However you judge it the IndyCar Series’ return to Road America this past weekend was a tremendous success. A huge, enthusiastic crowd on hand for the entire weekend, exciting racing throughout the field and with Will Power’s second consecutive victory he’s a legitimate contender for the championship battle that will go right down to the season finale in September.
Qualifying on pole and leading all but four laps gave Power maximum championship points during the race and vaulted him from seventh up to third in the title chase. Power is only seven points behind Penske teammate Helio Castroneves but is still a significant 81 points adrift of his other teammate, overall leader Simon Pagenaud.
Significant, but not insurmountable.
With the IndyCar point structure a charge to the top is very possible. Pagenaud had engine gremlins strike and fell from the lead group to a 13th-place finish. Another contender, Scott Dixon, had mechanical issues as well and that helped Power’s cause. Double championship points are also available in the final round of the season. It all adds up to Power having a realistic shot at coming back to snag a championship after missing the first race of the year due to an inner ear problem.
While there wasn’t a real challenge for the lead until the only caution period of the race bunched the field up and Tony Kanaan closed in to give Power all he could handle before settling for second, there was plenty of hard charging throughout the field.
Conor Daly was the cause of the caution going off course in Corner 1, but up until that point had pushed his way forward from his ninth starting spot. If not for a suspension failure he would have had another great finish. Daly is rewarding the confidence of team owner Dale Coyne with significant improvement as the year moves along.
Josef Newgarden, who crashed hard in Texas two weeks ago, toughed out the pain from a broken clavicle and hand to climb from 20th at the start to an eighth-place finish and keep his championship hopes alive. Newgarden sits fifth in the title chase.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was ill all weekend but pushed forward from eighth to fourth, Graham Rahal was again the top running Honda-powered car and finished third. With the long straightaways at Road America you could see that Chevrolet teams still have a bit of an advantage in top-end speed.
Though he loves the track, Canada’s James Hinchcliffe was happy to have this weekend come to an end. The Schmidt Peterson driver struggled for speed during Friday practice; had electrical issues and was penalized during Saturday qualifying and started at the back of the pack Sunday. Hinchcliffe managed to claw his way forward to come home 14th.
Yes, fans and drivers were griping about not having a race at Road America for years, pretty much since the last race in 2007 ended. It took all parties involved some time to have the business aspect line up: A suitable date and sponsorship, but IndyCar racing is back at the beautiful road course and is already confirmed to return next June.