This weekend’s IndyCar race is in Sonoma, California, the track where third-generation racer Marco Andretti scored his first victory. That win came in 2006, which was Andretti’s rookie year in the series, and he didn’t capture his second victory until 2011. Andretti hasn’t won another race since.
Second-generation driver Graham Rahal won the first race in his rookie season of 2008, but is still searching for his second victory. These two drivers were once thought to be the next wave of greats to follow in their father’s footsteps as on-track rivals and the stars of the future. To this point, neither seems to be capable of carrying the torch.
While both have shown talent and ability, they’ve come up short far too often. Whether it’s been a result of racing circumstances or mechanical misfortune, Andretti and Rahal have failed to achieve the success that their respective teams — and IndyCar series — had hoped for.
Instead of relying on the names of the past to promote as the current stars of IndyCar, it’s time the series looked at others to fill those roles. Realistically, how many years do Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon have left in the competition? These are not the drivers to build your foundation upon. Any future growth in IndyCar racing will be tied to the success of its stars. While it’s nice to have quality drivers like Ryan Briscoe and Juan Montoya back in the series this season, they’re not the future of the series. Ryan Hunter-Reay, with his new three-year deal, and Will Power, likely to be this year’s series champion, should be two of the faces of IndyCar.
Hunter-Reay is American and won the Indianapolis 500 this year and he’s a former series champion. Those are all positives that should be exploited. Power is an Aussie who often seems indifferent during interviews; he’s going to have to get over that if the series is to benefit from his success.
There are other drivers we should be seeing more of in the coming years. Josef Newgarden is talented and well-spoken; he’s also American, which does matter. If he could just break through with a victory, it would help push him to greater prominence. Sage Karam was Indy Lights champion a year ago and has a development deal with Chip Ganassi, but we’ve seen far too little of him in IndyCar. Jack Hawksworth has had a tough rookie year with Bryan Herta’s team, but if he can survive and come back next year, he can be very good for the series.
And yes, I’m going to include Canadian James Hinchcliffe on this list. If other IndyCar drivers were as positive, engaging and media-savvy as Hinchcliffe, there wouldn’t be nearly as many questions and comments about what the future of IndyCar holds.