Five different winners in the first five races of the season is a nice way for IndyCar to begin the year. It indicates a deep field of drivers and shows that, under the right circumstances, any driver and team can claim victory in the series.
That “five in five” doesn’t tell the entire story, however, as Chevrolet teams have been showing their dominance in speed. James Hinchcliffe is the only Honda driver to claim victory and that was due to strategy allowing Hinch to extend his fuel mileage beyond belief.
Chevy has exerted their force once again and claimed the top 10 starting positions for this past weekend’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Penske’s Will Power drove a flawless race to claim the victory, but it was also the second consecutive race where Graham Rahal bullied his Honda-powered car toward the front and scored a runner-up finish.
Rahal was aided in his charge by a first-lap incident at corner one where he was able to gain a bunch of positions from his 17th starting spot. Helio Castroneves tapped Scott Dixon and both went off course. As others jostled to avoid the incident, not everyone was as successful as Rahal. Hinchcliffe rubbed Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan also stalled during the melee.
What’s curious is nothing to my knowledge was said by race control about reviewing the incident and possible penalties. Due to the mad scramble to avoid contact, a lot of drivers had their fates decided before corner two. Judging from the replays I witnessed, it would have been correct to realign the field in a more equitable order before the race was restarted. Castroneves also should have been penalized for avoidable contact.
Once restarted, the balance of the race ran without incident and produced some exciting racing on the challenging infield course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Juan Pablo Montoya held off Sebastian Bourdais to round out the podium finishers. Montoya also maintains the overall lead in the championship, but the battle is tighter now. Power closed to within five points of the leader with the victory.
It appears the new May schedule is well liked by both drivers and fans with another decent crowd attending the road-course race that now kicks off activities at the Speedway.
Drivers say they like the fast-flowing and technical course, and in addition to the race itself, fans are able to walk onto the track at the conclusion of the event and stand on the famous yard of bricks. From personal experience, I can tell you it’s an exhilarating feeling for any race fan.
It’s clear Chevrolet is winning the battle between manufacturers but that may change as teams focus on the new road course aerodynamic package for the next two weeks leading up to the Indianapolis 500. The sleek looking aero package is very different from the road course model and in the first tests it appears both Honda and Chevy teams should be able to contend for victory.