This past weekend’s IndyCar race in Iowa had all the elements necessary to produce a show that was fun, thrilling, and controversial. As the series heads into the final three races of the season it also appears we’ll have a fight for the championship that goes right down to the final race of the season.
After witnessing Chevrolet entries dominate the practice times I wondered seriously if Honda teams would be able to compete for the race victory. Andretti Autosport’s Honda-powered cars have dominated the 7/8-mile speedway over nine previous events and once again this season Ryan Hunter-Reay showed why he’s a champion.
A year ago it was a great strategy move to pit late for tires that got him a victory. Hunter-Reay told me Saturday “the cat’s out of the bag” on that move and they’d have to find another way to win. On Saturday the No. 28 team worked to improve the car all night, RHR drove a great race moving up through the field from ninth on the grid and taking over top spot just after the midpoint of the race to make it back-to-back wins.
Three-time winner Josef Newgarden led the most laps but wasn’t able to get back in front of Hunter-Reay and settled for second. Newgarden’s stock though continues to rise and whomever he’s racing for next season, he’s an early championship contender.
Brash youngster Sage Karam finished third and ticked off several drivers in the process. Ed Carpenter told Karam to grow up after the race and others also shook their heads at some of the aggressive driving by the 20-year-old. Karam dismissed the criticism with the cockiness you’d expect from a young adult.
Watching Karam now compared to his performance at the beginning of the year you can see improvement. He’s been able to post finishes of fifth at California and now third at Iowa. I mentioned at the start of the season he’s one to watch for the future. And what 20-year-old hasn’t said something that has got under the skin of a veteran in any sport, or an older adult in life for that matter.
This year’s title fight got much more interesting when Juan Pablo Montoya crashed out early and finished last. Runner-up in the standings Scott Dixon also had mechanical issues and finished 18th.
Graham Rahal and his Honda-powered car fought through a transmission issue that had the car stuck in sixth gear from early on as well as a punctured tire and finished fourth. When combined with the problems of Montoya and Dixon it means Rahal has moved up to second in the overall championship standings.
Rahal stated several weeks ago that these last three races would define his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team’s season. After Iowa he said they might now be defined by the final three events.
For the second weekend in a row James Hinchcliffe was also at the track to support fill-in driver Ryan Briscoe and stay up on the latest info with the Schmidt Peterson team. Hinchcliffe looks much healthier and stronger physically than when he attended the Toronto event last month. He told me his recovery is on track and he’ll have one more surgery at the end of the month and then it’s full speed to get back into top shape.