Best of the Month: June 2024

Six months down, six months to go, and summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere. Where does the time go? Indianapolis was a month ago. Le Mans was only a few weeks. Much is behind us, but still plenty is ahead. With the big races done, the attention will turn to championships. Some battles are still tight, others are growing, some could shrink over the next few weeks and months. The pictures will soon become clear but it still requires patience. Plenty of time remains, though dwindling.

IndyCar Tidbits

I did this last year at this point in the season and I am doing it again. We are about halfway through the IndyCar season and there have been a few notable things that have occurred that you might not have realized. There are things you may have not noticed but over the first four months of the IndyCar season and digging through the record books and old box scores I have uncovered some truly remarkable findings that should be shared. 

With that said, we must begin with a correction on something I wrote last year.

Newgarden's Oval Winning Streak... It is actually quite historic

Last year, in this same end of June post, I went over Josef Newgarden's oval success and said he had won an oval race in five consecutive seasons. 

However, what I failed to recognize was Josef Newgarden won at Phoenix in 2018. When going over the races last year, I must have only been looking at the active ovals on the schedule and completely missed Phoenix in 2018. One got by the goalie.

Taking into considering Phoenix from 2018 and this year's Indianapolis 500, Newgarden has won an oval race in nine consecutive seasons. 

Where does that put him? A historic spot.

Newgarden has won an oval race in nine consecutive seasons. That is tied for the longest streak since World War II with Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford. 

As mentioned last year, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Rahal, Dario Franchitti and Will Power never won oval races in five consecutive seasons, let alone come close to nine. A.J. Foyt's best streak was seven consecutive seasons with an oval victory. Hélio Castroneves had a six-year streak. Rick Mears, Michael Andretti and Scott Dixon's best streaks were all five seasons. 

With six oval races remaining in 2024, Newgarden already knows he will enter 2025 with a chance to become the first driver to win an oval race in every season for a decade. He is already being penciled in for two or three more oval victories this year, if not four or five. How confident does everyone feel about Newgarden making it to ten next year?

Another Debutant Fastest Lap

At the end of last season, we covered the history Linus Lundqvist made when he picked up fastest lap on debut at Nashville. Prior to Lundqvist, there had not been a debutant fastest lap since reunification. Hideki Mutoh was the most recent to do it on his debut in the 2007 Indy Racing League season finale from Chicagoland. There had been 265 races between debutant fastest laps.

How many races would there be between Lundqvist and the next occasion? 

Four. 

The answer was four races because Kyffin Simpson is credited with fastest lap at St. Petersburg, his  debut, after the Team Penske penalties meant Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from the race. Newgarden lost all 92 laps led and fastest lap because of that penalty. Simpson had the second fastest lap and inherited the spot in the record book for fastest lap in the 2024 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg once Newgarden was removed. 

Simpson became the seventh driver since 1993 to score fastest lap on debut. You may be thinking, "Four races is probably the fewest between debutant fastest laps." And you would be... wrong! Technically wrong.

The Split has caused some quirks in the history book and a disjointed picture in the record book. Technically speaking, there were debutant fastest laps in consecutive races in IndyCar history. Buzz Calkins had fastest lap for the inaugural Indy Racing League race at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 1996. Greg Moore had fastest lap in the 1996 CART season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March 1996. 

Technically, those were successive races in IndyCar history, though for two different series. If you go based on specific series, yes, the four races from Lundqvist to Simpson would be the fewest races between debutant fastest laps. The previous shortest streak between debutant fastest lap in the same series was 48 races between Nigel Mansell in the 1993 season opener from Surfers Paradise and Moore at Homestead in 1996.

No Repeat Finishes

If this is our evergreen thing then so be it, but it is fun to see who keeps finishing in a different position. There are 27 positions a driver can finish in a typical IndyCar race. With only 17 races, there is a chance a driver could finish in a different position in every race. That is much easier said than done and the only driver to do it in the last 20 years was Alexander Rossi two years.

Last year, Graham Rahal went the longest without a repeat finish going 13 races. How do we stand through the first eight races of 2024?

Alexander Rossi (sixth, tenth, 25th, eighth, fourth, fifth, 18th, third)

Felix Rosenqvist (fifth, ninth, fourth, tenth, 27th, eighth, 14th, 11th)

Marcus Ericsson (23rd, fifth, 18th, 16th, 33rd, second, ninth, tenth)

Marcus Armstrong (25th, 12th, ninth, fifth, 30th, third, 26th, 22nd)

Linus Lundqvist (21st, 13th, third, 24th, 28th, 22nd, 12th, 17th)

Kyffin Simpson (12th, 19th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 23rd)

Sting Ray Robb (24th, 18th, 26th, 22nd, 16th, 21st, 17th, 20th)

Seven drivers remain standing through eight races. That is one more than through eight races in 2023. We lost Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward at Laguna Seca, as Herta was second for the second time this season and O’Ward was eighth for a second consecutive race. 

This does make me think that if you are finishing in a different position in every race, you are at best having a good season, not a great season. Great seasons usually see a driver winning often or finishing on the podium regularly. Will Power won the championship in 2022 with one race victory, but Power had nine podium finishes in 17 races. He had 12 top five finishes. 

Let's just imagine the best possible season where a driver finishes in a different position in each race. With 17 races on the IndyCar schedule, the best it could be is finishing first through 17th and if this is the best let's just say that driver started on pole position and led the most laps in all of those races. Remember also that the Indianapolis 500 awards 12 points for pole position. 

In that case, a driver would score 498 points. That would have been good enough for third in the championship last year. That is with maximum bonus points with each finishing position. Let's say that driver would score no bonus points but finish first through 17th with no repeats, except we will give that driver one bonus point for leading a lap in the driver's one race victory. In that case, the driver would be on 420 points. That would have been seventh in the championship last year, and that is the worst of the best case scenario. 

When this happens, take Rossi two years ago, it is much more of a mix. Rossi finished in all five of the top five position in 2022, but he also had three finishes outside the top twenty and six finishes outside the top fifteen. He didn't finish sixth, the only position in the top ten he did not finish in. Once those finishes start ending up further down the order, you just end up losing position. Rossi scored 381 points in 2022 and was ninth in the championship.

As cool as this might be, it is definitely something you don't want as a driver, at least not if you have championship aspirations. 

Colton Herta's Record From Pole Position

When Herta ended up finishing 19th at Detroit after starting on pole position and leading 33 laps, a fair number of people recognized this is rather common for a Herta pole position. He might start at the front, but he notable does not finish there. 

In three of his last seven pole position starts, Herta has finished 19th or worse. This isn't a case of Herta only has a few pole positions to his name. With his pole position at Detroit, Herta became the 30th driver to reach 12 pole positions in a career. That is a small group in the larger picture of IndyCar racing. 

But, I must ask, where does Herta's average finishing position from pole position compare to the other 29 drivers who have had at least 12 pole positions. 

The one thing you notice is everyone who has at least 12 pole positions were rather good. Even the worst finishing position for a pole-sitter is better than the average driver. The numbers don't look bad on paper, but in context they are not great.

Herta ranks 24th in average finish from pole position out of the top 30 drivers in pole positions. His average finish when starting on pole position is 7.91667. 

Again, not a bad result. He is still averaging a top eight finishing position. However, those three races finishing 19th or worse, combined with another where he finished 11th, has not helped Herta. The average driver would take an average finishing position of 7.91667. 

Who is Herta behind? 

Bobby Rahal has the best average finish from pole position amongst that group. In 18 career pole positions, Rahal has an average finish of 4.3889 with 15 top five finishes, a sixth, a tenth and a 28th. Four of those results were victories. 

The only other drivers with an average finish inside the top five amongst the top 30 all-time in IndyCar history are Simon Pagenand at 4.53846 and Sébastien Bourdais at 4.5582. Gil de Ferran and Ryan Briscoe round out the top five at 5.7619 and 5.9308 respectively.

Tony Kanaan had an average finish of sixth while starting from pole position. Will Power has won the most pole positions in an IndyCar career. Power's average finish in those races is 6.3913. Scott Dixon and Gordon Johncock are tied on 6.5. Don Branson rounds out the top ten at 6.57143. 

There are only a few drivers behind Herta. Michael Andretti had an average finish of 8.15625 when starting from pole position. Juan Pablo Montoya's average finish from pole position was 8.4 while Tom Sneva's average was 8.5. Dario Franchitti had an average of 8.667.

Herta isn't the worst, but who is the worst? 

It is pretty bad, because while 29 drivers have averaged no worse than a ninth-place finish when starting first. There is daylight between 29th and 30th. 

This answer likely will surprise you because you likely have no clue that this driver had 13 pole positions in his career. 

However, Greg Ray did in fact have 13 career pole positions and in those 13 career pole positions, Ray's average finish was 14.1538. Ray won four times from pole position in his IndyCar career, but he had eight finishes 18th or worse when starting on pole position. This includes 33rd in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 after retiring due to an accident in turn two after 67 laps.

Herta is toward the bottom, but the bottom is still relatively better than average, except for the very bottom, where Greg Ray holds an unfortunate place in IndyCar history that he may never concede.

Will Power's Crazy Sixth-Place Starting Position Statistics

This one I accidentally uncovered on Saturday of Road America weekend. After Will Power brought out the red flag in the final round of qualifying, I had Power penciled in for sixth starting position. Makes sense. The five other cars would lay down laps and Power would be the only one without a representative time. 

If you look at the record book long enough, you will be pretty sure when a driver hasn't done something. You will also be pretty sure when a driver has done something. 

For Power, I could not recall one time he had won from sixth starting position in his career. I knew he won from seventh in the wet at Toronto in 2007. I knew he had won from ninth at Barber once, but I could not recall Power having won from sixth in his career. 

Of course, it is best to double-check what you believe to confirm if you are right. Sure enough, Power has not won from sixth starting spot in his career, but that isn't the crazy thing. 

The crazy thing is Power has never even finished on the podium when starting sixth. You may be asking yourself, "Well, how many times has Power started sixth in his career?" 

Fair question! If a driver has only started sixth in two races in his career, it is likely a low probability he would have won one of those races or finished in the top three. 

Power has started sixth in 13 races in his career. That is still only 4.43%  of his career starts. However, he has started seventh in 19 races and he has started eighth in 14 races. Compared to the middle of the top ten, it is in line with those other positions, but here is where it gets even crazier. 

Forget victories and podium finishes... only once has Power finished better than sixth when starting sixth! In 13 times starting sixth, he has finished in the top five only once, a fifth in the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Only three times has he finished sixth when starting sixth. That means in nine of his 13 starts from sixth position, he has lost ground. 

Here is Power's average finish for the sixth, seventh and eighth starting positions.

Sixth - 10.2307

Seventh - 7.7

Eighth -  7.142

He is over three positions better when starting eighth over starting sixth and just over 2.5 positions better when starting seventh over sixth. It is statistically better for him to just miss out on the Firestone Fast Six than take the worst starting position after making the Fast Six. 

Let's get deeper into those number.

Power has no victories, no podium finishes and only one top five (a fifth), when starting sixth. 

When starting seventh, Power has one victory, six podium finishes and ten top five finishes in his 19 starts from that spot. 

From eighth, Power has won twice and stood on the podium five times in 14 starts. 

I cannot explain it other than missing out on the Fast Six and starting slightly further back in the top ten allows Power and his team to be a little more aggressive instead of trying to closely mimic the leaders' strategy in hopes of not losing ground. Is one or two spots really allow for that much of a psychological change? 

It appears it does! 

Of course, Josef Newgarden then had his accident at Road America in qualifying, lost his two fastest laps for bringing out the red flag and IndyCar's rulebook states if multiple cars do not set a time in a session, those grid positions are determined based on the drivers' times from the previous round. In that case, Power moved up to fifth, Newgarden took sixth and Power went on to win and end a 33-race winless streak. 

What are Power's numbers when starting fifth you ask?

Not as great as you may hope to hear, but still rather impressive. Road America was the 13th time Power has started fifth in his career. Road America was the fourth time he has won from fifth starting position. He has five podium finishes from fifth, but he is more feast or famine when starting fifth. While he has won four times, he has finished 18th or worse four times as well. 

His average finish from fifth is 10.4615, worse than when he starts sixth but somehow the results are better when you consider he has won four times from fifth and never stood on the podium from sixth. 

What a stunningly, stupidly, remarkable fact. 

Scott Dixon vs. Will Power

This isn't meant to put Dixon and Power against one another in terms of talent or historical place in IndyCar, but more meant to recognize that at this moment we have two active drivers in IndyCar that combine for 100 victories. 

That has not happened in a long time. 

For starters, you need at least one driver with at least 50 victories competing for it to be a reality. Prior to Dixon, there had only been two drivers with 50 career victories. The last time IndyCar had two drivers competing that had a combined 100 victories was the 1992 Indianapolis 500, which featured A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti, as well as Al Unser, who when combined with Foyt's career victory total also exceeded 100 combined victories. 

The first race which featured two drivers with a combined 100 IndyCar victories was 1980 Indianapolis 500, which saw Foyt with 66 victories competing with Al Unser on 36 victories. 

While Dixon and Power have combined to win a century worth of races, and they have been competing against each other for most of the last 20 years, it has never felt like Dixon vs. Power has been a regular thing. 

In 12 races have Dixon and Power finished first and second, and Power holds the advantage having won eight of those races to Dixon's four. The last time the two drivers went 1-2 was the first race of the 2020 Road America doubleheader.  

The two drivers have never finished first and second in the championship together. But notice where they finish in each other's championship seasons.

Power's Championship Positions in Dixon's Championship Seasons

2008: 12th

2013: Fourth

2015: Third

2018: Third

2020: Fifth

Dixon's Championship Positions in Power's Championship Seasons

2014: Third

2022: Third

The 2008 season aside due to reunification, Power and Dixon are generally close to one another but never directly against each other. The only time the two drivers have gone into the season finale with both having a shot at the championship was 2015, which was frankly a year neither driver was a favorite to win the championship. That was the year Juan Pablo Montoya never trailed in the championship, Graham Rahal was Montoya’s closest competition but because no driver was dominant, we had six drivers alive for the championship in the double points Sonoma season finale, which Dixon won and allowed him to take the championship on tiebreaker over Montoya.

Let's go a little further. How many times have Dixon and Power been 1-2 in the championship? They have never finished there but they have competed against one another in 263 races. After how many of those have they been 1-2?

The answer is six, and get this, on all six occasions it has been Power leading the championship with Dixon in second. Never has Dixon been first and Power been second simultaneously in the championship. Those six races where Power led with Dixon in second were Kansas 2010, Iowa 2010, Belle Isle 2012, Texas 2012, Belle Isle II 2018 and Nashville 2022.

For context, only three drivers have been second in the championship to Power more than Dixon. Dario Franchitti was second to Power 17 times, Hélio Castroneves was second 14 times and Hunter-Reay was second to Power after nine races. For Dixon, Castroneves was second to him after 20 races. Josef Newgarden has been second to Dixon after ten races while Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi were each second to Dixon after seven races. Franchitti was second to Dixon five times in his career.

Expanding further, Dixon has led the championship after 63 races in his career. Despite having made 100 fewer IndyCar starts, Power has led the championship after only six fewer races than Dixon, having led 57 times. If you look at Dixon's career, even in championship seasons, he wasn't necessarily dominant.

In his first championship season in 2003, Dixon led after only four races, a quarter of the schedule, and after one of those he only led on tiebreaker. In 2013, Dixon didn't lead until the final two races of the season. When he took the championship lead at Houston that year, it was the first time Dixon had led since after Motegi 2009. After his 2013 championship, Dixon would not lead again until after the 2015 finale, when he won the championship on tiebreaker over Juan Pablo Montoya at Sonoma. In three of Dixon's six championship seasons, he led the championship after a combined seven races, only five of which he had an outright lead. 

Across those three seasons, there were a combined 51 races. Dixon led the championship after only 13.72% of them, of which only 9.8% he led outright. 

Meanwhile, in Power's case, he has led the championship after at least ten races in three different seasons. He only won the championship once in those three years. That would be 2014 while 2010 and 2012 were two years Power lost the championship in the final race. 

Only once in Dixon's career has led the championship after more than five races and not won the championship. That was 2017 when he led the championship after six races but Josef Newgarden took the title.

Dixon and Power have been the top two drivers for a decade-plus, arguably the two best drivers for a generation of IndyCar viewers, and yet, we have never really seen a Dixon vs. Power season. Maybe 2024 will be the year.

July Preview

Formula E is in Portland for a doubleheader this weekend, the penultimate weekend of the 2024 season. The season will end with a doubleheader in London on July 20-21. 

Nine drivers remain alive for the championship with four races remaining and 116 points left on the table. 

Nick Cassidy leads on 167 points, and Cassidy has been on a run with six consecutive top five finishes, five of those results have been podium finishes. Cassidy is one of four drivers with two victories this season. One of those other drivers is Pascal Wehrlein, and the Porsche driver is 25 points behind Jaguar’s Cassidy. During this six-race run, Wehrlein has only two podium finishes and five top five results, but he was 20th in the most recent race from Shanghai. 

Mitch Evans is 35 points behind his Jaguar teammate, but Evans has only three podium finishes in the first 12 races. Nissan’s Oliver Rowland is a point behind Evans. Rowland has a victory and six podium finishes but he has failed to score in three races. 

Defending Formula E champion Jake Dennis is clinging to his title defense. Dennis is 54 points behind Cassidy. To remain championship eligible at the London doubleheader, a driver will need to be within 58 points of the championship lead. Dennis won the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia, but he has only four podium finishes. 

Jean-Éric Vergne is 66 points off Cassidy, and his best finish this season was second on two occasions. António Félix da Costa has won twice this season, each victory coming in the last three races, but da Costa has failed to finish in the points in six of 12 races. This has the Portuguese driver 83 points from Cassidy. 

Maximilian Günther is 98 points off the championship lead and Stoffel Vandoorne is barely alive for the championship, 114 points from the top. 

Each Portland race will be at 5:00 pm Eastern on Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30.

Other events of note in July:

IndyCar debuts its hybrid system at Mid-Ohio before an Iowa doubleheader and Toronto. 

Formula One will be at Silverstone, Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps.

MotoGP runs the German Grand Prix and then will go on summer break. 

NASCAR has its second race in Chicago, but closes July with a return of the Brickyard 400.

The Summer Olympics from Paris begin at the end of the month. 

Let's Look at the League - June 2024

It is the end of June and there is a brief break before a run of IndyCar races that will effectively take the series into the final quarter of the season. Before the competition resumes, let’s go over the hypothetical league format for the series. 

Based on head-to-head matchups, each entry competes for a playoff spot to compete for the championship. The remaining teams hope to avoid relegation and for the bottom entries, they compete for promotion to the top league for the following season.

The 2024 season has been wild enough on the track in the actual champion, but it has been just as head-spinning in the hypothetical world as well. 

League One:

Conference 1 (Top four go to the playoffs, fifth is safe, sixth and seventh to relegated playoff, eighth is relegated)

1. #10 Ganassi 8-0

St. Petersburg: WIN (4th to #11's 25th)

Long Beach: WIN (3rd to #28's 5th)

Barber: WIN (5th to #6's 22nd)

GPOI: WIN (1st to #26's 7th)

500: WIN (5th to #45's 13th)

Detroit: WIN (16th to #2's 26th)

Road America: WIN (4th to #5's 8th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (1st to #11’s 22nd)

2. #26 Andretti 6-2

St. Petersburg: WIN (3rd to #45's 18th)

Long Beach: WIN (2nd to #2's 4th)

Barber: WIN (8th to #5's 23rd)

GPOI: LOSS (7th to #10's 1st)

500: WIN (23rd to #11's 30th)

Detroit: LOSS (19th to #28's 2nd)

Road America: WIN (6th to #6's 13th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (2nd to #45’s 13th)

3. #5 McLaren 4-4

St. Petersburg: WIN (1st to #28's 23rd)

Long Beach: LOSS (16th to #11's 12th)

Barber: LOSS (23rd to #26's 8th)

GPOI: WIN (13th to #6's 19th)

500: LOSS (2nd to #2's 1st)

Detroit: WIN (7th to #45's 11th)

Road America: LOSS (8th to #10's 4th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (8th to #28’s 10th)

4. #6 McLaren 4-4 

St. Petersburg: WIN (11th to #2's 26th)

Long Beach: WIN (11th to #45's 23rd)

Barber: LOSS (22nd to #10's 5th)

GPOI: LOSS (19th to #5's 13th)

500: WIN (11th to #28's 33rd)

Detroit: LOSS (10th to #11's 3rd)

Road America: LOSS (13th to #26's 6th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (12th to #2’s 19th)

5. #28 Andretti 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (23rd to #5's 1st)

Long Beach: LOSS (5th to #10's 3rd)

Barber: LOSS (18th to #45's 6th)

GPOI: WIN (16th to #2's 17th)

500: LOSS (33rd to #6's 11th)

Detroit: WIN (2nd to #26's 19th)

Road America: WIN (9th to #11's 26th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (10th to #5’s 8th)

6. #11 Ganassi 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (25th to #10's 4th)

Long Beach: WIN (12th to #5's 16th)

Barber: WIN (9th to #2's 15th)

GPOI: LOSS (5th to #45's 3rd)

500: LOSS (30th to #26's 23rd)

Detroit: WIN (3rd to #6's 10th)

Road America: LOSS (26th to #28's 9th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (22nd to #10’s 1st)

7. #2 Penske 2-6

St. Petersburg: LOSS (26th to #6's 11th)

Long Beach: LOSS (4th to #26's 2nd)

Barber: LOSS (15th to #11's 9th)

GPOI: LOSS (17th to #28's 16th)

500: WIN (1st to #5's 2nd)

Detroit: LOSS (26th to #10's 16th)

Road America: WIN (2nd to #45's 11th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (19th to #6’s 12th)

8. #45 RLLR 2-6

St. Petersburg: LOSS (18th to #26's 3rd)

Long Beach: LOSS (23rd to #6's 11th)

Barber: WIN (6th to #28's 18th)

GPOI: WIN (3rd to #11's 5th)

500: LOSS (13th to #10's 5th)

Detroit: LOSS (11th to #5's #7th)

Road America: LOSS (11th to #2's 2nd)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (13th to #26’s 2nd)

Conference 1 Breakdown:

Álex Palou has been close to untouchable this season and with six races remaining in the regular season he basically a lock for a playoff spot. Unbeaten through eight races, Palou should lock up a playoff spot in no time. 

Colton Herta’s consistent season has him in second while it is still pretty tight from third to eighth. No team is clearly going to be relegated and those final two playoff spots are very much up in the air. Despite the rotation of drivers, the #6 McLaren is currently in a playoff spot, but it is only two games above the relegation zone. 

Josef Newgarden has been in the relegation fight the entire season. Newgarden opened the season 0-4. That bump with Herta at Long Beach turned into a loss because Newgarden and Herta faced off that week. A fourth ended up not being enough for Newgarden. When those days go against you, bad days cannot happen. Newgarden constantly has had poor outings in 2024 and it has him in a precarious situation. 

Conference 2 (Top four go to the playoffs, fifth is safe, sixth and seventh to relegated playoff, eighth is relegated)

1. #12 Penske 6-2

St. Petersburg: WIN (2nd to #7's 5th)

Long Beach: WIN (6th to #27's 7th)

Barber: WIN (2nd to #15's 11th)

GPOI: WIN (2nd to #77's 12th)

500: LOSS (24th to #9's 3rd)

Detroit: WIN (6th to #3's 20th)

Road America: WIN (1st to #8's 12th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (7th to #7’s 3rd)

2. #27 Andretti 6-2 

St. Petersburg: WIN (10th to #8's 21st)

Long Beach: LOSS (7th to #12's 6th)

Barber: WIN (10th to #9's 15th)

GPOI: LOSS (11th to #3's 6th)

500: WIN (7th to #15's 15th)

Detroit: WIN (4th to #77's 23rd)

Road America: WIN (5th to #7's 18th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (6th to #8’s 17th)

3. #3 Penske 5-3 

St. Petersburg: LOSS (27th to #15's 14th)

Long Beach: LOSS (26th to #77's 8th)

Barber: WIN (1st to #7's 25th)

GPOI: WIN (6th to #27's 11th)

500: WIN (6th to #8's 28th)

Detroit: LOSS (20th to #12's 6th)

Road America: WIN (3rd to #9's 21st)

Laguna Seca: WIN (21st to #15’s 24th)

4. #9 Ganassi 5-3

St. Petersburg: WIN (7th to #77's 22nd)

Long Beach: WIN (1st to #15's 17th)

Barber: LOSS (15th to #27's 10th)

GPOI: WIN (4th to #7's 8th)

500: WIN (3rd to #12's 24th)

Detroit: WIN (1st to #8's 22nd)

Road America: LOSS (21st to #3's 3rd)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (6th to #77’s 4th)

5. #7 McLaren 4-4

St. Petersburg: LOSS (5th to #12's 2nd)

Long Beach: WIN (10th to #8's 13th)

Barber: LOSS (25th to #3's 1st)

GPOI: LOSS (8th to #9's 4th)

500: WIN (4th to #77's 19th)

Detroit: WIN (5th to #15's 15th)

Road America: LOSS (18th to #27's 5th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (3rd to #12’s 7th)

6. #77 JHR 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (22nd to #9's 7th)

Long Beach: WIN (8th to #3's 26th)

Barber: LOSS (12th to #8's 3rd)

GPOI: LOSS (12th to #12's 2nd)

500: LOSS (19th to #7's 4th)

Detroit: LOSS (23rd to #27's 4th)

Road America: WIN (7th to #15's 10th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (4th to #9’s 6th)

7. #15 RLLR 2-6

St. Petersburg: WIN (14th to #3's 27th)

Long Beach: LOSS (17th to #9's 1st)

Barber: LOSS (11th to #12's 2nd)

GPOI: WIN (9th to #8's 24th)

500: LOSS (15th to #27's 7th)

Detroit: LOSS (15th to #7's 5th)

Road America: WIN (10th to #77's 7th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (24th to #3’s 21st)

8. #8 Ganassi 1-7

St. Petersburg: LOSS (21st to #27's 10th)

Long Beach: LOSS (13th to #7's 10th)

Barber: WIN (3rd to #77's 12th)

GPOI: LOSS (24th to #15's 9th)

500: LOSS (28th's to #3's 6th)

Detroit: LOSS (22nd to #9's 1st)

Road America: LOSS (12th to #12's 1st)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (17th to #27’s 6th)

Conference 2 Breakdown:

This conference is more evenly spread out. Will Power and Kyle Kirkwood are tied for first and that is a fair representation of their seasons. 

Only one game covers Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. Someone good will be missing the playoffs. It will likely come down to the final race of the regular season. 

Romain Grosjean is just on the outside and a run to end the regular season could net him a playoff spot. Graham Rahal is a game ahead of Linus Lundqvist in the final spot for safety for automatic relegation, though the relegation playoff would be ahead of whoever finishes seventh. There is no wiggle room, and like the other conference there is no clear entry set to be relegated. Much is on the line in the final six weeks, and it could all turn upside down. 

League Two (Top two automatically promoted)

1. #60 MSR 6-1

St. Petersburg: WIN (5th to #14's 9th)

Long Beach: WIN (9th to #4's 19th)

Barber: WIN (4th to #41's 26th)

GPOI: WIN (10th to #30's 14th)

500: LOSS (27th to #21's 9th)

Detroit: WIN (8th to #20's 14th)

Road America: WIN (14th to #78's 23rd)

Laguna Seca: BYE

2. #14 Foyt 6-2 

St. Petersburg: LOSS (9th to #60's 5th)

Long Beach: WIN (21st to #20's 27th)

Barber: WIN (7th to #30's 27th)

GPOI: (LOSS (27th to #21's 26th)

500: WIN (8th to #4's 21st)

Detroit: WIN (9th to #51's 18th)

Road America: WIN (15th to #18's 24th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (9th to #78’s 18th)

3. #18 DCR 4-3

St. Petersburg: WIN (17th to #51's 20th)

Long Beach: LOSS (25th to #30's 24th)

Barber: BYE

GPOI: WIN (18th to #20's 20th)

500: LOSS (DNQ to #41's 16th)

Detroit: WIN (17th to #4's 24th)

Road America: LOSS (24th to #14's 15th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (25th to #21’s 26th)

4. #66 MSR 4-3 

St. Petersburg: WIN (15th to #20's 19th)

Long Beach: LOSS (22nd to #51's 20th)

Barber: LOSS (19th to #4's 14th)

GPOI: BYE

500: WIN (31st to #30's 32nd)

Detroit: LOSS (25th to #78's 12th)

Road America: WIN (19th to #21's 24th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (12th to #41’s 20th)

5. #21 ECR 4-3

St. Petersburg: WIN (8th to #78's 16th)

Long Beach: BYE

Barber: WIN (17th to #20's 24th)

GPOI: WIN (26th to #14's 27th)

500: WIN (9th to #60's 27th)

Detroit: LOSS (14th to #30's 13th)

Road America: LOSS (24th to #66's 19th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (26th to #18’s 25th) 

5. #30 RLLR 3-4

St. Petersburg: WIN (14th to #41's 24th)

Long Beach: WIN (24th to #18's 25th)

Barber: LOSS (27th to #14's 7th)

GPOI: LOSS (14th to #60's 10th)

500: LOSS (32nd to #66's 31st)

Detroit: WIN (13th to #21's 14th)

Road America: BYE

Laguna Seca: LOSS (14th to #20’s 13th)

6. #41 Foyt 3-4

St. Petersburg: LOSS (24th to #30's 14th)

Long Beach: LOSS (18th to #78's 15th)

Barber: LOSS (26th to #60's 4th)

GPOI: WIN (22nd to #51's 25th)

500: WIN (16th to #18's DNQ)

Detroit: BYE

Road America: WIN (17th to #4's 27th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (20th to #66’s 12th)

7. #4 Ganassi 3-4 

St. Petersburg: BYE

Long Beach: LOSS (19th to #60's 9th)

Barber: WIN (14th to #66's 19th)

GPOI: WIN (15th to #78's 21st)

500: LOSS (21st to #14's 8th)

Detroit: LOSS (24th to #18's 17th)

Road America: LOSS (27th to #41's 17th)

Laguna Seca: WIN (23rd to #51’s 27th)

9. #20 ECR 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (19th to #66's 15th)

Long Beach: LOSS (27th to #14's 21st)

Barber: LOSS (24th to #21's 17th)

GPOI: LOSS (20th to #18's 18th)

500: WIN (17th to #78's 22nd)

Detroit: LOSS (14th to #60's 8th)

Road America: WIN (20th to #51's 22nd)

Laguna Seca: WIN (13th to #30’s 14th)

10. #78 JHR 3-5

St. Petersburg: LOSS (16th to #21's 8th)

Long Beach: WIN (15th to #41's 18th)

Barber: WIN (20th to #51's 21st)

GPOI: LOSS (21st to #4's 15th)

500: LOSS (22nd to #20's 17th)

Detroit: WIN (12th to #66's 25th)

Road America: LOSS (23rd to #60's 14th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (18th to #14’s 9th)

11. #51 DCR 1-6

St. Petersburg: LOSS (20th to #18's 17th)

Long Beach: WIN (20th to #66's 22nd)

Barber: LOSS (21st to #78's 20th)

GPOI: LOSS (25th to #41's 22nd)

500: BYE

Detroit: LOSS (18th to #14's 9th)

Road America: LOSS (22nd to #20's 20th)

Laguna Seca: LOSS (27th to #4’s 23rd)

League Two Breakdown:

The two revelations of the season are in promotion spots. It is difficult seeing either Félix Rosenqvist or Santino Ferrucci winding up not in one of the two automatic promotion spots. Nobody else in League Two has been as competitive as those two. 

With the second group stage following in this new League Two format, there is no grand incentive to finish third, but Jack Harvey has done well against this group of contemporaries. With the #66 Meyer Shank Racing entry in fourth, it must be noted Tom Blomqvist was 2-2 in his four matchups and he did win at the Indianapolis 500 despite being the cause for the opening lap accident. That is because Pietro Fittipaldi was also caught in that incident. 

Light is growing between the rest of League Two and the #51 Dale Coyne Racing entry. With a rotation of drivers likely to continue, and this only a single round robin, meaning every entry faces each other once and there are three matchups left, it will be do-or-die for the #51 entry at Mid-Ohio. 

With four races in the span of 15 days, it will all become clear quickly, especially in League Two. Many answers will soon be provided.

Musings From the Weekend: Eight Weekends Down, Seven To Go

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Formula One raced in Spain. There was an American winner in Barcelona. Actually, there were two. A week after Le Mans, another endurance race was waiting at Watkins Glen. NASCAR had a messy race in New Hampshire. Super Formula had an all-domestic affair at Sportsland SUGO, but the weather played a starring role. Álex Palou won the IndyCar race from Laguna Seca, but this weekend marked a turning point in the season. 

Eight Weekends Down, Seven to Go

It isn’t quite the midway point in the 2024 IndyCar season as there are still more races remaining than have been run, but in terms of race weekends, we are entering the second half as eight race weekends are down and seven remain with a pair of doubleheaders ahead of the series. 

Races will come quickly in July, four in a span of 15 days. Before being caught in that whirlwind before the Olympic break, this is a good time to look at how the pieces have fallen and how we could summarize every driver to run multiple IndyCar races this season. Each driver gets a little blurb about how they have run in the first eight races and how we should feel about each heading into the final nine events. 

Álex Palou is the best driver in IndyCar and the only way he doesn’t win this championship is if someone beats him. Palou doesn’t make mistakes. The only race where he hasn’t finished in the top ten in the last 18 months wasn’t because of something he did wrong. Palou was in the wrong place when Josef Newgarden spun at Detroit and Palou was forced to halt and fall to 16th. He is going to finish no worse than eighth the rest of the season. It will require someone to be near flawless to dethrone the Catalan champion. 

It has been a good but not a great season from Will Power, and Power is second in the championship. He has three runner-up finishes and won at Road America, but there hasn’t been a race where Power has felt like the man to beat. He was the third-best car at Road America and played strategy the right way to win. Second in the championship is second in the championship, but it is hard to see Power as a threat when he has one victory over the last two years. 

The biggest threat to Álex Palou is Scott Dixon. It has been a good start to the year for Dixon and he hasn’t had many bad days. With six oval races remaining, the schedule favors Dixon down the stretch. It isn’t guaranteed Dixon will outscore Palou, and Palou is respectable on ovals, but it feels more likely Dixon could go on a run and chip away six points from Palou’s advantage in each race. With a 32-point gap between the two with nine races remaining, Dixon can methodically steal this title from Palou’s grasp to the surprise of no one. 

Colton Herta feels like he should have at least one victory by now, and that is understandable. This has been a big improvement for him and the Andretti Global group, but until there is a race victory it doesn’t feel like any progress has been made. Herta does overstep at times and that is still a flaw. There is a hint of desperation. This group is close. A victory should come his way, at least one would believe so. 

This has been an exceptional season for Kyle Kirkwood. A case could be made for Kirkwood being the best Andretti Global driver this season. His worst finish is 11th. Unfortunately, and this is true for all three Andretti drivers, none have won, and Kirkwood should probably have a victory by now. Andretti Global isn’t the oval powerhouse it once was. The second half of this season isn’t necessarily favorably to this group, however, if they maintain this pace, a victory will come. 

Three years ago, when Patricio O’Ward was a championship contender and going toe-to-toe with Palou, I don’t think anyone thought three years later the only victory he would have in a span of nearly two years would have been inherited after a driver was disqualified due to the greatest rules infraction in modern IndyCar history. O’Ward nearly won the Indianapolis 500. He hasn’t been that close to winning anywhere else lately. Arrow McLaren had a mighty first six races at the start of 2023, and hasn’t been close to that zip code since. 

It has been fine for Alexander Rossi. He has won one race in five years. That isn’t great. But Rossi is seventh in the championship. He has been running well and he has been in the same ballpark as O’Ward all season. We have yet to see Rossi control a race driving for Arrow McLaren. We really haven’t seen him be the clear best driver in a race in almost four years. I would argue his last great drive was the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg, a race Rossi famously loss for on an unforced error. That ability cannot be entirely gone, but when will we see it again? Will we ever?

Team Penske is having a bad season and Scott McLaughlin has taken his share of lumps this season. There have been good days but the penalty from St. Petersburg combined with the mechanical failure at Long Beach and now the recent incident at Laguna Seca has put the New Zealander in a hole he could not afford to find himself in through the first eight races. 

Josef Newgarden needs to start finishing races, especially road and street course races. Newgarden has allowed his season to hang on the results of the final six oval races. He spent all offseason speaking about focusing on racing, and if it wasn’t for a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory this would be his worst season in a decade. This season has been a regression, arguably a second consecutive season regressing, concern should be growing. 

Felix Rosenqvist has exceeded expectations and has been the surprise of the season. Rosenqvist has turned Meyer Shank Racing into a contender. Work remains to be done. We see the best of Rosenqvist on Saturdays and he fades on Sundays. He is still picking up top ten results but if he can carry the speed over from qualifying to the race, he could be on the podium or even steal a victory. 

Christian Lundgaard is carrying Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for a second consecutive season, but Lundgaard is experiencing the limitations of RLLR more than last year. With six oval races remaining, this will be a challenge for the Dane, who is in a place of finding success where he is at but wanting more. Does Lundgaard believe RLLR can be a place where he can reach that next level and be the unquestioned number one driver or does he know he must leave to become a consistent race winner? He certainly has suitors. 

You cannot ignore five top ten finishes and 12th in the championship, which is what Santino Ferrucci has through eight races for A.J. Foyt Racing. This season has gone much better than respected though Ferrucci isn’t really doing it with impressive drives. Most of his results have been earn strategically. Take them however you can get them, but Ferrucci has received more attention for his antics in practice than anything done in races. You can only goof around for so long. 

There have been growing pains switching to Andretti Global for Marcus Ericsson. There have been good days but Ericsson fit in comfortably in Chip Ganassi Racing’s #8 entry. That team was all in it together. It takes time to develop that, and we are seeing it at Andretti. It hasn’t been a bad season, but there have likely been more frustrating days than expected. An accident in Indianapolis 500 practice did not help either. 

Every other week I think there is no way Romain Grosjean will be back in IndyCar next year. Grosjean went from Dale Coyne Racing to Andretti Autosport and being a big enough name to convince DHL to stick around when it was ready to leave and after two disappointing seasons he drives mostly sponsor-less cars at Juncos Hollinger Racing. I don’t think any bigger IndyCar teams will be calling Grosjean in the future. Grosjean has the Lamborghini GTP contract. He could be full-time in IMSA or WEC, run a dozen sports car races a year, live in Switzerland full-time and be happy. 

Marcus Armstrong has experienced a bit of a sophomore slump. When you complete all but four laps in your 12 starts as a rookie, a few bad days are bound to come up. Armstrong hasn’t been pushing Álex Palou or Scott Dixon, but he had strong days and shown development from his rookie year. The second half will be eye-opening as there are six oval races left and his Indianapolis 500 debut, his first oval race, ended after six laps due to an engine failure. Of those six laps, only about one turn was done at full speed. 

The results are not where Graham Rahal would have hoped they would be especially after the positive steps Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing made at the end of 2023. The team hasn’t taken a step back but it definitely hasn’t made a step forward either. Plenty of changes have been made though, which makes status quo harder to accept. 

I do not know who wants Rinus VeeKay, who is in a contract year. Three years ago, it felt like the day would come where VeeKay would be ready to leave Ed Carpenter Racing for a bigger and better team. With how competitive IndyCar has become and how many drivers are now interested in the series, I don’t think teams are tripping over themselves for a piece of Rinus VeeKay. His best option might be staying at ECR, which is a terrible option. 

For all the waves Linus Lundqvist has made he will need more than one podium finish to stick at Chip Ganassi Racing. If the results do not turn around, this will look like a rushed hire based on three races where Lundqvist had nothing to lose as a substitute for an injured Simon Pagenaud. The #8 Ganassi entry has sponsorship. For all the drivers representing the American Legion, there are at least a half-dozen on the sidelines who could get better results for that car than Lundqvist at the moment. 

Pietro Fittipaldi was a hot name six years ago and he had respectable runs in IndyCar, most of which came when still recovering from injury. Choosing to be sidelined for most of the last four years and only running eight to ten sports car races a year while spending the rest of the time standing at the back of the Haas F1 garage doesn’t seem like the best long-term career decision in hindsight. The third Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry has been struggling for three seasons, but Graham Rahal isn’t succeeding at a high level either and Fittipaldi isn’t even pushing for second-best in the team. 

Kyffin Simpson is having the rookie season any underwhelming, mid-pack Indy Lights driver wish he had. Simpson has been better than expected and he has been smart. Let’s not confuse that for Juan Pablo Montoya 1999 or even Colton Herta 2019. Simpson hasn’t been a menace but he has still been rushed into IndyCar and is getting a boost because the fifth Chip Ganassi Racing entry is still good enough to finish 15th with the most average driver in it. 

The story of Agustín Canapino’s season is the off-track, social media debacle involving Théo Pourchaire and the tone-deaf response to a fellow competitor receiving death threats. As much as Canapino has been celebrated for his move to IndyCar and open-wheel racing after a career in touring cars in Argentina, his best career finish is 12th in 24 starts. This is new to Canapino but at some point a best finish of 12th and a career average finish of 19.125 must be acknowledged.

Joining Ed Carpenter Racing might have been Christian Rasmussen’s only good option, and he did well in the Indianapolis 500, but Rasmussen has looked like a rookie in all the bad ways in every other race this season. Due to Ed Carpenter’s insisting he still run all the oval races, Rasmussen will run only three of the final nine races, and his season ends on August 25 at Portland. That’s a great plan for development. 

In 25 career starts, Sting Ray Robb has never started in the top ten. His average starting position this season is 24.75. The average grid size this season is 27.875. Robb’s career is going as good as any competent person could have expected. He is basically keeping A.J. Foyt Racing as a two-car team. That is Robb’s greatest contribution to IndyCar at the moment. 

Théo Pourchaire has likely been the best rookie this season but he will likely not complete his season after Arrow McLaren signed Nolan Siegel to complete the 2024 season. Pourchaire is at a crossroads at 20 years old. Three years ago, it felt like he was destined to be on the Formula One grid in no time. Despite finishing second and first in the Formula Two championship, Pourchaire has been shuffled out of the mix and being a Sauber development driver isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, especially with Audi taking over the team and looking for experience when it enters in 2026. Does any IndyCar team realize Pourchaire is worth the time or will the Frenchman’s career become scattered unsure if he is wanted though talent is clearly there?

Dale Coyne Racing didn’t have many other options and neither did Jack Harvey in January 2024. It was a late partnership for practically the entire season but for a team with limited resources and constantly cycling through engineers combined with a driver who has lost his luster, it was always going to be trying. Trying they have and there have been some moral victories, but you need more substance than that. 

It is hard to say this wasn’t the worst possible outcome for Tom Blomqvist, but Blomqvist was getting more comfortable in each race weekend, however, Meyer Shank Racing could not afford to have one car challenging for the top ten in the championship while its other driver was scrapping for a Leader Circle spot and finishing in the top 22, hence the early season change. 

An unceremonious dismal from Juncos Hollinger Racing turned Callum Ilott into a prized commodity and may have given him new life in sports cars. When Ilott stepped in at Arrow McLaren to deputize for David Malukas it felt like his future was with McLaren, but Ilott has excelled in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Hertz Team Jota and I don’t think he will be leaving sports car racing anytime soon. 

Nolan Siegel went from a driver to keep an eye on for 2025 to a driver who will get to dabble in IndyCar in 2024 to full-time McLaren driver in six months. This is rushed. He is 19 years old and still has much maturation to do. Siegel’s 2023 season unraveled. His 2024 season was going well, but he wasn’t the dominant driver in the series. There are reasons to hope. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Siegel got the better of Ritomo Miyata on a stint, and Miyata is a celebrated Formula Two driver who won both the Super Formula and Super GT championships in Japan last year. Siegel could be alright, but he needs time and Arrow McLaren famously does not give its drivers that long of a leash. 

Luca Ghiotto has made four IndyCar starts, all for Dale Coyne Racing with no prior testing experience. I don’t know what he is getting out of this or what he hoped for. I am glad Ghiotto got a shot at IndyCar and I hope it leads to something. These results don’t really tell us anything about him as a driver because Dale Coyne Racing cannot produce a car that can crack the top fifteen at the moment let alone one that is competitive for more than that. 

Due to the firing of Blomqvist, we got to see Hélio Castroneves run two more races than expected in 2024 and it was wonderful getting to see him finish 25th and 19th along with him make another start in the Indianapolis 500. 

There is plenty of time for drivers to turn narratives around, but at least half the story is already written, and they must live with what has been put to paper. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix, his seventh victory of the season.

Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Loudon, as well as the Grand National Series race.

The #7 Porsche of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr won the 6 Hours at the Glen. The #88 AF Corse Oreca-Gibson of Nicklas Nielsen, Luis Pérez Companc and Lilou Wadoux won in LMP2. The #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas won in GTD Pro. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje won in GTD.

Louis Foster swept the Indy Lights races from Laguna Seca.

Victor Martins (sprint) and Jak Crawford (feature) split the Formula Two races from Barcelona. Mari Boya (sprint) and Arvid Lindblad (feature) split the Formula Three races.

Tomoki Nojiri won a rain-shortened Super Formula race from Sportsland SUGO.

Romain Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for the fifth time. 

Coming Up This Weekend

The 24 Hours of Spa closes out the month.

Formula E has its penultimate race weekend in Portland.

MotoGP will be at Assen.

Formula One heads east to Austria.

NASCAR will be in the Nashville-area.

The World Rally Championship will be in Poland.

First Impressions: Laguna Seca 2024

1. It was not quite like last year’s Laguna Seca race, but cautions played a critical role. It ultimately came down to when teams decided to make their pit stops, and for Álex Palou, he did not stop under a caution in the middle of a stint for a Luca Ghiotto accident. 

Staying out allowed Palou to run flat out while those that stopped around 60 laps to go had to conserve fuel. Palou had to do some work and manage late restarts that leveled the competition, but the decision to remain on track gave Palou control of the race. That is all he needs to get victory. 

Palou was pushing Kyle Kirkwood after Palou lost the lead on the initial start of the race. It felt destined for Palou to leap forward, but stopping early was more advantageous, and Palou actually lost spots, but all those cars that stopped before Palou in that first round of green flag pit stops came under the first caution for Ghiotto.

It was mid-stint and it never made much sense to go on the defensive. This was a gift for Palou and now he has a 23-point championship lead over Will Power in second. Palou is 32 points ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon. 

This wasn’t a case of Palou entered this weekend up ten or 15 points and took advantage. Palou was trailing in the championship, five points behind Power, entering this race. This was a big swing in the championship and one the field likely wish didn’t happen. Palou doesn’t need much to run away from the competition. He has been given a golden opportunity. 

2. The late cautions brought Colton Herta into the conversation for race victory, but he could not give Palou much of a serious threat. Herta spent basically the entire race in the top five. He stopped early, and this race was reminiscent to Long Beach. Scott Dixon won that race saying fuel but everyone behind him was driving flat out. The fuel-save strategy worked for Dixon but no one else.

This was the reverse. Palou won going all out, but the cars that had to save did have good days. Herta still finished second stretching fuel. If Herta had stayed out, it would have been better for his shot at victory. Also, the cautions did make this closer than it was. Without the late cautions, Herta might be second but eight or ten seconds behind Palou. I am surprised Andretti Global didn’t split the strategies considering Herta and Kyle Kirkwood were both at the front at that time. 

3. After the first round of pit stops, this was looking like it was Alexander Rossi’s race. Rossi stopped first among the leaders and went from about fourth to first. It looked like Rossi’s team had played the right strategy for once… and then it stopped under the first caution and sacrificed control of the race. Rossi should have finished on the podium today, but if he doesn’t pit under that Ghiotto caution, I think he wins  the race. 

4. Romain Grosjean didn’t stop under the Ghiotto caution and that lifted Grosjean to a fourth-place finish. This was already a good weekend for Grosjean, but the decision mostly lifted Grosjean into the top five when he was right outside of it. He didn’t put a wheel wrong while others did. It was a good result for him and the Juncos Hollinger Racing team. It is actually JHR’s best finish in IndyCar. 

5. I don’t think Kyle Kirkwood was going to win this race even after leading all those laps at the start. With how close Palou was, this felt like a race we have seen Scott Dixon win five or six times. Stay close during the first stint, over-cut the leader by one lap, take the lead and runaway. Of course, Kirkwood did get out ahead of Palou after the first round of pit stops, but ground was lost to Rossi. Then Kirkwood lost spots on the pit stops under the Ghiotto caution. It was still a strong drive from Kirkwood, a top five is suitable.   

6. A quiet day for Scott Dixon got him sixth. Unsurprisingly, Dixon took the fuel-save strategy. He was fourth among those drivers, but he was starting behind the three drivers ahead of him. He didn’t lose ground today. Dixon made fuel and went forward. 

7. Will Power didn’t quite have a great day, but still finished seventh. With the ways the cautions fell, it benefited Power, but he was never a factor in this race and the result is rather flattering.  This was not a great weekend for Team Penske across the board. 

8. It is hard to find any faults in an eighth-place finish but Patricio O’Ward was on the same strategy as Palou, restarted third but he had to stop eight laps before Palou and that cost O’Ward positions. O’Ward had stopped about six laps earlier than the leaders on the opening stint. He was always going  to stop before Palou and he was going to have to run a little less aggressive, but it is tough to celebrate this result.

9. Santino Ferrucci used strategy again to finish in the top ten. Credit to him and A.J. Foyt Racing because it is working but he isn’t finishing ninth if he stops under the Ghiotto caution. Even with the strategy plays, Ferrucci is still picking up ninth-place results and not podium finishes or top five finishes. It is great for A.J. Foyt Racing, but we have seen this season Ferrucci make it a habit of doing stupid stuff in practice. There are plenty of drivers who could pull off this result and not bring the drama.

10. Marcus Ericsson stuck into the top ten. He wasn’t going to finish in the top ten and then he did. We will cover why in a moment. As for Ericsson, the growing pains have been a little greater than expected at Andretti Global. Not the end of the world but I don’t think we expected this many scraps to get tenth. 

11. This is coming out late because Pacific Time Zone. We will be quick here. This was another race where Felix Rosenqvist started at the front, had potential, but ended up finishing significantly behind from where he started. Don’t get me wrong, 11th is good for Meyer Shank Racing considering where it was last year, but this group cannot be losing four to eight spots every race from where it started. It doesn’t sting as much when you start in the top ten but it is still wasteful. 

Credit to David Malukas for completing all the laps and finishing 16th. Malukas should be improving over each weekend. 

12. I don’t know how Nolan Siegel ended up 12th considering he also had a spin mid-race. Chalk it up to the cautions I guess. 

13. Christian Rasmussen did make up a fair amount of spots today. It only got him 13th but that is all Ed Carpenter Racing can ask for at the moment. Rinus VeeKay had a spin on his own and then had to retire due to mechanical problems, taking 26th. One step forward, two steps back for ECR today. 

14. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had the race from hell. Pietro Fittipaldi did nothing brilliant to finish 14th. Christian Lundgaard was knocked off the road multiple times, it tarnished what was a promising starting position, and Lundgaard had his own penalty after he pushed Marcus Armstrong off track, leaving the Dane to finish 15th. Graham Rahal never had it this weekend and was collected when Kyffin Simpson spun in front of him. The next race is the home race at Mid-Ohio. It can only go up from here… right?

15. Chip Ganassi Racing’s youths did not have great days. Linus Lundqvist wasn’t competitive to begin with and hitting a pit crew member doesn’t help. Marcus Armstrong was spun and then Kyffin Simpson spun himself. These three are lucky Palou won. 

16. Agustín Canapino returned to anonymity in 18th. That is all. Sting Ray Robb was 20th though he did have a spin. 

17. Team Penske had a terrible weekend. Josef Newgarden nearly caught a break when the caution came out for Armstrong. Newgarden was on pit lane when it happened and came out in second. However, he lost about three spots when he ran slightly wide not long after the following restart. On the penultimate lap, Newgarden spun out from fifth. Newgarden shouldn’t have been fifth, but he shouldn’t have been 19th either. For a guy who spent a lot of time speaking about focus, this was an incident that showed a lack of focus, and a championship position of eighth with five results worse than 15th in the first eight races causes some questions to be raised

Scott McLaughlin had a top ten day going and then an ambitious move on Will Power caused contact and actually damaged McLaughlin’s car to the point it took him out of the race. This has been a messy season for Team Penske. It felt like it was back on track a month ago after Indianapolis. Apparently, that isn’t the case.

18. Along with Luca Ghiotto’s accident, Jack Harvey lost an engine. Dale Coyne Racing was 25th and 27th today. It is a bad team and the drivers are doing all they can to get something respectable. 

19. Summer is here and in a fortnight Mid-Ohio will take a place in IndyCar history as it will be the debut round for the hybrid system.

Morning Warm-Up: Laguna Seca 2024

Álex Palou scored his second pole position of 2024 with a lap of 67.1465 seconds around Laguna Seca on Saturday afternoon ahead of today’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. It is the fifth pole position of Palou’s career. Palou has won from pole position on three of his first four occasions leading the grid to the green flag, including in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis back in May. Every time he has started on pole position at a road or street course, Palou has won the race. The exception was the 2023 Indianapolis 500, where the Catalan driver finished fourth. Palou has finished on the podium in all three of his Laguna Seca starts. He won the 2022 race from 11th position while leading 63 of 95 laps. It was a a rather tight qualifying session with less than a quarter of a second covering the top five times.

Kyle Kirkwood missed out on pole position by 0.0739 seconds. This is Kirkwood’s best starting position of the season, and his best since he won pole position at Long Beach in 2023, 21 races ago. Kirkwood is attempting to become the first Andretti Global driver with three consecutive top five finishes since Colton Herta ended the 2021 season with a pair of victories and opened the 2022 season with a fourth at St. Petersburg.

Felix Rosenqvist was 0.1452 seconds off Palou in third. This is the fourth time this season Rosenqvist has started in the top five. He has finished better than his starting position in only three races this season. He went from fifth to fourth at Barber Motorsports Park in April, and he started 22nd in the last two races before finishing eight and 14th at Detroit and Road America respectively. Rosenqvist has two top five finishes at Laguna Seca as well has two finishes of 19th. 

Colton Herta fell 0.1507 seconds short of pole position and will start fourth. Herta could become the second driver with at least three Laguna Seca victories. Bobby Rahal has four victories at the circuit, though all of those were on the original 1.9-mile configuration. Herta has finished in the top five of the eighth race of the season for four consecutive years, but none of those results have been podium finishes.

Alexander Rossi is the top Chevrolet starter in fifth. Rossi was 0.2129 seconds slower than Palou. This is only Rossi’s second top five starting position this season. In 15 starts in his native California, Rossi has two victories, three top five finishes and ten top ten finishes, but his average finish is 11.2. He has finished 19th or worse in the other five races.

Christian Lundgaard was a distant sixth in the final round of qualifying, 0.3647 seconds from Palou. Lundgaard has finished outside the top ten in his last three starts, his longest drought since the first five starts of his IndyCar career. This is his first time starting in the top ten since he started on the front row for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis four races ago. The Dane has finished fifth and sixth in his first two Laguna Seca visits.

Scott McLaughlin fell 0.0269 seconds short of advancing from the second round of qualifying, and the New Zealander will take seventh on the grid. McLaughlin has led the most laps in three of the last five races, but he has only won one of them. Entering this season, he had led the most laps in a race on five occasions. 

Romain Grosjean has his best starting position since the St. Petersburg season opener in eighth. Grosjean was 0.0561 seconds from advancing to the final round. Grosjean has had consecutive top ten finishes only four times in his IndyCar career. The most recent was last season when he was runner-up in consecutive races between Long Beach and Barber Motorsports Park.

Patricio O'Ward takes ninth on the grid. In eight starts in the state of California, O'Ward has never finished on the podium and he has an average finish of 12.375 in the Golden State. After three consecutive results outside the top ten, O’Ward enters Laguna Seca on a streak of three consecutive top ten finishes. He has only led nine laps this season, all in the Indianapolis 500. He led 15 laps in this race last year before finishing ninth after starting ninth.  

Scott Dixon rounds out the top ten on the grid. This is a position better than where Dixon started on his way to victory last year at Laguna Seca. On seven occasions has Dixon won consecutive races at a circuit. He has never won from tenth starting position in his career. His 58 victories have come from 17 different starting positions in his career. 

Marcus Armstrong is a position behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and fellow New Zealander Dixon in 11th. A Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won the last two years at Laguna Seca from 11th starting position. Armstrong has made it out of the first round of qualifying at six races this season. He has finished better than his starting position in only two races this season. Armstrong has failed to finish three of seven races this year.

David Malukas starts 12th for his return to IndyCar. Malukas last competed in an IndyCar race 287 days ago in the 2023 season finale from Laguna Seca. He missed the opening six races due to a wrist injury. Malukas was contracted with Arrow McLaren but released from the team after missing the Barber Motorsports Park round at the end of April. Malukas has finished 13th and 20th in his first two Laguna Seca starts.

Speaking of returns, Agustín Canapino is back after sitting out of the Road America, and Canapino will start 13th, the best starting position of his IndyCar career. The Argentine was 0.0721 seconds from the second round of qualifying. Canapino was 14th in last year's Laguna Seca race. It is his only top fifteen finish on a permanent road course in IndyCar competition.

Josef Newgarden missed out on advancing from group two by 0.1159 seconds, and Newgarden will start 14th. This is the first time Newgarden is starting outside the top ten this season. Newgarden won the first race of summer in 2018 at Road America, however, in the first race of summer he has an average finish of 11.333 with six results outside the top ten.

Will Power makes it two Team Penske drivers starting outside the top ten for the first time this season as Power will roll from 15th. Power is the most recent IndyCar winner. He has not won consecutive races since he won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500 in 2018. A podium finish at Laguna Seca would be Power's fifth in eight races. It would be the third time Power has had five podium finishes in the first eight races along with 2011 and 2014.

A race after starting on his first career pole position, Linus Lundqvist will start 16th, which is still his second-best starting position of the season. This is the seventh time in eight races Lundqvist has started outside the top fifteen in 2024. He has finished outside the top ten in six of seven races this season, and in nine of ten career starts.

Santino Ferrucci takes 17th on the grid. Ferrucci has finished better than his starting position in five of seven races this season. Only once this season has he finished more than five spots better than his starting position. Ferrucci went from 17th to seven at Barber in April. 

Marcus Ericsson is a position behind Ferrucci in the championship and a position behind him on the grid. Ericsson has started outside the top fifteen in four of eight races. He has finished in the top ten of the eighth race of the season in all five seasons he has been in IndyCar. That includes two podium finishes and three top five finishes.

Graham Rahal will start 19th, the sixth time he has started outside the top ten this season and the fifth time he has started outside the top fifteen. With his top ten result at Road America, Rahal has 142 top ten finishes in 282 career starts, 50.354% of his finishes have been top ten results.

Rinus VeeKay has the #21 Chevrolet starting 20th. It is also the fifth time VeeKay has started outside the top fifteen this season. It has been 30 races since his most recent top five result. During that span, VeeKay has five top ten finishes. The Dutchman has finished 18th, 14th and 18th in three Laguna Seca starts.

Christian Rasmussen is starting a position worse than his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate in 21st. This is the third time Rasmussen will be starting 21st this season. Rasmussen was second and first in each of the Indy Lights doubleheaders held at Laguna Seca the last two years.

Kyffin Simpson qualified 22nd, the sixth time Simpson will be starting outside the top twenty this season. Simpson has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive races after opening the season with four consecutive finishes inside the top twenty, three of which were top fifteen results.

Nolan Siegel makes his first start with Arrow McLaren from 23rd starting position. This is the second-worst starting spot for a McLaren driver this season. Théo Pourchaire started 24th at Barber. This is Siegel’s third team in his first three starts. He drove for Dale Coyne Racing at Long Beach and Juncos Hollinger Racing at Road America.

Pietro Fittipaldi will be on the outside of row 12. Fittipaldi has qualified outside the top twenty in five races this season. He has finished better than his starting position in only three of the first seven races. He has also been the worst Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing finisher in five of the first seven races. The only time he was the best RLLR finisher was when he was 13th at St. Petersburg. 

For the 25th consecutive time, Sting Ray Robb will start outside the top twenty, and Robb will fittingly start 25th. Robb scored his best finish of his IndyCar career at Laguna Seca last year with a 12th from 24th on the grid.

Jack Harvey ended up 26th in qualifying. This is the third time Harvey will be outside the top 25 this season. He has never finished in the top fifteen when starting outside the top 25. This is the ninth time the Briton is starting worse than 25th in his career. Harvey's best finish in three Laguna Seca starts is 15th. 

Luca Ghiotto rounds out the grid, as the two Dale Coyne Racing drivers take the final two spots on the grid. Ghiotto could become the third Italian driver to win race at Laguna Seca. Alex Zanardi and Max Papis won at this circuit in 1996 and 2001 respectively.

USA's coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey begins at 6:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 95 laps.

Track Walk: Laguna Seca 2024

The eighth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season is an earlier trip to Laguna Seca than the series is accustomed to. After IndyCar's last four trips were in September, three of which were the season finale, Laguna Seca moves to the first race of summer, a different but not an unusual date for a trip to Monterey. CART ran twice at Laguna Seca in June in 2002 and 2003. Since reunification, the winner of the first race of summer has only won the championship in five of 16 seasons. However, the first winner of summer has won the championship in three of the last four seasons. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23 with green flag scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET.
Channel: USA
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Dillon Welch and Georgia Henneberry will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 5:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:00 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 5:15 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 3:00 p.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 6:15 p.m. ET (95 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Can Andretti Global Have a Breakout Weekend?

Andretti Global has been knocking on the door of victory in recent races. It just hasn't been able to breakthrough. 

The team led a combined 57 of 100 laps at Detroit, but the best it could do was second and fourth. At Road America, Andretti Global drivers started in two of the top four positions. The Andretti drivers ended up finishing fifth, sixth and ninth. It has been 11 races since Andretti Global's most recent victory, not the worst streak in the world, but getting long enough to be unsatisfied, especially based on recent results. 

Andretti could not be heading to a better track. 

Andretti and Andretti-adjacent teams have won two of the four Laguna Seca races since IndyCar's return. This place was Colton Herta's playground for two years. Herta won in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing and then won in 2021 with Andretti Global. Out of 185 laps run, Herta led 174 laps in those two races. He won both races from pole position.

The last two Laguna Seca visits have not been as kind to Herta. He was 11th at in 2022 and he was caught in an accident in last year's race.

Though Herta has started on the front row in the last two races in 2024, and he opened the season with a pair of podium finishes, Kyle Kirkwood is the top Andretti Global driver in the championship through seven races. Kirkwood has 179 points, three more than Herta, and Kirkwood is tied with Scott McLaughlin for fifth in the championship with McLaughlin owning the tiebreaker. 

Kirkwood has finished in the top five in the last two races. He had two top five finishes over the entire 2023 season, his two victories at Long Beach and Nashville. Kirkwood has not finished worse than 11th this season. His average finish is 7.7142 through seven races. Last year, his average finish over the entire season was 13.059. 

In four Road to Indy starts, Kirkwood won three times at Laguna Seca. However, he has finished 21st and 25th in his first two IndyCar starts at the track. He has started outside the top fifteen on each occasion as well. 

It has been a tough season for Marcus Ericsson, but the last two races have been steps in the right direction. After having three consecutive results of 18th or worse and having four results of 18th or worse through the first five races, Ericsson has been second and ninth in the last two races. He is 13th in the championship. 

Ericsson has been good at Laguna Seca, but not great. Through four starts, he has two top ten finishes and an average finish of 10.25. He has finished better than or equal to his starting position all four years at Laguna Seca. 

Road America was the second time this season Andretti Global had all three cars finish in the top ten. Last season, Andretti had three cars finish in the top ten of only one race. Andretti has had multiple top five finishers in two races this season. Last year, the team had only one race with multiple top five finishers, and it was the same race as its only race with three cars finishing in the top ten as Andretti cars went 1-2-4 at Long Beach in 2023.

Andretti Global has had a top five finisher in the last two races. The team has not gone three consecutive races with a top five finisher since a four-race run that covered the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Road America in 2022.

Can Chevrolet Win?

Though Laguna Seca has been on the schedule for four of the last five seasons, Chevrolet has yet to win at the circuit since its return. Honda is four-for-four at the Northern California circuit. Along with the two victories for Colton Herta, Álex Palou won in 2022 and Scott Dixon won in 2023, both victories for Chip Ganassi Racing. 

These haven't just race victories for Honda, these have been dominant performances for the manufacturer. Honda has led 319 of 375 laps run over the last four Laguna Seca races. It has taken at least two of the three podium positions in three of the four races. 

This is the only circuit that has been on the schedule since 2019 where Chevrolet has not won at. Chevrolet will be coming in with Team Penske having won three of the last five races, and Will Power as the championship leader after his victory at Road America. Power has finished on the podium four times this season. While he was 26th in 2021 Laguna Seca race, Power has finished second, third and fourth in the other three races. 

Last year was Josef Newgarden's first bad day at Laguna Seca. Contact left him in 21st, four laps down. Prior to that, Newgarden had finished in the top ten in his first three Laguna Seca starts, including a second from 25th on the grid in 2022. 

Scott McLaughlin was third at Road America two weeks ago. McLaughlin has finished in the top six in all three permanent road course races this season and he has eight consecutive top ten finishes on permanent road course dating back to last season. He was 12th in his first Laguna Seca race but he has been sixth and second the last two years here.

Patricio O'Ward is the second-best Chevrolet driver in the championship on 184 points in fourth. While O'Ward has finished in the top ten in the last three races, he has not finished on the podium on a permanent road course since the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race last August. His only victory on a permanent road course was at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. He has finished in the top ten in all three of his Laguna Seca visits. 

This is a home race for Alexander Rossi, and a waste gate failure led to an 18th place finish at Road America for Rossi two weeks ago. Rossi has three top ten finishes in four Laguna Seca starts, but he has never finished in the top five. It has been 19 races since Rossi has stood on the podium and 28 races since his most recent victory. This year's Laguna Seca race falls on the five-year anniversary of Rossi's dominant Road America victory where he led 54 of 55 laps and he won by 28.4391 seconds over Will Power. 

That Road America race in 2019 was Rossi's 60th career start and his seventh career victory. It was also his 17th career podium finishes. He has made 78 starts since and he has only one victory and 12 podium finishes. 

Last year, Ryan Hunter-Reay was tenth in the #20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. It was ECR's first top ten finish at Laguna Seca in four races with two entries in each. The team's average finish at this track is 19.375. Last year was the first time the team had both cars finish in the top twenty. Rinus VeeKay was 18th. 

A.J. Foyt Racing has only one top fifteen finisher over the last four Laguna Seca races. Sébastien Bourdais was eighth in 2021. Its other eight entrants over the last four Laguna Seca races have all failed to finish better than 16th. Coincidentally, in three of the four Laguna Seca races, Foyt cars have finished next to one another. In 2019, Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist were 16th and 17th respectively. In 2021, Charlie Kimball was 18th, directly ahead of Dalton Kellett. Last year, Benjamin Pedersen finished 16th with Santino Ferrucci behind him in 17th. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing had its best year at Laguna Seca last year. Callum Ilott was fifth, matching the team's best finish ever while Agustín Canapino was 14th. In the previous two Laguna Seca races, JHR had not cracked the top twenty. Ilott is gone, but Romain Grosjean has finished in the top ten in two of his three Laguna Seca starts.

Entering Laguna Seca, Chevrolet and Honda have been trading victories. Chevrolet has won the four odd-numbered races this season while Honda has won the three even-numbered races. If the pattern holds, Honda would be the winner at Laguna Seca. Dating back to last season, there have been eight consecutive races without a manufacturer repeating as the race winner. This is the longest streak since the return of engine competition in 2012.

Welcome Back From Le Mans

It might have been an off-week for IndyCar last week, but for five drivers, they were competing across the Atlantic in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scott Dixon, Álex Palou, Romain Grosjean, Kyffin Simpson and, a late addition to the Laguna Seca entry list, Nolan Siegel all competed at Le Mans. 

Dixon, Palou and Grosjean all ran in the Hypercar class. Siegel and Simpson competed in the LMP2 class. All five drivers will be back to their day jobs this weekend at Laguna Seca. For Siegel, he returns with a promotion. 

Siegel was announced as the driver of the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on Tuesday afternoon, replacing Théo Pourchaire. Siegel will forgo the remainder of the Indy Lights season to compete in IndyCar. Prior to this announcement, Siegel became a class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last Sunday. Driving for United Autosports, Siegel won in the LMP2 class, finishing 15th overall, with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and fellow American Bijoy Garg. It was Siegel and Garg’s Le Mans debut. McLaren CEO Zak Brown owns United Autosports. 

Palou was the top IndyCar representative, finishing seventh overall and completing all 311 laps in the #2 Cadillac. Grosjean was 13th driving for the Lamborghini Iron Lynx, two laps down. Simpson was 11th in the LMP2 class, 25th overall driving for Nielsen Racing. Dixon's #3 Cadillac retired after completing 223 laps due to an oil leak.

This is the most drivers entered for the IndyCar race the week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans who competed at Le Mans since 1988 when seven drivers competed in France and then ran at Portland the following weekend. That year the seven drivers were Michael Andrettti, John Andretti, Didier Theys, Kevin Cogan, Derek Daly, Danny Sullivan and Raul Boesel. 

These five drivers competed in a grueling endurance race while 22 drivers were resting. Does that extra work hurt a driver returning to IndyCar competition? By competing at Le Mans, these five drivers have spent six consecutive weekends competing at a racetrack between the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Road America and Le Mans, with Laguna Seca being their seventh consecutive weekend of action. 

Since 1988, 32 drivers have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then competed in an IndyCar race the following weekend. The average finish for those 32 drivers is 13.25. In that time frame, three times has a driver competed at Le Mans and then won the IndyCar race the following week. 

Danny Sullivan did it in 1988, finishing 16th in his Le Mans debut before winning at Portland. Sébastien Bourdais did not finish the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Pescarolo Sport, but he did win at Portland, leading 85 of 94 laps from pole position a week later. Eight years ago, Dixon left Le Mans after finishing seventh in the GTE Pro class driving a Ford GT, 23rd overall. A week after that, Dixon won at Road America with 24 laps led from fifth on the grid.

Only seven of the 32 drivers since 1988 have finished in the top five and only 12 of the 32 finished in the top ten. Twelve of the 32 drivers have finished outside the top fifteen. 

Of those 32 competitors, 12 have occurred since 2016. The average finish for those dozen drivers improves to 11.583. A third of those competitors were top five finishers while another third finished outside the top fifteen. 

Dixon has run at Le Mans five times. In each of those cases he had an IndyCar race the following weekend. His average finish in those five starts is seventh with four top five finishes. The one exception was in 2016 when Dixon suffered an engine failure after six laps at Road America to finish 22nd. 

For Palou, Grosjean, Siegel and Simpson, this will be their first time competing in IndyCar a week after Le Mans. Along with Siegel, Palou and Simpson are coming off their Le Mans debuts. This was Grosjean's first Le Mans appearance since 2010.

Intra-Team Battles

Through seven rounds this season, we have a good idea about how these drivers are doing within their own organizations, giving the picture of who is the leader, who is looking to make up ground and which teams have it pretty even across the lineup. 

Will Power leads the championship, and he has been the best Team Penske driver in four of seven races. Josef Newgarden has been the top Penske finisher twice while Scott McLaughlin's only time being the best Penske finisher was his Barber Motorsports Park victory. McLaughlin has been at least the second-best Penske driver in four of the other six races.

In qualifying, it has been pretty even. Power has been the top Penske qualifier in three races while Newgarden and McLaughlin have each been the best starter in two races. At no point has the top Penske qualifier been the same over consecutive races. 

Álex Palou and Scott Dixon have each been the best Chip Ganassi Racing finisher in three races this season. The lone exception was Barber when Linus Lundqvist was the best Ganassi driver in third. Palou has been the first or second best Ganassi driver in six of seven races. Marcus Armstrong has been the second-best Ganassi finisher only once, his fifth at Detroit. Lundqvist was the second-best Ganassi driver at Road America, though he finished 12th. 

In qualifying, Palou has been the top Ganassi starter four times while Armstrong was the best twice and Lundqvist was best with his pole position at Road America. Dixon has been the second-best Ganassi starter in four races this season. 

Patricio O'Ward and Alexander Rossi have each been the best Arrow McLaren finisher in three races. Théo Pourchaire was the top McLaren driver at Barber, but that is when Pourchaire was 22nd in a race where none of the McLaren cars finished in the top twenty. The picture is the same in qualifying. O'Ward and Rossi have each been the top McLaren starter in three races while Pourchaire has been on top once. 

Colton Herta is not the best Andretti Global driver in the championship, but he has been the top Andretti finisher in four of seven races. The only problem is Herta was the best Andretti finisher in the first four races. Kyle Kirkwood was the best at the Indianapolis 500 and Road America while Marcus Ericsson was the best with his runner-up finish at Detroit.

Herta holds a 4-3 advantage in qualifying over Kirkwood while Ericsson has yet to be the best starter for Andretti this season.

Felix Rosenqvist has Meyer Shank Racing in the top ten of the championship and he has been the best MSR finisher in six of seven races. The only time he wasn't was the Indianapolis 500 when an engine failure took Rosenqvist out before halfway and allowed Hélio Castroneves to be the best finisher. Rosenqvist has been the top MSR starter in all seven races. He has started on average 10.142 positions better than the second MSR car this season.

Prior to Road America, Christian Lundgaard had been the best Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver in four consecutive races. Graham Rahal was the best RLLR driver for the second time this season at Elkhart Lake. Pietro Fittipaldi was the best RLLR at St. Petersburg. 

In qualifying, Lundgaard has been the top RLLR starter six times. The lone exception was the Indianapolis 500 when Takuma Sato qualified tenth and the three full-time RLLR drivers all started 28th or worse. Rahal has been the second-best starter in five of the other six races.

Santino Ferrucci holds a 5-2 advantage head-to-head against A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb. The two drivers split the first four races. Each time Ferrucci has failed to finish inside the top twenty, Robb has been the best finisher. In qualifying, Ferrucci is up 7-0 on Robb. 

Rinus VeeKay is leading the Ed Carpenter Racing battle, up 5-2 over Christian Rasmussen in race finishes. Like Ferrucci, each time VeeKay has finished outside the top twenty, Rasmussen has been the best finisher. Unlike Ferrucci, it is tight in qualifying. VeeKay holds the edge 4-3, but Rasmussen has been the top ECR starter in the last two races. 

At Juncos Hollinger Racing, Romain Grosjean has been the top finisher in five races. Make it a hat trick, as each time Grosjean has finished outside the top twenty, he has not been the best JHR finisher. Grosjean also holds a 5-2 edge in qualifying. Agustín Canapino will return to the #78 Chevrolet this weekend.

Dale Coyne Racing has had six different drivers in its two cars over the seven races this season. Jack Harvey has run six of seven races and been the best finisher in four of them. Nolan Siegel bested Harvey at Long Beach and Luca Ghiotto led DCR at Road America. Katherine Legge was the only DCR car in the Indianapolis 500, making her the best finisher by default.

In qualifying, Harvey has been the top DCR starter three times. Colin Braun, Luca Ghiotto, Katherine Legge and Tristan Vautier have each been the top DCR starter once. For Braun, Ghiotto and Vautier, they were each the best DCR starter but in all three cases neither DCR car started in the top twenty. 

Indy Lights

Only one Road to Indy series will make the trek west to Laguna Seca, but Indy Lights will run a doubleheader at the famed course this weekend. 

Jacob Abel has a 19-point lead in the championship after his fifth podium finish in six races two weeks ago at Road America. Abel has yet to finish worse than fifth this season and that has him on 256 points. Louis Foster is riding three consecutive podium finishes into California. Caio Collet is up to third in the championship on 179 points as he has been in the top five in three consecutive races and in four of the last five. 

Nolan Siegel has abandoned his Indy Lights efforts to pursue the McLaren IndyCar opportunity. Siegel was fourth in the championship on 177 points. Christian Brooks will move up from USF Pro 2000 to drive the #39 HMD Motorsports entry for the remainder of the season. Brooks is fourth in the USF Pro 2000 championship with three runner-up finishes, and he is 64 points behind championship leader Lochie Hughes.

In Indy Lights, Siegel is still 21 points ahead of Callum Hedge and Reece Gold, who are tied with Hedge holding the tiebreaker as Hedge's best finish is third to Gold's best finish being fourth. 

Myles Rowe dropped to seventh in the championship after his worst finish of the season at Road America, a 19th. Rowe is on 151 points, eight points ahead of Michael d'Orlando and ten points ahead of Road America winner Jamie Chadwick. Chadwick led every lap from pole position in her first career Indy Lights victory. 

Jonathan Browne rounds out the championship top ten on 127 points, five more than fellow Irishman James Roe, Jr.

Indy Lights will race at 3:25 p.m. ET on Saturday June 22nd and at 3:55 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23rd. Both race will be 35 laps in length. 

Fast Facts

This will be the ninth IndyCar race to take place on June 23 and the first since Alexander Rossi won at Road America in 2019.

Andretti Global has won the last three races held on June 23. Along with Rossi in 2019, Andretti won on June 23, 2012 at Iowa with Ryan Hunter-Reay, and on June 23, 2013 at Iowa with James Hinchcliffe. 

This year's race falls on the 28th anniversary of Alex Zanardi's first career victory at Portland. 

Five times has the Laguna Seca race winner also won the championship in the same season, most recently in 2002 with Cristiano da Matta. The other four were Bobby Rahal in 1986 and 1987, Danny Sullivan in 1988, and Michael Andretti in 1991. 

Team Penske leads all teams with six Laguna Seca victories. Five of those victories came over a seven-race period from 1988 through 1994. 

Bryan Herta, Cristiano da Matta and Scott Dixon are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in Indy Lights and IndyCar. Jimmy Vasser and Patrick Carpentier are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in the Atlantics Championship and IndyCar.

On six occasions has a driver won consecutive Laguna Seca races (Bobby Rahal 1984-87, Michael Andretti 1991-92, Paul Tracy 1993-94, Bryan Herta 1998-99, Patrick Carpentier 2003-04, and Colton Herta 2019, 2021).

The average starting position for a Laguna Seca winner is 3.1923 with a median of first. 

Even with the last two Laguna Seca winners starting 11th, the median finish is still first. 

Sixteen of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from pole position. 

The Laguna Seca pole-sitter has never gone three consecutive races without a victory.

Twenty-two of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from a top three starting position. 

The average number of lead changes in a Laguna Seca race is 3.346 with a median of three. 

Three of the four Laguna Seca races since 2019 have had at least six lead changes. Prior to this stretch, only three of the first 22 Laguna Seca races had at least six lead changes.

The average number of cautions in a Laguna Seca race is 1.961 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 8.153 with a median of 7.5.

Last year's Laguna Seca race had a record-tying eight cautions and a record-breaking 35 caution laps.

There have been six caution-free races at Laguna Seca, most recently in 1997.

Predictions

Andretti Global goes four-for-four and wins at Laguna Seca, but it is Kyle Kirkwood taking the victory, and Colton Herta will be the worst finishing Andretti driver. Chevrolet will put two drivers on the podium. The championship lead will change hands. There will be fewer than five cautions and none will occur for an incident in the final corner. Everyone will let Agustín Canapino be, at least on the track. At least two rookies finish in the top ten. Sleeper: Felix Rosenqvist.