Toyota won the 24 Hours of Le Mans but it wasn't without any drama. Mike Conway was magnificent in defeat. Fernando Alonso continues to make history. The hypercar regulations have been released and Aston Martin will join Toyota in the top class in 2020-21. Elsewhere, there was two-wheel racing in Barcelona and a pair of brothers made the Catalan crowd proud. Sébastien Ogier lost the World Rally Championship lead after a retirement in Sardegna. Team Penske is on fire. There was rain in Iowa and Ross Chastain was disqualified from the Truck race after finishing first on the road. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
2019 NTT IndyCar Series Halfway Report
Summer begins in a few days and eight races remain in the IndyCar season. The two Indianapolis races, the two Belle Isle races and the Texas race has shifted the championship into another gear. We are starting to see how the championship fight will shape up, who is in contention and who are starting to lose ground to the front-runners.
After having four different winners from four different teams in the first four races of 2019, only three different drivers from two different teams won the five races of the second quarter of the season. Where do the teams stand after spring?
1. Team Penske
Four victories from five races including a sweep of the Indianapolis races with Simon Pagenaud keeps Team Penske on top and if anything the gap is growing between Team Penske and the rest of the field.
Josef Newgarden continues to lead the championship, though his advantage has been decreased from 28 points after Long Beach to 25 points after Texas, he has won two of the last three races, was the first driver to three victories for the third consecutive seasons, is tied for the most podium finishes, top five finishes, has led the most laps this season, has led the most races this season and he is the only driver with multiple fastest laps this season. The second race ended in disaster when Newgarden ended up in the tire barrier after a collision with James Hinchcliffe in turn three. Pit strategy worked to Newgarden's favor in Texas and making a third stop under yellow allowed him to run aggressive and leapfrog from seventh to first. Again, he had Rossi on his heels but the Chevrolet power of the American kept the Andretti Autosport Honda at bay and earned Newgarden his third victory of 2019.
Pagenaud got all the glory at Indianapolis when he won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis after charging down Scott Dixon in wet conditions, a dominant performance in the Indianapolis 500 that ended with the Frenchman besting Alexander Rossi in a dash to the finish and Pagenaud continued his positive second quarter with a pair sixth place finishes at Belle Isle and Texas. Pagenaud jumped from 11th in the championship after Long Beach, 79 points off Newgarden to third after Texas, 48 points behind his teammate.
Will Power had four top ten finishes from the last five races but this stretch was more remembered for the mistakes the Australian made. Power was penalized in the Indianapolis 500 for hitting a crew member during a pit stop and he had to rally to finish fifth. In the first Belle Isle race, not securing the right front tire on the lone pit stop of the race unraveled a promising result and in the second race he stopped on circuit due to a gearbox issue but came back to finish third. Power spent most of the Texas race off the lead lap but through attrition climbed to a ninth place result.
Pagenaud may have won the Indianapolis 500 but this has been Newgarden's team this year. Newgarden has held the championship lead after eight of nine races with the lone exception being after the Indianapolis 500 when he was second to Pagenaud. Newgarden has been the top Penske finisher in six of nine races with the only times Pagenaud finishing on top being his two victories and Power's third in the second Belle Isle race is the only time the Australian led the team. Power was the top Penske qualifier in the first five races but Pagenaud and Newgarden have split the last four races while Pagenaud on top at the top ovals and Newgarden being the quickest in both Belle Isle races.
2. Andretti Autosport
The team might not have won a race in the second quarter of the 2019 season but boy was Andretti Autosport knocking on the door and Alexander Rossi led the way.
Rossi had three runner-up finishes in the second quarter of the season and he finished fifth in the second Belle Isle race after a spin in an evasive action kept him from making it three wounded race cars in the turn three incident that ended the day of Newgarden and significantly hampered Hinchcliffe. The Grand Prix of Indianapolis was stolen from him at the start when Patricio O'Ward ran into the back of Rossi coming to the green flag.
After that, Rossi was on fire. He pushed Pagenaud in the Indianapolis 500 and without that final caution Rossi very well may have pulled away and taken his second Indianapolis 500 victory in comfortable fashion, instead he finished second. In the next race, Rossi started on pole position and led from the get-go but he was caught out when Ed Jones got into the turn seven tire barrier and it forced him to shuffle behind Newgarden. Rossi spent the remainder of that race on Newgarden's heels but the wet track off line made it very difficult for Rossi to make a pass and again he settled for second. He might not have been the best car at Texas but he was ahead of Newgarden all night until Newgarden made his final pit stop. Like Indianapolis, when put in a late dash against a Penske, Rossi pushed but couldn't pull out a victory.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was the best car at Texas but the lack of tire degradation made it possible for the race to be completed in three stops. Hunter-Reay was on a four-stop strategy and it painted him into a corner. He always had to make an extra pit stop and instead of making it under the first caution, Hunter-Reay made it late and had to rally to a fifth place finish. Prior to Texas, Hunter-Reay hit a good run of form. The Grand Prix of Indianapolis aside, he turned an average car in the Indianapolis 500 to an eighth place finish and he finished fifth and fourth at Belle Isle.
The other two Andretti Autosport drivers continue to struggle. Marco Andretti got the setup wrong in the Indianapolis 500 and was off the lead lap for nearly 400 miles and his strategy to switch to slicks at Belle Isle backfired when the field did not pack up and instead of vaulting Andretti into the top ten, he remained at the back. In the second Belle Isle race, Andretti worked his way into the top ten and finished sixth but at Texas, he was not that competitive after a bobble in turn two ruined a promising qualifying attempt. He may have finished tenth but it came with some attrition.
Zach Veach was the top Andretti finisher at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis when he finished 12th but he had two retirements in the oval races after accidents. The good news for Veach is he picked up his first two top ten finishers of the season at Belle Isle when he finished eighth in both races.
On top of the full-time drivers, Conor Daly started 11th and finished tenth and spent a fair amount of the race in the top ten as the second best Andretti car behind Rossi.
3. Chip Ganassi Racing
The team tied Newman-Haas Racing for second most victories for a team in IndyCar history but the second quarter was full of ups and downs.
It appeared Scott Dixon would be onto glory in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but Pagenaud chased down Dixon and overtook the New Zealander in turn nine with two laps to go. Dixon would finish second. Dixon worked his way into the top ten but he suffered damage in the turn three accident that took out Bourdais, Veach, his teammate Felix Rosenqvist and Graham Rahal to name a few. He had to settle with a 17th place finish. In the first Belle Isle race, Dixon threw away a podium finish after clipping the barrier in turn seven and it put him in the barrier, his first retirement in over two years. Of course, Dixon rebounded and won the second race after going off-strategy early while his biggest rivals all stubbed their toes. He was running at the front of Texas and he looked to have another podium finish, if not possible victory in his grasp, but an accident with Colton Herta gave him his third finish outside the top fifteen in four races.
Felix Rosenqvist started the second quarter of the season on a high with his first career pole position at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but he lost ground early and was not able to factor in that race while Dixon controlled the race. A practice accident during Indianapolis 500 practice put him behind the eight-ball but he made up ground and could have been challenging for a top ten finish before he was caught up in the turn three accident with Bourdais, Veach and Rahal. The first Belle Isle race saw Rosenqvist on Dixon's heels and he slid up to a fourth place finish after Dixon's race ended. Rosenqvist was in the top ten for race two before an accident in turn one ended his race. Texas was a rough race but he made it home in 12th.
4. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No change for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's positioning after the second quarter and the team had both its drivers keeping up the results.
Takuma Sato had a surprising third place finish in the Indianapolis 500 after losing a lap early in the race and for a moment it appeared he was replicating his 2012 and 2017 races with late charges leading to contention for race victory. He wasn't able to mix it up with Pagenaud and Rossi but he was in the frame in case someone slipped up. Sato was spectacular in the wet on Saturday at Belle Isle. He was braking deeper than anybody and made up a ton of ground. Once dry, Sato was in third and got his third podium finish of the season.
Unfortunately for Sato, he had a few missed opportunities to close out spring. He was in the top ten in the second Belle Isle race before a cut tire forced an extra pit stop and a pit lane error, sliding too fast into his pit box and clipping a crew member, derailed his Texas race where he started on pole position and led the entire opening stint without any challenge from behind.
Graham Rahal had four top ten finishes from the five races in the second quarter of 2019. He likely would have finished in the top five and possibly the top three in the Indianapolis 500 had he and Bourdais not made contact in turn three. Both cars were on the move and the superior efficiency of the Hondas gave Rahal and Bourdais the advantage over the Chevrolets of Pagenaud, Carpenter and Newgarden, who were all directly ahead of those two.
After finishes of ninth and a pair of sevenths at Belle Isle, Rahal had a strong Texas race. He wasn't at the front from the drop of the green flag but he improved over the night and when the race turned into short sprints due to cautions, Rahal made up ground and ended up in third, his first podium finish since the 2018 season opener at St. Petersburg.
5. Dale Coyne Racing
The four teams above have a driver in the top ten of the championship. Dale Coyne Racing has two and it moves up one spot since Long Beach.
Santino Ferrucci had a breakout second quarter with finishes of tenth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, seventh in the Indianapolis 500, earning him the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, tenth in the second Belle Isle race after going off strategy and leading 20 laps and fourth at Texas, his first career top five finish.
Ferrucci is the top rookie in the championship in ninth, up eight positions from after Long Beach. He has completed 989 of 991 laps this season, more than any other driver. There is still room for improvement as the Nutmegger's best start in the second quarter was 14th and he has started outside the top twenty in two of the last five races.
Sébastien Bourdais finds himself three points behind his teammate and rounding out the top ten. He finished behind his teammate three times in the last five races. Bourdais had a great race going in the Indianapolis 500 before the accident. He did well in the wet in the first Belle Isle race but could only get up to 11th. Bourdais was ahead of Ferrucci most of the night in Texas but the cautions shook up the results.
Bourdais has righted some of the qualifying woes for Dale Coyne Racing with five top ten starts in the last six races and he leads his teammate in head-to-head qualifying 7-2 but only 5-4 in race finishes.
6. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Up a spot is Schmidt Peterson Motorsports but it was not the greatest second quarter for the team.
James Hinchcliffe had one top ten finish in the second quarter, ninth in the first Belle Isle race. He had an impressive day in the Indianapolis 500, driving from 32nd to 11th but he had two accidents in the last two races cost him great results. He likely would have finished in the top five in the second Belle Isle race had he not gotten into Newgarden and then lose power and he coughed up a top ten finish at Texas after he brushed the wall exiting turn two.
The brightest spot in SPM's second quarter was Marcus Ericsson, though he too had his moments. Ericsson was out of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis after 11 laps. He was running well in the Indianapolis 500 and was the top rookie, fighting for a top ten position, when he spun entering the pit lane. The good news is he had a strong drive in the second Belle Isle race to finish second to Dixon and he was clean all night at Texas, stayed on the lead lap and finished seventh.
Both drivers are outside the top ten in the championship, though Hinchcliffe is on the outside because Bourdais owns the tiebreaker. Hinchcliffe enters summer 2019 without a top five finish in his last 14 starts.
7. Meyer Shank Racing
Meyer Shank Racing only ran two races and it jumps up one spot! How could it be?
Jack Harvey's Grand Prix of Indianapolis performance, that's how! Harvey was at the front and really in podium contention all race. At one point, he was in second and chasing down race leader Scott Dixon. Harvey wasn't able to pull out a remarkable victory but a third place finish behind Pagenaud and Dixon was an outstanding showing for him and this team.
The Indianapolis 500 was not Harvey's greatest day and he was not really mentioned once during the race after starting 25th and finishing 21st.
The team has not contested the last three races but Harvey has only dropped from 13th to 21st in the championship. He is ahead of Patricio O'Ward, who has started six races and Max Chilton, who has started seven races. He is only 17 points behind Matheus Leist, who has started every race. Based on points per start, Harvey is ahead of Marco Andretti, Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta, Tony Kanaan, Zach Veach and Leist; drivers that have started all nine races.
MSR and Harvey will be back for Road America but the only other races it will run in 2019 are the natural-terrain road courses of Mid-Ohio, Portland and Laguna Seca.
8. Ed Carpenter Racing
Ed Carpenter Racing is the fourth consecutive team to move up the order since the end of quarter one but the results have only had a slight tick upward.
After not scoring a top ten finish in the first four races, the team had a double top ten finish with Spencer Pigot in fifth and Ed Jones in sixth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The team continued its Indianapolis 500 qualifying success with all three cars making the Fast Nine with Ed Carpenter, Pigot and Jones qualifying second, third and fourth and Pigot was fastest after the Saturday qualifying session.
In the race, Carpenter was at the front for almost the entirety of this race but was not as much as a threat for the race victory. Both Pigot and Jones slid back as the race went on. Carpenter picked up a sixth place finish while Jones and Pigot were 13th and 14th.
Pigot had a tenth place finish in race one from Belle Isle and a terrible accident with Bourdais in race two that ended what could have been a top ten result. Jones had a run in with the tires and a nondescript 14th place finish in the Motor City. Both ECR cars struggled and dropped like rocks at the start of Texas. Carpenter was able to reverse it and get back to 13th, where he started, but Pigot finished 14th after starting sixth.
9. Harding Steinbrenner Racing
The darling of spring wilted the closer we got to summer.
Colton Herta may have a race victory but when you have three retirements and your best finish is 12th from five races and have dropped to 16th in the championship after being fifth after Barber and tenth after Long Beach you are going to fall down this order as well.
It hasn't all been bad for Herta and a lot of it has been out of his control. Hinchcliffe hit Herta from behind at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, ending his race. The gearbox broke on him after three laps in the Indianapolis 500. He may have been a bit too aggressive at Texas when he and Dixon got together but he has shown the same promise we saw in the first two races.
Herta was fifth on the grid for the Indianapolis 500. He definitely had a quick race car only for it to let him down before he could complete ten miles. He was in the top five for most of Texas and I know he was trying to get more and maybe even thought he could win the race but that might have been a case where he needed to be more patient after his string of retirements.
The crazy thing is Herta's qualifying results. He has an average starting position of 6.9 and his worst starting position this season was 11th at St. Petersburg, a race where he appeared he was going to be in the Fast Six before he got docked his fastest lap for interference on Charlie Kimball's qualifying run. The problem is he has completed only 630 laps, 15 fewer than Ed Jones, who has made one fewer start and only four more than Jack Harvey, who has made three fewer starts. Herta has completed only 63.6% of the possible laps from his nine starts. The only drivers in all of IndyCar to complete a lower percentage of laps are Ben Hanley at 62.5% in three starts and Kyle Kaiser, who has completed 50.4% of the possible laps in his two starts.
That is terrible for Herta! That means all the Indianapolis 500 one-offs, Pippa Mann, Jordan King, Oriol Servià, J.R. Hildebrand and Sage Karam have completed a higher percentage of laps than a full-time driver through nine races!
It has to turn around and it almost has to come down to the team telling Herta to settle for fifth or eighth or ninth. The team cannot tear up more race cars and it needs results. Austin was great but the last three months have been crap and the team needs a respectable result even if it means telling a 19-year-old kid to settle.
10. A.J. Foyt Racing
The Texas team gets off the bottom after Matheus Leist finished fourth in the wet and after timely pit stops in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Tony Kanaan finished ninth in the Indianapolis 500.
Outside of those results, Leist has finished 15th, 21st, 20th and 22nd with three consecutive retirements. Kanaan has finished 20th, 15th, 22nd and 16th with an unfortunate lap one retirement in the second Belle Isle race.
The team has already turned its attention to the 2020 season but we got to start seeing changes in 2019 and I am not talking in terms of race results but in team personnel. Leist may have been rushed into IndyCar but if Foyt wants to set the team up for 2020 it better find a veteran driver to pair with Kanaan to get the team back on course.
Charlie Kimball is a smart driver and we have seen this year with Carlin him get more out of the car than his teammates. That would be a smart hire and Kimball could a driver Foyt could continue on with in 2020. Oriol Servià is still on the sidelines. He would be a veteran option that could work with Kanaan but I feel like Foyt needs a veteran driver that could be a long-term option and Servià is older than Kanaan. Conor Daly is available but, like Kimball, he might have other options. James Davison has been a quick driver in his Indianapolis 500 one-offs and he doesn't have a regular gig. J.R. Hildebrand is available.
Foyt might be focused on 2020 but we are going to have to see some improvements in the summer of 2019.
11. Carlin
When all three of the cars that failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 had ties to Carlin, you are going to the bottom.
Carlin is already experimenting for the future. Max Chilton is stepping away from the ovals. Patricio O'Ward is turning his attention to Europe and will not run Iowa or Gateway after those were on his initial schedule. Conor Daly filled in for Chilton at Texas. Kimball is signed for Pocono and Laguna Seca.
Daly and Kimball both did well at Texas. Kimball was up to 12th before he had to retire due to a right rear bearing issue. Daly ended up finishing 11th but he was ahead of Will Power and Marco Andretti most of the night.
I wonder how O'Ward does now that he is in the Red Bull development program. This could be a case of split interest and there is nothing really for him to gain in IndyCar. He has had some good races since the announcement. Even after he served a penalty for running into Rossi at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis he was in position for a top ten finish before the tire pressures were wrong when he switched to the wet tires and it forced him to make another stop. He was unfortunate at Belle Isle and got hit at the start, which cost him a few positions.
Chilton still hasn't found his stride. My hope is now that he doesn't have to worry about oval races he can focus on the road courses and he can start pulling out respectable results.
Who Is Out Now?
After Long Beach, we wrote off Pigot, Kanaan, Veach, Jones, Chilton and Leist.
Let's add Graham Rahal, Santino Ferrucci, Sébastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Felix Rosenqvist, Marco Andretti, Marcus Ericsson and Colton Herta to that list. No champion since 1947 has not had a top five finish in one of the first five races and that fact eliminates Ferrucci, Hinchcliffe, Andretti and Ericsson. Rahal and Bourdais both meet that criteria but they are 156 points and 177 points behind Newgarden respectively. Rosenqvist and Herta have both been respectable but both are too far behind with too few races remaining.
We are going to keep Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay alive for now but both drivers have to start winning races to have any hope in a second championship.
How Does the Third Quarter Shape the Championship?
The next four races are two road courses, Road America and Mid-Ohio with the 7/8-mile oval at Iowa and the Toronto street course.
Newgarden and Rossi won at Road America and Mid-Ohio last year, Newgarden dominated Iowa before he was caught with his pants down and he started on pole position at Toronto and gave that race away after he brushed the wall coming to the green flag on a restart.
Rossi was set for a podium finish at Road America before the left front camber shims fell out and forced him to pit and lose a lap. He stalled on a pit stop and it cost him a possible top five result at Iowa and he finished ninth. He ran into the back of Power at Toronto while in the top five and had to make an extra pit stop and finished eighth.
Pagenaud has finished in the top ten at Mid-Ohio in the last seven years, at Toronto and Iowa the last three years and Road America the last two years. The one of the four tracks Pagenaud has won at is Mid-Ohio but he was runner-up finisher at Toronto last year and he has only finished in the top five twice at Iowa.
Dixon has finished first and third the last two years at Road America and he won at Toronto last year but he has not won at Mid-Ohio since 2014 and that is the last time he has stood on the podium at that track. He has only two podium finishes at Iowa with his best finish being third.
In the 12 races at these four tracks the last three years, Sato has only four top ten finishes but all those finishes were top five results including a third at Iowa last year and fourth at Road America. His average finish over those 12 races is 12.0 with six finishes outside the top fifteen.
Chevrolet has won two of the last three years at Road America, Iowa and Mid-Ohio and it won five consecutive Toronto races before Dixon won last year for Honda. Chevrolet has had the advantage in terms of horsepower, which should play into its favor at Road America but Honda has had the upper hand on street courses. Chevrolet has won the two oval races this season and Team Penske has won ten of the last 14 oval races dating back to Pocono 2016.
Newgarden lost ground in the championship from Long Beach to Texas but he by no means lost a step. The next four races appear to shape up into his favor. He is the only active driver in IndyCar to have won at all four tracks that make up IndyCar's third quarter.
Rossi is the main challenger but after a May and June that saw him arguably be the quickest driver but in the mirrors of Penske entries he will need to convert and replicate his street course prowess at Toronto, his Mid-Ohio dominance from last year and have career best finishes at Road America and Iowa if he wants to take control of the championship before we get into August.
Champions From the Weekend
The #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima won the World Endurance Drivers' Championship
The #36 Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Pierre Thiriet won the Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers.
The #92 Porsche of Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre won the World Endurance GT Drivers' Championship.
The #56 Team Project 1 Porsche of Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti won the Endurance Trophy for GTE-Am Drivers
Winners From the Weekend
You know about the 24 Hours of Le Mans but did you know...
Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Catalan Grand Prix, his fourth victory of the season. Álex Márquez won the Moto2 race, his third consecutive victory. Marcos Ramírez won the Moto3 race, his first career victory in 53 starts.
Dani Sordo won Rally Italia Sardegna, his second career World Rally victory with the other being the 2013 Rallye Deutschland.
Scott McLaughlin swept the Supercars races from Hidden Valley Raceway and he has won five consecutive races and 12 of 16 races.
Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Iowa, his fourth victory of the season. Brett Moffitt won the Truck race after the disqualification of Ross Chastain. It is Moffitt's first victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar starts summer at Road America.
NASCAR Cup Series will run the full course at Sonoma while the Trucks head to Gateway.
Formula One has another French Grand Prix.
24 Hours Nürburgring and the World Touring Car Cup has three races around the Nordschleife.
Misano continues to be busy with World Superbike visiting the track.
Formula E is back in Switzerland but this year it goes to Bern.
Super Formula will be at Sportsland SUGO.
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