Gone are James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson, the drivers that spent five and one seasons with the team respectively. The two drivers combined for zero victories, two top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes in 2019. Entering is one driver whose 2019 IndyCar season was much shorter than it should have been and has lost his rookie year eligibility and the other driver is the reigning Indy Lights champion.
2019 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 2nd (Belle Isle II)
Poles: 0
Championship Finishes: 12th (James Hinchcliffe), 17th (Marcus Ericsson)
2020 Drivers:
Patricio O'Ward: #5 Arrow Chevrolet
After winning the 2018 Indy Lights championship and finishing ninth on his IndyCar debut at Sonoma, it appeared O'Ward's 2019 season was set for a big coming out party. Unfortunately, the Harding Steinbrenner Racing deal fell through before the team could get to preseason testing.
O'Ward missed the season opener but Carlin swept in to salvage O'Ward's season, handing him a ride for 13 races in 2019. He picked up right where he left off, qualifying eighth at Austin and spending much of that race pushing for a top five finish before settling with an eighth place result. He had a trying race at Barber but started ninth at Long Beach and finished 12th. The Grand Prix of Indianapolis saw O'Ward pick up a penalty at the start for running into Alexander Rossi before taking the green flag. Despite this set back, he still cycled to the front only for the team to get the tire pressures wrong when switching to wet tires and dropping to a 19th place finish but he did pick up fastest lap in the race.
During the first portion of the IndyCar season, O'Ward had been courted to Red Bull Junior Team. Off the heels of that announced, O'Ward entered his first Indianapolis 500 practice week and it started with electrical issues keeping him from completing rookie orientation on day one. He suffered an accident early in Thursday practice. Qualifying pace was not there on Saturday and on Sunday, O'Ward fell short, failing to qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
At Belle Isle, O'Ward would start seventh and eighth in the two races but finish 14th and 11th respectively. His next race would be Road America, where he started 13th and finished 17th.
The week after Road America, O'Ward made his Formula Two debut at Red Bull Ring, substituting for the suspended Mahaveer Raghunathan. The day after the Austrian weekend it was announced O'Ward would replace Dan Ticknum in Team Mugen in the Super Formula championship. He had 14th place finishes at Fuji, in a torrential rainstorm, and Motegi. At Okayama, O'Ward had a strong race and finished sixth. With O'Ward unable to obtain the number of Super License points necessary to compete in Formula One in 2020, Red Bull dropped O'Ward prior to the Super Formula finale at Suzuka.
Numbers to Remember:
7: Starts in 2019, all with Carlin.
7: Times O'Ward was the top Carlin qualifier.
5: Times O'Ward was the top Carlin finisher.
8: Starts in O'Ward's IndyCar career.
0: Oval starts in O'Ward's IndyCar career.
Predictions/Goals:
I think O'Ward has to at least perform to the level of the 2019 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports drivers.
It wasn't O'Ward's fault his original 2019 plans did not come to fruition. If he did end up running a full season with Harding Steinbrenner Racing who knows where he would have fell in a rookie class that saw Felix Rosenqvist end up sixth in the championship, Colton Herta win two races and end up seventh in the championship and where Santino Ferrucci was the most successful rookie on ovals.
O'Ward did accomplish quite a bit in his abbreviated 2019 season. He showed flashes of brilliance again but also had down moments while also dealing with the distraction of the Red Bull junior program.
With his sole focus on IndyCar, O'Ward's results should be promising but there must be some lingering worries when considering Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' lack of strong championship finishes and McLaren's mistakes.
A victory may be out of grasp but AMSP ascends from at best the fourth Honda team to the second Chevrolet team. If a non-Team Penske Chevrolet is going to win a race in 2020 it will likely come from AMSP, boding well for O'Ward.
The goals should be at least three top five finishes, more than SPM had for the entirety of 2019. He should also pick up at least nine top ten finishes. Those numbers would fall in line with what Herta put up in 2019. The one thing O'Ward must do differently is not rack up as many retirements as Herta. Herta was seventh in the championship with seven retirements. If O'Ward can score three top five finishes, nine top ten finishes and have the other finishes be somewhere between 11th and 15th he will end up in the top eight of the championship.
Oliver Askew: #7 Arrow Chevrolet
After winning the 2017 U.S. F2000 championship and finishing fourth in the 2018 Pro Mazda championship, Askew moved up to Indy Lights to drive for Andretti Autosport for 2019.
The season started with a third place finish in race one at St. Petersburg and Askew won pole position for the second race of the weekend. He led the first lap of the race but in turn two on lap two contact with Rinus VeeKay put Askew into the barrier, ending his race.
Askew responded at Austin, sweeping both races from pole position both times and leading 35 of 40 laps over the weekend. The two victories gave Askew the championship lead. He had finishes of second and third at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but it dropped him to second in the championship, a point behind VeeKay.
In the Freedom 100, Askew started eighth but worked his way to the front and battled with Ryan Norman for the victory. Askew took the white flag in first but lost the lead to Norman later that lap. Coming to the checkered flag, Askew drafted up the inside of Norman and won the race by 0.0067 seconds.
Askew entered Road America with an 11-point championship lead but after finishes of fifth and third he left only three points ahead of VeeKay. He was runner-up to Aaron Telitz in the first Toronto race but after VeeKay and Telitz got together in the second race Askew swept through to take the victory and extend his championship lead to 25 points.
Askew had a perfect weekend at Mid-Ohio, he won each race from pole position and led every lap in both races. He followed this with another victory from pole position at Gateway. Finishes of second and third at Portland meant all Askew had to do to clinch the title was start both Laguna Seca races. He ended the season with finishes of fourth and second.
Numbers to Remember:
31.25: Winning percentage in 48 Road to Indy starts.
10: Different tracks won at in Askew's Road to Indy career. All ten tracks are on the 2020 IndyCar schedule.
0: Number of IndyCar races Florida-born drivers have won all-time. Askew was born in Melbourne, Florida.
Predictions/Goals:
It is always difficult to prediction Indy Lights champions because of grid size and inexperience.
Askew comes in with promising Road to Indy results but he has not raced in a grid with more than 20 cars since U.S. F2000, a much different grid than what he will face in IndyCar.
However, recent Indy Lights graduates have shown early success in IndyCar. Last year saw Herta win multiple races. O'Ward had top ten finishes in his first two IndyCar starts. Ed Jones put together a string of impressive results as a rookie. Jack Harvey has stepped into IndyCar and is showing pace with a single-car operation. Gabby Chaves was consistent in completing laps and bringing a car home in one piece. Spencer Pigot scored a few top five finishes, including impressive runs at Iowa and tremendous pace in Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
I think Askew's goal is rookie of the year, as is obvious for any rookie, but he should aim to be in the top five of Chevrolet drivers as well. If Askew ends up in the top five, he will likely be behind all three Team Penske drivers, which is understood and likely O'Ward. It would mean being ahead of fellow rookie of the year candidate Rinus VeeKay at Ed Carpenter Racing, Charlie Kimball at A.J. Foyt Racing and whomever Carlin.
I think a realistic championship goal is top fifteen in the championship. The team didn't have both its drivers in the top fifteen last year so it would be a step in the right direction. Askew should aim to get at least one or two top five finishes and six to eight top ten finishes. He must aim to finish ahead of O'Ward in at least seven races.
The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 15th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBCSN's coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET
