Winners and Losers from Indianapolis

More than any other race, the Indianapolis 500 can make or break an entire season, and in some cases – Buddy Lazier and Buddy Rice, for example- entire careers. Sunday’s race proved no exception, as the month of May saw its winners and losers at Indianapolis.

Winner:  Tony Kanaan

Of course, the obvious winner was the, uh, race winner, Tony Kanaan. A sentimental favorite of both the IndyCar community and the fans at Indianapolis, Kanaan broke through his hard-luck past and finally celebrated with his long-awaited drink of milk. Since his rookie year in 2002, Kanaan had led races – at least one lap in each of his first seven starts - and even qualified for the pole in 2005. Frustrated by a second and third place finishes, and finishes under the yellow preventing him from any last lap dramatics, karma came full circle and provided Kanaan a win when the yellow caution flag flew moments after Kanaan burst into the lead on a restart on lap 197. Always a master at starts and restarts, it’s fitting Kanaan’s victory came as a result of one of his primary strengths.

Winner:  Andretti Autosport

So, neither Marco Andretti or any of his four teammates at Andretti Autosport ended up in Victory Circle, the entire organization flexed its muscles as the team to beat for the remainder of this year. Recall, it was just a couple of years ago when Andretti Autosport had difficulty even qualifying for Indy, with Danica Patrick barely squeaking into the field and Ryan Hunter-Reay missing out entirely (he raced only after owner Michael Andretti bought the qualified car of Bruno Junqueira and put Hunter-Reay into it). This year, Andretti drivers were fast off the truck, and showed their muscle in the race, with Carlos Munoz, Hunter-Reay and Andretti taking 2^nd, 3^rd & 4^th.

Loser:  Honda

First, traditional series stalwart Honda was locked out on pole day, as the fast nine qualifiers shooting out for the pole position all boasted Chevy power plants. Then, race day provided insult to injury, with various Chevy drivers continually shuffling the lead, allowing Honda-powered drivers a spot at the front only when green flag pit stops temporarily shuffled the order. Honda looked lost all month, and it appeared they lacked the needed power to overtake down Indy’s long straights.

Winner:  Carlos Munoz

Sunday’s Indy 500 was not only Munoz’ IndyCar debut, it was also the first race of any kind where pit stops were necessary. All Munoz did was run up front all day, battled for the lead and positioned himself for a last lap dash at victory. If it wasn’t for the yellow flag ending the race toward the checkereds, he very well might have found himself in Victory Circle.

Loser:  Target Chip Ganassi Racing

Target Chip Ganassi struggled all month at Indy, with Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti qualifying mid-field and then seemingly anchored there throughout the race. When defending champ Franchitti wrecked in Turn One with three laps to go, he essentially ended the race and provided a fitting close to what proved to be a frustrating and forgettable month for Ganassi. 

Winner:  IndyCar

A record number or leaders and a doubling – yes, doubling! – of the record number of lead changes from just one year previous showed Indy has begun to regain its lost mojo of the early 90’s heyday. True, the racing was more or less single-file, but at least the point car changed often, as the leader had a “sitting duck” aura about him.  The race was another step in the right direction, and it’s up to IndyCar to maintain the momentum through what has in the past been the humdrum part of its season.

Go two-wide on Twitter @RayHartjen

4 reasons the best racing isn't always in the highest formula

For race fans, we often cast the majority of our attention to the height of a particular series.  F1 gets our attention to the detriment of GP2 and GP3.  Sprint Cup gets the NASCAR love over the Trucks and the Nationwide cars.  And in North American open wheel racing, the IndyCars overshadow Indy Lights.

Maybe not anymore?

Today's Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway might have delivered the best race finish.  Ever.

You don't run three-wide at Indianapolis in any formula and get away with it too often.  These young drivers did it for two full turns.  You don't often run four-wide down the straight either, but these four drivers did it.  Racing for the win at the most famous track in the world and they raced it clean and without a hint of blocking.

That, my friends, is how you do it.

Congratulations, Peter Dempsey, on your first victory - and what a victory that was!  Congratulations also to Gabby Chaves, Sarge Karam, and Carlos Munoz. Your performances in Friday's race might just be the highlight of the entire weekend, the biggest weekend in worldwide motor sports at that.

Race along on Twitter @RayHartjen

Will Monaco Soothe Mercedes’ Tire Ails?

Early in the 2013 Formula One season, Mercedes has proven it has the pace to run at the front of the F1 field, as evidenced by its 3 pole positions and its lock out of the front row in the most recent Grand Prix, the Barcelona race just two weeks ago. Unfortunately, at least for Mercedes, is the flip side of that coin is an unrelenting and rapid degradation of its tires, particularly the rear tires, and an inability to keep abreast of race winning contenders. To add insult to injury, the tire degradation problems are even making it difficult to keep the mid-field pack at bay – Lewis Hamilton finished an uncompetitive 12^th in Spain, lapped by the leading cars.

On race day, at best, the Mercedes has been a moving chicane offering up a rolling obstacle for front-runners to overtake. However, as the series moves to the twisty circuit at Monaco this weekend, there is some optimism and hope in the Mercedes camp – not from developments back at the factory, rather from the race course itself.

Twisty means slower speeds, delivering a break to the tires

Monaco is the most twisty course on the F1 race calendar, and the twists and turns of the course mean the slowest speeds on the schedule too. Simply, slower speeds place fewer demands on the tires, lessening the degree of degradation. Of course, Mercedes won’t be the only team to receive this benefit – all chasses will be easier on their tires. Key for Mercedes is keeping up with the other teams on the number of pit stops. The fewer pit stops, the better, and nowhere is this more true than at Monaco.

Tight means a premium on track position, as passing can be … damn near impossible

In addition to its twists, the streets of Monaco are notoriously tight as well, surrounded not by gravel traps and runoff areas, but rather unforgiving Armco barriers, presenting tremendous difficulties in overtaking, even with applications like the Drag Reduction System (DRS). Track position is a premium. If Mercedes can keep its qualifying pace and start upfront, its hopes lie in the course not offering an opportunity for cars to overtake.

At least it’s fast

F1 is a sport of compromise, represented by the tradeoff between speed and reliability. Which one is most important? Can the answer be both? Up and down the paddock, it’s generally regarded that pace is the best place to start. If you’re fast, you have an opportunity to work on reliability, tire degradation included. It’s much more difficult (read: “expensive”) to make a reliable albeit slow car fast than the opposite.

Mercedes has proven it has the one lap pace to match the best cars in F1. Now it sets it attention to solving its chassis’ tendency to aggressively abuse its tires, an endeavor that will undoubtedly take the balance of the summer to develop and refine an engineering solution. But, this weekend, a temporary solution is likely to be put forth by the race course itself, and it will be paramount for Mercedes to take advantage of its gift in waiting. Points from this point on are going to be even tougher to score.

Turn laps on Twitter @RayHartjen