Newgarden may want to thank Ed Jones a bit because he was rolling the dice switching to slick tires. He lost a few spots on the wet tires and it seems like he was at best just going to finish somewhere in the top five and maybe get on the podium but the caution came out before Rossi and Scott Dixon were able to get around to the pit lane. It was advantage Newgarden from there though he was concerned about fuel. The few more cautions fell Newgarden's way and he was able to make it, although barely. He will head into race two as the championship leader, 25 points of Simon Pagenaud.
2. It is the second consecutive race Alexander Rossi arguably had the best car but didn't get the victory. He really pushed Newgarden but I am not sure the track was dry enough yet for him to make a look off line.
This race very well could have been Rossi's but he caught a bit of fortunate in his own right because when he did make his pit stop under yellow the field had not packed up and about six other drivers had already switched to slicks. Instead of coming out in seventh, eighth or ninth, Rossi got out in second position. If the field had been packed up then this would have been a worse day for Rossi. It might not have end the way he would have liked but it could have been worse.
3. Takuma Sato was a mover in this one. He had great grip in the wet and could brake deeper into the corners than it seemed like everyone. He worked his way up a few positions and when the cautions came out it came him more opportunities to make up ground. Sato did seem to fade in the dry and he was holding up the field a bit but he held on for his third podium finish of the season, the first time he has had three podium finishes in a single season.
4. Felix Rosenqvist had a good turn around and this seemed like the first race since St. Petersburg where Rosenqvist held his own from start to finish, granted this was an abbreviated race but it seems like in every race since St. Petersburg Rosenqvist may start well but lose positions whether it be over tire degradation or other reasons. He was in the top five for most of this one. He didn't have anything for Newgarden or Rossi but he pushed Sato hard. I think fourth is a respectable result for him.
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay had made his pit stop prior to the caution and he must have been thinking he was golden when the caution came out. However, it was clear that Rossi and Dixon exited pit lane prior to Hunter-Reay coming through. Those two blended into second and third position and Hunter-Reay was fourth.
This is a bad break for Hunter-Reay that the pack up didn't happen. It is kind of unfair but also a tough spot for IndyCar. It could have extended the caution by an additional lap but with it already being a timed race people would have been upset losing another lap to caution. If Hunter-Reay had restarted second I am not sure he would have been able to push Newgarden. Hunter-Reay struggled on restarts but seemed to get things going on a longer run. I think fifth is a good result for him.
6. Simon Pagenaud made up some ground and was aggressive. It wasn't quite what he did in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but it was clear Pagenaud was set for the wet conditions and he made up some spots. Some drivers had some problems and Pagenaud finished sixth. He loses the championship lead and 25 points back is sizable but not insurmountable.
7. Graham Rahal finished seventh and I will be honest, outside of the top three or four drivers, there is not much to say about the rest of the field. This was a quick race. Rahal made some passes; he kept his nose clean and got a top ten, a good result after a disappointing day at Indianapolis.
8. Zach Veach needed a good day and he got it, though he nearly tossed it before the green flag even came out. Veach spun on the final pace lap, within turns of the green flag. Instead of starting in seventh he restarted in the back. Somehow things went Veach's way and he got back in the top ten. Eighth place is a big turn around considering how his race started.
9. James Hinchcliffe didn't do anything wrong and finished ninth.
10. Spencer Pigot didn't do anything wrong and finished tenth.
11. Quickly through the field: Sébastien Bourdais made some passes in the wet but all he could get was 11th. Colton Herta was struggling for grip and he was holding up the field for most of this one. It seemed like he settled into 12th. Marcus Ericsson had a good start in the wet but he fell back to 13th. Patricio O'Ward brushed the barrier at the start exiting turn two after Sato's backend stepped out. O'Ward lost a lot of ground from there. Tony Kanaan was 15th. Marco Andretti was the first to switch to slicks and it was kind of working but the pack up didn't happen and instead of restarting instead the top ten he was 20th. It was a good plan that didn't pay off and he finished 16th. Max Chilton was 17th in another lackluster race.
12. Will Power finds a new way to shoot off all his toes. This time the right front wheel nut was not put on, the crew sent him and he lost the tire on pit exit. I think this should be a disqualifying offense. His tire came off, bounced in front of the field that was exiting pit lane and could have hurt somebody. I think that is an infraction that should take you out of the race and the post-race penalty has to be more severe than a $5,000 or $10,000 fine, it should be a deduction of points, at least ten.
Was it on purpose? No but it is a bit of carelessness and as much as these teams want to nail pit stops and gain positions that way the more important thing is execution to make sure a car being sent back out onto the racetrack is not a potential danger to that driver and others.
Back to Power, each year he seems to have two or three races like this and this is another case of something out of his control cost him. It is races like these that take him out of the championship conversation.
13. Santino Ferrucci was really conserving fuel down the stretch to make it. Ed Jones got into the tires, bummer, Matheus Leist got into the tires, bummer.
14. And here is where we talk about Scott Dixon. He brushed the inside barrier in turn six and it put him into the tires on exit. It is Dixon's first retirement since Texas 2017. He had finished 31 consecutive races. Bad days happen and it is hard to get on Dixon for this one, mostly because he could end up winning five of the final 11 races, take the championship and we will be singing his praises once again.
15. A few final notes: IndyCar is batting .333 when it comes to these national television windows. Not bad for a shortstop but this was the second NBC broadcast where rain pushed coverage for another network and this time it was CNBC where the final 20 minutes and post-race aired.
That is out of IndyCar's hands and NBC's hands but it is not ideal. I guess the saving grace is at least the Indianapolis 500 wasn't hampered with rain. Let's hope tomorrow a full race gets aired on network.
As for the decision to make it a 75-minute timed race, I get it and there is precedence. The 2014 Toronto doubleheader was hampered with rain. The Saturday race was pushed to Sunday and it was reduced to 65 laps from the scheduled 85 laps. It took 75 minutes to complete. The second race had rain come it and had an 80-minute time limit.
I get why IndyCar did this. For starters, the race was already delayed more than an hour because of lightning and it wanted to get the race in during the national TV window. It is also a doubleheader. It would have been rough on these teams if they had to run to a two-hour time limit. The race wouldn't have ended up 7:00 p.m. ET in that case with qualifying scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET tomorrow.
I like doubleheaders but the one thing I have promoted is the Saturday race should be earlier in the day, like a noon or 1:00 p.m. start time and the Sunday race should be 3:30 p.m. that way the teams get more time between the races. IndyCar and IMSA very well could swap race start times. I know some IMSA teams would not like that because some drivers are doing this race and then have to get on a plane and go to Le Mans for the test day. It is kind of the tricky situation in having Detroit this weekend.
I think the 75-minute race was fine. Was it shorter than we would have liked? Yeah but it was still a good race. The drivers were still pushing and it didn't become processional or get bogged down in pit cycles. This isn't the norm and we have to remember that. It is a one-off and I am sure IndyCar is going to look at it, see where things can be improved and plan on making adjustments should the series find itself in a similar situation in the future.
16. We get to do it all again tomorrow and this time let's see that the rain holds off.
