2018 NASCAR Finales Preview

There is a lot of action this weekend and there are a lot of finales and championships to be awarded. With so much action, we are breaking the previews into two parts and this one will specifically look at the three NASCAR finales scheduled for this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr. and Joey Logano are the four drivers that will be competing for the NASCAR Cup championship on Sunday at Homestead. Three of the four drivers have won a championship within the last four years and Logano was the 2016 championship runner-up.

Busch is coming off his eighth victory of the season after winning at Phoenix. This matches Busch's most victories in a season, which occurred in 2008. Busch and Harvick are tied for most victories this season. Harvick leads all drivers with 22 top five finishes while Busch is second on 21. Truex, Jr. has won four times this season but his most recent victory was at Kentucky in July. He is third in top five finishes on 19. Logano has only won twice but he has 25 top ten finishes, five more than Truex but behind Harvick's 28 and Busch's 27. If either Busch or Harvick win the championship, it would be the most top ten finishes for a champion since Dale Jarrett's 29 in 1999. Logano had six consecutive top ten finishes before last week's retirement at Phoenix.

Harvick enters as the best of the final four at Homestead. In 17 starts, Harvick has the best average finish at 6.8 and he has nine top five finishes and 15 top ten finishes, the most all-time in those categories and Harvick has ten consecutive top ten finishes and four consecutive top five finishes at the track. Truex, Jr. has the second-best average finish of the final four at 11.5 and he has eight top ten finishes in 13 Homestead starts. His victory last year was his first top ten finish at the track since 2013.

Busch has made 13 Homestead starts and he has six top ten finishes, including three consecutive. He has also led a lap in three consecutive Homestead races. Logano has four top ten finishes in nine Homestead starts and he has three consecutive top ten finishes in the finale. He has only led at the track twice.

Busch, Harvick and Truex, Jr. are each attempting to win their second Cup championships. Any of those three would become the 15th driver to win multiple Cup championships. Either Busch or Truex, Jr. could become the first driver to win multiple championships with Toyota. Either Harvick or Logano could become the first Ford driver to win a championship since Kurt Busch in 2004. Harvick could become the first driver since Tony Stewart to win a championship with multiple manufactures. Harvick's 2014 title came with Chevrolet. Stewart won the 2002 championship with Pontiac and he won his 2005 and 2011 titles with Chevrolet.

Truex, Jr. could become the 11th driver to win consecutive Cup championships joining Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly.

Championship-ineligible drivers to keep an eye on include Denny Hamlin, a two-time Homestead winner. Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth each have one victory at Homestead. Johnson and Kenseth have 11 and ten top ten finishes at Homestead respectively. Kyle Larson has three consecutive top five finishes at Homestead and he has the second-best average finish amongst active drivers at 7.6. Chase Elliott finished fifth in last year's race while Brad Keselowski has four top ten finishes in the last five Homestead races.

The NASCAR Cup finale will take place at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday November 18th.

NASCAR Xfinity Series
NASCAR's second division will feature two Chevrolet drivers, one Ford driver and one Toyota driver battling for the title.

Christopher Bell's victory at Phoenix kept his title hopes alive. It was Bell's seventh victory of the season while the other three championship-eligible drivers combine for two victories. While Bell has the most victories and most top five finishes at 18, Cole Custer has the most top ten finishes at 25. Custer won two races ago at Texas. Tyler Reddick finished second to Custer at Texas and his only victory was at the season opener in Daytona. Daniel Hemric is still looking for his first career victory in NASCAR's second division and this weekend will be Hemric's 66th career start.

Custer dominated last year's Homestead race from second on the grid. He led 182 laps while Reddick started on pole position and led the remaining 18 laps before finishing fourth. Bell qualified third but his race ended early due to an engine failure. Hermic started next to Bell on row two but his race was hampered by electrical issue and a battery change forced him to finish 13 laps down.

Hemric has six consecutive top ten finishes. Reddick has three consecutive top ten finishes and two of those are top five finishes. Four of Reddick's six top five finishes this season have occurred in the last nine races. Bell has five top five finishes in his last seven starts and three of those were victories. Custer has 12 consecutive top ten starts entering Homestead.

Reddick is attempting to win JR Motorsports its second consecutive championship and the team's third title in five seasons. JR Motorsports' previous two championships came with rookies Chase Elliott and William Byron and Reddick is also a rookie. Bell could join Kyle Busch and Daniel Suárez as Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to win this championship. Richard Childress Racing could win a series-record fifth drivers' championship with Hemric. The team's prior championships were in 2001 and 2006 with Kevin Harvick, 2008 with Clint Bowyer and 2013 with Austin Dillon. The team is currently tied with Roush Fenway Racing on four. Custer or Reddick could join Harvick as the only California-born drivers to win this championship.

Championship-ineligible drivers to keep an eye on include Justin Allgaier, who was eliminated after Phoenix despite having five victories this season. Allgaier has a poor track record at Homestead with his only top ten finish in eight starts being sixth in 2016. This weekend marks Elliott Sadler's final race as a full-time driver. Sadler has an average finish of 8.6 entering the finale. Sadler has not won since Kentucky in September 2016. He has five top ten finishes in his last seven Homestead starts.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series finale will take place at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday November 17th.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Johnny Sauter could become the fifth driver with multiple Truck championship while Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley and Noah Gragson each shoot for their first Truck title.

Sauter has the most victories this season with six while Moffitt's Phoenix victory was his fifth of the season. Sauter's most recent victory was at Martinsville last month while Haley won at Texas two weeks ago. Gragson's only victory this season was at Kansas in May. Sauter and Haley are tied with 17 top ten finishes this season while Sauter has 14 top five finishes. Moffitt only has 12 top ten finishes but all 12 were top five finishes. Gragson has 16 top ten finishes and leads the series with six pole positions.

Sauter is the only one of the four drivers to have won at Homestead. He won the 2011 race and he has eight top ten finishes in the last nine Homestead races. This will be Moffitt's first Truck start at Homestead. Moffitt has two Cup starts at Homestead. In 2014, Moffitt finished 36th and in 2015, Moffitt closed out his Rookie of the Year season with a 31st place finish. Haley made his Homestead debut last year and he finished ninth. Gragson has finishes of 15th and 18th in his two Homestead starts.

If Sauter wins the race, it would his seventh victory of the year and it would be the second-most victories for a Truck champion behind only Mike Skinner's eight in the inaugural season in 1995. Regardless of where he finishes, if Moffitt wins the championship it would be the fewest top ten finishes for a Truck series champion. Haley could become the first Indiana-born driver to win the Truck championship. Gragson could become the first Truck champion to not start every race in a season. Gragson missed the Pocono race due to illness.

Matt Crafton won at Homestead in 2015. Todd Gilliland is looking to get his first career victory before his rookie season is over. Harrison Burton is making his second career start on a 1.5-mile oval. Burton has seven top ten finishes in his last eight starts. Chris Windom will make his second start of the Truck season.

The final race of the Truck season will take place under the lights at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday November 10th.

Over or Under?
1. Over or Under: 4.5 average finish at the end of the stages for champion?
2. Over or Under: 301 miles completed at the time of the checkered flag?
3. Over or Under: 144.5 combined age of the top five finishers?

Predictions
1. There is one caution that involves one of the championship-eligible drivers.
2. Cole Custer does not win the championship and leads fewer than 75 laps.
3. The champion wins the Truck race.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Andretti Autosports' 2018 Season

The penultimate IndyCar wrap-up is here and it is Andretti Autosport. The team had one of its best seasons in the DW12-era. It had two drivers win a race and it had two drivers finish in the top five of the championship. It was the first time the team had two drivers in the top five of the championship since 2007. The team was in the title fight from day one of the season though it did not bring home the silverware.

Alexander Rossi had a career year and was arguably the best driver in 2018

Alexander Rossi
He was everyone's sleeper entering the 2018 season and sure enough the man who we all thought could challenge for the championship did. Rossi's 2018 season was spectacular to watch and in every race he left us dazzled. In races where we thought passing was not going to occur, Rossi made heart-stopping moves that will be shown for years to come. He might not have taken home the hardware but he won a lot of hearts.

What objectively was his best race?
Rossi had a career year and won three races after having won twice in his first two seasons. Each victory was a beat down. The first was in his home state on the streets of Long Beach, a race where he started on pole position and led 71 of 85 laps. His second victory would not come until the end of July at Mid-Ohio but it was another victory from pole position and while he only led 66 of 90 laps, Rossi won by 12.8285 seconds over Robert Wickens. His final victory was in the following race at Pocono. He didn't start on pole position in this one but he started third and led 180 of 200 laps at an average speed of 191.304 MPH, this fourth-fastest 500-mile race in IndyCar history.

What subjectively was his best race?
Pocono. While the Long Beach and Mid-Ohio victories were impressive, Pocono was an old-school 500-mile race where one man ran from the field and dared it to keep up. Will Power put a valiant fight and he took the point for a bit but Rossi out-legged the Australian after Power had won the prior two Pocono races and was coming off his Indianapolis 500 victory in May. On top of all that, Rossi joined limited company at Pocono as he became just the ninth driver to lead at least 450 miles in a 500-mile IndyCar race and he was the first to do it in nearly 38 years.

The others to do?
Ralph DePalma: 1912 Indianapolis 500, 490 miles led, finished 11th.
Dario Resta: 1916 Speedway Park, 450 mile led, finished first.
Billy Arnold: 1930 Indianapolis 500, 495 miles led, finished first.
Bill Vukovich: 1953 Indianapolis 500, 487.5 miles led, finished first.
Jim Clark: 1965 Indianapolis 500, 472.5 miles led, finished first.
Al Unser: 1970 Indianapolis 500, 475 miles led, finished first.
A.J. Foyt: 1975 California 500, 468.5 miles led, finished first.
Bobby Unser: 1980 California 500, 455 miles led, finished first.

Who wouldn't want to add their name to that list?

What objectively was his worst race?
Rossi's worst race on paper was Road America, where chamber shim issues forced an extra pit stop and dropped him from podium contention to 16th.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Rossi coughed up a lot of points this season and that is where the championship was lost. Rossi really should have been controlling this championship from the get-go but he let a lot of points slip through his fingers.

At St. Petersburg, he should have at least finished second but his contact with Wickens drove him wide enough that both Sébastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal slid passed and instead of scoring 41 points, his scored 36 points.

At Phoenix, Rossi hit a crew member, had to serve a one-lap penalty and put on one of the greatest shows as a lapped car, uncapping himself under green flag conditions, overtaking when few else could and finding himself within ten seconds of the later in less than five minutes. The show got him up to third in the final results but if it wasn't for the whole charade, Rossi could have won this one outright with the pace he had.

At Barber, Rossi had an off while trying to stretch his slick tires in the wet and he went from at least an eighth place finish to 11th.

In the second Belle Isle race, Rossi was the best of the two-stop strategy drivers but Ryan Hunter-Reay was chasing him down for the lead and it seemed inevitable Hunter-Reay was going to get pass. Rossi tried to hold him off but a lock up not only knocked him out of the lead but dropped him to fourth and punctured his tire, forcing him to make another stop and then have to scramble to finish 12th instead of setting for second.

We covered Road America and the second half of the year was kinder to Rossi but he left points on the table. He stalled on his first pit stop at Iowa and what could have been fifth was ninth. At Toronto, he got into the back of Power and had to make an extra pit stop and he fought to finish eighth but should have been a top five finish. He had Portland in the bag and then cautions went against him and sometimes those days happen and you finish eighth.

Finally, Sonoma, where he ran into the back of his teammate Marco Andretti at the start, puncture his front tire and had to limp back to the pits on lap one. It was almost championship over but Rossi never quits and got himself back into the discussion even though he would run out of fuel before the finish line and drop to seventh.

Sonoma might be the worst of all because he still had a great shot at the championship and he kind of beat himself but the second Belle Isle race was just as bad.

Alexander Rossi's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 2nd (621 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 8
Top Fives: 10
Top Tens: 14
Laps Led: 415
Poles: 3
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 6.5625
Average Finish: 5.705

After a few rough years, Ryan Hunter-Reay ended 2018 smiling

Ryan Hunter-Reay
Hunter-Reay entered the 2018 season on a two-year drought since his most recent victory. Not to mention he had not finished in the top five of the championship since 2012. He got off the snide in both categories this year but the bad days could not be completely shaken this year.

What objectively was his best race?
The veteran got back in the win column after almost two and a half seasons of misses. The first victory was the Belle Isle race where Hunter-Reay was a man shot out of a cannon on the three-stop strategy and chased down his teammate Rossi despite the television crew calling the race over with 15 laps to go. The second victory was in the finale at Sonoma, a race where he started from pole position. Hunter-Reay really wasn't challenged in the finale and led 80 laps on his way to victory.

What subjectively was his best race?
Though he dominated Sonoma, the second Belle Isle race is what we love to see. Hunter-Reay ran flat out and it got him the victory but it should be noted it was the same strategy he employed the day before but a late caution erased his potential advantage as all the three-stop and two-stop drivers ended up on the same level playing field. If that caution had not come out in race one, Hunter-Reay might have won that race and it should be noted that Hunter-Reay had four runner-up finishes along with his two victories. This was a great year for Hunter-Reay.

What objectively was his worst race?
Hunter-Reay had two 20th-place finishes and both punches to the gut. He was forced to make an early pit stop at Long Beach after contact with Scott Dixon damaged his front wing. He got back into the top five but Takuma Sato cut down his tire. He lost a lap but fought back to the lead lap only to get caught at the hairpin after Bourdais spun and then he hit the barrier, ending his day. At Gateway, Hunter-Reay had a fuel pressure issue end his night while in contention for a top five finish.

What subjectively was his worst race?

I am going to list three:

The first is the Grand Prix of Indianapolis where Hunter-Reay lost a cylinder a third of the way into the race and he limped home to an 18th place finish.

At Iowa, Hunter-Reay had no radio communication with his crew from the start. He could hear them but the crew couldn't hear Hunter-Reay. For the first 220 laps it was fine and Hunter-Reay was in the top ten but he had to call it a day when the left rear chamber shims fell out.

Finally, Toronto was a race where Hunter-Reay locked up and slid into the turn three barrier on his own while in a podium position. 

Ryan Hunter-Reay's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 4th (566 points)
Wins: 2
Podiums: 6
Top Fives: 10
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 132
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 7
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 6.375
Average Finish: 8.764

Marco Andretti made improvements in 2018

Marco Andretti
After a few tough years in the aero kit epoch, Andretti had better days with the universal aero kit and was much more competitive though victory has still been far off for the third-generation driver.

What objectively was his best race?
Andretti started on pole position for the first Belle Isle race and he led the first stint but Dixon jumped  ahead him during the pit cycle. Andretti could not get back to the lead but he held on for a fourth place finish.

What subjectively was his best race?
I am going to say Sonoma because he was quick all weekend and the entire Andretti Autosport team was on it that weekend. Andretti qualified fourth, the second-best qualifier for the team. Three Andretti cars made it to the Fast Six, all four cars started in the top ten and Patricio O'Ward made his debut with Harding Racing and was starting fifth. Sure, Rossi got into Andretti at the start but Andretti stayed in the top five all race and closed the season with a fifth place finish.

What objectively was his worst race?
It was Portland where Andretti had nowhere to go in turn two at the start and his race was over in the span of 30 seconds. He started ninth and ended up classified as dead fucking last in 25th.

What subjectively was his worst race?

I am going to double back to the first Belle Isle race because while he started on pole position he could not dictate control of the race and it always seemed like Dixon was going to leapfrog of Andretti. It seemed like something the team should have been on top of and been aggressive to make sure Dixon would not get ahead. If Andretti could have stayed ahead of Dixon after the first pit stop then Andretti probably wins that race. 

Marco Andretti's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 9th (392 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 22
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 3
Average Start: 12.5
Average Finish: 11.508

Zach Veach was trending in the right direction at the end of 2018

Zach Veach
After a part-time effort in 2017, Veach made the full-time move to IndyCar with Andretti Autosport. Veach suffered growing pains early in the season but the Ohioan kept plugging along. At the end of the season, he was turning heads and a lot of people are excited for what he will do in his sophomore season.

What objectively was his best race?
He finished fourth in the third race of the season at Long Beach and it might not have been a stellar drive to the front but Veach found himself in a position at the front and he made the most of it. Veach challenged Ed Jones for that final podium position and he did not make it easy on the Ganassi driver. This was probably a result that was five positions better than it should have been but this was a taste of the season to come for Veach.

What subjectively was his best race?
Gateway! And Pocono! But mostly Gateway! Veach had to start 16th because qualifying was rained out but he likely would have qualified in the top five and had he started in the top five he might have won the race. Veach made some daring moves and got to the front. He ended the night in fifth! As for Pocono, Veach was making moves in what was tricky aerodynamic conditions and he wasn't passing nobodies, he was passing past champions; the likes of Bourdais, Newgarden and Pagenaud.

What objectively was his worst race?
Veach had a pair of 23rd-place finishes in the two Indianapolis races. The road course race was never favorable to him as he started 20th but mechanical issues didn't help make his day any easier. In the 500-mile race, Veach caught on fire exiting the pits but the car put itself out. Other than that, nothing memorable happened and he finished two laps down.

What subjectively was his worst race?

There are two races I will focus on: The second Belle Isle race and Portland.

In that Belle Isle race, Veach started seventh, the first top ten starting position of his career but in the race he faded a bit and wasn't really in contention for a top ten finish. He settled into 13th.

Portland was off a wave of momentum with fourth consecutive top ten finishes and off the back of the great results at Pocono and Gateway. He started sixth in this race and while a lot of challengers were out in the first lap, Veach had his own off-track excursion cause a caution and ruin what could have definitely been another top ten finish. 

Zach Veach's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 15th (313 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 5
Average Start: 14.4375
Average Finish: 14.508

An Early Look Ahead
All four drivers will be back in 2019.

Andretti Autosport won five races this season, the most the team has won since 2013. Andretti Autosport has been a championship contender since it entered the IRL in 2003 but it has been a less consistent contender when compared to Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Andretti Autosport ebb and flows. It will have a strong championship effort one season and follow it up with two or three lackluster seasons in-between its next go at the title but the team might be in its best shape since the glory days of Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Bryan Herta.

Rossi had a championship-caliber season in 2018 and it seemed like the races where Rossi lost points, some of which were of his own making, were part of the growing process. He could have won the title this season and made the mistakes he did but he might be better off losing the title and spending the off-time focusing on where he can improve.

Rossi is an intelligent driver. He isn't a driver who is quick and needs to be honed in because of recklessness. He knows the limits and has perfected the high-wire act at the age of 27. The best example of this was at Gateway where in the first stint of the race Rossi was preaching patience on the radio and was conserving everything knowing it was a long race. When it came to the final stint, Rossi and the team decided to conserve fuel and not make an additional pit stop. While everyone else was going all-out, Rossi ran his race and he made it to the finish, not pushing the car, which would have been easy to do and running out of fuel. It got him a second place finish and made up ground in the championship. He can buy into a strategy and make it work. Not many drivers can do that in their third year in IndyCar.

It was comforting to see Hunter-Reay finish fourth in the championship on the back of two victories and six podium finishes. Hunter-Reay had a great season and he had ten top five finishes! There are years where that would have been enough to be champion but there were too many ill-fated days for him. If Hunter-Reay can get pass those days where electrical gremlins get him or he gets a tire cut down and just finishes those races in seventh or eighth, he could add another championship to his résumé and beat his teammate in the process.

Marco Andretti had a good season and he got back into the top ten of the championship. I felt this season had a big split with the top five drivers and Robert Wickens out front, Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais in this next group and then Graham Rahal, Andretti and James Hinchcliffe all consistently finishing in the top ten but not doing much better than that.

Rahal and Andretti finished tied on points and Rahal finished eighth on tiebreaker but when you consider Rahal started the season with six consecutive top ten finishes and ten top ten finishes in the first 11 races I think it says a lot about Andretti's season. It was not as flashy and Andretti did benefit from finishing fifth in the double points finale at Sonoma but he can hold his own and what is wrong with that? He might not win nine races in a season but Andretti is a solid driver.

Veach might have ended the season as the driver we are most excited about. It might have been a coincidence that this surge in excitement around Veach occurred simultaneously with the exit of Robert Wickens due to his injury but things were clicking for Veach during summer. His season had a bit of a rough patch at the start but Veach started getting results and made a big leap forward down the stretch. I don't want to say he will win a race in 2019 but after watching how he did on ovals, I would not be surprised if he is in contention at Indianapolis, Texas, Pocono and/or Iowa.

Things are looking good for Andretti Autosport. I don't think Rossi is going anywhere and I don't mean that in I don't think he is going to Team Penske but I don't think Rossi is going to fall off. I think he will be there challenging Scott Dixon and Will Power for the title in 2019 and I would not be surprised if Hunter-Reay is in the conversation as well.

Musings From the Weekend: Exploring an IndyCar/NASCAR Joint Weekend

Where to begin? An appeal was heard. A championship was overturned. Besides that, two other championships were decided on track and one came down to the final lap while one driver joined exclusive company. Max Verstappen is not happy with Esteban Ocon. In NASCAR, the penalties from Wednesday didn't shake things up too much. There was plenty of contact though across all three races. IMSA held an exhibition race. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso and McLaren will return to attempt the Indianapolis 500 in 2019. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Exploring an IndyCar/NASCAR Joint Weekend
We are at the end of 2018. Seasons are dwindling. A few hang on but most are calling time with winter weeks away. With the end comes new beginnings and 2019 marks a few changes that could be momentous for motorsports, especially in the United States.

IndyCar moves full-time to NBC Sports in 2019 and the series will have eight races broadcasted on network NBC with the remaining nine on NBCSN. While IndyCar's relationship with NBCSN and its predecessor Versus extends back a decade, this is a new era for the series as it is now fully apart of the NBC Sports family.

Already fully apart of the NBC Sports family is NASCAR, which has been on the network since 2015. The last four years have seen a good relationship between the two series. NBCSN has created a motorsports stronghold on American cable TV and it has been beneficial to the series. IndyCar and NASCAR programming has mingled and races have led into other races. When Formula One was on the network it was arguably your one-stop-shop for motorsports. With IMSA joining the NBC Sports family as well in 2019, it appears that will be the case again but with an expanded partnership with IndyCar, could we a common television contract bring series together at the tracks?

A rumor came out over autumn about a discussion held for a IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader at Chicagoland Speedway in 2019. While those talks were tabled it has not been completely ruled out and a motorsports summit will be held for the NBC Sports properties before the end of the year.

This will not happen in 2019 but could 2020 be an option? How realistic would it be for IndyCar and NASCAR to run a combined weekend? Let's explore and we will start with the rumored scenario.

Chicagoland makes sense. It is a Midwest venue, it has history with IndyCar and the venue falls during the NBC portion of the NASCAR season, the most crucial part of any potential combined weekend. This isn't going to happen during the Fox portion of the season. It has to be an NBC event just from a logistical standpoint.

Let's breakdown Chicagoland a little bit further. Chicagoland falls at the end of June/start of July. It was the first NBC race this year and it will be again next year. This race fell on an IndyCar off weekend in 2018 and it falls on an IndyCar off weekend in 2019 with the series running at Road America the weekend before and then having two weeks off until Toronto. A combined IndyCar/NASCAR weekend would be a great way for NBC to kick off its NASCAR portion of the schedule and it would be a big summer kick-off. We would be a month removed from the Indianapolis 500 and there would still be a little over two months until the Southern 500. It could be a big move at the start of summer.

However, there are problems with Chicagoland and I am not talking about the track size or the catchfence but the schedule itself. The weekend is already a triple-header for NASCAR with the Trucks running Friday night, the Grand National Series running Saturday afternoon and NASCAR Cup qualifying Saturday evening with the Cup race Sunday afternoon.

How can you squeeze IndyCar in? When does IndyCar squeeze in?

Oval events are known for having a lot of downtime. It is a NASCAR and an IndyCar problem. A practice session is held and then there is an hour break with nothing on track. Then another practice session is held and there is two-hour break before qualifying and when the day is over you spent just as much time watching empty asphalt as you did watching cars on racetrack.

There is room but it comes down to the tires. Goodyear and Firestone do not match well and it is neither manufactures' fault. It is science. Each tire has to be constructed its own way and they do not match. This isn't only a Goodyear/Firestone thing but Firestone has the same problem with Cooper Tires, which supplies all three series of the Road to Indy.

Thanks to Jon Beekhuis' inquiry, we have learned incompatible rubber is lifted from the track surface and thrown away. With three series on Goodyear, Firestone rubber would not have a chance to get into the surface and it would not be the best for IndyCar. I doubt the tire manufactures would want to work together to each bring a compound that would be compatible. A compromise could lead to a series taking a step back in terms of quality and I am not sure either side would be willing to give. Plus, you could be looking at an angry fan base that the series they hold closest to their hearts had to sacrifice and had a worse race because of it.

Rubber is a hurdle but there is also the question about what would the actual schedule look like that would deem it worth having a combination weekend? What would be the best for each series? It would make sense to give IndyCar its track time, rubber in and then race. IndyCar could be the leadoff to the weekend, practice Thursday night and race Friday night. The NASCAR weekend could start on Saturday. But would having IndyCar run Thursday and Friday and the NASCAR events being smushed into the Saturday and Sunday be worth promoting as a combination weekend?

The lure of a combination weekend would be getting to see IndyCar and Cup cars running on the same day. You would get to see Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and company go run a practice session and ten minutes later Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi and the IndyCar bunch would take to the track. Splitting it up into two IndyCar days and two NASCAR days is basically having two separate weekends. If a track is going to do that then it mind as well hold the events a few months apart.

Maybe we put Chicagoland aside for a moment but we should also remember this year's Chicagoland weekend was held when it was over 90º F. The crowd was down significantly. I am not sure adding IndyCar would draw more people to the track. The easier thing to do would be to move these races to the night.

What other options are there? Both series go to Pocono but NASCAR at the end of July and IndyCar at the end of August. That would be something if both series shared a weekend but I don't think that is an option. Fans have wanted the Cup series to go to Iowa for quite sometime and with a possible calendar a few years away maybe that would be the better venue for this combination event in July. IndyCar has run with ARCA at Iowa the last few seasons and despite the tire differences, the IndyCar race hasn't been that bad. This year's race was just fine and it had not only ARCA's General Tire but also Indy Lights on Cooper Tires.

IndyCar is moving the Iowa race to Saturday night. I bet NASCAR would want the Cup race on Saturday night. On top of that, what about the support series for each? In my mind, Iowa might be the best option when it comes to an oval. But it also could allow for something different. What if each series could have the best of both worlds? What if instead of fighting over the prime time slot, each series got its chance under the lights?

This could be a chance for each series to run a doubleheader, one race on Friday and one race on Saturday. Each night could have 400 laps of racing, IndyCar running 200 and NASCAR running 200. On Friday night, one series would lead off in the evening, let's say it would be a 6:00 p.m. local start and the second race would begin at 8:00 p.m. local. On Saturday night, whatever series had the late start runs at 6:00 p.m. and the series that opened up on Friday closes out on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

The only other option I would throw out there is Watkins Glen. IndyCar had good races at Watkins Glen. Crowds, not so much. NASCAR gets a great crowd at Watkins Glen and the race isn't half bad. This would be IndyCar's best chance to go back to Watkins Glen and this would basically force NASCAR to run the boot.

That is the start of a two-week break for IndyCar, as the Watkins Glen NASCAR weekend falls the week after Mid-Ohio. The NASCAR weekend already has Cup, Grand National Series and the East series but NASCAR road course weekends are always underwhelming when compared to an IndyCar weekend or sports car weekend. Four series is nothing. IndyCar could start on Thursday with a test session and fit in practice sessions on Friday. In August, there is enough daylight to go late into the day. Cup qualifying was held after the Grand National Series race this year. The IndyCar race could be held at that time or maybe IndyCar and the Cup races could be run on Sunday. The IndyCar races held in 2016 and 2017 took an hour and 41 minutes and an hour and 42 minutes respectively. The IndyCar race could begin at noon, end around 2:00 p.m. ET and the Cup race could begin at 3:00 or 3:15 p.m. ET.

That is a combination weekend worth having.

One final concern with all those possibilities is weather. If it rains, it will throw the entire weekend into chaos. What happens if the IndyCar race is scheduled to go first and it rains but the track is being dried and will be done at the time the NASCAR race is supposed to start. What happens? The only guarantee is anger. IndyCar fans would be angry if they are force to wait until after the Cup race or worse until the next day. NASCAR fans would be angry if their race is on hold until the IndyCar race is completed and the Cup race doesn't go green until 11:00 p.m. ET. Any road course would hopefully alleviate those concerns but we know there have been rainstorms hard enough that neither IndyCar nor NASCAR can race in.

This is the closest we have ever been to IndyCar and NASCAR's top series running together on the same weekend. It is still miles away from happening but a combination of the decline of motorsports, a stagnant landscape and a mutual television partner has made it seem possible. We are a long way off from it ever becoming a reality and egos will have to be put aside to make it happen. That might be the greatest hurdle of all.

If the two sides can come to terms then I hope we get to see it, preferably at Iowa or Watkins Glen.

Retroactive Champions From the Weekend
The #4 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG of Lucas Stolz, Maro Engel and Yelmer Buurman have been reinstated to the 3 Hours of Barcelona, given back the race victory and in turn the trio have won the Blancpain Endurance Series championship over Raffaele Marciello. Marciello remains the overall Blancpain GT Series champion despite the reversed result.

Champions From the Weekend
Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto of the #100 Team Kunimitsu Honda won the Super GT GT500 championship with a third place finish at Motegi. Yamamoto is the fourth driver to win the Super Formula and Super GT championships in the same year joining Pedro de la Rosa, Satoshi Motoyama and Richard Lyons.

The #65 K2 R&D Leon Racing Mercedes-AMG of Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou won the Super GT GT300 championship with its victory at Motegi.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about Black Falcon and the GT300 results from Motegi but did you know...

Lewis Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix, his tenth victory of the season and 72rd of his career.

Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup race from Phoenix, his eighth victory of the season. Christopher Bell won the Grand National Series race, his seventh victory of the season. Brett Moffitt won the Truck series race, his fifth victory of the season.

The #8 ARTA Honda of Tomoki Nojiri and Takuza Izawa won the Super GT race from Motegi.

The #13 ANSA Motorsports Ligier-Nissan of Kyle Kirkwood and Roman De Angelis won the IMSA SportsCar Encore from Sebring. The #60 Roush Racing Ford Mustang of Nate Stacy, Kyle Marcelli and Dean Martin won in GT4. The #22 Mark Motors Racing Audi of Remo Ruscitti and Marco Cirone won in the TCR class.

Coming Up This Weekend
Three NASCAR finales from Homestead.
Three finales from Valencia in MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.
Three World Touring Car Cup races from Macau, the final round of the season.
The Macau Grand Prix.
The FIA GT World Cup from Macau.
The final FIA World Endurance Championship race of the calendar year, 6 Hours of Shanghai.
The World Rally Championship finale, Rally Australia.

Friday Five: Motegi, São Paulo, Phoenix

A pair of champions will be decided at Motegi and one of them enters the weekend as a deadlock. Formula One makes its one trip to South America. The drivers' championship might be decided but the constructors' championship is still on the line, though that could be wrapped up this weekend. Meanwhile, NASCAR shook things up during the week and all that we thought was decided at Texas was washed away on a Wednesday.

Super GT
Two championships will be decided this weekend at Motegi with both GT500 and GT300 titles on the line.

There is currently a tie atop of the GT500 championship. The #100 Team Kunimitsu Honda of Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto are tied with the defending champions, the #1 Lexus Team KeePer TOM's Lexus of Nick Cassidy and Ryō Hirakawa on 67 points. Each team has won the last two races with the #100 Honda taking victory at Sportsland SUGO and the #1 Lexus winning the most recent race at Autopolis. Button and Yamamoto hold the tiebreaker with two runner-up finishes to one for Cassidy and Hirakawa.

Yamamoto and Cassidy battled for the Super Formula title a few weeks ago and Yamamoto won the title after winning the Suzuka finale with Cassidy finishing second. Yamamoto could join Pedro de la Rosa, Satoshi Motoyama and Richard Lyons as drivers to win the Super Formula and GT500 championships in the same year. Cassidy and Hirakawa could join Masahiko Kageyama, Érik Comas, Satoshi Motoyama, Ronnie Quintarelli, Masataka Yanagida and Tsugio Matsuda as drivers to successfully defend a GT1/GT500 championship.

Twelve points behind the leaders is Yuhi Sekiguchi, who will drive the #36 Lexus Team au TOM's Lexus with Kazuki Nakajima. These drivers won the 500-mile race at Fuji. Nakajima missed the second round of the season, the 500-kilometer race at Fuji due to FIA World Endurance Championship commitments. Tomoki Nojiri and Takuza Izawa trail by 17 points and the drivers of the #8 ARTA Honda won the third round of the season at Suzuka.

Honda has not won the GT500 title since 2010 with Takashi Kogure and Loïc Duval driving for Weider Honda Racing.

In GT300, the #55 ARTA BMW of Sean Walkinshaw and Shinchi Takagi lead the championship with 60 points. The #55 BMW swept the Fuji races this season and finished fourth at Autopolis. Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou have not finished on the podium yet this season but the drivers of the #65 K2 R&D LEON Racing Mercedes are second in the championship, 12 points behind the #55 BMW.

Koki Saga and Kohei Hirate have also not won this season but the drivers of the #31 apr Racing Toyota has two runner-up finishes and a third-place result. Saga and Hirate are 14 points back. A point behind Saga and Hirate are the defending champions Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsua Kataoka in the #0 Goodsmile Racing with Team Ukyo Mercedes. The #0 Mercedes had a second at the 500-mile Fuji race and third at Sportsland SUGO.

Yuichi Nakayama and Morio Nitta have won twice this season, including the most recent race at Autopolis but the drivers of the #96 K-Tunes Racing LM Corsa Lexus only have 44 points. The final drivers with a shot at the title are Buriram race winners Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Hironobu Yasuda with the #11 Gainer Nissan on 42 points.

This finale is scheduled for 53 laps, 250 kilometers and to start at 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday November 10th.

Brazilian Grand Prix
The penultimate round of the Formula One season is the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton is coming off clinching his fifth World Drivers' Championship two weeks ago at Mexico City. Only once has Hamilton won the race immediately after clinching the world championship and that was 2015 season opener from Australia after he won the championship in the 2014 finale from Abu Dhabi. In Hamilton's prior two times clinching the championship before the finale he has not won another race that season. In 2015, he locked up the title in the United States and finished second in the remaining three races. Last year, he locked up the title in Mexico and finished fourth and second in the final two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi respectively.

Hamilton's only Brazilian Grand Prix victory was in 2016. Meanwhile, three-time Brazilian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel has locked up second in the championship. Vettel won last year's race from Interlagos and he could join Emerson Fittipaldi, Carlos Reutemann, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Nico Rosberg to win the Brazilian Grand Prix in consecutive seasons.

Ferrari is currently one victory away from tying McLaren for most Brazilian Grand Prix victories at 12. Kimi Räikkönen was responsible for Ferrari's tenth Brazilian Grand Prix in 2007, which clinch the Finnish driver his lone world championship. He sits on 236 points and is nine points ahead of his fellow countryman Valtteri Bottas. Max Verstappen's victory in Mexico has him 11 points off Bottas. Verstappen has finished on the podium in the last three races and he has finished the top five in all seven races since the summer break. Daniel Ricciardo on the other hand has retired from four of the last seven races and his best finish is fourth. Ricciardo has 146 points.

Nico Hülkenberg has 69 points and a 12-point cushion over Sergio Pérez. Kevin Magnussen is in ninth on 53 points with Fernando Alonso on 50 points. Esteban Ocon is one point outside the top ten with Carlos Sainz, Jr. a further five points back.

The battle is in the World Constructors' Championship. Mercedes leads Ferrari with 585 points to 530 points and if Mercedes leaves Brazil with at least a 43-point lead, the German manufacture will have captured its fifth consecutive title. The title would put Mercedes in sole possession of fifth all-time in constructors' championships and Mercedes would join Ferrari as the only constructors to win five consecutive titles. Ferrari won six consecutive from 1999 to 2004.

Red Bull is third on 362 points. Renault sits on 114 points, 30 points ahead of Haas. McLaren has 62 points and it opened the gap over Force India. Sauber jumped Toro Rosso at Mexico and sits on 36 points and has a three-point edge over Toro Rosso. Williams rounds out pack on seven points.

The Brazilian Grand Prix will take place at 12:10 p.m. ET on Sunday November 11th.

NASCAR Cup Series
The biggest news in the NASCAR world was the penalty handed down to Kevin Harvick after his Texas victory. Harvick's #4 Ford was found to have violated regulations related to the spoiler. The penalty has stripped Harvick of his automatic berth to the Homestead finale with a shot at the championship and it has cost him 40 points. Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childers has also been suspended for the final two races of the season.

Joey Lognao remains the only driver locked into the finale and at least two drivers will make the finale based on points. After the penalty, Kyle Busch leads on points with 4,128, three ahead of Martin Truex, Jr. Logano is third on 4,119 points and Harvick sits on the bubble with 4,103 points. Kurt Busch is on the outside by three points and Chase Elliott is now only 17 points out after the penalty. Aric Almirola is 35 points on the outside and Clint Bowyer trails Harvick by 51 points.

Harvick has the most victories at Phoenix in the Cup Series with nine, including the race held this March. Ironically, Harvick's victory came the week after his car was found to be illegal after a victory at Las Vegas. Harvick is tied with Jimmie Johnson for most top five finishes and most top ten finishes at Phoenix with 15 and 20 in the respective categories.

Despite Harvick's record, he does not have the best average finish amongst active drivers at Phoenix. That belongs to Elliott, who has an average finish of 6.8 after five starts. Elliott has four top ten finishes in five starts with his worst result being 12th. Elliott has finished second and third  in the last two Phoenix races. Kyle Busch has six consecutive top ten finishes at Phoenix and he led 128 laps in the spring race before finishing second to Harvick.

Kurt Busch has seven top five finishes at Phoenix, one fewer than his brother, but 18 top ten finishes, equal to his brother. Almirola has only three top ten finishes in 15 Phoenix starts and two of those have come in the last two races, including a seventh place finish in the spring. Truex, Jr. has the second worst average finish amongst championship-eligible drivers at 16.5, only Bowyer is worse at 18.4. Truex, Jr. does have nine top ten finishes at Phoenix including top five finishes in the last two races. Bowyer finished sixth in the spring, ending a streak of nine consecutive finishes outside the top ten at the track.

Logano won the 2016 autumn race at Phoenix but he has finished outside the top ten in the last three Phoenix races.

The NASCAR Cup race will be held at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday November 11th.

NASCAR Grand National Series
Cole Custer clinched a spot in the Homestead finale with his second career victory last week at Texas. Custer led 16 laps from third on the grid.

Tyler Reddick leads the championship with 3,105 points, 20 points to the good. Elliott Sadler is 13 points above the cutline with Daniel Hemric a point behind Sadler. Justin Allgaier is the first driver on the outside, 12 points behind Hemric. Matt Tifft is 14 points on the outside. Christopher Bell has won six races, most in the series and he is 34 points on the outside. Austin Cindric rounds out the field of championship drivers, 61 points behind Hemric and with his only way to advance being victory at Phoenix.

Sadler and Allgaier are the only active drivers to have won Grand National Series races at Phoenix. Sadler's one victory was in the spring of 2012 with Allgaier's victory coming in the spring of 2017. Allgaier has seven consecutive top ten finishes at Phoenix. Sadler has only one top five finishes in his career at Phoenix. He started fourth in the autumn 2014 race.

Bell has finished fourth in both his starts at Phoenix. Hermic has finishes of seventh, fifth and sixth in his three Phoenix starts. Hermic's teammate Tifft has also made three Phoenix starts and he has finishes of 12th, 11th and seventh. Reddick finished tenth in the spring race and this will only be his third career Phoenix start. Cindric made his fifth Phoenix start in the spring and he finished a lap down in 16th.

Custer has good results at Phoenix. He has starts of ninth, third and third and finishes of 21st, seventh and eighth.

The 200-mile race from Phoenix will start at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday November 10th.

NASCAR Truck Series
Justin Haley joined Johnny Sauter in the Truck series finale after Haley took victory at Texas when Todd Gilliland ran out of fuel on the final lap. This gives GMS Racing two drivers in the final four as the team looks for its second title.

Sauter leads the championship with 3,128 points and he is 19 points ahead of Brett Moffitt. Moffitt is 22 points to the good and he is two points ahead of Haley. Noah Gragson sits on the bubble with 3,105 points and he is 18 points ahead of Grant Enfinger. Matt Crafton is 23 points behind Gragson.

Haley has 12 consecutive top ten finishes while Sauter's 11th place finish at Texas was his first finish outside the top ten since he finished 16th at Eldora. Moffitt has three top five finishes in the Chase and he trails only Haley, who has four top five finishes in the last five races. Gragson has three top ten finishes in the last five races but he has not had a top five finish since Michigan. Enfinger's Las Vegas victory is his only top ten finish in the last five races. Crafton has not won in the last 33 races. His most recent victory was last year at Eldora.

The penultimate Truck race of the season will take place at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday November 9th.

Over or Under?
1. Over or Under: 91.5 minutes elapsed time for the Motegi race?
2. Over or Under: 0.5 retirements on lap one?
3. Over or Under: 14.5 stage points for Chase Elliott?
4. Over or Under: 20.5 being the worst finishing position for a championship eligible driver?
5. Over or Under: 3.5 starting position for the race winner?

Last Week's Over/Unders 
1. Over or Under: 0.5 cautions involving Joey Logano and/or Martin Truex, Jr.? (Under: Neither were involved in a caution).
2. Over or Under: 35.5 caution laps? (Over: There were 54 caution laps).
3. Over or Under: 4.5 championship-ineligible drivers finishing in the top ten of the Truck race? (Over: Six championship-ineligible drivers finished in the top ten).
4. Over or Under: 3.5 riders within ten seconds of the MotoGP race winner? (Over: Four riders were within ten seconds of Marc Márquez).
5. Over or Under: 2.5 Spaniards in the top five of the Moto2 race? (Under: Zero Spaniards finished in the top five).
6. Over or Under: 2.5 riders in the top ten of the championship not scoring points at Sepang? (Over: Arón Canet, Gabriel Rodrigo and Jakub Kornfeil did not score points at Sepang). 
7. Over or Under: 113.5 being the sum of the winning cars at Pukekohe? (Over: The sum was 114 with Shane van Gisbergen in car #97 and Scott McLaughlin in car #17 winning the two races).
Last Week: 2 Unders; 5 Overs. Overall: Unders 23; Overs 19

Predictions
1. There will be at least one European race winner this weekend.
2. The race lap record is broken by at least a half-second.
3. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. all remain championship eligible after Phoenix.
4. The top three finishers combine to lead at least 170 laps.
5. There will be fewer than six cautions.

Last Week's Predictions
1. There will be more than 16 lead changes (Wrong! There were exactly 16 lead changes).
2. A championship-eligible driver that is not Christopher Bell wins the race (Correct! Cole Custer won the race).
3. The Truck series race winner is under the age of 30 (Correct! Justin Haley is 19 years old).
4. Valentino Rossi gets back on the podium (Wrong! Rossi fell from the lead and finished 18th).
5. The pole-sitter finishes the race but does not finish on the podium (Correct! Álex Márquez won pole position and finished seventh).
6. The final lead change does not come on the final lap of the Moto3 race (Correct! Jorge Martín led the final five laps).
7. Craig Lowndes gets a victory (Wrong! Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin split the races).
Last Week: 4/7. Overall: 24.5/42

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Team Penske's 2018 Season

The antepenultimate wrap-up might be a surprise as it is Team Penske. It is not often this team is reviewed so early in the offseason but after winning the championship the last two seasons, Team Penske was bumped out of the top spot. Team Penske won the most races in IndyCar with six victories and it was the fifth consecutive season the team had at least a share of most victories for a team with this being the third consecutive season Team Penske had sole possession of most victories. A highlight of the season was Team Penske reaching the 200 IndyCar victory milestone with the organization breaking 500 victories across all series.

Though it did not end in the championship, 2018 might be the best of Will Power's career

Will Power
The Australian had another stand out year and he climbed up the record books in multiple categories. On top of the history made, Power joined an elite club of drivers in winning a famed race at the end of May. Despite all the positives for Power, enough things went against him that he was again fighting an uphill battle in the championship.

What objectively was his best race?
Power picked up three victories this season. He won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis for the second consecutive year and third time in the last four seasons. He won the Indianapolis 500 after starting second on the grid and he led 59 laps, the second most in the race. His final victory was at Gateway, a race where Power ran flat out while some conserved fuel on the final stint. Power pulled away and it allowed him to make his final stop for a splash and come out in second. He was able to pass the conserving Alexander Rossi and go unchallenged to the checkered flag.

What subjectively was his best race?
The Indianapolis 500. This was the year where we really took greater stock of where Power stands in the history of IndyCar. Entering this season, Power was ninth in all-time victories with 32, he was destined to pass A.J. Foyt for second all-time in pole positions and he had won a championship but we really had not been placing in conversations with the all-time greats while Scott Dixon was causally being mentioned with the Andrettis, the Unsers and Foyt.

I hate that people place such a weight on the Indianapolis 500 and act like if you haven't won it you aren't shit because that isn't the case. Power has been one of the most remarkable and breathtaking drivers in IndyCar. If you had to pick one driver to run a qualifying lap for your life, Power is arguably the number one selection. The Indianapolis 500 is an important race and it shouldn't dictate the greatness of a driver as much as it does but Power adding it to his résumé only shuts up whatever morons are still out there and think he is a hack.

In the seconds after victory, it seemed Power knew he had the trump card and told the world off. "Show me some respect, motherfuckers!" No greater words may have ever been spoken.

What objectively was his worst race?
Twenty-third at Road America where he had a cracked header at the start of the race. He was a lame duck at the green flag and from second on the grid.

What subjectively was his worst race?

An individual race cannot be picked out because Power has fallen into this trend the last few seasons of having not one terrible race but three or four terrible races and it is getting worse. In 2018, Power had four finishes outside the top twenty and six finishes outside the top fifteen. The season before that, Power had two finishes outside the top twenty and five finishes outside the top fifteen. He didn't have a finish outside the top twenty in 2016 but he did have four finishes outside the top fifteen and he was not able to start at St. Petersburg after winning pole position due to an inner ear condition.

It was a cracked header at Road America and a gearbox issue at Portland. He got into the barrier at Phoenix and Texas and he hydroplaned at Barber.

Despite all these issues, Power keeps himself in the championship conversation deep into each summer. The problem is the great summer runs Power has gone on have only kept him in the discussion and they have not had him leading the conversation.

Will Power's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 3rd (582 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 8
Top Fives: 8
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 358
Poles: 4
Fast Sixes: 8
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 2.6875
Average Finish: 9.47

The title defense was unsuccessful but 2018 was far from a disappointment for Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden
Newgarden entered as the defending champion and his title defense started out strong. However, after six seasons of being IndyCar's darling, without a blemish and always on the rise, 2018 was the first step back in the Tennessean's young career. He was still fast and at the front and was one of the top drivers in the season.

What objectively was his best race?
The 2017 champion won three races during his title defense. The first came at Phoenix, in what was a race where Newgarden did not dominate but he was at the front and was always in contention. Newgarden has become a short track stalwart in IndyCar and while the results at Phoenix were good but not great there in his first two starts, the third time was the charm. The next victory was a beat down at Barber, a track he become the master of in his still rather short IndyCar career. His first career victory came at the track in 2015, he finished third there in 2016 and he won in 2017 and 2018, with this season's result coming from pole position and leading 73 of 82 laps in a wet-to-Monday-to-dry-to-wet race. And Barber was not his most dominant performance of the season. He started on pole position again at Road America and he led 53 of 55 laps with the only two laps he did not lead coming during pit cycle.

What subjectively was his best race?
It is Road America. Although he pulled away from the field at Barber, to do what he did at Road America is impressive. Ryan Hunter-Reay nipped at Newgarden's heels for most of the race but it never looked like Newgarden was going to be beat.

What objectively was his worst race?
Surprisingly, Newgarden's worst result of the season was 15th in the second Belle Isle race. He started 19th and couldn't make his way to the front. He did finish on the lead lap though.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is Iowa because he should have had one of the most dominant performances in IndyCar history and instead he finished fourth. He led 229 of 300 laps and at one point it looked like Newgarden was going to lap the field before we got to halfway. A caution bunched up the field and got a few drivers back on the lead lap but even after that Newgarden pulled away. The race was lost in the final 50 laps. James Hinchcliffe chased Newgarden down and in an uncharacteristic performance from Team Penske, they mailed it in. They didn't know Hinchcliffe was on the lead lap and let him pass only to realize the lead was handed away. There was no chance to counter. Hinchcliffe was gone and then the team made the gamble to stop for tires under the final caution only time ran out and a restart was not possible. Newgarden got caught napping, lost a victory then took a gamble and lost a podium finish. 

Josef Newgarden's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 5th (23 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 14
Laps Led: 485
Poles: 4
Fast Sixes: 8
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 5.375
Average Finish: 7.117

Simon Pagenaud was frustratingly good in 2018

Simon Pagenaud
The new package coincided with a decline in results for Pagenaud but that decline still saw him finish with 14 top ten finishes including ten consecutive to close out the season, the second consecutive season he closed out the season with ten consecutive top ten finishes. In Pagenaud's eight full seasons in IndyCar, he has had at least nine top ten finishes every season.

What objectively was his best race?
Second will have to do for Simon Pagenaud and he had to settle for two runner-up finishes this season. At Texas, the blistering issue that befell all three Penske drivers was not so bad for the Frenchman and while Power and Newgarden slipped back, Pagenaud hung on. Cautions fell his way and he was able to hold off Rossi late to finish second. At Toronto, Pagenaud ran up front the entire race but he could not keep up with Scott Dixon.

What subjectively was his best race?
He led 26 laps at Texas. In the other 16 races he led a combined five laps.

What objectively was his worst race?
Long Beach! He was taken out before turn one when Graham Rahal plowed into him and it left him scored as the 24th finisher. Worst of all, it ended a streak of 22 consecutive races completing every lap! And he started third!

What subjectively was his worst race?

His only other finishes outside the top ten were 13th at St. Petersburg and 17th at Belle Isle in the first race of the weekend but those weren't devastating days. I think what was worst is that in pretty much every race Pagenaud was good but in no race was he great in 2018. His two runner-up finishes are his only podium finishes of the season and there isn't another result that I look at and think he should have been three spots better or could have won. Sixth in the Indianapolis 500? That sounds about right. Eighth at Iowa? I can't think he should have done better. Fourth at Gateway? He was fortunate Ryan Hunter-Reay broke down otherwise it would have been fifth.

With all that said, besides maybe Gateway, there isn't a race where Pagenaud caught a break and finished three or four spots better than he should have because of a lot of attrition or a timely caution. Pagenaud's season might be the most fitting for any driver in 2018.

Simon Pagenaud's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 6th (492 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 2
Top Fives: 4
Top Tens: 14
Laps Led: 31
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 8.125
Average Finish: 8.588

An Early Look Ahead
Can we start with a quick sidebar on Hélio Castroneves and the fourth Penske entry?

Castroneves did fine with finishes of sixth and 27th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500 respectively with the latter ending with an accident. I got the feeling Castroneves wanted to still be full-time in IndyCar and I kind of wish he did more races than just the two races in May. I kind of wanted to see him at Road America, Portland and Sonoma.

With that said, I also wish we got to see Juan Pablo Montoya in 2018 and he was the odd man out. It is sad he didn't get to run the Indianapolis but it would have been a nice gesture to give him Pocono and Gateway.

I understand why Penske is not running four cars full-time and it is not likely to change in the near future but with eight races scheduled to be on network television in 2018, wouldn't it be nice if Penske could at least get a fourth car into those races and split it amongst a few drivers? Let Castroneves have Indianapolis and another two races and give Montoya two or three races. But what about having someone different in the car for the remaining races? Ricky Taylor tested an IndyCar; why not give him a race seat? This could be used as a Penske audition for a driver who cannot breakthrough as a full-timer, looking at you Conor Daly and Carlos Muñoz. I think it would be nice to have. Penske isn't going to do it but the series would be better off if he did.

It is hard to have the most victories amongst teams, two drivers in the top five of the championship, three in the top six and on top of all that win the Indianapolis 500 and have a bad year but this falls as a bad year for Team Penske.

Ok... maybe it wasn't a bad year just because the team didn't win the championship but Team Penske has a high bar. This team wants to dominate and winning the Indianapolis 500 might have checked off a box of goals but not retaining the championship is a bit of a disappointment.

Penske will be fine. Does Power need to get to the end of more races and in at least a top ten position? Yes. Does Newgarden need more finishes on the podium? Yes. Does Pagenaud need to find his footing and get back to being a contender for victories? Absolutely and I have no doubt all three will make those corrections for 2019.

Power is going to win races, win pole positions and be a title threat. Newgarden was bound to take a step back after improving his championship position every year he was in IndyCar and that culminated in a championship in 2017. He could only go backward and he did but he was still at the front and he has a chance to rebound in 2019. Pagenaud struggled his first year with Penske, which coincided with the introduction of the manufacture-specific aero kits but in year two he was the man to beat and won the championship. He figured it out then and he wasn't that far off in 2018. A step forward could be to the top step and a second championship. 

Come this time next year we will be writing about a Penske driver or two or three battling for the championship. It seems to be a guarantee.

Musings From the Weekend: Qualifying on Aggregate

The Supercars championship has been fierce and will go to the wire. Teammates kept running into one another in Texas. A teenager ran out of fuel. The Doctor had a fall. A pair of championships were decided in Malaysia, where rains sped up the proceedings. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Qualifying on Aggregate
Something came to me when Formula One was talking about shaking its qualifying format to a four-round knockout format. Formula One tweaked the qualifying format a few years ago with cars being eliminated one by one as the session went on and that was met with much anger and resistance. The change was dropped after two races and the three-round knockout format was re-adopted.

Formula One wants to tweak qualifying because it is easier to fix than a race. A grand prix is dogma. It has been one way for over a century. The race starts with the green flag, it goes on for a distance and the checkered flag signals the end with the top three finishers standing on a podium with flags, anthems and champagne.

It would be damaging to change a grand prix. People know what to expect and for over century it has been the same. It is like a soccer match, 90 minutes split into two 45-minute halves or a baseball game, nine innings with each team getting to bat until they commit three outs with the visiting team batting first. A sporting event should have a familiar feel to it. It is the common ground for the average person coming in. It shouldn't be complicated to them. A grand prix is the same way.

A person with the least amount of knowledge of a race should at least know how it works. The lights go out or the green flag is waved and the race goes on to a set distance. It is simple. You can tune in and even if you are not an expert if you listen and pay attention you should understand. Tinker with that and people will tune out because it would no longer be familiar.

The race doesn't need to be split into two. The race shouldn't be some schoolyard fluid format with bells and whistles and be different for the sake of being different. People think changing the race will change what happens on track and could make what has been a bit of a difficult era for Formula One into something better but the problem is not the race itself but the race cars and the regulations, two things that cannot be changed at the drop of a hat and changes that are not easily noticeable.

That brings us to qualifying. If the race format cannot change and the racecars and regulations cannot change, there is always qualifying. Qualifying is not as set in stone as the race itself. Qualifying is for the hardened followers of not just Formula One but any series. Most will show up on Sunday but Saturday is for those with a bit more zeal. It isn't as large of a crowd but it is the crowd that will follow and they are more adaptable when it comes to change. They might not like it but they give the time to learn and understand.

When it is all said and done we will forget how the grid is set. The race is what we remember. The race is what is celebrated and because of that qualifying is a bit of a playground where risks can be taken. There is a bit of leeway. As long as the process is not a farce, people will live with whatever qualifying format is decided.

There is not one format people are tied to. Every session used to count toward setting the grid. Then it changed to one qualifying session. There was the time of single-car runs for a while in Formula One and for over a decade we have had the knockout format. The knockout format has stuck and I don't know why. It allows for a bit of drama and tension and it allows a driver to answer another driver's lap. One second someone is safe and the next that driver will be starting 17th on the grid after six cars completed a lap.

But what is wrong with trying something different? Plenty ideas have been floated out over what qualifying format should be used in Formula One. The goal seems to be to mix up the grid. In the last five seasons it seems set the Mercedes will start on the front row and pull away. The most memorable races, apart from when the Mercedes take each other out, have been when Lewis Hamilton has started at the back of the grid and had to make up positions. There is more drama in watching someone work from 16th or 19th to the front than say starting on pole position, clearing the field before turn one and only having to deal with back markers on the way to the finish.

How do you create more of those races? You create a more random system in determining the grid. Though the latest proposed qualifying alteration doesn't really do that, one popular idea is a reverse grid qualifying race where the fastest car starts last and at the end of each lap the last car is running and that will set the grid. The first car out starts 20th; the next starts 19th and so on with the winner of the qualifying race getting pole position.

The appeal to that system is not only would it put the Mercedes, Ferraris and Red Bulls to the back but it would pit each team against one another with the immediate determination to overtake other cars. The last place car would be forced to do all it can to get off the bottom, otherwise it would be doomed come the start of the race.

It is an intriguing possibility. After all, while the Mercedes, Ferraris and Red Bulls are head and shoulders clear of the rest of the field, how likely is it that they would all work their way into the top six positions on the grid? There would likely be a session where a Mercedes gets bogged down in traffic, can't make a pass and gets stuck in a 16th place position. It would spread the grid out. You could have a Ferrari and a Renault start on the front row with the top Mercedes in P5, a Haas and a Toro Rosso on row two, the other Ferrari on row four with a Red Bull, a Mercedes in P13 next to a McLaren and the other Red Bull in P15 next to a Williams.

Who knows how that race would play out and that is the appeal to that system, though it is not in consideration for the new Formula One qualifying format. It does have its proponents.

I would like to see it and one problem is we do not get to see how these formats play out. Don't get me wrong; every race shouldn't have a different qualifying format. That would be a problem. There needs to be some consistency in the process but it would be nice to see something different tried every now and then.

Part of the audience would be concerned that having the fastest car would no longer matter and I understand that concern. The last thing we should want is any sanctioning body making rules to hinder the fastest car and de-incentivizing the hard work it takes to be the best on the grid. The best car shouldn't necessarily get its wings clipped.

Here is my suggestion:

Knockout qualifying is popular, not just in Formula One but in the originator of the format, IndyCar. Why couldn't we have both? After all, the reverse grid for the qualifying race has to be set someway.

Knockout qualifying would be used to set the grid for the qualifying race. Fastest qualifier after three rounds starts last and the slowest qualifier starts first. I know what you are thinking. If that is the case, what is the incentive to participate in the knockout session? If you don't go out, you will start further up the grid or the qualifying race and that will take out the intended drama.

Not so fast my friend; this is where you force their hand.

The grid is not set by the qualifying race. The grid is set by an aggregate of the knockout qualifying results and qualifying race result with the lowest score starting on pole position.

For example: If you are the fastest in the knockout session, you get one point. If you win the qualifying race, you get one point. A team could decide to skip the knockout session and start on pole position for the qualifying race but that team would be starting with 20 points and its lowest possible score would be 21 points. It is unlikely 21 points would be the lowest score. I am not sure where 21 points would put someone on the grid but the incentive would be to try and get the lowest score possible, in this case a two. Even if you are not quick enough to be fastest in the knockout round, qualifying third and starting 18th in the qualifying race is more advantageous. You would be starting with three points and if you work your way back to third in the qualifying race, you get six. If you end up winning the qualifying race you get four. Both results are much better than 21.

And I want the qualifying race to be a single-file, Gran Turismo-like start. I want each position earned.

I want to see some series try this. I want a series to go out of the box. In the case of Formula One, maybe the knockout format has to be adjusted a bit just so everything could fit into one time window. Maybe the three rounds of knockout qualifying would have to be shortened to eight minutes apiece and it would force everyone on track immediately. The knockout portion could be completed in a half-hour and after a five or ten-minute break the reverse grid could be set and the qualifying race could take place.

I want IndyCar to try it. What does IndyCar have to lose? I want IndyCar to have something exciting with its new television deal and I want people to have a reason to tune into qualifying. IndyCar's road/street course format would also have to be tinkered with but why not do it at all the ovals besides the Indianapolis 500? IndyCar qualifying at Iowa, Gateway and Texas takes a half-hour. Why not have a second act to the action and get cars on track running together after having after a half-hour of single-car qualifying runs?

The NASCAR roval race at Charlotte got the attention of people because it had never been done before. You run the risk of thinking constant reinvention is the answer but something new once in a while is the answer. I would love NASCAR to try this format, especially on an oval. How many times have we seen Kyle Busch or Martin Truex, Jr. or Kyle Larson to Kevin Harvick be forced to the back and go from 40th to 15th in ten or 12 laps? Obviously a place like Bristol would be chaos and the restrictor plate tracks would be a disaster waiting to happen but it would liven up a session at Michigan or Texas to Kansas or Fontana.

There are hurdles, especially when it comes to IndyCar. A few of the street courses are rather tight and the nature of the IndyCar, even in the universal aero kit design, makes passing difficult. When a second and a half covers the entire field passing will be difficult for even the fastest cars. Formula One doesn't have as great of a problem with this and in some cases the top cars are almost three seconds faster than the tail of the grid.

On top of that, on road and street courses the sessions would have to be shortened to squeeze the qualifying race into the existing time slot. The final round of IndyCar qualifying is six minutes. The series could make each first round group and the second round six minutes but that is very little time with close to a dozen cars on track each time. It could get the knockout portion completed in a half-hour but it would make for hair-raising and frustrating sessions where drivers would definitely complain of experiencing interference on qualifying laps all the time.

There are issues and there would be things we have to decide whether or not to stand. There might be tracks where the fastest cars can work there way into the top five and there might be some tracks where the fastest cars are trapped at the rear and can only make up a few positions. That might just the nature of some circuits and the challenge might make it more impressive if a drive can make up eight or nine spots. What would people be more angry about, the fastest driver always making it to the front and making the exercise seem moot or the fastest driver always stuck at the back, not making up a lot of spots and then starting in eighth position while someone who qualified tenth ends up starting on row two because that driver was able to pick off more slower cars? What does that say about us when decisions are made over what makes us less angry? What does it say that anger is our driving emotion? That is a conversation for another time and day.

People will cry gimmick. People will scream impurity. But why can't we have a bit of fun? Why can't something new be tried? If it doesn't work or has too many issues then it could be scraped but maybe  it is given a few chances and after a handful attempts maybe it works. Maybe it gets more people to tune in. Maybe it gets people excited and maybe it makes the races better. Why not give something different a shot for those reasons alone? If it doesn't work then fine but let's at least give something a chance with the best intentions in mind.

Champions From the Weekend
Francesco Bagnaia clinched the Moto2 championship with a third place finish at Sepang.

Jorge Martín clinched the Moto3 championship after he won at Sepang, his seventh victory of the season.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín but did you know...

Marc Márquez won the Malaysian Grand Prix, his ninth victory of the season. Luca Marini won the Moto2 race, his first grand prix victory in his 53rd start.

Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR Cup race from Texas. Cole Custer won the Grand National Series race, his second career victory in his 69th start in the series. Justin Haley won the Truck race.

Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin split the Supercars races from Pukekohe in what was a sweep for New Zealand drivers.

Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR has reached its penultimate round at Phoenix.
Formula One has reached its penultimate round at Interlagos.
Super GT will decide two championships at Motegi.
IMSA runs an exhibition race at Sebring on Michelin tires.

Friday Five: Three in Texas, Three in Sepang, Two in Pukekohe

We have reached the first weekend of November and we are down to the final few rounds in a handful of series around the world. A few titles could be wrapped up this weekend but at least three will go down to the wire because that is what NASCAR has manipulated to happen. There is so much happening that we need to look at seven series.

NASCAR Cup Series
Joey Logano's victory at Martinsville has locked him into the final four for the third time in his career.  It was Logano's first Martinsville victory. In 2014, Logano finished fourth in the championship after a bad pit stop took him out of contention late and he was runner-up in the championship in 2016. Logano has fared well in the autumn Texas race with four top ten finishes in ten appearances in the race. In his career at Texas, Logano won the spring 2014 Texas race and in his 11 Texas starts with Team Penske he has seven top five finishes and nine top ten finishes including five consecutive top ten finishes.

With Logano locked in, Kyle Busch tops the championship standings with 4,104 points and he is 46 points above the cut line. Martin Truex, Jr. and Kevin Harvick are tied and are 25 points to the good with Truex holding the tiebreaker after his runner-up finish at Martinsville while Harvick finished tenth. Kurt Busch is the first driver on the outside, 25 points back. Chase Elliott dropped from three points above the drop zone to 31 points on the outside after Martinsville. Clint Bowyer is 42 points back while Aric Almirola rounds out the top eight, 50 points on the outside.

Kyle Busch has three Texas victories while the only other championship-eligible drivers with Texas victories being Harvick and his brother Kurt. Kyle Busch won at Texas in the spring while Harvick won last year's autumn race. Kyle Busch also won the spring race in 2013 and 2016 and he has finished in the top five of the autumn race six times. Kurt Busch's only Texas victory was the autumn 2009 race.

Truex, Jr. had a tire failure in the spring race and that snapped a string of six consecutive top ten finishes at Texas. He had also led a lap in five consecutive races prior to the spring race, including 107 laps before finishing second to Harvick. Elliott's 11th place finish in the spring was the first time he did not finish in the top ten at Texas in his Cup career. Elliott has started outside the top ten in his last four Texas starts with two of those coming from outside the top thirty.

Bowyer finished ninth in the spring and it was his first top ten finish at Texas since the spring of 2014. He has only three top five finishes in 25 Texas starts with his most recent being a runner-up result in the spring 2011 race. Almirola's only top ten finish at Texas was seventh in the 2013 spring race. Despite the poor results, this year's spring race was Almirola's first retirement at the Texas.

Of the non-championship drivers, Jimmie Johnson is the all-time leader in Texas victories with seven. Denny Hamlin has won twice at the track while Ryan Newman has one victory. Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski both have five top five finishes at the track but neither have a Cup victory. Truex, Jr.'s 14 top ten finishes are the most for an active driver without a Texas Cup victory.

Four consecutive Texas races have had eight cautions while the pole-sitter has not won at Texas in the last ten races.

The Cup race will be held at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday November 4th.

NASCAR Grand National Series
Things are a bit tighter in NASCAR's second division and no driver has punched a ticket to the Homestead finale.

Elliott Sadler leads with 3,058 points he is 14 points above the drop zone. Daniel Hemric is a point behind Sadler after he lost ten points due to a technical infringement after Kansas. Tyler Reddick is 11 points to the good while Christopher Bell is one point above the cut line. Matt Tifft is the first one out on 3,044 points. Justin Allgaier is five points on the outside after being caught in a first lap accident at Kansas with Bell and Austin Cindric among others. Cole Custer is 23 points outside and Austin Cindric brings up the rear trailing by 43 points.

Sadler and Custer have the most top ten finishes this season with each driver on 23. Bell leads in victories with six and top five finishes with 17. Allgaier is second to Bell in each category and he is behind the Oklahoma by one in each. Sadler has not won a race in the last 69 races. Hermic is still looking for his first career victory and this will be his 64th career start. Tifft is in the same boat as Hemric, looking for his maiden victory, and this will be his 75th career start. Cindric sits on zero victories and will make his 32nd career start.

None of the drives entered for Texas have won at Texas in this series. Sadler won the 2004 spring Cup race and Bell won the 2017 June Truck race. Sadler has six consecutive top ten finishes at Texas and nine top ten finishes in the last ten races. His best finish at the track was second in 1998 to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., his current car owner. It was Earnhardt, Jr.'s first victory in the Grand National Series. Sadler started on pole position for that race.

Bell has finished sixth and second in his two Texas starts in this series. Custer has finished fifth, fifth and fourth in his three Texas starts. Cindric made his Texas debut in the spring and he finished ninth. Tifft has four top ten finishes in five starts at the Texas with his career best sixth coming in the spring. Hemric had his best Texas finish in the spring when he came home in third.

Allgaier has seven top ten finishes at the track but he has never finished in the top five and he has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive Texas races. In Reddick's two Texas starts he has finished 33rd and 23rd.

This Grand National Series event is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday November 3rd.

NASCAR Truck Series
Johnny Sauter will be guaranteed a chance to win his second Truck series title after he won the Martinsville race. Since the Truck series adopted this championship format, Sauter has made it to the final race every year. He finished second last year in the championship to Christopher Bell. In Sauter's nine seasons as a full-time Truck series driver, he has finished in the top five of the championship seven times with his other championship finishes being sixth and ninth.

Noah Gragson is 24 points to the good with Brett Moffitt 15 points above the drop zone. Grant Enfinger is two points ahead of the cut line. Justin Haley is the first driver on the outside with 3,049 points and Matt Crafton is on the outside by ten points.

Sauter is second all-time in Texas victories with five, one behind Todd Bodine. He has won the last two Texas races and three of the last four. Crafton is the only other championship-eligible driver to have won at Texas. He won twice in June 2014 and June 2015.

Enfinger and Haley are tied for the best average finish at Texas amongst active drivers at 4.7. Both drivers have two top five finishes and three top ten finishes in three starts. Gragson has finished in the top ten in all three of his Texas starts but he has never finished better than seventh and his starting position in each race is first, second and third. Moffitt made his first Truck start at Texas this past June and he finished 18th.

The Truck series will race under the lights at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday November 2nd.

Malaysian Grand Prix
Marc Márquez suffered his first retirement of the season last week at Phillip Island after contact with Johann Zarco entering turn one. It snapped Márquez's streak of three consecutive victories and nine consecutive podium finishes.

Andrea Dovizioso heads to Sepang looking for his third consecutive victory in Malaysia. No rider has won the Malaysian Grand Prix in the top class in three consecutive years. Dani Pedrosa had won three of the four races prior to Dovizioso's streak with Márquez taking victory in 2014.

Dovizioso is 15 points ahead of Valentino Rossi. Rossi has seven Malaysian Grand Prix victories, the most all-time and five of those are in the top class, tied with Mick Doohan for most in that category. Rossi has not won at Sepang since 2010. Maverick Viñales got Yamaha on the scoreboard last week with his victory in Australia and he trails his teammate by 15 points. Viñales won at Sepang in 125cc in 2010 and Moto2 in 2014.

Cal Crutchlow is fifth in the championship on 148 points but he will miss Malaysia due to injury and Stefan Bradl will replace him. Danilo Petrucci is 11 points back but he has not finished in the top five in the last five races. Zarco and Andrea Iannone are tied on 133 points after Iannone finished second to Viñales in Australia. The injured Jorge Lorenzo has dropped to ninth on 130 points and Álex Rins rounds out the top ten on 129 points.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is scheduled for 2:00 a.m. ET on Sunday November 4th.

Moto2
The Moto2 championship could be claimed this weekend at Sepang.

Italian Francesco Bagnaia leads with 288 points and he is 36 points ahead of Miguel Oliveira. Bagnaia will lock up the title with a podium finish. Prior to Australia, Bagnaia had won the previous two races and four of the prior five while having finished on the podium in six consecutive races. Oliveira has two victories this season, the most recent being Brno in August.

Both Bagnaia and Oliveira will be moving up to MotoGP next season. Bagnaia will be Jack Miller's teammate at Pramac Racing Ducati. Oliveira will be on a Tech3 KTM with Hafizh Syahrin as his teammate.

Brad Binder's third victory of the season has him third in the championship on 193 points. Binder's victories are his only podium finishes this season and his fourth place finish at Buriram and fifth place finish at Motegi are his only other top five finishes this season. Binder has finished in sixth position seven times this season.

Lorenzo Baldassarri is fourth in the championship on 152 points and his only victory was at Jerez in April. Joan Mir is three points behind Baldassarri with Álex Márquez a point behind Mir. Both Mir and Márquez have yet to win this season.

The Moto2 race will be held at 1:00 a.m. ET on Sunday November 4th.

Moto3
Three riders are still alive for the Moto3 championship with two rounds to go.

Jorge Martín has 215 points and leads Marco Bezzechi by 12 points with Fabio Di Giannantonio 20 points back. Martín could lock up the title if he outscores Bezzechi by 13 points this weekend and Di Giannantonio by five points.

Martín leads Moto3 with six victories this season while Bezzechi has won three times and Di Giannantonio has won twice. Bezzechi won at Motegi and finished second at Aragón but he has failed to score in the other three races in-between. Martín has finished three victories, five podium finishes and seven top five finishes in the last nine races. Di Giannantonio won at Buriram and finished second at Phillip Island while he has four top five finishes in the last five races.

Enea Bastianini and Lorenzo Della Porta round out the top five on 150 points and 131 points respectively. Both riders have one victory this season. Arón Canet has four runner-up finishes and he is sixth on 128 points. Canet has not finished second since Brno. Gabriel Rodrigo and Jakub Kornfeil are on 116 points and 115 points respectively. Albert Arenas picked up his second victory of the season last week and he rounds out the top ten on 94 points.

The Moto3 race will be at midnight ET on Sunday November 4th.

Pukekohe
The penultimate round of the Supercars season takes the series to New Zealander Pukekohe Park Raceway and four drivers are fighting for the title. It is an uneven fight with one DJR Team Penske driver taking on all three drivers from Triple Eight Race Engineering.

With four races to go, Scott McLaughlin leads the championship with 3,368 points and he is 14 points ahead of fellow New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen. In 17 Pukekohe starts, van Gisbergen has won three races, nine podium finishes and 15 top ten finishes. His average finish of 4.9 is best all-time at the track in Supercars. McLaughlin has the fourth best average finish all-time at 7.0. He won on his Pukekohe debut in 2013 but he has not won since. He does have 13 consecutive top ten finishes at the track including three consecutive podium finishes.

Jaime Whincup's hopes for an eighth title remain alive but the six-time winner at Pukekohe trails McLaughlin by 433 points with 600 points left on the table. Whincup has won two of the last three races at this track and six of the last nine. Craig Lowndes is 443 points back in the championship and Lowndes has three consecutive podium finishes. In 38 Pukekohe starts, Lowndes has never won at the track but he has 11 top five finishes and 21 top ten finishes. He has finished in the top ten in last four Pukekohe races.

The first race from Pukekohe will be at 11:10 p.m. ET on Friday November 2nd with the second race of the weekend scheduled for 11:10 p.m. ET on Saturday November 3rd.

Over or Under?
1. Over or Under: 0.5 cautions involving Joey Logano and/or Martin Truex, Jr.?
2. Over or Under: 35.5 caution laps?
3. Over or Under: 4.5 championship-ineligible drivers finishing in the top ten of the Truck race?
4. Over or Under: 3.5 riders within ten seconds of the MotoGP race winner?
5. Over or Under: 2.5 Spaniards in the top five of the Moto2 race?
6. Over or Under: 2.5 riders in the top ten of the championship not scoring points at Sepang?
7. Over or Under: 113.5 being the sum of the winning cars at Pukekohe?

Last Week's Over/Unders - Thursday
1. Over or Under: 556.5 points for Jonathan Rea after the Losail weekend? (Under. Read scored 545 points).
2. Over or Under: 0.5 non-Yamaha riders on the World Supersport podium? (Under. Yamaha swept the podium).
3. Over or Under: 6.5 cars on the lead lap in the 4 Hours of Portimão? (Under. Five cars were on the lead lap)
4. Over or Under: 1.5 drivers finishing the Super Formula season with at least 30 points? (Over. Two drivers scored at least 30 points, Naoki Yamamoto scored 38 and Nick Cassidy scored 37).
5. Over or Under: 1.5 German cars on the overall California 8 Hours podium? (Over. Two Audis and a Mercedes were on the podium).

Friday:
1. Over or Under: 2.5 race leaders of the Mexican Grand Prix? (Under. Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel led the Mexican Grand Prix).
2. Over or Under: 10.5 points for Álvaro Bautista? (Over. Bautista scored 13 points).
3. Over or Under: 75.5 caution laps? (Under. There were 68 caution laps at Martinsville).
4. Over or Under: 10.5 points for Sébastien Loeb this weekend? (Over. Loeb scored 28 points).
5. Over or Under: 0.5 victory for Honda at Suzuka? (Under. Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen and Hyundai split the races).
Last Week: 6 Unders; 4 Overs. Overall: Unders 21; Overs 14

Predictions
1. There will be more than 16 lead changes.
2. A championship-eligible driver that is not Christopher Bell wins the race.
3. The Truck series race winner is under the age of 30.
4. Valentino Rossi gets back on the podium.
5. The pole-sitter finishes the race but does not finish on the podium.
6. The final lead change does not come on the final lap of the Moto3 race.
7. Craig Lowndes gets a victory.

Last Week's Predictions - Thursday
1. The Superpole winner finishes on the podium in both races (Correct, though there was only one race and Tom Sykes started first and finished second).
2. Jules Cluzel finishes better than Sandro Cortese but does not win the championship (Incorrect. Cortese finished second and Cluzel retired from the race).
3. Both championship leaders entering Portimão win the title but neither takes a class victory in the race (Correct! The #15 RLR Sport Ligier won the LMP3 title and finished fifth in the finale while the #88 Proton Competition Porsche won the GTE title and finished third).
4. At least three drivers that did not score points at Okayama score points at Suzuka (Correct! Naoki Yamamoto, Kazuki Nakajima, Nobuharu Matsushita and Koudai Tsukakoshi all scored points after not scoring at Okayama).
5. The GT4 class winner finishes worst than 11th overall (Correct! The GT4-class winning #625 Rearden Racing Audi finished 16th).

Friday:
1. Kimi Räikkönen does not finish on the podium (Wrong! He finished third).
2. Three different manufactures finish on the podium (Correct! Yamaha, Suzuki and Yamaha all finished on the podium).
3. Less than six championship-eligible drivers finish in the top ten (Wrong! Seven title contenders finished in the top ten at Martinsville).
4. Sébastien Ogier retakes the championship lead (Correct! Ogier leads Neuville with 204 points to 201 points).
5. There is at least one French driver winning a race (Wrong! Italians Kevin Ceccon and Gabriele Tarquini and Brit Rob Huff won at Suzuka).
Last Week: 6/10. Overall: 20.5/35