First Impressions: IndyCar iRacing Austin 2020

1. Lando Norris came. Lando Norris saw. Lando Norris conquered. This was close but Norris, the invitee, had this one in the bag. If it wasn't for a spin exiting the final corner while running in fifth during the pit cycle, Norris would have won this race by at least ten or 15 seconds.

Norris had the field covered from the first practice race on Thursday. No one touched him that day. Today started with another pole position and blistering race pace. Norris was regularly lapping in the 1:04-range. No one else was doing that. Patricio O'Ward got down to 1:04 late but at that point the race was over.

The McLaren F1 driver is another animal when it comes to iRacing. Add to it the natural ability behind an actual race car. The combination led to stepping into the IndyCar pool and bullying the regulars. Norris almost beat himself but that was the only thing that was going to stop him today.

How should IndyCar feel about another outside winning its iRacing event? It is not real. It doesn't matter. It is only for fun.

2. Patricio O'Ward was strong and was going to be in the top five but had a bit of help to get into a runner-up position. O'Ward was strong and didn't put a wheel wrong. He found some pace late but Norris was out of reach. This was a good day and O'Ward really hasn't had a great iRacing event yet.

3. Take Norris out of the field and Felix Rosenqvist wins this race. Rosenqvist was on the one-stop and leading the way. If there is no Norris, Rosenqvist wins this by about five or six seconds. Instead, Norris is in the field, running about 7/10ths faster than Rosenqvist every lap and under the pressure Rosenqvist clips a curb and spins. He loses the lead; he loses the gap to O'Ward and he settles for third.

The way this race was laid out, 32 laps with a competition caution on lap 12, was going to mix up the strategies. Teams were only getting 15-16 laps on fuel. Stopping under caution was not going to get you to the end unless you were really conservation. Rosenqvist stayed out before the caution, did not come in under the caution and ran to lap 18. This nearly worked.

Even if Rosenqvist doesn't spin, Norris was likely going to pass him with two or three to go but Rosenqvist still would have had second.

4. Another strong day from Scott McLaughlin in fourth. I can't say much more than that but McLaughlin has been great in every race.

5. Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top five, running the same strategy as Rosenqvist. Ferrucci was good. That's about it.

6. The only way Norris spins and doesn't win is if Will Power doesn't spin on his own while leading before Power makes his one and only stop at the end of lap 18. Power was in the catbird seat after Norris spun and within a lap Power coughed it up.

Similar to Rosenqvist, he just lost it and there went the victory. Power was closer to Norris and the gap was there after Norris spun. If Power keeps it straight, he pits and gets out ahead of Rosenqvist and might have an extra second or two on Norris. In that case, Norris might fall a lap short in his charge.

Another trip to Austin and another one that got away from Power, settling for sixth.

7. Rinus VeeKay was seventh, which is actually great, considering last week was his first event. I am happy for him.

8. Rounding out the top ten was Marcus Ericsson, Álex Palou, who went the furthest of the two-stoppers, getting a splash-and-go with four to go and Josef Newgarden was tenth, after being one of the first to commit to the two-stop strategy.

9. I will be honest, there is no one that stands out that was outside the top ten.

Simon Pagenaud was 14th after winning the last two races. That was a little worse than expected.

Sage Karam had some problem and it shuffled him from sixth on the grid to dead last. I don't think Karam was going to match Norris' pace but I think he could have had a shot for a podium position.

And then there are a few drivers who are being way too hormonal. Guys, calm down and just have fun with it.

10. Honda teams are 0-for-5 going into the final race. Does that matter?

Rosenqvist has been the closest Honda driver to victory on a regular basis. Scott Dixon, who was 11th today, had a shot at Motegi, but week-to-week Rosenqvist has been carrying the Honda flag and no one else has been close.

Outside of Scott Speed at Barber, has there been a time where an Andretti Autosport driver has been in the top five?

I know this is a video game and just because Andretti Autosport drivers are struggling now doesn't mean the team will be outside the top fifteen at every race. Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta will be fine. Everyone is at a different level when it comes to iRacing. For some guys, it is a daily exercise. For Rossi, it is brand spanking new and he is years behind and that is fine.

The fact that is seems 85% of the Honda drivers are behind is a little bit of a surprise. There have been some rough races and Honda probably should have had a win by now. Rosenqvist was looking good at Barber and had a good shot at winning today but Rosenqvist has been it.

I don't think it matters but if we have learned anything from the last five weeks, this ends up mattering in one way or another.

11. Indianapolis is going to be next week... so how about that dream?

I am not going to say too much because a lot of people lack imagination and are going to love it and it is probably going to be a fun race but if IndyCar is going to promote theme weekends at the start of this series and then not see those out IndyCar should just come up with the schedule at the start and release it like IMSA did.

Don't tease something for four weeks and then completely renege.

12. If there is one fun thing IndyCar is doing with this it will determine the final spots in the field via a qualifying on Wednesday. All full-time teams, the iRacing winners (Sage Karam, Scott McLaughlin and Lando Norris) and Indianapolis 500 winners are locked in so I don't know how many spots will be available but just counting Hélio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti could be up to do this and that rough counting suggests there could be very few spots available. This could be the first misstep IndyCar has made in this entire process, but hey, five weeks is a great run.