten position, but after having retired from his previous four Indianapolis 500 starts and averaging a finish of 29.5 over those fours years it was important for Karam to get mileage and he did that. He completed 199 laps and finished 19th.

While Indianapolis was Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's final race of 2019, Karam got two more opportunities to participate during the 2019 IndyCar season. With Carlin rotating drivers, Karam got a shot at Toronto, his first road/street course race since 2015. He qualified 21st and mechanical issues plagued his race, putting him six laps down and finishing 21st. Karam got another outing with Carlin at Iowa and started 14th but had a half spin exiting turn four on lap 16. He clipped Felix Rosenqvist and the damage was a set back. From there, Karam tried to hang on but had a run-in with Takuma Sato on lap 187 and that ended Karam's race and effectively his 2019 season.

Numbers to Remember:
12: Karam's best finish on a street course was 12th in the second Belle Isle race in 2015.

18: Karam's best finish on a road course was 18th at NOLA Motorsports Park and Barber in 2015.

16.4: Average starting position in the five road/street course races where qualifying was held.

3: Top ten finishes in 19 starts.

1,702: Days between Karam's most recent top ten finish in an IndyCar race, third at Iowa on July 18, 2015, and the St. Petersburg season opener.

Predictions/Goals:
Get a career best finish on a road course and get at least one top ten finish.

This will be the seventh IndyCar season Karam has participated and yet he has basically participated in one season worth of races and a third of his starts have been at one track. He is the most experienced inexperienced driver on the grid.

The numbers are not good but it is a small sample size. He got one season with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015 in what was not a full-time but still a majority effort and it was the first season of the aero kits. Did Karam make mistakes? Absolutely. Enough mistakes that he did not deserved a second opportunity? No. Did he show promise? Yes.

That promise was mostly seen on the ovals but when looking at his rookie season and comparing it to Josef Newgarden's rookie season it seems a little shortsighted that Karam still has not had an opportunity at a full season. I am not saying Karam would have matched Newgarden's level success but he probably could develop to a point where he was putting up respectable results.

This is going to be tough not only for Karam but for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The team has not run a race that wasn't the Indianapolis 500 since the 2013 São Paulo race. When Dreyer & Reinbold Racing pulled back from its road and street course results were exceptional. It was fourth with Oriol Servià at São Paulo and Servià finished sixth at Long Beach. In 2012, after getting Chevrolet engines starting at the Indianapolis 500, Servià had a fifth place finish at Belle Isle, fifth at Toronto and seventh at Mid-Ohio.

History suggests D&R can put together a competitive car but it has been a long time and the team is paired with a driver who has made one road/street course start in the last four seasons.

As much as Karam needs to finish better than 18th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and get a top ten finish because it has been so long the biggest goal for Karam is to complete all the laps. If he finishes on the lead lap of every race then it at least a year where Karam does not have an accident being the most notable highlight of his season.

The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 15th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBCSN's coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET

IndyCar Wrap-Up: The Part-Timers' 2019 Seasons

We have reached the halfway point of the IndyCar team reviews and this one will look at the part-time teams, the teams that made cameos throughout 2019. Some of these part-timers showed great potential if they expand to full-time operations. Other teams leave 2019 with many questions.

Meyer Shank Racing
The Ohio-based team increased its IndyCar participation in 2019, running ten races, four more than 2018. The increase in races was not a mistake as the team had some stellar days and outperformed the expectations of many.

Jack Harvey and Meyer Shank Racing might be one of the happiest teams heading into 2019 offseason

Jack Harvey
Harvey's third partial season in IndyCar was his best yet. He and MSR were mixing it up with the big boys and brought home terrific results as a part-time outfit. This season makes full-time aspirations not only seem more likely but this team could be a notable player in IndyCar's future.

What objectively was his best race?
Harvey was third in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and it was a race where he was at the front for the entirety of the affair.

What subjectively was his best race?
It is hard to top third in any race but Harvey started third in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and he was keeping up with the big boys. For a portion of that race he was quicker than Scott Dixon and it appeared Harvey had what it took to win the race! It didn't work out that way and when the rain started late in the race Dixon got stronger and Simon Pagenaud got stronger as well. Not to mention the superiority of the likes of Penske and Ganassi was made clear through pit stops and that put Harvey behind. It was still a great outing and an encouraging sign from this team.

What objectively was his worst race?
It was 22nd at Long Beach after Harvey made contact with Marcus Ericsson into the fountain section and Harvey ended up in the flowerbed. Harvey was able to continue but he had already lost a pair of laps and he would lose another before he would see the checkered flag.

What subjectively was his worst race?
It was Portland because Harvey started fourth and was taken out from behind while running fourth after only 13 laps. Ryan Hunter-Reay completely missed the braking point and he bowled into Harvey and Harvey got the worst of it. Hunter-Reay was able to continue but Harvey lost the opportunity to at least match if not better his career best finish. It was completely out of Harvey's hand.

Jack Harvey's 2019 Statistics
Championship Position: 21st (186 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 4
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 5
Average Start: 14.5
Average Finish: 14.2

DragonSpeed
The American-owned sports car operation entered the single-seater fold and it brought Ben Hanley back to single-seater competition for the first time in a decade. Even facing low expectations, DragonSpeed out-kicked the coverage.

Ben Hanley was a new face in IndyCar circles

Ben Hanley
Hanley had been out of single-seater racing since 2010 but his return went much better than anyone could have planned. He might not have been the fastest driver out there but he got a surprise qualifying effort at St. Petersburg and made the Indianapolis 500, his first time on an oval, when most had penciled DragonSpeed as the team going home.

What objectively was his best race?
Hanley's best finish statistically was 18th at St. Petersburg and that came after a red flag in qualifying led to a surprise result. Hanley ended up advancing to the second round of qualifying on debut and he started 12th! The car wasn't close to that position on pure pace. It was a bit of beginner's luck for this lot but while Hanley wasn't lightning at St. Petersburg he had a respectable debut.

What subjectively was his best race?
It isn't a race but subjectively the best thing Ben Hanley and DragonSpeed did in 2019 was make the Indianapolis 500. This team didn't get in by the skin of the its teeth but Hanley qualified 27th ahead of Andretti Autosports' Zach Veach and Chip Ganassi Racing's Felix Rosenqvist.

Many had pegged Hanley and DragonSpeed to miss the race. It was a new team with a driver who had never raced on an oval before and a driver that had been out of single-seater racing for nine years. It was hard to see how this group could get in the race but Indianapolis is a place where if you focus on just having enough speed, not a blazing amount but just enough, you will make the race. DragonSpeed was never going to be competing for pole position or the Fast Nine but it shot to be in the mid-to-low 20s and the team got it with Hanley ending up 27th.

What objectively was his worst race?
It is Indianapolis because Hanley was classified in 32nd but that was after a differential problem led to the end of his race after 54 laps.

Hanley wasn't setting the world on fire but I wish he got more an opportunity to run the Indianapolis 500. He would have likely finished two or three laps down but it would have been a valuable experience for this team to run as many miles as it could and something completely out of the driver's hands failed. That is part of racing.

What subjectively was his worst race?
Hanley only ran three races in 2019 and since we talked about St. Petersburg and Indianapolis, let's mention Barber, where he started 24th and finished 21st, two laps down.

It is not something to wildly celebrate but I should also say it wasn't a terrible showing. Hanley was learning in his few starts this year and he wasn't a hazard. I only wish we had gotten to see more of DragonSpeed and Hanley. We will have to wait for 2020.

Ben Hanley's 2019 Statistics
Championship Position: 30th (31 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 21
Average Finish: 23.667

Juncos Racing
It was a year of highs and lows for Juncos Racing. The team did not run as many races as it in 2018 but it left a greater impression in two races than it did in 12 races in 2018.

Kyle Kaiser was the underdog that won over the masses in 2019

Kyle Kaiser
The 2017 Indy Lights champion returned for two races but what Kaiser left on the 2019 season was everything he did at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

What objectively was his best race?
Kaiser made two starts in 2019 and his best finish was 18th at Austin from 21st on the grid. Even better for Kaiser it was the first time he finished on the lead lap in his IndyCar career.

What subjectively was his best race?
Similar to Hanley, the best thing Kaiser and Juncos Racing did all year was qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and Kaiser did it with his back against the wall.

Practice was looking good for Kaiser and Juncos Racing. It seemed this car was going to make the field comfortably and then he had his accident on Fast Friday an hour into the practice session. The team's car that it dedicated to qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 was gone and the scramble was on to turn the backup car around into something that had previously raced at Austin to qualify at over 227 MPH and make the Indianapolis 500.

We have seen every story play out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We have seen the little teams show up, fight as hard as they can but not come close or have an accident end the dream early. We have seen the little team pull it out of nowhere. Juncos Racing and Kaiser did something incredible.

The team made one qualifying attempt on Saturday but was not quick enough. It pushed all its chips to the center of the table for one final run on Sunday. It drew the final spot in the Last Row Shootout, on the bubble were McLaren with Fernando Alonso and Kaiser got in the field by 0.0129 seconds. McLaren being knocked out alone was a stunner but to have the minnow Juncos Racing do it after the drama of the previous 48 hours is the legendary story that will be told for years to come.

What objectively was his worst race?
The Indianapolis 500 itself was not as kind to Kaiser and Juncos Racing. Kaiser spun exiting turn three and his race was over after 71 laps, leaving him with a 31st place result.

What subjectively was his worst race?
No one wants to have an accident, especially in the Indianapolis 500.

If there is a bad thing about 2019 it is we did not get to see more of Juncos Racing after the team started 12 of 17 races in 2018. I would have been fine with the team getting a driver with a paycheck to fund 4-8 races.

Each team takes its own path to full-time competition and a reduction in races does not mean things are bleak for the future of Juncos Racing. I think we can all agree we are pulling for Juncos Racing. We want this team to make it because Ricardo Juncos has put his life into this operation and this team existing and competing in IndyCar is great for IndyCar. It shows what IndyCar can be. It can bring together the giants of Penske, Ganassi, Andretti and McLaren and those giants can fall to the humble Juncos.

Kyle Kaiser's 2019 Statistics
Championship Position: 32nd (22 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 27
Average Finish: 24.5

McLaren
Last year, everyone thought McLaren would come into IndyCar and be a disruptor. Everyone thought McLaren could come in and take Scott Dixon away from Chip Ganassi Racing and pair him with Fernando Alonso. At the end of 2019, that could not seem more unconceivable.

Speaking of Fernando Alonso...

Fernando Alonso
I am not sure what else we can say about McLaren, Fernando Alonso and the combo's failed Indianapolis 500 effort for 2019 but let's go back and look at what I wrote in February and see how wrong it was:

What I Wrote:

McLaren is not going to be tripped up when it comes to the smaller stuff. McLaren did its homework. It has prepared for this race but there is always something that you cannot plan for and can only learn through experience. Those could be the things that catch this team out. 

I am not worried about Alonso. We have seen the Spaniard take on challenge after challenge the last two years and he has never been unprepared. He doesn't think he has got it and tries to figure it out on the fly. The dedication he put into his 2017 program was outstanding and that was with six weeks of preparation. He has been working on 2019 since he left the banquet on Memorial Day 2017. He stepped into sports cars and won Le Mans on debut and won the 24 Hours of Daytona in his second shot at it. He is not going to be a problem and after all, he is going to have the most to gain out of everybody in that race. This isn't some type of bucket list event for him. This is attempting to ascend to a higher level. 

Bob Fernley has been placed as head of McLaren's IndyCar effort. Fernley had previously worked as team principal at Force India. It would be more surprising if McLaren struggles than if McLaren succeeds. I don't think McLaren is going to come in and be 26th but I don't see the team replicating what it did in 2017 and, as I said before, that has nothing to do with Alonso. It is a new car, it is a new engine manufacture and it will be a new group working on the car. There are too many differences to expect Alonso to waltz back in and be back in the top five. I think he is going to have to work harder this time around and even if that is the case I think he can be competitive and be in the top ten.

Well...
Almost all of that is wrong.

McLaren did get tripped up on the small stuff. The team's backup car wasn't ready because it was the wrong shade of orange and was still in the paint shop.

The team couldn't make the top 33, let alone the top 26 or top ten.

We can talk about what would have happened if Alonso does not have his practice accident, if the team doesn't lose a day waiting for paint to dry and if the team wasn't scrambling for a setup to put the car in the field. If the practice accident never occurs, perhaps Alonso is 25th but that didn't happen in this universe.

It is hard to fault Alonso. Yes, he is the pilot and he was in control when the practice accident happened but he gave it his all and each day he was the first car on the outside. Each day he missed it by 0.02 MPH and 0.019 MPH. I am not sure any driver has come as close as he did to qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on multiple days and not made the field!

I think Alonso prepared as best as he could. There wasn't much else he could have done but it turned out the people around him were not on the same level of preparedness.

Fernando Alonso's 2019 Statistics
Championship Position: Not Classified
Wins: Not Applicable
Podiums: Not Applicable
Top Fives: Not Applicable
Top Tens: Not Applicable
Laps Led: Not Applicable
Poles: Not Applicable
Fast Sixes: Not Applicable
Fast Twelves: Not Applicable
Average Start: Not Applicable

Average Finish: Not Applicable

An Early Look Ahead
Let's tackle these team's one at a time...

Meyer Shank Racing is on the cusp of full-time competition. The only races MSR did not run in 2019 were the four ovals that aren't Indianapolis, Belle Isle and Toronto. Ten races is a healthy schedule. The team has not committed to a full season in 2020 and if the team chooses to run ten races again in 2020 then that is good but this team could shake things up if it were to run full-time. Jack Harvey is a talented driver and this team could be on the cusp of the top ten in the championship if it were full-time. MSR will be back in 2020 but the question is for how long?

DragonSpeed withdrew from FIA World Endurance Championship competition to turn attention to its IndyCar effort and European Le Mans Series operation. The only reason the team was unable to run more in 2019 were team members were denied visas and the team could not compete at the final two rounds because of ELMS commitments. If DragonSpeed is going to run more or be full-time in 2020 it is going to have to expand. It is going to need a dedicated IndyCar team and probably a dedicated driver. I like Ben Hanley and I would love to see him get more of a shot but if he is split with the ELMS program then that is not going to be for the best of the IndyCar program. If Hanley is not going to be the dedicated IndyCar drive there are plenty of drivers out there that DragonSpeed could bring into the fold.

Juncos Racing had a successful Road to Indy operation in 2019 but the team's IndyCar effort took a step back and the team's expansion into IMSA's prototype class was going well until Victor Franzoni had a hard accident at Mosport. I just want to see Juncos Racing make a step forward from 2019. There is nothing to suggest that will be the case in 2020 and the team might not be so fortunate next year in the month of May.

McLaren is in bed with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and we touched upon that already but let's focus this on Fernando Alonso's future with the IndyCar program. Everything points to there being an Indianapolis 500 entry for him but how long will Alonso stick with McLaren? He cannot have another qualifying hiccup and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is a team with its own Indianapolis 500 qualifying struggles. Would Alonso give up on the Triple Crown if McLaren is not able to properly support him or would he move to another IndyCar operation? McLaren is the only one footing his salary and other than Penske, I am not sure any other IndyCar team could match his first offer.

There are a lot of questions surrounding McLaren and its increased presences in IndyCar and in typical McLaren fashion none of them are answered quickly nor clearly. Why would the same be different regarding Alonso?

2019 IndyCar Team Preview: The Part-Timers

The tenth and penultimate IndyCar team preview will look at the teams that will not be running full-time but will be around quite a bit in 2019. This is a mixture of teams. One team is returning to IndyCar and is expanding to run more races. Another is returning and its schedule is still unknown. Two are new to the series and one is an American team with a sports car background. The other isn't entirely new but unlike 2017, it will be attempting Indianapolis mostly on its own.

2018 DragonSpeed Review
New Team For 2019!

2019 Driver:

Ben Hanley - #81 DragonSpeed Chevrolet
This is not a name familiar to the IndyCar fanbase but Hanley has spent the last three years competing in sports cars after he spent a few seasons out of racing.

Hanley was a promising single-seater driver and was named to Renault's young driver program in 2008 after he won three races in two Formula Renault 3.5 Series seasons, which included Hanley scoring a runner-up finish in the championship in 2007. He made 12 starts between the GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series but he scored a combined seven points, six of which came after a third place finish in the Sentul feature race behind Sébastien Buemi and Adrián Vallés and ahead of Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov.

After two years between Euroseries 3000 and Superleague Formula with some success, Hanley was out of racing but he has served as a test driver for Pirelli for tires for GP2, GP3, Formula Two and Formula Three.

Hanley returned to racing in the European Le Mans Series in 2016 with DragonSpeed. He ran all six races and he along with Henrik Hedman and Nicolas Lapierre won at Spa-Francorchamps while finishing fourth in the championship. The following year he expanded his career to the FIA World Endurance Championship while remaining with DragonSpeed in ELMS. In 2018, he ran for DragonSpeed in both the WEC and ELMS while he ran the 24 Hours of Daytona this past January and finished third in the LMP2 class.

Hanley is scheduled to compete at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Road America and Mid-Ohio.

Numbers to Remember:
3,059: Days between Hanley's most recent single-seater start at Navarre in Superleague Formula on October 24, 2010 and the St. Petersburg season opener.

38: Starts between the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and IMSA since 2016.

11: Victories in his single-seater career from 2005 to 2010 between Formula Renault 2.0 Italia, Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Euroseries 3000 and Superleague Formula.

7: Of his 11 victories came in Italy with three victories at Misano, two at Monza and two at Mugello. His other five victories came at Magny-Cours, Catalunya, Spa-Francorchamps and Ordos.

Predictions/Goals:
Not embarrass himself and keep the car out of the barriers.

I don't think many have any expectations for Hanley, in fact I think many have already written him off as some kind of hack. But I am not going to do that because Hanley has been respectable in sports cars and he wasn't some schlub who ended up in sports cars and is now going to take a crack at IndyCar. This isn't Milka Duno coming in with SAMAX.

Hanley was runner-up in the 2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship behind Álvaro Parente and ahead of the likes of Filipe Albuquerque, Giedo van der Garde, Miguel Molina, Mikhail Aleshin and Bertrand Baguette. He also handily outscored Charlie Kimball and Pippa Mann that season, though Kimball's season ended two rounds early. He was a driver who got as far as he could in single-seater racing and raced until he no longer had a budget. He is one of dozens of driver to run that career path. Nearly a decade after he reached the end of that path he has found a second wind and it has brought him to IndyCar.

I don't think Hanley will be terrible. He is not going to be miles off the rest of the field. He might be toward the rear but I think he will be around other slower drivers. He just need to complete laps, especially for a new team. It does DragonSpeed no good in its long-term ambition of joining IndyCar if it starts piling up a crash damage bill. I think his aim should be to be around 15th in qualifying and all of his road and street course races and just make the Indianapolis 500. A lot of people will pencil him in as one of the bumped drivers but we have seen these underestimated entries come in, focus on making the race and do it while shoe-ins end up fighting until the gun and some end up on the outside.

2018 Juncos Racing Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 16th (Barber)
Poles: 0
Championship Finishes: 28th (René Binder), 30th (Kyle Kaiser), 36th (Alfonso Celis, Jr.)

2019 Driver:

Kyle Kaiser - #32 NPF Partners Chevrolet
Fresh off the 2017 Indy Lights championship, Kaiser moved up to IndyCar and he was able to put together a program of four races starting with the first oval of the season at Phoenix.

He was running well at Phoenix but his race ended early after he brushed the wall exiting turn four. The Californian was at Long Beach and he finished a lap down in 16th after he started 24th. The Grand Prix of Indianapolis started on a tough note with him starting 24th and he led two laps through pit cycle but that was his only time at the front. He could not manage anything better than 19th in the final results. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut two weeks later and he qualified a strong 17th for the young team that many were placing in the bumping discussion. In the race, Kaiser was running well and didn't seem out of his element but his race ended after 110 laps due to a mechanical issue.

Kaiser did not make another start for the rest of the season but Juncos Racing had René Binder in the car at Belle Isle, Toronto and Mid-Ohio after he ran at St. Petersburg and Barber. Alfonso Celis, Jr. made two starts at Road America and Portland. Neither driver finished better than 16th.

Numbers to Remember:
0: Lead lap finishes in fours starts in 2018.

2: Retirements in 2018, both at ovals, Phoenix and Indianapolis.

10.75: Points per race averaged by Juncos' three drivers through 12 races in 2018.

Predictions/Goals:
We aren't sure of Kaiser's schedule. He was confirmed for Austin of all races first of all and he did test for the team at Laguna Seca. Whether Kaiser is entered for Laguna Seca or Indianapolis or whether or not Juncos Racing runs other drivers throughout the season still remains to be seen.

I think the goal for Kaiser is just get a few more races put together. Of course, Indianapolis is the no-brainer and Laguna Seca makes sense because it is his home race, with Kaiser calling Santa Clara home but I think he needs more than four races. He had four races last year and he did ok. I think he should be aiming for six or seven races. I would love to see him get a crack at Road America, Iowa, Mid-Ohio and Pocono.

Regardless of how many races Kaiser puts together or where those races are he needs to do better. He needs to get better results and that is difficult with a single-car, part-time program. But he has no other choice. It is the only way a sponsor or team is going to bite the bullet on him.

2018 McLaren Review
New team for 2019!

2019 Driver:

Fernando Alonso - #66 McLaren Chevrolet
Alonso and McLaren focused on Formula One in 2018 after the pairing attempted the Indianapolis 500 in 2017.

Alonso started off the season with a fifth place finish at the Australian Grand Prix and he would finish in the points in the first five races but he would not match that top five finish and he scored points in only four of the final 16 races.

While the Formula One thing was not great, Alonso started off his FIA World Endurance Championship campaign with Toyota and it kicked off with a victory at Spa-Francorchamps. A victory at Le Mans followed with Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. He had a third victory at Silverstone stripped after both Toyotas were disqualified for excessive skid plank wear. The #8 Toyota has finished runner-up in the next two races and with three races remaining in the 2018-19 season at Sebring, Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans, the #8 Toyota leads its teammate by five points.

To start off 2019, Alonso had a fantastic outing at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the #10 Cadillac for Wayne Taylor Racing and he along with Jordan Taylor, Renger van der Zande and Kamui Kobayashi took the overall victory in the rain-stricken event.

Numbers to Remember:
30,000,000: Alonso's reported salary in U.S. dollars for the 2018 Formula season with McLaren, fourth highest behind Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen.

50: Points scored in 2018, good enough for 11th in the World Drivers' Championship and he failed to score a point in the final six races of the season.

96.648: Percentage of laps Alonso was in the top ten of the 179 laps he completed in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.

4.949: Alonso's average running position over the 179 laps he completed in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.

Predictions/Goals:
Win the Indianapolis 500.

Alonso isn't coming to the Indianapolis 500 for the root beer floats and breaded tenderloin. He isn't coming because he likes the Midwestern hospitality. He is here to win and join Graham Hill as the only drivers to complete the Motorsports Triple Crown.

How will he do? This year is going to be different compared to 2017 and it could be an eye opener for Alonso. He and McLaren might come to realize how easy and fortunate they were to have done the 2017 race with Andretti Autosport. They do not have that partnership in 2019 and will be working with Carlin instead. Carlin and McLaren are both professional organization but at Indianapolis Carlin is not in Andretti Autosport's zip code.

McLaren is not going to be tripped up when it comes to the smaller stuff. McLaren did its homework. It has prepared for this race but there is always something that you cannot plan for and can only learn through experience. Those could be the things that catch this team out.

I am not worried about Alonso. We have seen the Spaniard take on challenge after challenge the last two years and he has never been unprepared. He doesn't think he has got it and tries to figure it out on the fly. The dedication he put into his 2017 program was outstanding and that was with six weeks of preparation. He has been working on 2019 since he left the banquet on Memorial Day 2017. He stepped into sports cars and won Le Mans on debut and won the 24 Hours of Daytona in his second shot at it. He is not going to be a problem and after all, he is going to have the most to gain out of everybody in that race. This isn't some type of bucket list event for him. This is attempting to ascend to a higher level.

Bob Fernley has been placed as head of McLaren's IndyCar effort. Fernley had previously worked as team principal at Force India. It would be more surprising if McLaren struggles than if McLaren succeeds. I don't think McLaren is going to come in and be 26th but I don't see the team replicating what it did in 2017 and, as I said before, that has nothing to do with Alonso. It is a new car, it is a new engine manufacture and it will be a new group working on the car. There are too many differences to expect Alonso to waltz back in and be back in the top five. I think he is going to have to work harder this time around and even if that is the case I think he can be competitive and be in the top ten.

2018 Meyer Shank Racing Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 12th (Long Beach)
Poles: 0
Championship Finish: 24th (Jack Harvey)

2019 Driver:

Jack Harvey - #60 SiriusXM/Auto Nation Honda
After making his IndyCar debut and three total starts, Harvey doubled that total while Meyer Shank Racing went from one to six races in 2018.

The year did not start off well as Harvey had a hard accident exiting turn 12. He returned at Long Beach and he started 17th but was fighting for a top ten finish before settling for 12th. Harvey started on the 11th row for the Indianapolis 500 but he worked himself into a position where he was running second with five laps to go though it was all with a pit stop needed to make it to the finish. He did complete all 500 miles and finished 16th.

Unfortunately for the team its home race at Mid-Ohio did not go well where Harvey started and finished 20th. After a few cars had been taken out on lap one put him in the top ten and he appeared set for a career-best finish before he was caught out by a caution and shuffled back. He had to settle for a 16th place finish. The season ended with a lackluster 17th at Sonoma.

Numbers to Remember:
18.555: Average finish through nine career IndyCar starts. His best finish of 12th at Long Beach last year occurred on his birthday.

17.555: Dario Franchitti's average finish through the first nine starts of his IndyCar career with his best finish being ninth at Surfers Paradise.

19.333: Josef Newgarden's average finish through the first nine start of his IndyCar career with his best finish being 11th at St. Petersburg.

Predictions/Goals:
Just keep doing what he is doing.

Harvey is in a great position. The team has expanded its schedule to ten races in 2019, all signs point to full-time status in the near future and Harvey is its guy. He just has to keep up the results and he will get a full-time opportunity. I am sure he is going to want to improve in year two of this part-time program. I don't think anyone is satisfied with 12th being the team's best finish but it had to start somewhere.

Part-time teams are always fighting from behind. There are too many great full-time teams to think Harvey will come into a race and just end up qualifying ninth and finishing fourth. It is difficult and it takes time. I think Harvey can improve and I think he will improve this year. Though he will run majority of the season, he still is not a full-time guy and will not have as much seat time. The one thing on Harvey's side is he will run the first six races and that is a big opportunity to improve results and get some momentum going before he runs at Road America, Mid-Ohio, Portland and Laguna Seca to close out his season.

I think realistic goals for Harvey include advancing to the second round of qualifying at least one or twice and picking up two or three top ten finishes. That seems low but IndyCar is difficult. You cannot expect someone to get seven top ten finishes from ten starts. You cannot expect Harvey to qualify in the top eight on six occasions when he is going against three Penske cars, four Andretti cars, two Ganassi cars, two from Schmidt Peterson, Sébastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing and two Rahal Letterman Lanigan cars. You would not be surprised if those 14 cars took the top 14 spots on the grid in every race.

Harvey can only hope to breakthrough on a few occasions against such tough opposition and he has the ability to do it just not every time he enters a race.

The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 10th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBCSN's coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.