2018 Chip Ganassi Racing Review
Wins: 3 (Belle Isle I, Texas, Toronto)
Poles: 0 (Scott Dixon started first at Gateway, where owners' points set the field after qualifying was rained out).
Championship Finishes: 1st (Scott Dixon), 13th (Ed Jones)
Scott Dixon - #9 PNC Bank Honda
The 2018 season did not start the way we would expect from Scott Dixon. At St. Petersburg, he ran into the back of Takuma Sato and was handed a penalty because of it. Later in that race he would be handed a pit lane speeding penalty. Those two strikes against him were not the end of the world and he still drove his way up to sixth. It set the tone for his season.
It felt like a Scott Dixon season. He didn't blow the doors off the competition from the start but rather engages in a lengthy foreplay throughout spring and then got down to business when the heat of summer set in. He turned a poor starting position into a fourth place finish at Phoenix through well-executed pit strategy. Long Beach went against him when he was unable to make it to pit lane before the caution came out and in the next race at Barber he missed a top five finish by 0.0871 seconds after Sébastien Bourdais beat him in a drag race to the line.
At the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, he started 18th but again worked his way to the front and finished second. Dixon and crew rolled the dice in the Indianapolis 500 deciding to make the team's final pit stop with 39 laps to go. He not only made it to the finish but made home in third position.
From there, Dixon won two of the next three races with a fourth place finish in between. At the first Belle Isle race, he sat on Marco Andretti's rear wing during the first stint and jumped pass him after the first round of pit stops. His Texas victory came after he used the first half of the race to get to the front but he led the final 119 laps in what would be the 100th podium finish of his IndyCar career. It also gave him the championship lead.
Another podium finish followed at Road America with Dixon coming in third. Iowa didn't go his way but he won at Toronto when he kept his nose clean while all his challengers had an issue whether it was contact with a barrier, another car or both. Returning to America, he held a 62-point lead in the championship. Not insurmountable but a comfortable gap with a few of his stronger tracks still ahead of him.
Mid-Ohio was his 300th start and he finished fifth, his 150th top five finish. He picked a pair of third-place finishes on the ovals of Pocono and Gateway. Then came Dixon's great escape. He was in the middle of four wrecked race cars and he was able to drive away with a smudge on his nose. With his dusty car back on track Dixon had to work from the back and with the championship slipping out of his control he suffered another blow with a pit lane speeding penalty. However, just like St. Petersburg, things turned around. A pair of cautions kept Dixon on the lead lap, moved him to the front and knocked his title rival Alexander Rossi from the lead to behind Dixon. The New Zealander would extend his championship lead with a fifth place finish.
It still came down to Sonoma and while he qualified second with Rossi in sixth. Rossi damaged his front wing and cut a tire down in turn one on lap one. Dixon cruised from there and remained in second. It got him his fifth championship.
Numbers to Remember:
25: Consecutive races running at the finish.
28: Most consecutive races Dixon has been running at the finish of in his career. That was from Watkins Glen in 2005 to Mid-Ohio in 2007. He also had a streak of 26 consecutive finishes from Edmonton 2010 to Barber 2012.
10: Consecutive seasons without winning more than two pole positions in a season.
17: If Dixon wins one race this season it would be his 17th season with a victory, breaking a tie with Mario Andretti for second-most seasons with a victory and he would only trail A.J. Foyt, who won a race in 18 seasons.
14: Dixon has won at least one race in 14 consecutive seasons, the longest streak in IndyCar history.
Predictions/Goals:
There is no goal other than the championship. There is nothing Dixon really has to improve on because every year he goes out, gets a dozen top five finishes and has one or two finishes outside the top ten and that gets him one of the top four positions in the championship depending on if he wins three or four races or if another driver wins three or four times and gets eight podium finishes while Dixon only wins twice and has six podium finishes.
Dixon is going to be great and if he doesn't win the championship he is still going to have a great year.
If there is one place where he could improve it is pole positions. Dixon has not won more than two pole positions in a season since 2008 when he had six pole positions! However, the only other season he won more than two pole positions was 2003 when he had five. We know he doesn't have to start first to win races. His starting position isn't a hindrance that he has to overcome but I think Dixon wouldn't mind having a season where he gets four or five pole positions and have that complement a typical Dixon season of three victories, six podium finishes and 15 top ten finishes while finishing in one of the top three spots in the championship.
The crazy thing is you know somewhere down the line someone is going to use Dixon's lack of pole positions, of which he has 26 in his career, good enough for 11th all-time, as a slight against him because Andretti won 67 and Foyt had 53 and Will Power has 54 and counting and very well could be the all-time leader when his career is over.
I guess the one thing we have to prepare for is when Scott Dixon doesn't have a Scott Dixon-esque season. He has finished in the top four of the championship for 12 of the last 13 seasons with sixth in 2016 being the one blemish. It is foolish to think Dixon is always going to have a handful of victories and always be in the title conversation. A year will come where he isn't there. He might still win a race or two but he could have a year with four horrible races where he has two engine failures, cuts a tire and falls off the lead lap and another race where he gets caught in an accident not of his making and that could drop him to eighth or ninth in the championship.
We have to prepare for that season because it is going to happen and we should not fall into the crowd of people that ask what is wrong with Dixon just because he finished outside the top three. If there is one guy that can have a bad year it is Dixon. It is bound to happen and it could be this year.
The grid keeps getting better. All of Power, Rossi, Bourdais, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe could finish in the top five of the championship along with Dixon. If Dixon finished behind all those drivers it would be a surprise but that is a pretty good group to finish behind and that list is only growing. This rookie class is bringing in a lot of hype. Colton Herta led the Austin test. Marcus Ericsson should be a competent driver and get some results. Santino Ferrucci did well in the Austin test, where he was faster than Bourdais and we will get to Dixon's teammate in depth in a second but Felix Rosenqvist is coming into IndyCar with the expectation that he will be at the front immediately.
Dixon isn't going to fall off the face of the earth. He is immeasurably talented and he will get a few victories and be at the front. No matter how much talent enters IndyCar, Dixon is going to be at the front more times than not.
Felix Rosenqvist - #10 NTT Data Honda
The best prospect in motorsports is about to make the biggest move of his career.
The Swede spent six seasons in Formula Three and he finished in the top five of the championship in five of those seasons. In 2012, he finished third in the FIA Formula 3 European championship behind Daniel Juncadella and Raffaele Marciello and ahead of Pascal Wehrlein and Carlos Sainz, Jr. The following year he was vice-champion to Marciello with Alex Lynn, Lucas Auer, Harry Tincknell, Jordan King, Tom Blomqvist and Pipo Derani taking the next six positions in the championship.
Rosenqvist suffered a down year in 2014 when he finished eighth in the championship in a season when Esteban Ocon took the title and Max Verstappen third while Rosenqvist's teammate Auer was fourth. While having a disappointing championship finish, Rosenqvist took pole position for the Macau Grand Prix by nearly a quarter of a second over Ocon and Verstappen and he went on to win the qualifying race. He won the 15-lap main event by 4.372 seconds over Auer.
For 2015, Rosenqvist switched to Prema Powerteam after previously driving for Mücke Motorsport and he took the championship by 105.5 points over Antonio Giovinazzi with Jake Dennis, Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, George Russell and Alexander Albon rounding out the top seven and Santino Ferrucci was 11th in the championship that year. He capped off his championship year with his second consecutive Macau Grand Prix victory where he again won after winning pole position and the qualifying race.
His first trip to America was in Indy Lights with Belardi Auto Racing in a 2016 season that including a lot of experimenting. Not only did he run Indy Lights but he ran the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup with Tristan Vautier and he was given an opportunity to run in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters with Mercedes-Benz after Ocon moved to Formula One with Manor Racing. His entry into the DTM shortened his Indy Lights season to ten races and he won three of them, including the second race of the season at St. Petersburg and he swept the Toronto races. He returned to Macau but could not do the unprecedented and win the race for a third consecutive year. He qualified eighth and finished sixth in the qualifying race but worked his way to second in the final race behind António Félix da Costa.
At the end of 2016, he joined Formula E with Mahindra Racing. He started on pole position in his second start at Marrakesh and finished third. He got his first victory in his seventh start at Berlin and he had three runner-up finishes in the final five races on his way to finishing third in the championship. He won two of the first three races of 2017-18 season but he had many tough days including retirements at Mexico City and Rome, two races where he started on pole position.
Between his two Formula E seasons, he ran in Super Formula in 2017 and finished third in the championship five points behind champion Hiroaki Ishiura and like Pierre Gasly, he did not have the opportunity to take the title after the season finale doubleheader at Suzuka was cancelled due to a typhoon. In 2018, Rosenqvist remained in Japan and ran in Super GT with Lexus. He and co-driver Kazuya Oshima were tenth in the championship with their best result being second at Buriram.
Numbers to Remember:
3: There have been three races in IndyCar history with multiple Swedes starting. On all three occasions the Swedes were Stefan Johansson and Fredrik Ekblom. The first was at Belle Isle in 1994, the second what at Laguna Seca in 1995 and the third was the U.S. 500 at Michigan in 1996. Those were Ekblom's only three IndyCar starts.
76: Victories in Rosenqvist's career from 2007 to the present between Asian Formula Renault Challenge, Formula Renault 2.0 Asia, Formula Renault 2.0 Sweden, Formula Renault 2.0 North European Zone, Formula Palmer Audi, German Formula 3 Championship, Formula 3 Euro Series, Masters of Formula 3, FIA Formula 3 European Championship, the Macau Grand Prix, Formula Acceleration 1, Indy Lights, Blancpain GT Sprint Cup, Intercontinental GT Challenge, Formula E and Porsche Carrea Cup Scandinavia.
14: Different series he has won in listed above.
7.1309: Dario Franchitti's average finish in the #10 entry in 84 starts.
10.809: The average finish of the #10 entry in the 84 races from 2014-2018.
Predictions/Goals:
The goal is rookie of the year but get close to matching the success of Robert Wickens.
It is unfortunate that Rosenqvist is going to be held to the level of Wickens but we had not seen a rookie of Wickens' level since Bourdais in 2003 and Rosenqvist comes in with heightened expectations. He has been seen as the best young driver not in Formula One for the last four years. He has won everywhere and now he is in a major series. This is his shot to prove himself on a higher level.
This feels like the first driver that can push Dixon since Dario Franchitti. Franchitti's pre-mature exit from IndyCar led to Dixon taking the sole role as Ganassi team leader and that title has never been challenged for that honor. Dixon has carried the team for five seasons. Ganassi hasn't been fielding one good car all those years. I think he has finally brought in a driver that can get the most out of the second car and if Rosenqvist does that he should match Wickens results, if not exceed them.
He could win a race or two. The one area he is known for excelling at is street courses and all three of his Indy Lights victories were on street courses. There are only five street course races on the 2019 schedule but if he gets a victory or two and runs at the front in the other races that sets him up in a promising position for the rest of the season.
Juan Pablo Montoya won the championship 20 years ago as a rookie and Rosenqvist could do mirror that achievement. It doesn't mean he will do it but it is set up to happen. He is driving for a championship team and he has experience on five of the track, which isn't a lot but it is more than none and he might not have much oval experience but he has a diverse résumé. It has not taken Rosenqvist long to pick up whatever he is driving. The infrastructure is around him to succeed. He will have Franchitti on the pit stand to work with. He could not ask for a better setting to succeed.
Despite his knowledge and experience with a vast number of different types of race cars in series from around the world, there will be things that Rosenqvist will have to learn and adjust to accordingly. He still hasn't raced at Long Beach and Belle Isle, two street courses and Belle Isle is as rough as they come. The qualifying format will be different. It will be similar to what he experienced in Formula E but it is different enough where it will be multiple runs and multiple rounds and choosing tire compounds at the right time while also balancing tires and making sure to have enough tires in the later rounds. His Formula E experience could play into his favor as he has driven in conservation mode for the better part of two full seasons and we know IndyCar can have races come down to fuel mileage, something Rosenqvist's teammate has mastered.
He should be in the top ten of the championship but it should not be a surprise if he is pushing for the top five of the championship.
The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 10th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBCSN's coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.
It is unfortunate that Rosenqvist is going to be held to the level of Wickens but we had not seen a rookie of Wickens' level since Bourdais in 2003 and Rosenqvist comes in with heightened expectations. He has been seen as the best young driver not in Formula One for the last four years. He has won everywhere and now he is in a major series. This is his shot to prove himself on a higher level.
This feels like the first driver that can push Dixon since Dario Franchitti. Franchitti's pre-mature exit from IndyCar led to Dixon taking the sole role as Ganassi team leader and that title has never been challenged for that honor. Dixon has carried the team for five seasons. Ganassi hasn't been fielding one good car all those years. I think he has finally brought in a driver that can get the most out of the second car and if Rosenqvist does that he should match Wickens results, if not exceed them.
He could win a race or two. The one area he is known for excelling at is street courses and all three of his Indy Lights victories were on street courses. There are only five street course races on the 2019 schedule but if he gets a victory or two and runs at the front in the other races that sets him up in a promising position for the rest of the season.
Juan Pablo Montoya won the championship 20 years ago as a rookie and Rosenqvist could do mirror that achievement. It doesn't mean he will do it but it is set up to happen. He is driving for a championship team and he has experience on five of the track, which isn't a lot but it is more than none and he might not have much oval experience but he has a diverse résumé. It has not taken Rosenqvist long to pick up whatever he is driving. The infrastructure is around him to succeed. He will have Franchitti on the pit stand to work with. He could not ask for a better setting to succeed.
Despite his knowledge and experience with a vast number of different types of race cars in series from around the world, there will be things that Rosenqvist will have to learn and adjust to accordingly. He still hasn't raced at Long Beach and Belle Isle, two street courses and Belle Isle is as rough as they come. The qualifying format will be different. It will be similar to what he experienced in Formula E but it is different enough where it will be multiple runs and multiple rounds and choosing tire compounds at the right time while also balancing tires and making sure to have enough tires in the later rounds. His Formula E experience could play into his favor as he has driven in conservation mode for the better part of two full seasons and we know IndyCar can have races come down to fuel mileage, something Rosenqvist's teammate has mastered.
He should be in the top ten of the championship but it should not be a surprise if he is pushing for the top five of the championship.
The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 10th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBCSN's coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.
