A season which began and ended in chaos had some good racing in between, and produced a champion and runner up who were models of consistency. As in any season, some teams shined, and others disappointed.
Alex Palou ran away with the title, finishing no worse than eighth in any race to fortify his five wins. Teammate Scott Dixon only finished outside of the top seven just one time. That may have been the difference in the championship.
I am always sad to see an Indycar season come to a close, but this off season promises to be very busy. There are still seven to eight seats for 2024 still up for grabs, and testing may be increased as the new hybrid component comes on board. Before we look ahead to 2024 let’s take a look back at the just completed season.
Chaotic Opener and Closer
The season began with a first lap pileup at St. Pete which featured Benjamin Pedersen in the air. The race would have a total of three multicar incidents, but it ended with a great finish as Marcus Ericsson passed Pato O’Ward at the white flag.
The new Detroit Grand Prix had its share of mayhem as well with 32 of the 100 laps run under caution. This track needs some tweaks to be raceable.
Sunday saw 35 of 95 yellow laps as drivers tried to get a handle on the new surface. I felt restart zone could have been in a better spot to prevent crashes when the race resumed.
Ganassi Team Dominates
It’s good to be a Chip Ganassi Racing driver. Alex Palou won five times on the way to the title. Scott Dixon, who looked just average at midseason, won three of the last four races and clinched second in the points at Portland as Palou sealed the title. Marcus Ericsson won a race and finished sixth in the standings. While he did not win a race, Marcus Armstrong won Rookie of the Year despite driving in only 12 races. 2023was a Ganassi sweep.
Rahal Renaissance
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers languished through the first hqalf of the season. Christian Lundgaard won the pole at the GMR Grand Prix in May as the only highlight of the first third of the year.
The embarrassment of Graham Rahal not qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 as the three drivers fought each other for the last sparked immediate changes in the team. Whatever they did wo0rked. Lundgaard won the pole and the race at Toronto. Rahal won two poles in the last four races.
It i difficult to turn a team around in midseason. What RLL did was amazing. They are the team i respect the most this season.
Power Shortage
Will Power did not win a race after winning the championship in 2022. He won just two poles, both at Iowa on an oval. Power, the career leader in poles, made just one Fast Six on road and street courses.
I look for Power to came back with a strong season next year.
Newgarden Wins 500, Sweeps Iowa, Then Fades Away
Josef Newgarden had things going his way the first half of the season. He won the Indianapolis 500, then swept the doubleheader at Iowa. His chance to sweep all the ovals ended with wall contact at World Wide Technology Raceway. It was Newgarden’s second straight 25th place finish, essentially ending his title hopes. Sunday he finished 21st.
Newgarden fell to fifth in the final standings, matching his worst finish in the last four years. He might just win the title in 2024.
New Winners
Despite the dominance of the Ganassi drivers. two drivers joined the winners’ club. Kyle Kirkwood won at Long Beach and Nashville, while Christian Lundgaard took the checkered at Toronto.
There is a lot more to talk about. I will continue the season review later today.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 
Good summary, Mike. I’ve never been a big fan of Palou and I can’t say why. He’s got it all: He’s an incredible driver, he’s humble, he doesn’t blame other on the rare occasion when he has misfortune, he races others fairly, and even though he’s always introduced as a Spaniard, he races for an extremely worthy cause. And – he’s the only driver/team who can outdo Dixon at his own game. Nothing there not to like.
I was (am) a huge fan of Bobby Rahal and Bryan Herta back in the day when they were a team, so I’m especially glad to see RLL get it together for the end of the season – hope there is more good stuff to come for them. And, I hope Colton gets it together for 24 and doesn’t head off to F-1.
I do watch F-1 but it is mostly so boring that they replay every on-track pass three of four times because there are so few of them. Usually it’s just a parade of cars following Verstappen around at a 30 second deficit. And he’s just about the polar opposite of everything I said about Palou – arrogant, blames other for misfortune (when he rarely has any), and almost never says anything nice about his competitors. One of the things I like about Hamilton is that he nearly always congratulates others even as he is accepting congratulations.
IndyCar is so much more interesting with different drivers and teams winning and with the competition usually going into the final race. And though there may be hard feelings after a race, there is, at least it seems, a genuine camaraderie among the drivers, owners, and teams.
Already looking forward to next year…
LikeLike
Thanks for the kind words Greg. Part 2 coming later today
LikeLike