Track Walk: Mid-Ohio 2024

The ninth round of 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as the Honda 200 marks the first of four races in a 15-day period. Over the next three weeks, IndyCar will compete on a road course, oval and a street course, with one of those weekends being a doubleheader. IndyCar will surpass the halfway point of the season once it hits lap 41 of this weekend's race. With 486 points remaining on the table, every driver, even those who have yet to participate, has a mathematical chance at the championship. In what will be the 1,751st race in IndyCar history, this weekend marks a historic moment in American open-wheel racing. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday July 7 with green flag scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Georgia Henneberry and Charlie Kimball will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:20 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:50 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 3:00 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 10:25 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 1:45 p.m. ET (80 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

IndyCar's Hybrid Debut

Mid-Ohio marks the long-awaited debut of IndyCar's hybrid system. First announced in 2019, the hybrid system was originally scheduled to debut in 2022, but was delayed during the pandemic. It was meant to be run at the start of the 2024 season, but last December it was decided the system would not be used until after the Indianapolis 500 as a number of teams had yet to have sufficient testing time with the system. 

On May 14, it was decided Mid-Ohio would be the introductory race for the hybrid system. 

The hybrid system consists of a Motor Generator Unit and Energy Storage System, located inside the bellhousing of the car, between the engine and gearbox. Drivers will be able to regenerate energy through braking or throttle position while also being able to manually regenerate energy via paddles. The 48-volt MGU will build up the energy, which will be stored in the ESS that consists of 20 supercapacitors. 

Deployment of the hybrid energy will be similar to that of push to pass and can be used in combination with push to pass at road and street course races. Push to pass will still have a restriction on amount of time per use and total time used in each race. The combination of push to pass and the hybrid system will offer an additional 120 horsepower. The hybrid session will also allow for drivers restart the cars in case of a spin without needing assistance from safety workers.

Hybrid testing began in August 2023 at Sebring International Raceway. In the first seven months, 23,518 miles were completed among 28 drivers. Team Penske, Arrow McLaren, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global were the primary testing teams over the initial development of the hybrid system. The remaining teams did not get to test the hybrid system until March 28-29 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The first field hybrid test took place on June 11 at the Milwaukee Mile, though Chip Ganassi Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing were not present due to driver commitments to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. An additional 3,563 miles were completed at the Milwaukee test. Will Power led the way with Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin making it a 1-2-3 for Team Penske at the test. Colton Herta was the top Honda in fourth. The manufacturers evenly split the top ten at the test, but Patricio O'Ward made it four Chevrolets in the top five. The top ten were covered by 0.5169 seconds. 

The Team Penske drivers were also first, second and third in laps completed while Dale Coyne Racing's two entries completed the fewest laps. Penske's drivers ran 523 laps while Coyne had Jack Harvey and Katherine Legge complete a total 161 laps. 

An additional test took place at Iowa Speedway on June 27, as the 27 teams also tested out the new surface at the 0.875-mile oval. Herta led that test session with McLaughlin and Marcus Ericsson following him in the unofficial results. Graham Rahal and Patricio O'Ward rounded out the top five with Scott Dixon in sixth.  

Is Dixon Due?

For over a decade now, Mid-Ohio has been known as Scott Dixon’s house. Dixon has won six times in 20 starts at the 2.258-mile road course. The only other driver who has won more than twice at Mid-Ohio is Emerson Fittipaldi with three victories. Only one active driver has won multiple times at the circuit. Dixon has 14 top five finishes and 18 top ten finishes. He has led 263 laps, the most all-time at Mid-Ohio. 

Though he has won 30% of his Mid-Ohio starts, an argument could be made Dixon is due. He has not won in any of his last five Mid-Ohio starts, his longest drought at the track. Though he hasn’t won, Dixon has been competing at the front. He has three consecutive top five finishes, including a runner-up finish last year to Álex Palou. This is a part of a longer eight-race run of consecutive top ten finishes. Since 2007, Dixon has 17 top ten finishes in 18 Mid-Ohio starts. 

The lone blemish was 22nd in 2017 after contact with Hélio Castroneves knocked Dixon out of the race. The 2017 race is the only time Dixon has finished off the lead lap at Mid-Ohio. 

Dixon has been at the front, but he hasn’t necessarily had race victories slip from his grasp in recent years at Mid-Ohio. He led two laps last year, his first laps led at the circuit since his most recent Mid-Ohio victory in 2019. The 2019 race and last year’s race are the only times Dixon has led in the last nine races at the circuit.

His starting position is nearly as good as his finishing positions. In the last four races, Dixon has started on one of the first three rows, and he has started sixth or better in 13 of the last 18 Mid-Ohio races. However, he has only started on the front row twice at Mid-Ohio, both pole positions coming in 2011 and 2015. Starting position has not been a significant hurdle to success. Dixon’s last two Mid-Ohio victories have come from 22nd and eighth on the grid. 

Seven of 40 Mid-Ohio races have been won from a starting position outside the top five. Dixon is responsible for three of them, having also won from sixth in 2007.

A man with many accomplishments, Dixon still finds a way to do something he has never done before. Take last year, where Dixon was runner-up to Álex Palou at Mid-Ohio. It was the first time Dixon has finished second at the track. Palou led 48 laps from fourth starting position to take what was the Catalan driver’s third consecutive victory in the 2023 season. It was Dixon’s 50th runner-up finish in his career, second all-time to Mario Andretti’s record of 56 runner-up results. It was the 26th different circuit where Dixon has finished second. 

Dixon is accustomed to being in exclusive company in IndyCar’s history book. A victory this weekend would make Dixon only the sixth driver in IndyCar history to have seven victories at one circuit. The only other driver with seven victories at a road or street course is Michael Andretti, who won seven times at Toronto. 

Trading Victories

We enter Mid-Ohio with an unusual pattern in IndyCar: Neither manufacturer has won consecutive races this season. Add the 2023 season finale and we are on a nine-race run without a manufacturer winning consecutive races. Since engine competition returned to IndyCar in 2012, this is the longest we have gone without an engine make winning consecutive races. 

If the pattern were to continue at Mid-Ohio, we should be expecting a Chevrolet victory. Chevrolet has won three of the last five Mid-Ohio races and six of 13 Mid-Ohio races since 2012.

As much as this can be pinned down as Chevrolet and Honda trading victories, it is really Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Over this nine-race stretch, these two teams combine for eight victories. A Penske or Ganassi car has finished first on the road in all eight races plus the exhibition race at Thermal Club in March. Josef Newgarden’s disqualification at St. Petersburg handed the victory, and kept this pattern going, to fellow Chevrolet driver Patricio O’Ward. 

In the last 16 races, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have combined for 13 victories. No other team has won multiple times in that span with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Andretti Global and Arrow McLaren having each won once. 

Penske and Ganassi have combined to win the last three Mid-Ohio races and five of the last six. 

Along with Dixon’s outstanding record, Will Power is not far off Dixon’s output at Mid-Ohio. Though Power has only won once at the track, he has eight podium finishes in 16 starts. He has 11 top five finishes and 13 top ten finishes. Power’s 206 laps led are third all-time at Mid-Ohio behind only Dixon and Michael Andretti. Power also has five pole positions and nine front row starts. 

Josef Newgarden is the only other active driver with multiple Mid-Ohio victories, having won in 2017 and  2021. On both occasions, he led exactly 73 laps. In 13 starts, he has completed 1,102 of 1,105 laps. Though he has multiple victories, Newgarden has had more bad days than good days in Lexington, Ohio. He has finished outside the top ten at Mid-Ohio six times, including finishing 12th last year. 

All three Penske drivers have won at Mid-Ohio. Scott McLaughlin won the 2022 race from second starting position. McLaughlin was fifth in last year’s race and he was 12th on his first visit to the track in 2021.

Álex Palou enters as the defending Mid-Ohio winner, and he has finished on the podium in three consecutive years at Mid-Ohio. This is despite Palou having never started better than fourth at the track. Palou is not only looking for his second consecutive victory of the season, but his second consecutive Mid-Ohio victory. He would become the eighth driver with consecutive Mid- Ohio victories. 

For the non-Penske Chevrolet teams hoping to continue the pattern and the non-Ganassi Honda teams hoping to break the pattern, history is not in their favor. The only other team to win in the last nine Mid-Ohio races is Andretti Global, which won twice. You must go back to Graham Rahal and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s victory in 2015 for the last time one of the non-Big Three teams won at Mid-Ohio. 

Arrow McLaren has failed to have a top five finisher in the last six Mid-Ohio races. This organization’s three podium finishes at the circuit were third in 2012 with Simon Pagenaud, second in 2013 with Pagenaud and second in 2018 with Robert Wickens. 

Since its 2015 victory, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had a top five finisher in four of the last nine Mid-Ohio races, but the only podium finish was third in 2017 with Graham Rahal. 

RLLR isn’t the only home team at Mid-Ohio. Meyer Shank Racing heads to its home race having its best season since 2021. Historically, MSR does better at home. In seven Mid-Ohio appearances, MSR has had a top ten finisher in three of them, including a double top ten day in 2022, the team’s most recent double top ten day. 

Americans

With Mid-Ohio falling on the de facto Independence Day weekend, it is a good time to spotlight the American talent in the IndyCar series. A third of the grid is comprised of American drivers.

It has been a trying season for the American drivers. Only one of the first eight races has had an American winner. That was Josef Newgarden in the Indianapolis 500. Last year, American drivers combined for three victories, and the year before that Americans won four of the first eight races. However, only three years ago, American drivers only combined for only one victory in the first eight races before winning four of the final seven races. 

Colton Herta enters the holiday as the top American driver in the championship, fourth on 217 points. Herta is coming off a runner-up result at Laguna Seca, and he has three podium finishes this season. It has been 37 races since Herta's most recent victory. Mid-Ohio might not be the place Herta was hoping to come to. While he has a victory at the circuit, Herta has not finished in the top ten in the last three Mid-Ohio races, and he has an average finish of 13th over that time, this is despite starting no worse than third in the last four Mid-Ohio races.

Seven points behind Herta is his Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood. Kirkwood has yet to finish worse than 11th this season, and he enters riding a wave of three consecutive top five finishes, four consecutive top ten finishes and he has led a lap in four consecutive races. He has not been on the podium since his victory at Nashville last year.

Seventh in the championship in the #7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is Alexander Rossi, 12 points off Kirkwood. Rossi will not have many more races in the #7 Chevrolet, nine to be specific. It was announced on Tuesday Rossi would not return to Arrow McLaren in 2025 with Christian Lundgaard taking over the seat. In 25 races with McLaren, Rossi has only two podium finishes and nine top five finishes. 

Josef Newgarden has been the top American in the championship for five consecutive seasons and in seven of the last eight seasons. Through eight races in 2024, Newgarden sits ninth in the championship, 104 points off the championship lead, and he is the fourth-best American. While he has three top five finishes, Newgarden has finished outside the top fifteen in the other five races. He has not had a finish between sixth and tenth since he was tenth at Detroit in 2023.

Santino Ferrucci is a surprise 12th in the championship with five top ten finishes this season, including three top ten results in the last four races. At the moment, Ferrucci is trending for the best championship finish for an A.J. Foyt Racing driver since Vitor Meira was 12th in 2010. In five Mid-Ohio starts, Ferrucci's best finish is ninth with an average of 14.6.

Graham Rahal returns to his home race 16th in the championship. He has two top ten finishes, but this is Rahal's worst championship position through eight races since he was 19th through eight races in 2014. However, this is the third consecutive season Rahal is outside the top ten in the championship through eight races.

At Laguna Seca, Sting Ray Robb hit the quarter-century point in his career, as it was his 25th career start. Robb's average finish over his first 25 starts is 21.64. He has only one finish in the top fifteen in his career and nine top twenty finishes. He has finished in the top twenty in three of the last four races. 

Nolan Siegel will be back for his fourth career start, his second with Arrow McLaren. Siegel went from 23rd to 12th at Laguna Seca two weeks ago, the top rookie finisher. Through eight races, five different drivers have been the best finishing rookie this season. 

David Malukas is back for his second start of the season in the #66 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. Malukas was 16th in his debut for the 2024 season. Malukas has finished in the top ten in both of his Mid-Ohio starts.

It has been four seasons since the most recent American champion in IndyCar. There has not been a five-year drought since 2007 through 2011 when Dario Franchitti won four times and Scott Dixon won the other, and Sébastien Bourdais won the 2007 Champ Car championship. Ohioan Sam Hornish, Jr. won the 2006 Indy Racing League championship, and the next American champion was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.  

Road to Indy

All three Road to Indy Series are in action this weekend, one of which is holding a triple-header, and two of the series will only have two weekends left after Mid-Ohio. 

Louis Foster has taken the championship lead in Indy Lights. Sweeping the Laguna Seca doubleheader has Foster on 345 points and 35 points clear of Jacob Abel. Foster has won four of the last five races and he has been on the podium in all five of those events. During that span, Abel has three podium finishes, but he was 11th in the second race of the Laguna Seca weekend. 

Caio Collet was runner-up in both Laguna Seca races, and with three runner-up finishes in the last four races, Collet sits on 261 points in third. Despite having finished outside the top five in the last three races, including two results of 19th and 17th, Myles Rowe remains fourth in the championship on 192 points, one point ahead of Jamie Chadwick. 

Callum Hedge is three points outside the top five with Reece Gold a further four points back. Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel is still eighth in the championship on 177 points, ten points ahead of Salvador de Alba. James Roe, Jr. rounds out the top ten on 163 points. 

Indy Lights will hold its 35-lap race at 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday July 7. 

Lochie Hughes swept the Road America triple-header in USF Pro 2000 and Hughes now leaders the championship on 271 points, 50 points clear of Jace Denmark, who is still looking for his first victory of the season. 

Since his disqualification in the second race from the Indianapolis Motors Speedway road course, Nikita Johnson has dropped to third in the championship, 56 points off Hughes, and Johnson has only one podium finish over the last five races. He opened the season with four victories in the first six races and no finishes worse than fourth. His average finish in the last five races is ninth after being 1.667 through the first six races.

Christian Brooks is fourth in the championship on 207 points. Brooks was runner-up in the final two Road America races. Liam Sceats rounds out the top five on 202 points. There is a 38-point gap between Sceats and Danny Dyszelski in sixth. Ohio's Braden Eves is seventh on 157 points. 

The absent Hunter Yeany and Simon Sikes are tied on 148 points while Frankie Mossma rounds out the top ten on 142 points. 

Both Indy Pro 2000 races will be on Saturday July 6. The first 30-lap race will be at 8:25 a.m. ET and the second all be at 4:50 p.m. ET. 

It is a triple-header weekend for U.S. F2000, the second of three triple-header weekends this season for the series.

Marc Garcia has not finished on the podium in the last three races, but Garcia remains the championship leader on 241 points. Thirty-six points back is Sam Corry, who won the first race at Road America. Evagoras Papasavvas is still looking for his first victory of the season, despite having six podium finishes in ten races. Papasavvas is third in the championship, 46 points off Garcia. 

Max Taylor won the second Road America race and he sits on 182 points, 22 points clear of Joey Brienza in fifth. Elliot Cox has 146 points in sixth while Hudson Schwarts has scored 121 points. Michael Costello was runner-up to Taylor and that has Costello up to eighth in the championship with 118 points, five points clear of Nicolas Giaffone and Ayrton Houk, who are tied for ninth. 

U.S. F2000 will run on each day of the weekend at Mid-Ohio. The first race is at 4:55 p.m. ET on Friday July 5. Race two will be Saturday July 6 at 1:05 p.m. The final race is Sunday July 7 at 9:15 a.m. ET. All three races are 20 laps.

Fast Facts

This will be the eight IndyCar race to take place on July 7 and the first since Scott Dixon won at Pocono in 2013. Dixon lead a Chip Ganassi Racing sweep of the podium ahead of Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti. 

Twice has IndyCar raced in Ohio before on July 7. Both those races took place at Cleveland. Al Unser, Jr. won there on July 7, 1985 and Michael Andretti won there on July 7, 1991.

Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske each have 12 Mid-Ohio victories.

Americans have won six of the last 12 Mid-Ohio races. American drivers had not won any of the 14 Mid-Ohio races prior to this stretch. 

There have been seven different winners in the last seven Mid-Ohio races. This is the longest streak of different winners in the history of Mid-Ohio. 

Last year, Álex Palou became the second Mid-Ohio winner to go on and win the IndyCar championship since Mid-Ohio returned to the IndyCar calendar in 2007. The other was Josef Newgarden in 2017. 

Toby Sowery will make his IndyCar debut this weekend at Mid-Ohio driving the #51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. Sowery will become the seventh driver for Dale Coyne Racing in 2024, and he is the fourth driver to make his IndyCar debut driving for DCR this season. 

With Sowery joining Jack Harvey at Dale Coyne Racing, this is the first time a pair of British drivers have been teammates in an IndyCar race outside of the Indianapolis 500 since the 2013 Fontana season finale where Justin Wilson and Pippa Mann were Dale Coyne Racing teammate. In that interim, Wilson and Mann were teammates at DCR in the 2014 Indianapolis 500, and last year, Harvey and Katherine Legge were Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates in the Indianapolis 500.

The only driver to pick up a first career victory at Mid-Ohio was Charlie Kimball in 2013. 

The fewest laps led for a Mid-Ohio winner is ten by Bobby Rahal in 1986. In only four Mid-Ohio races has the winner led fewer than 20 laps (Johnny Rutherford 1980, Rahal 1986, Roberto Guerrero 1997 and Al Unser, Jr. 1995).

In eight consecutive Mid-Ohio races, the final lead change has occurred with over 20 laps remaining. 

In only five Mid-Ohio races has the final lead change occurred with ten laps or fewer remaining (1986 - ten laps to go, 1987 - ten laps to go, 1995 - four laps to go, 2007 - nine laps to go, 2016 - six laps to go).

Seven different drivers have scored fastest lap through the first eight races in 2024. At Laguna Seca, Marcus Ericsson became the first repeat driver to score fastest lap this season.

The average starting position for a Mid-Ohio winner is 3.435 with a median of second. 

Seven of the last nine Mid-Ohio races have been won from the front row. 

Sixteen of 40 Mid-Ohio races have been won from pole position. Twenty-four Mid-Ohio races have been won from the front row. 

The average number of lead changes in a Mid-Ohio race is 4.725 with a median of five. 

Every Mid-Ohio race has had at least one lead change.

The average number of cautions for a Mid-Ohio race is 1.923 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 7.282 with a median of seven. 

Seven Mid-Ohio races have been caution-free. Another nine Mid-Ohio races have had only one caution, including last year's race.

Predictions

Scott Dixon ushers in the hybrid-era with a victory that requires a bit of fuel conservation. Álex Palou is not far behind in second. Something will go wrong for Josef Newgarden. Something will go wrong for Alexander Rossi. Christian Lundgaard will have a good day, as will Graham Rahal. Romain Grosjean's top ten streak ends. Toby Sowery will start outside the top 22, but he will finish at least four spots better than where he started. David Malukas will qualify and finish ahead of Nolan Siegel. There will be a spin where a car is off-track but gets going, and we will see it in a double box and there will be universal praise for the hybrid system preventing what certainly would have been a caution without the system. Sleeper: Marcus Armstrong. 

Musings From the Weekend: Should IndyCar Have Two Champions For 2024?

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

George Russell was the surprise winner of the Austrian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris came together in the closing laps. An injury sidelined Joe Roberts. An unfortunate set of circumstances on pit lane cost Ferrari, but it allowed a triumph we have not seen since 1948! It rained and a race would not end in Nashville, the crowd was rowdy in Poland, and the Kazakhstan MotoGP round will likely never happen. What appears will happen is  IndyCar’s introduction of the hybrid system, an era change midseason. It does bring a question to mind. 

Should IndyCar Have Two Champions For 2024?

The answer is no, but with the midseason introduction of the hybrid system, it is a question at least worth entertaining.

Starting at Mid-Ohio this week, IndyCar becomes a hybrid series, an uncommon thing for a series to completely introduce a new component to the race cars when eight of 17 races have already been completely, let alone one as significant as this one. 

Originally intended to debut at the start of the 2024 season, the hybrid rollout was delayed due to reliability concerns and majority of the field lacking testing time with the system, IndyCar had four additional months of testing and every team tested with the system at the Milwaukee Mile and Iowa Speedway last month. 

Though everyone can say they have had laps with the hybrid, we really do not know what is in store for the final nine races of this season, and it could flip the championship.

IndyCar was weary of introducing the hybrid at the start of the season because it did not want a rash of mechanical issues dampening the competition and it didn’t want teams to be negatively affected due to teething problems. 

Teething problems will occur no matter when a new system is introduced. IndyCar might feel more confident than it did in March, but we will still be exploring new territory at each of the remaining race weekends. New problems will crop up that could only be found through trial and error. It might have survived tests, but a three-day race weekend with multiple practice sessions mixing in race runs and qualifying runs before a qualifying session where teams will be thrashing for speed and scrambling to find clear track will stress this system unlike it has been stressed before, and that is before we get to the races themselves. There are also two doubleheader weekends that will push it to the limit. 

A front-runner could keep rolling snake eyes over the final nine races and fall out of a prime position due to the hybrid bugs continuously biting. If it happens, we will constantly hear about how the hybrid system took a championship away from a team. We are probably going to hear it no matter what, whether it is fact or fiction. Come Nashville in September, someone will say the introduction of the hybrid system ruined their season 

If that is the case, why not split this season in half and have two championship? It is too late for that obviously but it could at least cover some of the issues. IndyCar already has a muddy history with multiple splits, shortened seasons, races dropped midseason, double-point finales and regulation shakeups that a split season championship would not be the craziest thing ever seen. 

Obviously, IndyCar wouldn’t have paid out two championship prizes. It couldn’t even pay $1 million for the $1 million exhibition race at Thermal Club. The only practical solution would be to split the championship prizes in half. The top driver from the non-hybrid half of the season gets half the championship prize. The top driver from the hybrid half of the season gets the other 50%. If the same driver is on top for both then he gets the full prize anyway. 

It wouldn’t have been the greatest option, but it would have at least allowed the teams to get rewarded for results in tried and true conditions while not allowing the unknown of a new system entirely cost the teams. They would at least have something to show for this season while the teams who were on top with the hybrid system would also be recognized for adapting and succeeding with the new system. 

At the very least, the championship could have been based on average, the position after Laguna Seca pre-hybrid, and then a reset and the championship position from the hybrid portion of the schedule could be combined to determine who is the 2024 champion. 

It could only be a one-season thing for this unprecedented midseason regulation shakeup, and who says a champion must be determined on a full season aggregate? Remember when Formula One dropped results?

None of that is happening, and that is fine. Sometimes the best option is not to change a thing even if everything else is changing around it. 

We have accepted this is what the 2024 season will be. The hybrid system will come in and there will likely be failures, issues, and someone who has a bad day that otherwise wouldn’t if it wasn’t for the hybrid system. That’s part of motorsports. 

There was once a time when mechanical issues were a common issue. Each race a team could have a car crap out from a promising position. A car could be 45 seconds up the road having led 75 of 80 laps only for the turbo to go with ten laps remaining or to drop a cylinder or a gearbox to jam. The 20th century was a time of pending mechanical doom, and when it occurred and shook up a race, we accepted it for what it was.

We have become accustomed to nothing failing. The expectation is for these cars to be bulletproof. If a race is lost now, it is more due to a team screwing up strategy and going long on a stint when they should have gone short or a team botching a pit stop or a team running the alternate tires for a stint when it should have run the primary tires. We no longer accept the mechanical downfall for a team and believe it must be human error that costs a result. The car can no longer be blamed, but the driver, strategist or engineer are fair game.

In a way, motorsports has swung too much into the human element deciding races. It was always meant to be a test of the mechanical ingenuity. A driver could have all the ability in the world, but the vehicle had to do its part. It is assumed the car will be good enough to get you there in the 21st century. If a driver doesn’t win, it is on him or her. 

Perhaps for nine races we will see IndyCar return to a wild time where driver ability might not be enough and it is not because the car is bad but because things go wrong. The car lets a team down when everything else was going well. It is cruel. It is crushing. It is the way it is supposed to be. We will see if it swings the championship. If it does, for good or for bad, we will remember it. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about George Russell, but did you know…

Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Dutch TT, his third consecutive victory and his fifth of the season Bagnaia also won the sprint race. Ai Ogura won the Moto2 race, his second victory of the season. Iván Ortolá won the Moto3 race. Héctor Garzó and Alessandro Zaccone split the MotoE races.

Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup race from Nashville. John Hunter Nemechek won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. Christian Eckes led every lap on his way to victory in the Truck race, his third victory of the season.

António Félix da Costa swept the Portland ePrix.

The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen and Mattia Druid won the 24 Hours of Spa.

Kalle Rovanperä won Rally Poland, his second victory of the season.

Oliver Bearman (sprint) and Gabriel Bortoleto (feature) split the Formula Two races. Nikola Tsolov (sprint) and Luke Browning (feature) split the Formula Three races. 

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar's first hybrid race at Mid-Ohio.

Formula One is in action for the third consecutive weekend at Silverstone. 

MotoGP runs in Germany before starting its summer break.

NASCAR hopes for sunny weather in Chicago. 

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters has a street race of its own at the Norisring. 

The European Le Mans Series finally races at Imola.

Supercars are in Townsville.

Best of the Month: June 2024

Six months down, six months to go, and summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere. Where does the time go? Indianapolis was a month ago. Le Mans was only a few weeks. Much is behind us, but still plenty is ahead. With the big races done, the attention will turn to championships. Some battles are still tight, others are growing, some could shrink over the next few weeks and months. The pictures will soon become clear but it still requires patience. Plenty of time remains, though dwindling.

IndyCar Tidbits

I did this last year at this point in the season and I am doing it again. We are about halfway through the IndyCar season and there have been a few notable things that have occurred that you might not have realized. There are things you may have not noticed but over the first four months of the IndyCar season and digging through the record books and old box scores I have uncovered some truly remarkable findings that should be shared. 

With that said, we must begin with a correction on something I wrote last year.

Newgarden's Oval Winning Streak... It is actually quite historic

Last year, in this same end of June post, I went over Josef Newgarden's oval success and said he had won an oval race in five consecutive seasons. 

However, what I failed to recognize was Josef Newgarden won at Phoenix in 2018. When going over the races last year, I must have only been looking at the active ovals on the schedule and completely missed Phoenix in 2018. One got by the goalie.

Taking into considering Phoenix from 2018 and this year's Indianapolis 500, Newgarden has won an oval race in nine consecutive seasons. 

Where does that put him? A historic spot.

Newgarden has won an oval race in nine consecutive seasons. That is tied for the longest streak since World War II with Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford. 

As mentioned last year, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Rahal, Dario Franchitti and Will Power never won oval races in five consecutive seasons, let alone come close to nine. A.J. Foyt's best streak was seven consecutive seasons with an oval victory. Hélio Castroneves had a six-year streak. Rick Mears, Michael Andretti and Scott Dixon's best streaks were all five seasons. 

With six oval races remaining in 2024, Newgarden already knows he will enter 2025 with a chance to become the first driver to win an oval race in every season for a decade. He is already being penciled in for two or three more oval victories this year, if not four or five. How confident does everyone feel about Newgarden making it to ten next year?

Another Debutant Fastest Lap

At the end of last season, we covered the history Linus Lundqvist made when he picked up fastest lap on debut at Nashville. Prior to Lundqvist, there had not been a debutant fastest lap since reunification. Hideki Mutoh was the most recent to do it on his debut in the 2007 Indy Racing League season finale from Chicagoland. There had been 265 races between debutant fastest laps.

How many races would there be between Lundqvist and the next occasion? 

Four. 

The answer was four races because Kyffin Simpson is credited with fastest lap at St. Petersburg, his  debut, after the Team Penske penalties meant Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from the race. Newgarden lost all 92 laps led and fastest lap because of that penalty. Simpson had the second fastest lap and inherited the spot in the record book for fastest lap in the 2024 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg once Newgarden was removed. 

Simpson became the seventh driver since 1993 to score fastest lap on debut. You may be thinking, "Four races is probably the fewest between debutant fastest laps." And you would be... wrong! Technically wrong.

The Split has caused some quirks in the history book and a disjointed picture in the record book. Technically speaking, there were debutant fastest laps in consecutive races in IndyCar history. Buzz Calkins had fastest lap for the inaugural Indy Racing League race at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 1996. Greg Moore had fastest lap in the 1996 CART season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March 1996. 

Technically, those were successive races in IndyCar history, though for two different series. If you go based on specific series, yes, the four races from Lundqvist to Simpson would be the fewest races between debutant fastest laps. The previous shortest streak between debutant fastest lap in the same series was 48 races between Nigel Mansell in the 1993 season opener from Surfers Paradise and Moore at Homestead in 1996.

No Repeat Finishes

If this is our evergreen thing then so be it, but it is fun to see who keeps finishing in a different position. There are 27 positions a driver can finish in a typical IndyCar race. With only 17 races, there is a chance a driver could finish in a different position in every race. That is much easier said than done and the only driver to do it in the last 20 years was Alexander Rossi two years.

Last year, Graham Rahal went the longest without a repeat finish going 13 races. How do we stand through the first eight races of 2024?

Alexander Rossi (sixth, tenth, 25th, eighth, fourth, fifth, 18th, third)

Felix Rosenqvist (fifth, ninth, fourth, tenth, 27th, eighth, 14th, 11th)

Marcus Ericsson (23rd, fifth, 18th, 16th, 33rd, second, ninth, tenth)

Marcus Armstrong (25th, 12th, ninth, fifth, 30th, third, 26th, 22nd)

Linus Lundqvist (21st, 13th, third, 24th, 28th, 22nd, 12th, 17th)

Kyffin Simpson (12th, 19th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 23rd)

Sting Ray Robb (24th, 18th, 26th, 22nd, 16th, 21st, 17th, 20th)

Seven drivers remain standing through eight races. That is one more than through eight races in 2023. We lost Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward at Laguna Seca, as Herta was second for the second time this season and O’Ward was eighth for a second consecutive race. 

This does make me think that if you are finishing in a different position in every race, you are at best having a good season, not a great season. Great seasons usually see a driver winning often or finishing on the podium regularly. Will Power won the championship in 2022 with one race victory, but Power had nine podium finishes in 17 races. He had 12 top five finishes. 

Let's just imagine the best possible season where a driver finishes in a different position in each race. With 17 races on the IndyCar schedule, the best it could be is finishing first through 17th and if this is the best let's just say that driver started on pole position and led the most laps in all of those races. Remember also that the Indianapolis 500 awards 12 points for pole position. 

In that case, a driver would score 498 points. That would have been good enough for third in the championship last year. That is with maximum bonus points with each finishing position. Let's say that driver would score no bonus points but finish first through 17th with no repeats, except we will give that driver one bonus point for leading a lap in the driver's one race victory. In that case, the driver would be on 420 points. That would have been seventh in the championship last year, and that is the worst of the best case scenario. 

When this happens, take Rossi two years ago, it is much more of a mix. Rossi finished in all five of the top five position in 2022, but he also had three finishes outside the top twenty and six finishes outside the top fifteen. He didn't finish sixth, the only position in the top ten he did not finish in. Once those finishes start ending up further down the order, you just end up losing position. Rossi scored 381 points in 2022 and was ninth in the championship.

As cool as this might be, it is definitely something you don't want as a driver, at least not if you have championship aspirations. 

Colton Herta's Record From Pole Position

When Herta ended up finishing 19th at Detroit after starting on pole position and leading 33 laps, a fair number of people recognized this is rather common for a Herta pole position. He might start at the front, but he notable does not finish there. 

In three of his last seven pole position starts, Herta has finished 19th or worse. This isn't a case of Herta only has a few pole positions to his name. With his pole position at Detroit, Herta became the 30th driver to reach 12 pole positions in a career. That is a small group in the larger picture of IndyCar racing. 

But, I must ask, where does Herta's average finishing position from pole position compare to the other 29 drivers who have had at least 12 pole positions. 

The one thing you notice is everyone who has at least 12 pole positions were rather good. Even the worst finishing position for a pole-sitter is better than the average driver. The numbers don't look bad on paper, but in context they are not great.

Herta ranks 24th in average finish from pole position out of the top 30 drivers in pole positions. His average finish when starting on pole position is 7.91667. 

Again, not a bad result. He is still averaging a top eight finishing position. However, those three races finishing 19th or worse, combined with another where he finished 11th, has not helped Herta. The average driver would take an average finishing position of 7.91667. 

Who is Herta behind? 

Bobby Rahal has the best average finish from pole position amongst that group. In 18 career pole positions, Rahal has an average finish of 4.3889 with 15 top five finishes, a sixth, a tenth and a 28th. Four of those results were victories. 

The only other drivers with an average finish inside the top five amongst the top 30 all-time in IndyCar history are Simon Pagenand at 4.53846 and Sébastien Bourdais at 4.5582. Gil de Ferran and Ryan Briscoe round out the top five at 5.7619 and 5.9308 respectively.

Tony Kanaan had an average finish of sixth while starting from pole position. Will Power has won the most pole positions in an IndyCar career. Power's average finish in those races is 6.3913. Scott Dixon and Gordon Johncock are tied on 6.5. Don Branson rounds out the top ten at 6.57143. 

There are only a few drivers behind Herta. Michael Andretti had an average finish of 8.15625 when starting from pole position. Juan Pablo Montoya's average finish from pole position was 8.4 while Tom Sneva's average was 8.5. Dario Franchitti had an average of 8.667.

Herta isn't the worst, but who is the worst? 

It is pretty bad, because while 29 drivers have averaged no worse than a ninth-place finish when starting first. There is daylight between 29th and 30th. 

This answer likely will surprise you because you likely have no clue that this driver had 13 pole positions in his career. 

However, Greg Ray did in fact have 13 career pole positions and in those 13 career pole positions, Ray's average finish was 14.1538. Ray won four times from pole position in his IndyCar career, but he had eight finishes 18th or worse when starting on pole position. This includes 33rd in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 after retiring due to an accident in turn two after 67 laps.

Herta is toward the bottom, but the bottom is still relatively better than average, except for the very bottom, where Greg Ray holds an unfortunate place in IndyCar history that he may never concede.

Will Power's Crazy Sixth-Place Starting Position Statistics

This one I accidentally uncovered on Saturday of Road America weekend. After Will Power brought out the red flag in the final round of qualifying, I had Power penciled in for sixth starting position. Makes sense. The five other cars would lay down laps and Power would be the only one without a representative time. 

If you look at the record book long enough, you will be pretty sure when a driver hasn't done something. You will also be pretty sure when a driver has done something. 

For Power, I could not recall one time he had won from sixth starting position in his career. I knew he won from seventh in the wet at Toronto in 2007. I knew he had won from ninth at Barber once, but I could not recall Power having won from sixth in his career. 

Of course, it is best to double-check what you believe to confirm if you are right. Sure enough, Power has not won from sixth starting spot in his career, but that isn't the crazy thing. 

The crazy thing is Power has never even finished on the podium when starting sixth. You may be asking yourself, "Well, how many times has Power started sixth in his career?" 

Fair question! If a driver has only started sixth in two races in his career, it is likely a low probability he would have won one of those races or finished in the top three. 

Power has started sixth in 13 races in his career. That is still only 4.43%  of his career starts. However, he has started seventh in 19 races and he has started eighth in 14 races. Compared to the middle of the top ten, it is in line with those other positions, but here is where it gets even crazier. 

Forget victories and podium finishes... only once has Power finished better than sixth when starting sixth! In 13 times starting sixth, he has finished in the top five only once, a fifth in the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Only three times has he finished sixth when starting sixth. That means in nine of his 13 starts from sixth position, he has lost ground. 

Here is Power's average finish for the sixth, seventh and eighth starting positions.

Sixth - 10.2307

Seventh - 7.7

Eighth -  7.142

He is over three positions better when starting eighth over starting sixth and just over 2.5 positions better when starting seventh over sixth. It is statistically better for him to just miss out on the Firestone Fast Six than take the worst starting position after making the Fast Six. 

Let's get deeper into those number.

Power has no victories, no podium finishes and only one top five (a fifth), when starting sixth. 

When starting seventh, Power has one victory, six podium finishes and ten top five finishes in his 19 starts from that spot. 

From eighth, Power has won twice and stood on the podium five times in 14 starts. 

I cannot explain it other than missing out on the Fast Six and starting slightly further back in the top ten allows Power and his team to be a little more aggressive instead of trying to closely mimic the leaders' strategy in hopes of not losing ground. Is one or two spots really allow for that much of a psychological change? 

It appears it does! 

Of course, Josef Newgarden then had his accident at Road America in qualifying, lost his two fastest laps for bringing out the red flag and IndyCar's rulebook states if multiple cars do not set a time in a session, those grid positions are determined based on the drivers' times from the previous round. In that case, Power moved up to fifth, Newgarden took sixth and Power went on to win and end a 33-race winless streak. 

What are Power's numbers when starting fifth you ask?

Not as great as you may hope to hear, but still rather impressive. Road America was the 13th time Power has started fifth in his career. Road America was the fourth time he has won from fifth starting position. He has five podium finishes from fifth, but he is more feast or famine when starting fifth. While he has won four times, he has finished 18th or worse four times as well. 

His average finish from fifth is 10.4615, worse than when he starts sixth but somehow the results are better when you consider he has won four times from fifth and never stood on the podium from sixth. 

What a stunningly, stupidly, remarkable fact. 

Scott Dixon vs. Will Power

This isn't meant to put Dixon and Power against one another in terms of talent or historical place in IndyCar, but more meant to recognize that at this moment we have two active drivers in IndyCar that combine for 100 victories. 

That has not happened in a long time. 

For starters, you need at least one driver with at least 50 victories competing for it to be a reality. Prior to Dixon, there had only been two drivers with 50 career victories. The last time IndyCar had two drivers competing that had a combined 100 victories was the 1992 Indianapolis 500, which featured A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti, as well as Al Unser, who when combined with Foyt's career victory total also exceeded 100 combined victories. 

The first race which featured two drivers with a combined 100 IndyCar victories was 1980 Indianapolis 500, which saw Foyt with 66 victories competing with Al Unser on 36 victories. 

While Dixon and Power have combined to win a century worth of races, and they have been competing against each other for most of the last 20 years, it has never felt like Dixon vs. Power has been a regular thing. 

In 12 races have Dixon and Power finished first and second, and Power holds the advantage having won eight of those races to Dixon's four. The last time the two drivers went 1-2 was the first race of the 2020 Road America doubleheader.  

The two drivers have never finished first and second in the championship together. But notice where they finish in each other's championship seasons.

Power's Championship Positions in Dixon's Championship Seasons

2008: 12th

2013: Fourth

2015: Third

2018: Third

2020: Fifth

Dixon's Championship Positions in Power's Championship Seasons

2014: Third

2022: Third

The 2008 season aside due to reunification, Power and Dixon are generally close to one another but never directly against each other. The only time the two drivers have gone into the season finale with both having a shot at the championship was 2015, which was frankly a year neither driver was a favorite to win the championship. That was the year Juan Pablo Montoya never trailed in the championship, Graham Rahal was Montoya’s closest competition but because no driver was dominant, we had six drivers alive for the championship in the double points Sonoma season finale, which Dixon won and allowed him to take the championship on tiebreaker over Montoya.

Let's go a little further. How many times have Dixon and Power been 1-2 in the championship? They have never finished there but they have competed against one another in 263 races. After how many of those have they been 1-2?

The answer is six, and get this, on all six occasions it has been Power leading the championship with Dixon in second. Never has Dixon been first and Power been second simultaneously in the championship. Those six races where Power led with Dixon in second were Kansas 2010, Iowa 2010, Belle Isle 2012, Texas 2012, Belle Isle II 2018 and Nashville 2022.

For context, only three drivers have been second in the championship to Power more than Dixon. Dario Franchitti was second to Power 17 times, Hélio Castroneves was second 14 times and Hunter-Reay was second to Power after nine races. For Dixon, Castroneves was second to him after 20 races. Josef Newgarden has been second to Dixon after ten races while Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi were each second to Dixon after seven races. Franchitti was second to Dixon five times in his career.

Expanding further, Dixon has led the championship after 63 races in his career. Despite having made 100 fewer IndyCar starts, Power has led the championship after only six fewer races than Dixon, having led 57 times. If you look at Dixon's career, even in championship seasons, he wasn't necessarily dominant.

In his first championship season in 2003, Dixon led after only four races, a quarter of the schedule, and after one of those he only led on tiebreaker. In 2013, Dixon didn't lead until the final two races of the season. When he took the championship lead at Houston that year, it was the first time Dixon had led since after Motegi 2009. After his 2013 championship, Dixon would not lead again until after the 2015 finale, when he won the championship on tiebreaker over Juan Pablo Montoya at Sonoma. In three of Dixon's six championship seasons, he led the championship after a combined seven races, only five of which he had an outright lead. 

Across those three seasons, there were a combined 51 races. Dixon led the championship after only 13.72% of them, of which only 9.8% he led outright. 

Meanwhile, in Power's case, he has led the championship after at least ten races in three different seasons. He only won the championship once in those three years. That would be 2014 while 2010 and 2012 were two years Power lost the championship in the final race. 

Only once in Dixon's career has led the championship after more than five races and not won the championship. That was 2017 when he led the championship after six races but Josef Newgarden took the title.

Dixon and Power have been the top two drivers for a decade-plus, arguably the two best drivers for a generation of IndyCar viewers, and yet, we have never really seen a Dixon vs. Power season. Maybe 2024 will be the year.

July Preview

Formula E is in Portland for a doubleheader this weekend, the penultimate weekend of the 2024 season. The season will end with a doubleheader in London on July 20-21. 

Nine drivers remain alive for the championship with four races remaining and 116 points left on the table. 

Nick Cassidy leads on 167 points, and Cassidy has been on a run with six consecutive top five finishes, five of those results have been podium finishes. Cassidy is one of four drivers with two victories this season. One of those other drivers is Pascal Wehrlein, and the Porsche driver is 25 points behind Jaguar’s Cassidy. During this six-race run, Wehrlein has only two podium finishes and five top five results, but he was 20th in the most recent race from Shanghai. 

Mitch Evans is 35 points behind his Jaguar teammate, but Evans has only three podium finishes in the first 12 races. Nissan’s Oliver Rowland is a point behind Evans. Rowland has a victory and six podium finishes but he has failed to score in three races. 

Defending Formula E champion Jake Dennis is clinging to his title defense. Dennis is 54 points behind Cassidy. To remain championship eligible at the London doubleheader, a driver will need to be within 58 points of the championship lead. Dennis won the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia, but he has only four podium finishes. 

Jean-Éric Vergne is 66 points off Cassidy, and his best finish this season was second on two occasions. António Félix da Costa has won twice this season, each victory coming in the last three races, but da Costa has failed to finish in the points in six of 12 races. This has the Portuguese driver 83 points from Cassidy. 

Maximilian Günther is 98 points off the championship lead and Stoffel Vandoorne is barely alive for the championship, 114 points from the top. 

Each Portland race will be at 5:00 pm Eastern on Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30.

Other events of note in July:

IndyCar debuts its hybrid system at Mid-Ohio before an Iowa doubleheader and Toronto. 

Formula One will be at Silverstone, Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps.

MotoGP runs the German Grand Prix and then will go on summer break. 

NASCAR has its second race in Chicago, but closes July with a return of the Brickyard 400.

The Summer Olympics from Paris begin at the end of the month. 

Let's Look at the League - June 2024

It is the end of June and there is a brief break before a run of IndyCar races that will effectively take the series into the final quarter of the season. Before the competition resumes, let’s go over the hypothetical league format for the series. 

Based on head-to-head matchups, each entry competes for a playoff spot to compete for the championship. The remaining teams hope to avoid relegation and for the bottom entries, they compete for promotion to the top league for the following season.

The 2024 season has been wild enough on the track in the actual champion, but it has been just as head-spinning in the hypothetical world as well. 

League One:

Conference 1 (Top four go to the playoffs, fifth is safe, sixth and seventh to relegated playoff, eighth is relegated)

1. #10 Ganassi 8-0

St. Petersburg: WIN (4th to #11's 25th)

Long Beach: WIN (3rd to #28's 5th)

Barber: WIN (5th to #6's 22nd)

GPOI: WIN (1st to #26's 7th)

500: WIN (5th to #45's 13th)

Detroit: WIN (16th to #2's 26th)

Road America: WIN (4th to #5's 8th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (1st to #11’s 22nd)

2. #26 Andretti 6-2

St. Petersburg: WIN (3rd to #45's 18th)

Long Beach: WIN (2nd to #2's 4th)

Barber: WIN (8th to #5's 23rd)

GPOI: LOSS (7th to #10's 1st)

500: WIN (23rd to #11's 30th)

Detroit: LOSS (19th to #28's 2nd)

Road America: WIN (6th to #6's 13th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (2nd to #45’s 13th)

3. #5 McLaren 4-4

St. Petersburg: WIN (1st to #28's 23rd)

Long Beach: LOSS (16th to #11's 12th)

Barber: LOSS (23rd to #26's 8th)

GPOI: WIN (13th to #6's 19th)

500: LOSS (2nd to #2's 1st)

Detroit: WIN (7th to #45's 11th)

Road America: LOSS (8th to #10's 4th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (8th to #28’s 10th)

4. #6 McLaren 4-4 

St. Petersburg: WIN (11th to #2's 26th)

Long Beach: WIN (11th to #45's 23rd)

Barber: LOSS (22nd to #10's 5th)

GPOI: LOSS (19th to #5's 13th)

500: WIN (11th to #28's 33rd)

Detroit: LOSS (10th to #11's 3rd)

Road America: LOSS (13th to #26's 6th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (12th to #2’s 19th)

5. #28 Andretti 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (23rd to #5's 1st)

Long Beach: LOSS (5th to #10's 3rd)

Barber: LOSS (18th to #45's 6th)

GPOI: WIN (16th to #2's 17th)

500: LOSS (33rd to #6's 11th)

Detroit: WIN (2nd to #26's 19th)

Road America: WIN (9th to #11's 26th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (10th to #5’s 8th)

6. #11 Ganassi 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (25th to #10's 4th)

Long Beach: WIN (12th to #5's 16th)

Barber: WIN (9th to #2's 15th)

GPOI: LOSS (5th to #45's 3rd)

500: LOSS (30th to #26's 23rd)

Detroit: WIN (3rd to #6's 10th)

Road America: LOSS (26th to #28's 9th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (22nd to #10’s 1st)

7. #2 Penske 2-6

St. Petersburg: LOSS (26th to #6's 11th)

Long Beach: LOSS (4th to #26's 2nd)

Barber: LOSS (15th to #11's 9th)

GPOI: LOSS (17th to #28's 16th)

500: WIN (1st to #5's 2nd)

Detroit: LOSS (26th to #10's 16th)

Road America: WIN (2nd to #45's 11th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (19th to #6’s 12th)

8. #45 RLLR 2-6

St. Petersburg: LOSS (18th to #26's 3rd)

Long Beach: LOSS (23rd to #6's 11th)

Barber: WIN (6th to #28's 18th)

GPOI: WIN (3rd to #11's 5th)

500: LOSS (13th to #10's 5th)

Detroit: LOSS (11th to #5's #7th)

Road America: LOSS (11th to #2's 2nd)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (13th to #26’s 2nd)

Conference 1 Breakdown:

Álex Palou has been close to untouchable this season and with six races remaining in the regular season he basically a lock for a playoff spot. Unbeaten through eight races, Palou should lock up a playoff spot in no time. 

Colton Herta’s consistent season has him in second while it is still pretty tight from third to eighth. No team is clearly going to be relegated and those final two playoff spots are very much up in the air. Despite the rotation of drivers, the #6 McLaren is currently in a playoff spot, but it is only two games above the relegation zone. 

Josef Newgarden has been in the relegation fight the entire season. Newgarden opened the season 0-4. That bump with Herta at Long Beach turned into a loss because Newgarden and Herta faced off that week. A fourth ended up not being enough for Newgarden. When those days go against you, bad days cannot happen. Newgarden constantly has had poor outings in 2024 and it has him in a precarious situation. 

Conference 2 (Top four go to the playoffs, fifth is safe, sixth and seventh to relegated playoff, eighth is relegated)

1. #12 Penske 6-2

St. Petersburg: WIN (2nd to #7's 5th)

Long Beach: WIN (6th to #27's 7th)

Barber: WIN (2nd to #15's 11th)

GPOI: WIN (2nd to #77's 12th)

500: LOSS (24th to #9's 3rd)

Detroit: WIN (6th to #3's 20th)

Road America: WIN (1st to #8's 12th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (7th to #7’s 3rd)

2. #27 Andretti 6-2 

St. Petersburg: WIN (10th to #8's 21st)

Long Beach: LOSS (7th to #12's 6th)

Barber: WIN (10th to #9's 15th)

GPOI: LOSS (11th to #3's 6th)

500: WIN (7th to #15's 15th)

Detroit: WIN (4th to #77's 23rd)

Road America: WIN (5th to #7's 18th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (6th to #8’s 17th)

3. #3 Penske 5-3 

St. Petersburg: LOSS (27th to #15's 14th)

Long Beach: LOSS (26th to #77's 8th)

Barber: WIN (1st to #7's 25th)

GPOI: WIN (6th to #27's 11th)

500: WIN (6th to #8's 28th)

Detroit: LOSS (20th to #12's 6th)

Road America: WIN (3rd to #9's 21st)

Laguna Seca: WIN (21st to #15’s 24th)

4. #9 Ganassi 5-3

St. Petersburg: WIN (7th to #77's 22nd)

Long Beach: WIN (1st to #15's 17th)

Barber: LOSS (15th to #27's 10th)

GPOI: WIN (4th to #7's 8th)

500: WIN (3rd to #12's 24th)

Detroit: WIN (1st to #8's 22nd)

Road America: LOSS (21st to #3's 3rd)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (6th to #77’s 4th)

5. #7 McLaren 4-4

St. Petersburg: LOSS (5th to #12's 2nd)

Long Beach: WIN (10th to #8's 13th)

Barber: LOSS (25th to #3's 1st)

GPOI: LOSS (8th to #9's 4th)

500: WIN (4th to #77's 19th)

Detroit: WIN (5th to #15's 15th)

Road America: LOSS (18th to #27's 5th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (3rd to #12’s 7th)

6. #77 JHR 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (22nd to #9's 7th)

Long Beach: WIN (8th to #3's 26th)

Barber: LOSS (12th to #8's 3rd)

GPOI: LOSS (12th to #12's 2nd)

500: LOSS (19th to #7's 4th)

Detroit: LOSS (23rd to #27's 4th)

Road America: WIN (7th to #15's 10th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (4th to #9’s 6th)

7. #15 RLLR 2-6

St. Petersburg: WIN (14th to #3's 27th)

Long Beach: LOSS (17th to #9's 1st)

Barber: LOSS (11th to #12's 2nd)

GPOI: WIN (9th to #8's 24th)

500: LOSS (15th to #27's 7th)

Detroit: LOSS (15th to #7's 5th)

Road America: WIN (10th to #77's 7th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (24th to #3’s 21st)

8. #8 Ganassi 1-7

St. Petersburg: LOSS (21st to #27's 10th)

Long Beach: LOSS (13th to #7's 10th)

Barber: WIN (3rd to #77's 12th)

GPOI: LOSS (24th to #15's 9th)

500: LOSS (28th's to #3's 6th)

Detroit: LOSS (22nd to #9's 1st)

Road America: LOSS (12th to #12's 1st)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (17th to #27’s 6th)

Conference 2 Breakdown:

This conference is more evenly spread out. Will Power and Kyle Kirkwood are tied for first and that is a fair representation of their seasons. 

Only one game covers Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. Someone good will be missing the playoffs. It will likely come down to the final race of the regular season. 

Romain Grosjean is just on the outside and a run to end the regular season could net him a playoff spot. Graham Rahal is a game ahead of Linus Lundqvist in the final spot for safety for automatic relegation, though the relegation playoff would be ahead of whoever finishes seventh. There is no wiggle room, and like the other conference there is no clear entry set to be relegated. Much is on the line in the final six weeks, and it could all turn upside down. 

League Two (Top two automatically promoted)

1. #60 MSR 6-1

St. Petersburg: WIN (5th to #14's 9th)

Long Beach: WIN (9th to #4's 19th)

Barber: WIN (4th to #41's 26th)

GPOI: WIN (10th to #30's 14th)

500: LOSS (27th to #21's 9th)

Detroit: WIN (8th to #20's 14th)

Road America: WIN (14th to #78's 23rd)

Laguna Seca: BYE

2. #14 Foyt 6-2 

St. Petersburg: LOSS (9th to #60's 5th)

Long Beach: WIN (21st to #20's 27th)

Barber: WIN (7th to #30's 27th)

GPOI: (LOSS (27th to #21's 26th)

500: WIN (8th to #4's 21st)

Detroit: WIN (9th to #51's 18th)

Road America: WIN (15th to #18's 24th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (9th to #78’s 18th)

3. #18 DCR 4-3

St. Petersburg: WIN (17th to #51's 20th)

Long Beach: LOSS (25th to #30's 24th)

Barber: BYE

GPOI: WIN (18th to #20's 20th)

500: LOSS (DNQ to #41's 16th)

Detroit: WIN (17th to #4's 24th)

Road America: LOSS (24th to #14's 15th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (25th to #21’s 26th)

4. #66 MSR 4-3 

St. Petersburg: WIN (15th to #20's 19th)

Long Beach: LOSS (22nd to #51's 20th)

Barber: LOSS (19th to #4's 14th)

GPOI: BYE

500: WIN (31st to #30's 32nd)

Detroit: LOSS (25th to #78's 12th)

Road America: WIN (19th to #21's 24th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (12th to #41’s 20th)

5. #21 ECR 4-3

St. Petersburg: WIN (8th to #78's 16th)

Long Beach: BYE

Barber: WIN (17th to #20's 24th)

GPOI: WIN (26th to #14's 27th)

500: WIN (9th to #60's 27th)

Detroit: LOSS (14th to #30's 13th)

Road America: LOSS (24th to #66's 19th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (26th to #18’s 25th) 

5. #30 RLLR 3-4

St. Petersburg: WIN (14th to #41's 24th)

Long Beach: WIN (24th to #18's 25th)

Barber: LOSS (27th to #14's 7th)

GPOI: LOSS (14th to #60's 10th)

500: LOSS (32nd to #66's 31st)

Detroit: WIN (13th to #21's 14th)

Road America: BYE

Laguna Seca: LOSS (14th to #20’s 13th)

6. #41 Foyt 3-4

St. Petersburg: LOSS (24th to #30's 14th)

Long Beach: LOSS (18th to #78's 15th)

Barber: LOSS (26th to #60's 4th)

GPOI: WIN (22nd to #51's 25th)

500: WIN (16th to #18's DNQ)

Detroit: BYE

Road America: WIN (17th to #4's 27th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (20th to #66’s 12th)

7. #4 Ganassi 3-4 

St. Petersburg: BYE

Long Beach: LOSS (19th to #60's 9th)

Barber: WIN (14th to #66's 19th)

GPOI: WIN (15th to #78's 21st)

500: LOSS (21st to #14's 8th)

Detroit: LOSS (24th to #18's 17th)

Road America: LOSS (27th to #41's 17th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (23rd to #51’s 27th)

9. #20 ECR 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (19th to #66's 15th)

Long Beach: LOSS (27th to #14's 21st)

Barber: LOSS (24th to #21's 17th)

GPOI: LOSS (20th to #18's 18th)

500: WIN (17th to #78's 22nd)

Detroit: LOSS (14th to #60's 8th)

Road America: WIN (20th to #51's 22nd)

Laguna Seca: WIN (13th to #30’s 14th)

10. #78 JHR 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (16th to #21's 8th)

Long Beach: WIN (15th to #41's 18th)

Barber: WIN (20th to #51's 21st)

GPOI: LOSS (21st to #4's 15th)

500: LOSS (22nd to #20's 17th)

Detroit: WIN (12th to #66's 25th)

Road America: LOSS (23rd to #60's 14th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (18th to #14’s 9th)

11. #51 DCR 1-6

St. Petersburg: LOSS (20th to #18's 17th)

Long Beach: WIN (20th to #66's 22nd)

Barber: LOSS (21st to #78's 20th)

GPOI: LOSS (25th to #41's 22nd)

500: BYE

Detroit: LOSS (18th to #14's 9th)

Road America: LOSS (22nd to #20's 20th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (27th to #4’s 23rd)

League Two Breakdown:

The two revelations of the season are in promotion spots. It is difficult seeing either Félix Rosenqvist or Santino Ferrucci winding up not in one of the two automatic promotion spots. Nobody else in League Two has been as competitive as those two. 

With the second group stage following in this new League Two format, there is no grand incentive to finish third, but Jack Harvey has done well against this group of contemporaries. With the #66 Meyer Shank Racing entry in fourth, it must be noted Tom Blomqvist was 2-2 in his four matchups and he did win at the Indianapolis 500 despite being the cause for the opening lap accident. That is because Pietro Fittipaldi was also caught in that incident. 

Light is growing between the rest of League Two and the #51 Dale Coyne Racing entry. With a rotation of drivers likely to continue, and this only a single round robin, meaning every entry faces each other once and there are three matchups left, it will be do-or-die for the #51 entry at Mid-Ohio. 

With four races in the span of 15 days, it will all become clear quickly, especially in League Two. Many answers will soon be provided.

Musings From the Weekend: Eight Weekends Down, Seven To Go

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Formula One raced in Spain. There was an American winner in Barcelona. Actually, there were two. A week after Le Mans, another endurance race was waiting at Watkins Glen. NASCAR had a messy race in New Hampshire. Super Formula had an all-domestic affair at Sportsland SUGO, but the weather played a starring role. Álex Palou won the IndyCar race from Laguna Seca, but this weekend marked a turning point in the season. 

Eight Weekends Down, Seven to Go

It isn’t quite the midway point in the 2024 IndyCar season as there are still more races remaining than have been run, but in terms of race weekends, we are entering the second half as eight race weekends are down and seven remain with a pair of doubleheaders ahead of the series. 

Races will come quickly in July, four in a span of 15 days. Before being caught in that whirlwind before the Olympic break, this is a good time to look at how the pieces have fallen and how we could summarize every driver to run multiple IndyCar races this season. Each driver gets a little blurb about how they have run in the first eight races and how we should feel about each heading into the final nine events. 

Álex Palou is the best driver in IndyCar and the only way he doesn’t win this championship is if someone beats him. Palou doesn’t make mistakes. The only race where he hasn’t finished in the top ten in the last 18 months wasn’t because of something he did wrong. Palou was in the wrong place when Josef Newgarden spun at Detroit and Palou was forced to halt and fall to 16th. He is going to finish no worse than eighth the rest of the season. It will require someone to be near flawless to dethrone the Catalan champion. 

It has been a good but not a great season from Will Power, and Power is second in the championship. He has three runner-up finishes and won at Road America, but there hasn’t been a race where Power has felt like the man to beat. He was the third-best car at Road America and played strategy the right way to win. Second in the championship is second in the championship, but it is hard to see Power as a threat when he has one victory over the last two years. 

The biggest threat to Álex Palou is Scott Dixon. It has been a good start to the year for Dixon and he hasn’t had many bad days. With six oval races remaining, the schedule favors Dixon down the stretch. It isn’t guaranteed Dixon will outscore Palou, and Palou is respectable on ovals, but it feels more likely Dixon could go on a run and chip away six points from Palou’s advantage in each race. With a 32-point gap between the two with nine races remaining, Dixon can methodically steal this title from Palou’s grasp to the surprise of no one. 

Colton Herta feels like he should have at least one victory by now, and that is understandable. This has been a big improvement for him and the Andretti Global group, but until there is a race victory it doesn’t feel like any progress has been made. Herta does overstep at times and that is still a flaw. There is a hint of desperation. This group is close. A victory should come his way, at least one would believe so. 

This has been an exceptional season for Kyle Kirkwood. A case could be made for Kirkwood being the best Andretti Global driver this season. His worst finish is 11th. Unfortunately, and this is true for all three Andretti drivers, none have won, and Kirkwood should probably have a victory by now. Andretti Global isn’t the oval powerhouse it once was. The second half of this season isn’t necessarily favorably to this group, however, if they maintain this pace, a victory will come. 

Three years ago, when Patricio O’Ward was a championship contender and going toe-to-toe with Palou, I don’t think anyone thought three years later the only victory he would have in a span of nearly two years would have been inherited after a driver was disqualified due to the greatest rules infraction in modern IndyCar history. O’Ward nearly won the Indianapolis 500. He hasn’t been that close to winning anywhere else lately. Arrow McLaren had a mighty first six races at the start of 2023, and hasn’t been close to that zip code since. 

It has been fine for Alexander Rossi. He has won one race in five years. That isn’t great. But Rossi is seventh in the championship. He has been running well and he has been in the same ballpark as O’Ward all season. We have yet to see Rossi control a race driving for Arrow McLaren. We really haven’t seen him be the clear best driver in a race in almost four years. I would argue his last great drive was the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg, a race Rossi famously loss for on an unforced error. That ability cannot be entirely gone, but when will we see it again? Will we ever?

Team Penske is having a bad season and Scott McLaughlin has taken his share of lumps this season. There have been good days but the penalty from St. Petersburg combined with the mechanical failure at Long Beach and now the recent incident at Laguna Seca has put the New Zealander in a hole he could not afford to find himself in through the first eight races. 

Josef Newgarden needs to start finishing races, especially road and street course races. Newgarden has allowed his season to hang on the results of the final six oval races. He spent all offseason speaking about focusing on racing, and if it wasn’t for a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory this would be his worst season in a decade. This season has been a regression, arguably a second consecutive season regressing, concern should be growing. 

Felix Rosenqvist has exceeded expectations and has been the surprise of the season. Rosenqvist has turned Meyer Shank Racing into a contender. Work remains to be done. We see the best of Rosenqvist on Saturdays and he fades on Sundays. He is still picking up top ten results but if he can carry the speed over from qualifying to the race, he could be on the podium or even steal a victory. 

Christian Lundgaard is carrying Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for a second consecutive season, but Lundgaard is experiencing the limitations of RLLR more than last year. With six oval races remaining, this will be a challenge for the Dane, who is in a place of finding success where he is at but wanting more. Does Lundgaard believe RLLR can be a place where he can reach that next level and be the unquestioned number one driver or does he know he must leave to become a consistent race winner? He certainly has suitors. 

You cannot ignore five top ten finishes and 12th in the championship, which is what Santino Ferrucci has through eight races for A.J. Foyt Racing. This season has gone much better than respected though Ferrucci isn’t really doing it with impressive drives. Most of his results have been earn strategically. Take them however you can get them, but Ferrucci has received more attention for his antics in practice than anything done in races. You can only goof around for so long. 

There have been growing pains switching to Andretti Global for Marcus Ericsson. There have been good days but Ericsson fit in comfortably in Chip Ganassi Racing’s #8 entry. That team was all in it together. It takes time to develop that, and we are seeing it at Andretti. It hasn’t been a bad season, but there have likely been more frustrating days than expected. An accident in Indianapolis 500 practice did not help either. 

Every other week I think there is no way Romain Grosjean will be back in IndyCar next year. Grosjean went from Dale Coyne Racing to Andretti Autosport and being a big enough name to convince DHL to stick around when it was ready to leave and after two disappointing seasons he drives mostly sponsor-less cars at Juncos Hollinger Racing. I don’t think any bigger IndyCar teams will be calling Grosjean in the future. Grosjean has the Lamborghini GTP contract. He could be full-time in IMSA or WEC, run a dozen sports car races a year, live in Switzerland full-time and be happy. 

Marcus Armstrong has experienced a bit of a sophomore slump. When you complete all but four laps in your 12 starts as a rookie, a few bad days are bound to come up. Armstrong hasn’t been pushing Álex Palou or Scott Dixon, but he had strong days and shown development from his rookie year. The second half will be eye-opening as there are six oval races left and his Indianapolis 500 debut, his first oval race, ended after six laps due to an engine failure. Of those six laps, only about one turn was done at full speed. 

The results are not where Graham Rahal would have hoped they would be especially after the positive steps Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing made at the end of 2023. The team hasn’t taken a step back but it definitely hasn’t made a step forward either. Plenty of changes have been made though, which makes status quo harder to accept. 

I do not know who wants Rinus VeeKay, who is in a contract year. Three years ago, it felt like the day would come where VeeKay would be ready to leave Ed Carpenter Racing for a bigger and better team. With how competitive IndyCar has become and how many drivers are now interested in the series, I don’t think teams are tripping over themselves for a piece of Rinus VeeKay. His best option might be staying at ECR, which is a terrible option. 

For all the waves Linus Lundqvist has made he will need more than one podium finish to stick at Chip Ganassi Racing. If the results do not turn around, this will look like a rushed hire based on three races where Lundqvist had nothing to lose as a substitute for an injured Simon Pagenaud. The #8 Ganassi entry has sponsorship. For all the drivers representing the American Legion, there are at least a half-dozen on the sidelines who could get better results for that car than Lundqvist at the moment. 

Pietro Fittipaldi was a hot name six years ago and he had respectable runs in IndyCar, most of which came when still recovering from injury. Choosing to be sidelined for most of the last four years and only running eight to ten sports car races a year while spending the rest of the time standing at the back of the Haas F1 garage doesn’t seem like the best long-term career decision in hindsight. The third Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry has been struggling for three seasons, but Graham Rahal isn’t succeeding at a high level either and Fittipaldi isn’t even pushing for second-best in the team. 

Kyffin Simpson is having the rookie season any underwhelming, mid-pack Indy Lights driver wish he had. Simpson has been better than expected and he has been smart. Let’s not confuse that for Juan Pablo Montoya 1999 or even Colton Herta 2019. Simpson hasn’t been a menace but he has still been rushed into IndyCar and is getting a boost because the fifth Chip Ganassi Racing entry is still good enough to finish 15th with the most average driver in it. 

The story of Agustín Canapino’s season is the off-track, social media debacle involving Théo Pourchaire and the tone-deaf response to a fellow competitor receiving death threats. As much as Canapino has been celebrated for his move to IndyCar and open-wheel racing after a career in touring cars in Argentina, his best career finish is 12th in 24 starts. This is new to Canapino but at some point a best finish of 12th and a career average finish of 19.125 must be acknowledged.

Joining Ed Carpenter Racing might have been Christian Rasmussen’s only good option, and he did well in the Indianapolis 500, but Rasmussen has looked like a rookie in all the bad ways in every other race this season. Due to Ed Carpenter’s insisting he still run all the oval races, Rasmussen will run only three of the final nine races, and his season ends on August 25 at Portland. That’s a great plan for development. 

In 25 career starts, Sting Ray Robb has never started in the top ten. His average starting position this season is 24.75. The average grid size this season is 27.875. Robb’s career is going as good as any competent person could have expected. He is basically keeping A.J. Foyt Racing as a two-car team. That is Robb’s greatest contribution to IndyCar at the moment. 

Théo Pourchaire has likely been the best rookie this season but he will likely not complete his season after Arrow McLaren signed Nolan Siegel to complete the 2024 season. Pourchaire is at a crossroads at 20 years old. Three years ago, it felt like he was destined to be on the Formula One grid in no time. Despite finishing second and first in the Formula Two championship, Pourchaire has been shuffled out of the mix and being a Sauber development driver isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, especially with Audi taking over the team and looking for experience when it enters in 2026. Does any IndyCar team realize Pourchaire is worth the time or will the Frenchman’s career become scattered unsure if he is wanted though talent is clearly there?

Dale Coyne Racing didn’t have many other options and neither did Jack Harvey in January 2024. It was a late partnership for practically the entire season but for a team with limited resources and constantly cycling through engineers combined with a driver who has lost his luster, it was always going to be trying. Trying they have and there have been some moral victories, but you need more substance than that. 

It is hard to say this wasn’t the worst possible outcome for Tom Blomqvist, but Blomqvist was getting more comfortable in each race weekend, however, Meyer Shank Racing could not afford to have one car challenging for the top ten in the championship while its other driver was scrapping for a Leader Circle spot and finishing in the top 22, hence the early season change. 

An unceremonious dismal from Juncos Hollinger Racing turned Callum Ilott into a prized commodity and may have given him new life in sports cars. When Ilott stepped in at Arrow McLaren to deputize for David Malukas it felt like his future was with McLaren, but Ilott has excelled in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Hertz Team Jota and I don’t think he will be leaving sports car racing anytime soon. 

Nolan Siegel went from a driver to keep an eye on for 2025 to a driver who will get to dabble in IndyCar in 2024 to full-time McLaren driver in six months. This is rushed. He is 19 years old and still has much maturation to do. Siegel’s 2023 season unraveled. His 2024 season was going well, but he wasn’t the dominant driver in the series. There are reasons to hope. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Siegel got the better of Ritomo Miyata on a stint, and Miyata is a celebrated Formula Two driver who won both the Super Formula and Super GT championships in Japan last year. Siegel could be alright, but he needs time and Arrow McLaren famously does not give its drivers that long of a leash. 

Luca Ghiotto has made four IndyCar starts, all for Dale Coyne Racing with no prior testing experience. I don’t know what he is getting out of this or what he hoped for. I am glad Ghiotto got a shot at IndyCar and I hope it leads to something. These results don’t really tell us anything about him as a driver because Dale Coyne Racing cannot produce a car that can crack the top fifteen at the moment let alone one that is competitive for more than that. 

Due to the firing of Blomqvist, we got to see Hélio Castroneves run two more races than expected in 2024 and it was wonderful getting to see him finish 25th and 19th along with him make another start in the Indianapolis 500. 

There is plenty of time for drivers to turn narratives around, but at least half the story is already written, and they must live with what has been put to paper. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix, his seventh victory of the season.

Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Loudon, as well as the Grand National Series race.

The #7 Porsche of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr won the 6 Hours at the Glen. The #88 AF Corse Oreca-Gibson of Nicklas Nielsen, Luis Pérez Companc and Lilou Wadoux won in LMP2. The #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas won in GTD Pro. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje won in GTD.

Louis Foster swept the Indy Lights races from Laguna Seca.

Victor Martins (sprint) and Jak Crawford (feature) split the Formula Two races from Barcelona. Mari Boya (sprint) and Arvid Lindblad (feature) split the Formula Three races.

Tomoki Nojiri won a rain-shortened Super Formula race from Sportsland SUGO.

Romain Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for the fifth time. 

Coming Up This Weekend

The 24 Hours of Spa closes out the month.

Formula E has its penultimate race weekend in Portland.

MotoGP will be at Assen.

Formula One heads east to Austria.

NASCAR will be in the Nashville-area.

The World Rally Championship will be in Poland.

First Impressions: Laguna Seca 2024

1. It was not quite like last year’s Laguna Seca race, but cautions played a critical role. It ultimately came down to when teams decided to make their pit stops, and for Álex Palou, he did not stop under a caution in the middle of a stint for a Luca Ghiotto accident. 

Staying out allowed Palou to run flat out while those that stopped around 60 laps to go had to conserve fuel. Palou had to do some work and manage late restarts that leveled the competition, but the decision to remain on track gave Palou control of the race. That is all he needs to get victory. 

Palou was pushing Kyle Kirkwood after Palou lost the lead on the initial start of the race. It felt destined for Palou to leap forward, but stopping early was more advantageous, and Palou actually lost spots, but all those cars that stopped before Palou in that first round of green flag pit stops came under the first caution for Ghiotto.

It was mid-stint and it never made much sense to go on the defensive. This was a gift for Palou and now he has a 23-point championship lead over Will Power in second. Palou is 32 points ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon. 

This wasn’t a case of Palou entered this weekend up ten or 15 points and took advantage. Palou was trailing in the championship, five points behind Power, entering this race. This was a big swing in the championship and one the field likely wish didn’t happen. Palou doesn’t need much to run away from the competition. He has been given a golden opportunity. 

2. The late cautions brought Colton Herta into the conversation for race victory, but he could not give Palou much of a serious threat. Herta spent basically the entire race in the top five. He stopped early, and this race was reminiscent to Long Beach. Scott Dixon won that race saying fuel but everyone behind him was driving flat out. The fuel-save strategy worked for Dixon but no one else.

This was the reverse. Palou won going all out, but the cars that had to save did have good days. Herta still finished second stretching fuel. If Herta had stayed out, it would have been better for his shot at victory. Also, the cautions did make this closer than it was. Without the late cautions, Herta might be second but eight or ten seconds behind Palou. I am surprised Andretti Global didn’t split the strategies considering Herta and Kyle Kirkwood were both at the front at that time. 

3. After the first round of pit stops, this was looking like it was Alexander Rossi’s race. Rossi stopped first among the leaders and went from about fourth to first. It looked like Rossi’s team had played the right strategy for once… and then it stopped under the first caution and sacrificed control of the race. Rossi should have finished on the podium today, but if he doesn’t pit under that Ghiotto caution, I think he wins  the race. 

4. Romain Grosjean didn’t stop under the Ghiotto caution and that lifted Grosjean to a fourth-place finish. This was already a good weekend for Grosjean, but the decision mostly lifted Grosjean into the top five when he was right outside of it. He didn’t put a wheel wrong while others did. It was a good result for him and the Juncos Hollinger Racing team. It is actually JHR’s best finish in IndyCar. 

5. I don’t think Kyle Kirkwood was going to win this race even after leading all those laps at the start. With how close Palou was, this felt like a race we have seen Scott Dixon win five or six times. Stay close during the first stint, over-cut the leader by one lap, take the lead and runaway. Of course, Kirkwood did get out ahead of Palou after the first round of pit stops, but ground was lost to Rossi. Then Kirkwood lost spots on the pit stops under the Ghiotto caution. It was still a strong drive from Kirkwood, a top five is suitable.   

6. A quiet day for Scott Dixon got him sixth. Unsurprisingly, Dixon took the fuel-save strategy. He was fourth among those drivers, but he was starting behind the three drivers ahead of him. He didn’t lose ground today. Dixon made fuel and went forward. 

7. Will Power didn’t quite have a great day, but still finished seventh. With the ways the cautions fell, it benefited Power, but he was never a factor in this race and the result is rather flattering.  This was not a great weekend for Team Penske across the board. 

8. It is hard to find any faults in an eighth-place finish but Patricio O’Ward was on the same strategy as Palou, restarted third but he had to stop eight laps before Palou and that cost O’Ward positions. O’Ward had stopped about six laps earlier than the leaders on the opening stint. He was always going  to stop before Palou and he was going to have to run a little less aggressive, but it is tough to celebrate this result.

9. Santino Ferrucci used strategy again to finish in the top ten. Credit to him and A.J. Foyt Racing because it is working but he isn’t finishing ninth if he stops under the Ghiotto caution. Even with the strategy plays, Ferrucci is still picking up ninth-place results and not podium finishes or top five finishes. It is great for A.J. Foyt Racing, but we have seen this season Ferrucci make it a habit of doing stupid stuff in practice. There are plenty of drivers who could pull off this result and not bring the drama.

10. Marcus Ericsson stuck into the top ten. He wasn’t going to finish in the top ten and then he did. We will cover why in a moment. As for Ericsson, the growing pains have been a little greater than expected at Andretti Global. Not the end of the world but I don’t think we expected this many scraps to get tenth. 

11. This is coming out late because Pacific Time Zone. We will be quick here. This was another race where Felix Rosenqvist started at the front, had potential, but ended up finishing significantly behind from where he started. Don’t get me wrong, 11th is good for Meyer Shank Racing considering where it was last year, but this group cannot be losing four to eight spots every race from where it started. It doesn’t sting as much when you start in the top ten but it is still wasteful. 

Credit to David Malukas for completing all the laps and finishing 16th. Malukas should be improving over each weekend. 

12. I don’t know how Nolan Siegel ended up 12th considering he also had a spin mid-race. Chalk it up to the cautions I guess. 

13. Christian Rasmussen did make up a fair amount of spots today. It only got him 13th but that is all Ed Carpenter Racing can ask for at the moment. Rinus VeeKay had a spin on his own and then had to retire due to mechanical problems, taking 26th. One step forward, two steps back for ECR today. 

14. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had the race from hell. Pietro Fittipaldi did nothing brilliant to finish 14th. Christian Lundgaard was knocked off the road multiple times, it tarnished what was a promising starting position, and Lundgaard had his own penalty after he pushed Marcus Armstrong off track, leaving the Dane to finish 15th. Graham Rahal never had it this weekend and was collected when Kyffin Simpson spun in front of him. The next race is the home race at Mid-Ohio. It can only go up from here… right?

15. Chip Ganassi Racing’s youths did not have great days. Linus Lundqvist wasn’t competitive to begin with and hitting a pit crew member doesn’t help. Marcus Armstrong was spun and then Kyffin Simpson spun himself. These three are lucky Palou won. 

16. Agustín Canapino returned to anonymity in 18th. That is all. Sting Ray Robb was 20th though he did have a spin. 

17. Team Penske had a terrible weekend. Josef Newgarden nearly caught a break when the caution came out for Armstrong. Newgarden was on pit lane when it happened and came out in second. However, he lost about three spots when he ran slightly wide not long after the following restart. On the penultimate lap, Newgarden spun out from fifth. Newgarden shouldn’t have been fifth, but he shouldn’t have been 19th either. For a guy who spent a lot of time speaking about focus, this was an incident that showed a lack of focus, and a championship position of eighth with five results worse than 15th in the first eight races causes some questions to be raised

Scott McLaughlin had a top ten day going and then an ambitious move on Will Power caused contact and actually damaged McLaughlin’s car to the point it took him out of the race. This has been a messy season for Team Penske. It felt like it was back on track a month ago after Indianapolis. Apparently, that isn’t the case.

18. Along with Luca Ghiotto’s accident, Jack Harvey lost an engine. Dale Coyne Racing was 25th and 27th today. It is a bad team and the drivers are doing all they can to get something respectable. 

19. Summer is here and in a fortnight Mid-Ohio will take a place in IndyCar history as it will be the debut round for the hybrid system.