Musings From the Weekend: Looking For Relevance

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

IndyCar did some testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arlington was confirmed. Some promos were run. People are easily impressed. Elsewhere, it was a good weekend for a Pink Cadillac. Some hardware was awarded. NASCAR officiating had a weekend. Parker Kligerman deserved better. World Superbike had its closest finish. The Bathurst 1000 occurred, but that wasn't the biggest news out of Australia this weekend, and it is time to ask, what the hell are we doing?

Looking For Relevance

While Supercars had its 2025 schedule released the previous week, a new championship format was confirmed ahead of the Bathurst 1000. Coming next year will be a format that resembles something the United States has become all too familiar with.

In 2025, the Supercars championship will be broken up into three parts. The first eight rounds will comprise the sprint championship. The next two rounds will be the Enduro Cup, a 500-kilometer race at The Bend Motorsport Park and the Bathurst 1000. After Bathurst, the sprint champion and Enduro champion along with the next best eight drivers in the championship will advance to the Finals, a three-round title-decider.

Like NASCAR's playoffs, there will be eliminations. After the first round of the Final at Surfers Paradise, three drivers will be eliminated from the championship. Three more drivers will be eliminated after the penultimate round at Sandown. The Adelaide finale will feature four drivers competing for the championship. The driver with the most points after the three races over the Adelaide weekend will be the champion. 

NASCAR made its switch to effectively a playoff format 20 years ago. While a few other championships have dabbled in resets and playoffs, it is still a rather rare in the motorsports world. Other than some double points and the inclusion of sprint races, full season aggregates are still the norm. Championships are still occasionally decided before the final weekend around the world, the biggest championships included. Yet, Supercars has decided it is time for something different. The only explanation is relevance. 

For all the competition Supercars has, tight championship races are not rather common. Last season was the first time in five years the championship was undecided entering the final round. Though there was a stretch of four-year stretch of title races that went to the wire before that, like NASCAR at the turn of the 21st century, Supercars knows it is better if every race means something toward the championship than to have nothing to play for late in the season. Whether changing the format to ensure the championship goes to the final race works in keeping an audience's attention remains a matter of debate, it is hard to argue against having something to play for even if it is in a convoluted system. 

It is a battle for relevance. 

Even if it seems like this is something the current audience does not want, it is looking to attract the audience that is not there. Like NASCAR in the United States, Supercars is not the biggest fish in the Australian sporting pond. Competition is a good thing. People understand what it means to have a championship on the line. A great number of Super Bowl viewers are not die-hard football fans. They care more about commercials than pass coverage, but the thrill of watching a sporting event and the greatest unscripted spectacle there can be is what makes the entire show as popular as it is. 

The commercials, the halftime show, the festivities are nothing without the game, without the competition. Even if it is not natural to motorsports, a championship final, win-take-all, is understandable to the common viewer. Though, as we have seen with NASCAR, it doesn't appear that is really drawing viewers.

But something must be done. 

Formula One has grown without a playoff format filled with resets and changing point systems, but it is tougher to grow following the way Formula One has, by making the drivers relatable to people who otherwise they did not know existed. The racing takes a backseat because people are watching for the people participating. There is also a finite appetite for racing docuseries. Not every Netflix series is going to turn a motorsports series into the hottest thing on the planet. It actually looks like it is only going to work for one. With that out of the mix, the next thing to do is try and make the competition worthy of consideration.

The drivers and teams will go with it. They have too much invested to walk away with nothing due to a change in the championship structure. Existing fans will have a choice to stay or go. Nothing says a championship must be awarded the same way as it always has been just because it has always been that way. Maybe a full-season aggregate is like democracy, the best of all the bad options.

If you love the series, you do not get any other choices. You can always find another hobby, but how strong is that love if all you are going to do is runaway when change comes knocking? That is the bet Supercars is making. They are hoping those who are around will remain because where else are they going to go? 

That bet has arguably not worked out for NASCAR, as viewership declined for a decade and has since plateau far from where it was when playoffs were first introduced. Each place is different, and Supercars might be able to do change differently, and in a way that does not constantly feel alienating. 

For all those that are upset, there is no proof that a full-season aggregate is really what people want. People didn't flock to IndyCar or sports cars when NASCAR introduced and constantly tweaked its playoff format to what we have today. If that is what people wanted and those other series grew due to their commitments to the long-held way of deciding champions, then playoffs would have become a dead concept a long time ago. 

There was plenty of noise from upset people, but it will require a significant shake to the foundation for anything to revert back. Supercars highly doubts it will all go to hell. People will leave but it is gambling more will come in and increase relevance. It is willing to take a short-term loss for a long-term gain.

Champions From the Weekend

The #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Penske of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr clinched the IMSA GTP championship with a third-place finish at Petit Le Mans. 

The #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca-Gibson of Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann clinched IMSA's LMP2 championship with a fourth-place finish in class at Petit Le Mans.

The #77 AO Racing Porsche of Laurin Heinrich clinched IMSA's GTD Pro championship with an 11th-place finish at Petit Le Mans. 

The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward clinched the GTD championship with a eighth-place finish at Petit Le Mans.

The #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Lucas Auer and Maro Engel clinched the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup championship with a finish of third and fourth in Barcelona.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about some champions, but did you know...

The #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande, Sébastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon won the 27th Petit Le Mans. The #11 TDS Racing Oreca of Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea and Steven Thomas won the LMP2 class. The #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera won in GTD Pro class. The #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari of Albert Costa, Manny Franco and Cédric Sbirrazzuoli won in GTD class.

Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood won the 67th Bathurst 1000.

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Charlotte, his sixth victory of the season. Sam Mayer won the Grand National Series race, his third victory of the season. 

Sho Tsuboi swept the Super Formula races from Fuji.

Toprack Razgatlioglu (race one and two) and Nicolò Bulega (SuperPole race) split the World Superbike races from Estoril. Yari Montella and Stefano Manzi split the World Supersport races.

The #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG of Maximilian Götz and Jules Gounon and the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup race from Barcelona.

Coming Up This Weekend

Formula One returns to competition with the United States Grand Prix, the first of a triple-header.

MotoGP will be at Phillip Island. 

World Superbike ends its season at Jerez.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters ends its season at the Hockenheimring.

The European Le Mans Series ends with the 4 Hours of Portimão.

NASCAR is in Las Vegas.

Super GT competes at Autopolis.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's 2024 Season

The fourth IndyCar Wrap-Up has us looking at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team that won in 2023 and showed competitiveness despite some shortcomings in the organization. Those shortcomings came to the forefront in 2024. The speed was not quite there. A few races saw the team stand out but most of the races had RLLR cars fighting from behind. The team was not close to the same level, and it was a long season.

Christian Lundgaard

Last year, Lundgaard had a breakout season and scored his first career victory at Toronto. The expectations were high for 2024, as Lundgaard looked to take RLLR to the next level. There were some good days early, but the speed was not there at the same consistent level. Lundgaard was not the surprise frontrunner, he was not nearly as much of a frontrunner as he was the year before. 

What objectively was his best race?
His only top five finish of the season, Lundgaard was third in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and he was in contention for the race victory. Lundgaard led from the start and led much of the first third of the race, but he was caught out in pit strategy when he was caught behind Felix Rosenqvist, who made an early second pit stop. This traffic caused Lundgaard to lose time and he fell back to finish third behind Álex Palou and Will Power.

What subjectively was his best race?

Sadly, the only race where Lundgaard looked like Lundgaard from 2023 was the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. If he stops a lap or two earlier, he might win this race as he avoids losing time in traffic and he could have kept Palou and Power behind him. He led 35 of the first 39 laps and only did not lead during the pit cycle over that portion of the race.

What objectively was his worst race?
Lundgaard had a top ten running going in the Grand Prix of Long Beach until he was penalized for an unsafe release on his final pit stop after he made contact with Kyle Kirkwood in pit lane. Then Lundgaard had to make a stop for a splash of fuel on the final lap as his car was not full. This led to a 23rd place finish for the Dane.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Ovals were not Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's strong suit in 2024, and Iowa wasn't fair to anybody, but Lundgaard spun on the opening lap in the first Iowa race and he needed repairs. He was able to rejoin the race, but he was only able to complete 178 of 250 laps and he finished 22nd.

Christian Lundgaard's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 11th (312 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 53
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 14.529
Average Finish: 13

Graham Rahal

In his 17 seasons in IndyCar, Rahal has been all over the place. He has competed for championships, he has been at the bottom, he has been in the middle. This year, Rahal was back toward the bottom, and it was continuing a trend backward. Rahal took another slip back and he was not close to the level we saw the year before. 

What objectively was his best race?
Ovals were tough for RLLR, but Rahal qualified eighth and finished eighth in the second Iowa race. The nature of Iowa meant as long as you did nothing wrong, you were not going to fall down the running order. Rahal didn't make a mistake. The pit stops were clean. Rahal ended up finishing where he started, benefitting from the misfortunes of others.

What subjectively was his best race?

RLLR has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course figured out, and Rahal had a good run in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He lost time on the primary tire but he was still able to finish ninth and he spent the entire race in the top ten. He didn't quite get to the same level as Lundgaard.

What objectively was his worst race?
Rahal was collected when Kyffin Simpson spun exiting turn five at Laguna Seca, and this ended up putting Rahal in 24th in the final results, but the race was not going that well prior to that accident.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Fifteenth in the Indianapolis 500 should be a decent day, especially since Rahal started 33rd, but this was another case of Rahal being in the Last Row Shootout and facing being bumped from the Indianapolis 500 for a second consecutive year. RLLR had Takuma Sato qualify tenth, but its other three cars started 28th, 30th and 33rd. Rahal had a better race car than a qualifying car, but it was another long week in May and there were few moral victories to take from this experience. 

Graham Rahal's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 18th (251 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 7
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 5
Average Start: 17.235

Average Finish: 15.588

Pietro Fittipaldi

RLLR was looking for a jumpstart in its third entry after two years of struggling to get all three cars competing at a high level. Enter Fittipaldi, a driver who had dabbled in IndyCar, but had yet to compete full-time. Full-time competition was rather rare for Fittipaldi over the last five years. IndyCar was a change of pace for the Brazilian. In his first foray in IndyCar, Fittipaldi had some impressive results and hopes were high. Reality did not live up to it.

What objectively was his best race?
Fittipaldi had two finishes of 13th. He was 13th in the season opener at St. Petersburg and he was 13th at Detroit. It was a 13-spot improvement at St. Petersburg and a two-spot improvement at Detroit. Two of those spots at St. Petersburg came from the disqualification of Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.

What subjectively was his best race?

Even if you don't consider the disqualification of the two Penske cars, Fittipaldi still made up 11 spots at St. Petersburg. However, I don't think Fittipaldi had a good race all season. Even at Detroit, he mostly just stayed in-between 13th and 15th. He wasn't a threat at any race.

What objectively was his worst race?
Fittipaldi was caught in the opening lap accident in the Indianapolis 500 when Tom Blomqvist spun in turn one and this left Fittipaldi in 32nd of the final results.

What subjectively was his worst race?

There were many rough days. Barber Motorsports Park was particularly tough. Fittipaldi was run into by Patricio O'Ward and this knocked Fittipaldi off the course when he was doing nothing wrong. Fittipaldi had a steering rack failure in practice. It was a tough weekend across the board, and it ended with a 27th-place result.

Pietro Fittipaldi's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 19th (186 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 21.0588
Average Finish: 19.647

An Early Look Ahead

Lundgaard is gone. Rahal is around, but he has been talking about stepping away from competing recently. I don't know what the team does with Fittipaldi. At the end of 2021, it felt like RLLR was on the verge of breaking into a higher level. After last year, you could argue RLLR was IndyCar's fourth-best team over Arrow McLaren. At the end of 2024, it is difficult to see how much ground RLLR can gain in 2025, but it will at least have a promising young talent joining the team with Indy Lights champion Louis Foster signed to a multi-year contract.

It had a good thing with Lundgaard, but Lundgaard wanted more. Struggling to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 gets old quickly. If Lundgaard can win with RLLR and finish in the top ten in the championship, he must believe at a better team he can compete for more. We are going to see if that is the case at McLaren.

Where does RLLR go from there?

It has signed Foster, a driver that dominated Indy Lights, but Indy Lights has not been the great indicator for success in IndyCar. The previous ten Indy Lights champions have made an average of 37.3 starts in their IndyCar careers. Of those ten drivers, only Patricio O'Ward has surpassed 75 starts in IndyCar. Whether that is down to talent or ability or opportunity is a matter of debate. Either way, Indy Lights champions don't get a long leash. 

RLLR found a gem with Lundgaard. It felt like the team was ready to take on the big time. It will give Foster a chance but Foster is not entering with a buzz. It is hard to believe he will lift RLLR's level, especially considering the team's oval form. Foster has only made eight oval starts in his life, the largest being the 1.333-mile Nashville Superspeedway. Though RLLR has him on retainer, Jüri Vips is not at the level of Lundgaard. Vips could be a suitable driver, but it does not seem he can be the answer for something greater.

Though Lundgaard took RLLR to great heights, the perception of the team has taken a hit over the last few seasons. It drew some big sponsors. It found IndyCar's newest great partner in HyVee, but RLLR has kind of let HyVee down. At HyVee's big event at Iowa Speedway, RLLR has not been anywhere close to competitive. If a sponsor does not feel like it is getting the most bang for its buck, it will leave, either the series entirely or for another team. There are other more competitive teams out there.

This is a team whose leader is a driver close to completing two decades in IndyCar with one championship push and who is going on eight years without a race victory. It has hired the Indy Lights champion who was clearly best driver from that level. RLLR has gone from a team on the verge of breaking into that upper tier to a team on the decline with no sight of where this team will fall, but it is re-tooling and hoping for the best.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Ed Carpenter Racing's 2024 Season

The third IndyCar Wrap-Up brings us to Ed Carpenter Racing, which came to a fork in the road in 2024. Entering its fifth season with with Rinus VeeKay, the team was looking to break out of the middle of the pack. The team also made a change and returned to splitting the #20 Chevrolet between Ed Carpenter on ovals and another driver for road and street courses. That other driver ended up being Christian Rasmussen fresh off of his Indy Lights championship. Unfortunately, a return to an old way did not lead to better results, and more changes are coming for the ECR organization.

Rinus VeeKay

This was the fifth season for VeeKay in IndyCar, all with Ed Carpenter Racing. He had established a pattern in his career with championship finishes of 14th, 12th, 12th and 14th in his first four seasons. This felt like a pivotal season for VeeKay to break above the middle, especially after not having a top five finish in 2023. Not much changed from his previous seasons, though some positives could be found.

What objectively was his best race?
Based on pit strategy and keeping his nose clean, VeeKay ended up finishing fifth in the first Iowa race after starting 13th. Just based on the nature of the race and the lack of passing, this wasn't VeeKay doing anything brilliant but mostly having better pit stops and making up spots on restarts.

What subjectively was his best race?

Managing his tires in the second Milwaukee race netted VeeKay a seventh-place finish. He was in the running for a top ten finish the entire race, but deciding to save his tires over the penultimate stint before stopping early in the final stint helped get a few more positions. VeeKay was able to keep the car in the top ten with this strategy and finish better than if he had not been on this strategy.

What objectively was his worst race?
Twice did VeeKay finish 26th this season. At the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, VeeKay had a slow pit stop and a drive-through penalty for an improper pit exit. This caused VeeKay to finish a lap down and the last car to finish the race. At Laguna Seca, the Dutchman spun on his own and an mechanical issue ended his race after 23 laps.

What subjectively was his worst race?

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis was a bit of a disappointment because VeeKay had qualified 12th and that was an advantageous position to start in.

Rinus VeeKay's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 13th (300 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 7
Laps Led: 8
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 3
Average Start: 15.294
Average Finish: 13.706

Christian Rasmussen

It was not a full season, but Rasmussen got a healthy slate of IndyCar races after winning the Indy Lights championship. Along with the road and street course races, he was also given the Indianapolis 500 with ECR. An unexpected change ended up giving Rasmussen more races than originally thought. It definitely looked like a rookie season. There were some good days, but there is much to improve upon. 

What objectively was his best race?
Rasmussen's only top ten finish of the season was ninth at Mid-Ohio. The Dane spent the entire race in the top ten and did come back after losing a few spots on the first pit cycle. It was a clean day for him.

What subjectively was his best race?

It was the Indianapolis 500 where Rasmussen drove from 24th to 12th. Rasmussen made a number of notable passes and spent a good number of laps in the top ten. He was holding his own in the biggest race of his career. He looked like he was going to finish in the top ten but 12th was still good enough for best finishing rookie in the race. 

What objectively was his worst race?
In three races did Rasmussen finish in last, 27th position. Those races were Long Beach after he brushed the barrier and spun in turn four, Detroit after an engine failure 25 laps into the race, and Toronto after he was checked into the barrier exiting turn one and th contact ended his race before he could even get to turn two.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is tough to separate these events from one another. When you cannot even complete a lap, that is a rough race. He started 13th as well at Detroit, a good position to get a good result. Toronto or Detroit. You decide which was worse.

Christian Rasmussen's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 22nd (163 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 2
Average Start: 18.357
Average Finish: 18.929

Ed Carpenter

After a few seasons running a third car on the ovals, Carpenter went back to his familiar #20 Chevrolet for the ovals in 2024. He had not had a top ten finish in either of the previous two seasons, both in a third entry, but a move back to the #20 Chevrolet did not boost his results. Carpenter struggled to keep pace, and he ended up making a difficult decision before this season was even over.

What objectively was his best race?
In two races, Carpenter finished 17th, the Indianapolis 500 and at Gateway.

What subjectively was his best race?

None of Carpenter's races were all that good. Indianapolis was a little more work because Carpenter had to overcome Callum Ilott being punted into Carpenter's pit box, causing a significant delay for Carpenter to make his pit stop in the middle of the race. It was a recovery drive to 17th that day.

What objectively was his worst race?
Carpenter was collected in the final lap accident in the second Iowa race after Sting Ray Robb ran over the back of Alexander Rossi's car out of fuel, which also collected Kyle Kirkwood. This accident knocked Carpenter down to 22nd in the final results.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Gateway was also a recovery drive to 17th, but Carpenter being slammed into by Katherine Legge eight laps into the race did not lead to an easy day for him. He lost time and ended up climbing to 17th as others had trouble, but it was a rough weekend prior to that incident. This ended up being the race where Carpenter decided to step out of the car for the remaining three oval races and let Rasmussen finish out the season. 

Ed Carpenter's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 32nd (45 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 3
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 22.25
Average Finish: 19

An Early Look Ahead

We already know the 2025 lineup for Ed Carpenter Racing. Alexander Rossi will take over the #20 Chevrolet and Rasmussen will be full-time in the #21 Chevrolet. Carpenter will only run the Indianapolis 500. 

We also know the team has added a new partner in Ted Gevlov, owner of Heartland Food Products Group, which is famous for its Splenda and Java House brands. 

Considering less than two years ago Rossi was saying he wanted to win a championship and that played into his decision to leave Andretti Autosport for Arrow McLaren, nobody joins Ed Carpenter Racing hoping to win a championship. 

The team hasn't had a top ten championship finisher in eight seasons. The team has one victory in eight seasons. It has only nine podium finishes during that time. It doesn't help that Rossi has one victory in the last five seasons in his own right and beggars cannot be choosers, but for a driver that has contended for a championship and believes he still has that ability, ECR isn't the team to choose if hoping to win a title. 

This move could come down solely to the Indianapolis 500, and ECR has had competitive cars in that race, but that speed has not regularly translated to cars being there at the end of the race. The cars look great in qualifying, but four-lap success does not equal 200-lap triumph. The team has only three top five finishes in the Indianapolis 500 in its 13-year history. It really is a case of this was the best Rossi could do at this point in his career and with the current IndyCar climate. 

For the last five seasons, Rossi has been either ninth or tenth in the championship. For the last five seasons, VeeKay was 12th, 13th or 14th in the championship. We know who Rossi is as a driver and we know what ECR is capable of. Something will have to break in 2025. 

Rasmussen will need to make a stride forward and clean up some of the mistakes. He at least knows he will have a full season. 

As much as we talk about the drivers, engineering plays a crucial role. The drivers are only as good as the cars they are given. Outside of Indianapolis, ECR hasn't really been good anywhere. This year ended on a positive note with VeeKay scoring five top ten finishes in the final eight races, but there needs to be more than that, and for the last few seasons ECR has not been consistently good anywhere.

ECR hasn't had a top five finisher on a road/street course since Mid-Ohio in July 2022. The team didn't have a car make the Fast Six on a road or street course this past season. These are two areas the team must improve upon if it wants to break into that higher level. 

Musings From the Weekend: Should IndyCar Award More Points for a Victory?

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

The MotoGP championship lead did not switch hands, but it did tighten up, and the Moto3 championship was claimed. David Alonso clinched the Moto3 crown with his tenth victory of the season in Motegi. It was Alonso's third consecutive victory. Every winner at Talladega this weekend scored their first victory of the season, and accidents did happen. Two teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR. Race of Champions is teasing it might be back. Let's see where that goes. There was an endurance race at Indianapolis, but the main series that calls Indianapolis home was on my mind, and I was thinking about points.

Should IndyCar Award More Points for a Victory?

During the final days of the IndyCar season, I was wondering if IndyCar needed to "Palou proof" its championship. 

Until his battery failed on the pace laps for the second Milwaukee race, it appeared Álex Palou would not only lock up his second consecutive championship but lock it up with a race to spare and after 15 years with every championship going undecided into the final race, IndyCar was looking at the second consecutive year with a dead-rubber season finale to cap off its season. 

As much as we should appreciate driving brilliance, brilliance doesn't draw the crowds. That might be unfortunate to hear, but people are not showing up to recognize clinical greatness. We do that when it is too late and wish we had done so earlier.

It also doesn't help when Palou's greatness is rather consistent. What Palou does is incredible, but no one is showing up to watch someone finish fourth or fifth every week. It wins a championship, but no one shares stories about how great it was to see someone finish fifth. 

If Palou was dominating, truly dominating, winning seven, eight, nine races a season and doing something we have done seen in decades, that might be one thing, but the suffocating nature of finishing fourth or fifth and making it difficult for the competition to claw any points back who cannot match Palou's consistency and he never has a bad day is not sexy. It is efficient, but it isn't why people tune in. 

Winning should matter, and we remember winners. We celebrate A.J. Foyt for winning 67 races in a career and his most memorable season was when he won seven consecutive races to open a season and ten of 13 races in 1964. Al Unser, Jr.'s 1994 season is not only remembered because he won the Indianapolis 500 with the most historic car of the last 30 years but because he also won half the races that year. Juan Pablo Montoya left an impression for winning seven races as a rookie while winning the championship.

Championships are good, but claiming a championship with two victories isn't really all that awe-inspiring. Palou is one of the best in IndyCar, but his style isn't enough to impressive outsiders.

This year's championship did go to the season finale, but despite two drivers having a shot at the championship in Nashville, this finale didn't really generate a buzz. The title was between Palou and Will Power, two drivers both looking for their third championships and they had each won the title in the previous two seasons. Power has been a name for a long time. It was a generational meeting for the championship, but it didn't really draw the viewers.

The race was against an NFL Sunday, but that hasn't stopped people from tuning in before, at least more than the 483,000 viewers that NBC drew for Nashville. It was slightly down from Laguna Seca the year before, 528,000 viewers for a dead-rubber on NBC, which was actually better than 507,000 viewers for the 2022 Laguna Seca season finale when the championship was undecided. This finale was also an oval race at Nashville, something that we are always told are more exciting and what people want to see. 

People want to see the unknown, but they also don't want to see the inevitable. It was Palou vs. Power, but it felt inevitable it would go to Palou. 

Palou had to finish ninth or better to clinch the championship, something that felt like a cinch for the Catalan driver to accomplish. It also felt inevitable because Power basically had to finish first or second to win the title. The only way Power could win the championship by finishing third was with at least three bonus points scored and that would mean Palou had to finish 25th or worse with no bonus points scored. 

There was a path for Power to claim the championship, though a rather narrow one. 

What should IndyCar do to make the championship more undecided in the finale? 

IndyCar did double points and it was met with backlash. A playoff is out of the question. A natural way to do it is to increase how many points are paid for a victory. 

There is nothing chiseled in stone that a victory must be worth 50 points. There is nothing that says second-place must be worth 80% of a victory. If you want drivers to care about winning, make winning worth more. If you want winning races to truly decide a championship, make winning worth more. 

This was not a season where Palou was crushing the competition. He only won two races. Entering the season finale, Palou was going to at best create a four-way tie for most victories this season. Power had three victories and had a shot at the title. Scott McLaughlin and Patricio O'Ward each won three times and their title hopes were extinguished before arriving to Nashville. 

This was the second time in three seasons the championship did not win at least three races. Power won the 2022 title with only one race victory. Prior to this period, every champion since 2002, regardless of if it was CART, Champ Car, the Indy Racing League or post-reunification, had won at least three races.

Here is my thought: Increase the points for first-place to 75 points. Also, increase the bonus points for the most laps led to three bonus points.

This makes a victory worth 50% more than it is now, and it makes second-place worth only 53.333% of a victory. There is a big incentive to go for a victory over finishing second. 

The increase in bonus points also makes the maximum a nice round number. Why is the current maximum points total 54? Make leading the most laps worth three points that way if a driver leads the most laps from pole position it would be a maximum of 80 points. It would also make the most points that could be made up in a race 75 points, another easy number to understand, much easier than 49. 

Increasing the points payout for a victory, opens the door. More must be done to clinch the championship early. It is unlikely a bunch of fifth-place finishes will be enough. 

Let's apply it to this season. Every race winner would be getting 25 more points. Each driver that led the most laps would get an additional point. 

Adjusting the points, Palou would still be the championship leader entering the season finale, but he would only be nine points ahead of Power, instead of 33. McLaughlin would be realistically alive as McLaughlin would only be 23 points behind Palou, instead of the 50 points he was trailing by and would be eliminated as soon as Palou started the Nashville race.

Two of the drivers that would enter the finale tied for the most victories would each have a great shot at the championship. And it wouldn't be the case of having to finish first or second just to have a prayer. 

Power could win the championship with a third-place finish and Palou finishing seventh. Power could win the championship finishing 15th and Palou finishing 25th. It wouldn't necessarily take Power needing a great day and Palou having his worst day for the championship to swing. Both drivers could have good days but for one driver it not be enough. 

Of course, Power had his seatbelt issue and that kept him from ever really competing for the championship in the finale, but the door opens up. Inevitability dissipates, and there would have still been the third option in Scott McLaughlin. McLaughlin could win the championship with a race victory, regardless of where Palou or Power finished. McLaughlin could finish fifth and take the championship in the scenario where Power finished 15th and Palou finished 25th. There would be plenty of possibilities to watch for. 

With these points-paying adjustments, Palou would have claimed the title by 12 points over McLaughlin. Any change in the system would make everyone race differently, but in the case of Nashville, McLaughlin would have had greater incentive to go for the victory. It would have been a more compelling finale to watch if a driver who could end the season with the most victories had a shot at the title as two of his championship rivals struggled.

The drivers that have won the most should have a shot at winning the championship. You need to make success in the first 16 races standout. People remember winners. That is who we celebrate and spray champagne for. Consistency is good, but winning should carry a little extra weight when it comes to deciding a championship. It is not perplexing as to why a driver who has won the most races in a season has a chance at the championship. That makes sense. There is nothing wrong in leaning into making it more likely the drivers that win the most have a better chance at the title.

Philosophy aside, with IndyCar entering a new television partnership, it is important to keep the series compelling. Making winning worth more only benefits the series and increases the incentives for drivers to take first over second or third or fourth. Palou should be commended for how he has won championships, but increasing the worth of a race victory would go a long way to making a more compelling championship each season. A race victory should feel momentous toward a championship, more so than finishing fourth or fifth for three consecutive races.

IndyCar should not be afraid to evolve and increase the reward for winning. Good finishes will still be good finishes, but there is nothing wrong with incentivizing finishing first even more.

Champions From the Weekend

You know about David Alonso, but did you know...

Charlie Weerts clinched the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship with a victory in the Indianapolis 8 Hour in the #31 Team WRT BMW with Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde. 

The #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliot Skeer clinched the GT World Challenge America championship with a runner-up finish in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.

The #7 ACR Motorsports Porsche of Kay van Berlo and Curt Swearingin clinched the GT4 America Pro-Am championship.

Johnny O'Connell clinched the GT America championship.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about the Indianapolis 8 Hour, but did you know...

Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix and the sprint race. The grand prix victory was Bagnaia's eighth of the season. Manuel González won the Moto2 race, his first career victory. Moto3 race.

The #68 Smooge Racing Toyota of Tyler Gonzalez and Corey Lewis and the #89 RENNtech Motorspots Mercedes-AMG of Matheus Leist and Michael Auriemma split the GT4 America races from Indianapolis. Justin Rothberg swept the GT America races.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. won the NASCAR Cup race from Talladega. Sammy Smith won the Grand National Series race. Grant Enfinger won the Truck race.

Coming Up This Weekend

IMSA concludes the season at Petit Le Mans.

The Bathurst 1000.

NASCAR runs around the Charlotte roval. 

Super Formula will race at Fuji.

World Superbike will race at Barcelona. 

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup runs at Barcelona.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Juncos Hollinger Racing's 2024 Season

Our second IndyCar Wrap-Up has us looking at Juncos Hollinger Racing. The team made a late change to its driver lineup during the offseason when it appeared the organization was set to retain its 2023 duo. Gone was Callum Ilott and in was Romain Grosjean, his third team in four seasons. The plucky underdog team that once stole everyone's hearts in Indianapolis 500 qualifying had its best finishes ever this season, but this season will again be remembered for off-track mistakes that has soured the love for the organization.

Romain Grosjean

After a two-year spell with Andretti Autosport, Grosjean was without a team when DHL sponsorship left the organization and the Andretti program downsized to three cars. JHR was a step to something smaller, but smaller did not stop Grosjean from showing great potential at Dale Coyne Racing in 2023. At JHR, Grosjean had some good days but continued to butt heads and the mistakes are simply unavoidable.

What objectively was his best race?
Grosjean had a fourth at Laguna Seca after spending basically the entire race in the top ten. He did not stop under the caution for Luca Ghiotto's accident, and that gave him a few more spots into the top five. Once in that position, he held on despite there being some quick drivers behind him.

What subjectively was his best race?

Laguna Seca. It was his most competitive race and he was not far off finishing third. Grosjean also had a good drive in the second Milwaukee race using strategy to run long on the penultimate stint and saving tires for the run to the checkered flag. It got him ninth.

What objectively was his worst race?
Portland was a mare for Grosjean. He started well in the top ten and he was running well, but then he lost it entering turn one, spun across the track and then when Grosjean attempted to get the car spun back around, he collided with Christian Rasmussen, puncturing the Frenchman's tire in the process. Grosjean had already lost significant time with the spin and waiting for space to open. He then took on a penalty for unsafely spinning into the Dane. Grosjean went from possibly finishing sixth to finishing three laps down in 27th, the final car running.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Isn't it obvious? Portland was entirely on him, but Grosjean had a number of frustrating days. Some were not going that well to begin with, but it felt like every third race Grosjean was miffed and notably angry over the radio. Detroit stands out as one of those races. He did not have the right fuel-mapping in the first Milwaukee race and lost his cool over something that should not happen at this level.

Romain Grosjean's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 17th (260 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 12.8235
Average Finish: 15.588

Conor Daly

With Agustín Canapino removed after Toronto and the #78 Chevrolet outside of a Leader Circle spot, JHR called in the veteran Daly to increase its chances of claiming one of the 22 positions. With four of the final races on ovals, JHR was hoping to use Daly's expertise to lift it up the results. It was not as simple as that, but Daly was able to get more out of the car than his predecessor. 

What objectively was his best race?
It was third in the first Milwaukee race as Daly made a number of impressive moves on the outside of the circuit. However, Daly did benefit from the final caution for Colton Herta's unsecured tire coming loose on track. This allowed Daly to make his final pit stop after a number of cars were trapped a lap down, but Daly did have to make a few passes in the final stint to get to third.

What subjectively was his best race?

It is third at Milwaukee. Daly had still made up 12 spots before getting the break on the final caution that put him into position for a top five finish let alone a podium finish. He did get stuck just outside the top ten and could not make up much more ground than that, but he was able to take Juncos Hollinger Racing and put it on the podium when given the opportunity. 

We should also acknowledge Daly's tenth place finish at the Indianapolis 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. It was another ear of Daly taking a good car and putting it in the top ten of IndyCar's biggest race.

What objectively was his worst race?
It was not a race with Juncos Hollinger Racing. Daly stepped in mid-weekend to the #18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing as Jack Harvey was having back and neck pain. Harvey start-and-parked the first Iowa race and Daly took over for the second race. However, there was a mechanical problem that ended Daly's race after 140 laps.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is the second Iowa race. Daly got a brief shakedown of the car on Sunday morning before the race and that was it. He was thrown into the fire and he was not going to do much better than maybe cracking the top twenty. 

Conor Daly's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 26th (119 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 3
Laps Led: 22
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 22.667
Average Finish: 14.571

Agustín Canapino

A good rookie season for Canapino raised expectations for the Argentine driver in his sophomore season. Though new to single-seater racing, results had to improve to justify Canapino's spot on the grid as the competition continued to improve. There were a few good days, as we saw in 2023, but the average result was not trending in the right direction. There was another off-track incident where Canapino supporters made death threats toward another driver, and Canapino did not make the situation any better. Combined with the on-track results, Canapino did not see out the season.

What objectively was his best race?
It was 12th at Detroit and being on the verge of a top ten. Canapino had a run-in with Théo Pourchaire that cost him some spots, but did not hurt him all that much. Canapino benefitted from others being on the wrong strategy and being caught in greater incidents to score this finish.

What subjectively was his best race?

It was Detroit because Canapino drove a good race. He didn't make any mistakes and mostly avoided the on-track issues. Keeping it clean was working well for him. He lost some spots late but still ended up better than he likely would have finished if it wasn't for the abundance of cautions. 

What objectively was his worst race?
Canapino was collected in an opening lap incident in the first Iowa race when David Malukas spun and Canapino and his teammate Grosjean had nowhere to go. Canapino ended up classified in 27th, dead last.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is everything post-Detroit, and it is the inability to distance himself from the vitriol spewed online from supporters of his. Worst of all, he fanned the flame, essentially endorsing the behavior as Pourchaire became another target. This could have been avoided. Canapino and JHR could have attempted to diffuse the situation, but like in 2023, neither got ahead of the mess. They actually made it worse. 

Canapino was distracted to the point he was sidelined for Road America because the team did not believe he was focused enough to drive the car. He won many admirers for taking this risk and coming to IndyCar after spending basically his entire career in stock cars and sports cars in Argentina. He did respectable considering his lack of background in single-seater cars, but the off-track issues, the lost of a partnership with Arrow McLaren due to this incident combined with his results meant it was best for the team to move on after making Canapino its project just over a season prior. 

Agustín Canapino's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 27th (109 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 16.818
Average Finish: 20.364

An Early Look Ahead

The season ended on a good note for Juncos Hollinger Racing. Both cars finished in the Leader Circle, the cars had flashes of speed, and JHR ended up getting its best finish ever, but the team did have a long season and it will be looking for a step forward. 

Where it goes from here is unclear. It does feel apparent that the driver responsible for its first podium finish will not be back, but maybe Conor Daly will stick around. He is scheduled to test with the team at Indianapolis. Daly came in to fill in a role. Daly got the job done as a super-sub, but it is not necessarily enough to earn him a full-time ride. That will likely come down to someone with money. Romain Grosjean could stick around but that is far from a guarantee as well. 

Keeping Grosjean could provide a little consistency heading into a new season, but there is not a clear direction of where the team could go with its second seat. The Agustín Canapino experiment is over. There are plenty of IndyCar-experienced drivers hanging around that could lift JHR to a higher level, but JHR is in a precarious financial situation. There were not many sponsors on the two JHR cars, and in three seasons of full-time competition, JHR has not seen any significant partner, other than the tourism money Canapino brought.

At some point, the team will need a stronger base than relying on Ricardo Juncos' ties to Argentina and whatever percentage of Brad Hollinger's wealth he is comfortable with burning. Any hope that having a name like Grosjean will attract partners seems foolish at this point. 

For three seasons, we have seen flashes at JHR, whether it be Callum Ilott, Grosjean or Daly, but the team needs something a little more substantial than three or four good races a year and then a dozen or more disappointing days. At its best, it is a respectable team. At its worse, it looks like a team that has bit off more than it can chew. 

Even if things take a step forward, how far is JHR going to move up? 

The team has never had a top fifteen championship finisher. Grosjean ended up scoring fewer points than Ilott did in 2023. Ed Carpenter Racing struggled to get top five finishers. It took A.J. Foyt Racing partnering with Team Penske to get a car in the top ten of the championship. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing won a race last season, had a few competitive days in 2024, and RLLR still looks a mile off from the top of the pile. JHR isn't going to leap into the mix with Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global. It is going to fall short of Arrow McLaren. 

Cracking the top fifteen and possibly finishing inside the top 12 appears to be the realistic limit. JHR is not going to a world-beater in 2025. That will be a chance to improve but that improvement will still be far from the mountaintop.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Dale Coyne Racing's 2024 Season

The 2024 IndyCar season has come to a close, and after a few weeks of some general observations from the season, it is time to get a little more specific and start looking at how each team fared. Starting at the bottom of the grid, we will work our way to the top, and we start with Dale Coyne Racing. Nine drivers contested a race for the Illinois-based team. Five drivers made their IndyCar debut driving for Coyne this year. One driver made his IndyCar return after an eight-year absence. Coyne kept us on our toes, but results on-track never stood out.

Jack Harvey

Come January, Dale Coyne Racing had no drivers selected to run any races in the 2024 season. Jack Harvey ended up testing for the team at Homestead and the belief was Harvey would run some races, but the final total was undetermined. Harvey ended up running 14 of 17 races, missing the Indianapolis 500 due to sponsorship reasons and two races due to a back injury. Experience only took Harvey and DCR so far.

What objectively was his best race?
It was not the most thrilling result, but Harvey was 13th at Barber Motorsports Park as a number of cars got into incidents, and he was 13th at Nashville after catching a break of not making his first pit stop before the first caution. At Barber, all three Arrow McLaren cars had trouble. Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden both had bad days. Harvey was able to avoid the mess and he ended up 13th. At Nashville, Harvey was able to stay ahead of the cars stuck a lap down after the first pit cycle, and it paid off at the finish. 

What subjectively was his best race?

Barber or Nashville will likely be remember as his best race of the season, but Harvey was running 13th at the time of the accident on the penultimate restart at Gateway. He looked to at least match his best finish of the season or possibly better it and sneak into the top ten. The car was reasonably competitive, but Harvey was caught in the accident when Alexander Rossi ran over the back of Will Power, and Harvey was collateral damage in a chain reaction. The final result was 20th, but he drove much better than that and it was his best race. 

What objectively was his worst race?
Unbeknownst to most, Harvey was battling neck and shoulder pain at Mid-Ohio. He started 26th and made up a few spots early, but he stalled on his first pit stop and lost all the time made up in the opening laps. He ended up 26th despite the pain.

What subjectively was his worst race?

That neck and shoulder pain lingered into Iowa and he attempted to compete in the weekend, but it was too much. Harvey qualified and started in the first Iowa race, but parked the car after 28 laps. He stepped out of the car for the second Iowa race for Conor Daly, and then he sat out Toronto as Hunter McElrea made his IndyCar debut. The bright side for Harvey is neither Daly nor McElrea shocked the world in their two starts in the #18 Honda. Daly's Iowa race only lasted 140 laps before a mechanical issue made him the first retirement. McElrea hit the wall on his out lap after his second pit stop, ending his race after 57 laps.

Jack Harvey's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 25th (143points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 21.857
Average Finish: 19.857

Katherine Legge

Nobody at the start of the season had Katherine Legge starting all seven oval races this season. That is what happened as Legge was able to put together the money the spot in the #51 Honda for the Indianapolis 500. Her e.l.f Cosmetic sponsorship was enough to keep her in the car for the remaining oval races, and for the first time since 2012, Legge competed in more than just the Indianapolis 500. 

What objectively was her best race?
Legge was expected to run more oval races but it was not confirmed until late that she would be in the car for Iowa. In the second Milwaukee race, Legge ran long on stints and she even led two laps during a pit cycle. Keeping her nose clean and watching her tires got her a 15th-place finish.

What subjectively was her best race?

It is probably the second Milwaukee race, but the first Iowa race deserves a mention. In the Iowa first race, she kept the car facing in the right direction and she finished 17th, only one lap down as well, as a number drivers had a rough night. It was not spectacular, but considering her jumping in with some limited testing, it was a good night.

What objectively was her worst race?
Legge made the Indianapolis 500, but her race was over after 22 laps due to an engine failure, one of a handful for Honda on Memorial Day weekend. This classified her in 29th.

What subjectively was her worst race?

A downer for Legge is she had early issues in multiple races, and when you are only competing seven times, any laps lost is significant. Along with the Indianapolis 500 retirement, she had a bad moment in the Gateway race that saw her overcook turn one and collide with Ed Carpenter after seven laps. She then hit the barrier exiting turn four at Nashville after getting caught in the marbles, placing her 26th.

Katherine Legge's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 29th (61 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 24.285
Average Finish: 22.429

The #51 Honda

It was a surprise Coyne had Legge run seven races, and for a moment, it looked like Coyne could have run ten different drivers in the #51 Honda this season. Other than Legge, no driver really competed in a significant portion of the season. With that being the case, we aren't going to look at seven drivers who only raced once or twice and try to split hairs over the four categories. Let's look at the #51 Honda as a whole for the ten road/street course races Legge did not compete in. The other drivers that ran this entry in 2024 are Colin Braun, Nolan Siegel, Luca Ghiotto, Tristan Vautier and Toby Sowery. 

What objectively was its best race?
Toby Sowery used a two-stop strategy to finish 13th at Mid-Ohio. It wasn't anything stellar. Everyone on the two-stop strategy ended up finishing ahead of basically everyone on the three-stop strategy. The team stuck to its guns and took advantage of others taking a gamble. Sowery didn't put a wheel wrong and made the most of it.

What subjectively was its best race?

Sowery was 17th at Portland, his worst of three results, but it was his best race, and probably the best race for this entry as season. Sowery went wheel-to-wheel with a number of drivers and drew a lot of praise after the race. This wasn't a race where one strategy was clearly better than the other. He made the most of the situation and he was the best DCR finisher as Harvey was 24th.

What objectively was its worst race?
Outside of Legge's 29th at Indianapolis, Luca Ghiotto had an accident at Laguna Seca and finished in 27th, dead last. 

What subjectively was its worst race?

Anytime there is an accident, it wasn't a good day. Laguna Seca was a bad day for DCR as Harvey also lost an engine in that race. 

It is hard to knock any of the drivers because they all came in with little seat time. Braun had not done anything single-seater related in nearly 20 years prior to his race at St. Petersburg. Ghiotto was thrown in the car out of nowhere before Barber. Nobody saw Vautier jumping into the car prior to Detroit. Sowery had no time in the car and looked good, something few of the Coyne drivers could say once this season was over, but none of them were given the time to succeed. 

The #51 Honda's 2024 Statistics

Entrants' Championship Position: 26th (165 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 23.705
Average Finish: 20.882

An Early Look Ahead

We have no clue what Dale Coyne Racing will look like. We likely will not have a clue until the calendar flips to 2025. We do know the rules will force DCR to operate its business a little differently next season.

With the introduction of the charter system, there is a provision that limits a team to running no more than three drivers per entry. That means the #51 Honda cannot have six drivers rotate through its seat. It will force Coyne to make some tougher decisions and possibly do more work to ensure its drivers remain in the seat for more than one or two races. 

We have no clue which direction the team will go. Will Jack Harvey stick around? Could Toby Sowery expand to a full-time role? Will two drivers we are not even thinking about end up in these two entries next year? Probably. The last one is the most likely answer knowing Coyne. 

There really is not much more to say. There is no point in predicting Dale Coyne Racing's future. There will be no carry over, no momentum from last season. There was nothing to carry over anyway. It was a team that could not get a car into the top ten. It barely broke the top fifteen. We know this team when working at its highest potential can win races and be competitive. There is no signs of that returning anytime soon. 

Musings From the Weekend: Not a Time to be Picky

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

Francesco Bagnaia might have won the sprint race after Jorge Martín fell from the lead, but Martín took the victory in the grand prix from Indonesia. Daniel Ricciardo's departure was confirmed, and the Liam Lawson-era returns. There was some fog in Chile. Álex Palou will be driving a Mercedes. Miami International Autodrome has added some configurations for permanent use of the circuit. Alexander Rossi confirmed where he will be racing. Andretti Global sees Michael Andretti stepping back from ownership of the organization that bares his name. IndyCar might have a new race lined up for 2026, but it has not received a warm reception.

Not a Time to be Picky

It has been a rather busy IndyCar off season, as in less than two weeks a number of seats have been confirmed, the charter agreement was finalized and there was even some news pertaining 2026. Reports have come out that IndyCar is working on a street race in Arlington, Texas, around AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and team owner Jerry Jones would be involved in the project. 

This was of course welcomed with complete disdain over the idea. 

IndyCar has some history in the Dallas-area, as up until 2024 it had raced at Texas Motor Speedway in Denton, Texas, about 35 minutes north from the proposed venue in Arlington. IndyCar's time at Texas Motor Speedway was rather positive, known for action-packed races and full grandstands during the days of the Indy Racing League. It once was the only circuit on the schedule that hosted multiple races in a season and hosted the season finale. However, the circuits stranglehold of a spot on the IndyCar calendar started to weaken. 

The crowds began to dwindle and the races suffered mightily after a track re-configuration ahead of the 2018 race. IndyCar wasn't the only series to suffer. NASCAR had woeful races and in an attempt to improve the action there, PJ1 traction compound was applied to the series. However, an abundance of applications stained the track surface and turned the higher lane in the corners into a sheet of ice for the Firestone tires IndyCar brought to the circuit. Races became single-file affairs and even fewer people decided to make the trip out to the 1.5-mile speedway. 

It did end on a positive. The 2023 race was significantly better after three rather dreadful years at Texas, but with the NASCAR schedule changing, the IndyCar's trip in late March would need to be moved, and the series was not keen on moving Texas to the late summer where weather conditions would not be the friendliest to attendees, nor were there many open weekends in an already busy end of the season. With no suitable date available and the lack of a healthy crowd, 2024 ended up being the first year without a trip to Texas since 1996. 

Considering the size and economic might of Texas, not having a race in the state with five of the 11 most-populous cities in the United States is just another scheduling blunder for IndyCar, a series that currently not have a race anywhere between St. Petersburg and Toronto on the eastern seaboard. There are over 7.6 million people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone with Texas boasting a total population of just over 30 million people. It is a land of opportunity, a chance to fish where the fish are, and not being there is a grave mistake. 

A return could come in this race in Arlington, but instead of any excitement of IndyCar returning to the fourth-largest metropolitan market in the United States, it was met with backlash, mostly because it was perceived to be at the wrong place.

If there should be any return to Texas, it is believed it should be at Texas Motor Speedway. It doesn't quite work that way. 

For starters, no one took anything away with Texas Motor Speedway falling off the IndyCar schedule. If the race could draw anything close to a respectable crowd, it likely would have stuck around, but over the final three years, the track couldn't draw close to 10,000 spectators to any of its races. That was for a number of reasons with fault on both sides of the series and the track, but IndyCar at Texas Motor Speedway was no longer the can't-miss-draw it was at the turn of the 21st century. 

It will be repeated every time it comes up, but not many places are lining up to host IndyCar races. If the series is not wanted, it is not going to race there. This is why there is a race weekend at Thermal Club. Someone is willing to foot the bill. This is why we are looking at a potential street race in 2026 in Arlington. Someone wants to host an IndyCar race. Texas Motor Speedway could host an IndyCar race if it wanted to, but it doesn't. That doesn't mean the entire area is off limits. IndyCar found another dancing partner. 

Skepticism is understandable because IndyCar street races do not have a long shelf life. For all that was celebrated in Nashville, it lasted only three years and could not survive once it was time for construction to begin on the new football stadium in the city. For all that was celebrated in Baltimore, it lasted only three years and could not find a way back after being put on hiatus for a conflicting football game on Labor Day weekend in the city. 

Many other street races have disappeared in a flash for non-football reasons. See Houston three times, Miami three times, Denver twice, Las Vegas twice, San Jose and Boston didn't even get off the ground. If you are betting the over/under on number of years an Arlington street race will remain on the IndyCar schedule, take the under. 

And don't be sold just because there is a big name in Jerry Jones behind the project that makes it bulletproof. It wasn't that long ago the Steinbrenner family was entering IndyCar as team owners, and everyone was sold it was a big sign for the series. Remember, Justin Timberlake and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were both named in the ownership group for the Music City Grand Prix. How did that serve the event? 

There might be a suitable venue in Dallas-area, but it had IndyCar for decades, experienced the highs but also ending at an all-time low. We did see IndyCar return to Milwaukee, a race that was marginally better than where Texas was when it last hosted IndyCar, draw a respectable crowd on its return this year, and that was with no billboards promoting the race. If IndyCar could do that in the 31st most-populous city, what could it do in one ranked in the top five? Texas Motor Speedway could return and see a boost in IndyCar attendance, drawing more people out than the race had been drawing in the area for the last ten years, but the people who want a race in the area have their own slice of real estate and are willing to shut down a few blocks to host a party. 

That isn't a bad thing. 

This is not an oval vs. street course thing. It is a survival thing for IndyCar. One party is looking to host a race and IndyCar isn't going to say no on some nonsensical principle that would not benefit the series in the slightest. It has a chance of drawing more spectators and people who likewise had no clue IndyCar had raced in the area for decades and that is not a negative for the series. Viewers are viewers no matter how you get them. There is a chance over three days, a street race in Arlington could draw 80,000 people, which is much more than IndyCar drew in its final three years at Texas Motor Speedway. It might even be more than what the oval attracted in its final six years. 

There are not that many IndyCar weekends that draw over 80,000 people. If it has a chance of tapping into a Texas market it otherwise was not maximizing at a different venue then it must go for it. If anything, it would show it was not getting the most out of where it was competing previously. 

I understand the desire to return to something that was beloved, and I understand the desire for more oval races. I understand the hesitation for believing this street race will outlast many that came before it, and I understand the frustration with Mark Miles and IndyCar leadership, but this isn't a time to be picky. 

In the last two years, arguably ever since 2020, there has been a narrowing focal point in IndyCar fandom over what is good for the series, and too often does it feel like the masses are wearing blinders. Any chance to do something different and new is met with hostility. If Texas Motor Speedway was the answer, IndyCar would be at Texas Motor Speedway, but it wasn't. 

IndyCar has a complex identity. For all the clamoring for heritage and tradition and that being ovals, it neglects how many of its most successful events are street courses and road courses. We tried an all-oval series, and even that realized it needed some road courses and street courses. There must be a little bit of everything, but there is a limit on how many places IndyCar can race at. 

It needs a few more oval races, but it cannot add six more oval races. Street courses have their tendencies not to last, but there is a place for them and they can positive events for the series. 

Regardless of where the race is being held, IndyCar needs positive events. It doesn't matter if it is the streets of Dallas or Texas Motor Speedway. IndyCar needs to go to a place and draw a healthy crowd that impressive sponsors, makes money and makes people want to return. That is what IndyCar needs, track discipline be damned. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about some MotoGP results, but did you know...

Ross Chastain won the NASCAR Cup Series race from Kansas. Aric Almirola won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his sixth victory of the season.

Arón Canet won the Moto2 race from Indonesia, his second victory of the season. David Alonso won the Moto3 race, his ninth victory of the season.

Andrea Iannone (race one) and Álvaro Bautista (SuperPole race and race two) split the World Superbike races from Aragón. Adrián Huertas and Yari Montella split the World Supersport races.

The #9 Iron Lynx - Proton Oreca-Gibsn of Jonas Ried, Macéo Capietto and Matteo Cairoli won the 4 Hours of Mugello. The #8 Team Virage Ligeri-Nissan of Julien Gerbi, Bernardo Pinheiro and Gillian Henrion won in LMP3. The #57 Kessel Racing Takeshi Kimura, Esteban Masson and Daniel Serra won in LMGT3.

Mirko Bortolotti and René Rast split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from the Red Bull Ring. 

Kalle Rovanperä won Rally Chile, his fourth victory of the season.

Coming Up This Weekend

The Indianapolis 8 Hours closes out the Intercontinental GT World Challenge season.

MotoGP heads up to Motegi. 

NASCAR heads down to Talladega.