Photo by Kyle McInnes

When the dust settles in a chaotic Indycar race, fans can rest assured that either Scott Dixon or Marcus Ericsson will be out front. Both drivers thrive on chaos, whether of their own doing or the rest of the field’s.

Dixon drove another masterful fuel saving race, squeezing 44 laps out of his last fill up. He has two wins and a third place in 2024, and now leads the championship by 18 points over Alex Palou.

Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson charged hard but fell eight tenths of a second short. Ericsson needed a good result coming off a nightmarish Indianapolis 500 and battling electrical gremlins Friday.

Not a Race for the Weak of Heart

It seems as if every car had contact at some point. If you drove your car into turn three, you expected to get hit. half of the eight cautions were for issues in turn 3. Several incidents did not bring out the yellow flag there as well.

17 of the first 40 laps had Oriol Servia in the pace car at the head of the field.

Penalties were assessed early and often. Of the 12 handed down, Will Power received four of them. Still, because of the numerous cautions, he ended up sixth. His last penalty came on lap 60. Power had another penalty rescinded, or he would have fouled out.

When the green flew on lap 73 for the final time, fans saw the best racing of the day as a three-way battle for the lead between Dixon, Marcus Armstrong, and Ericsson developed. Armstrong, like Dixon, was saving fuel and to yield second place. he ran out of fuel just as he took the checkered flag.

Was it pretty? No. Was it sloppy? Yes. There will be a race or two like this during a season. I’m glad we got one out of the way so early. I think the twelve days at IMS were exhausting for everyone, and the four hour rain delay didn’t help matters much.

Today we saw the aftereffects of the 500 fortnight. Road America will be a welcome sight next weekend.

The Correct Follow Up to Indy?

Should Detroit be the next race after the 500? With the mazing viewership numbers last Sunday, which may have brought in some new fans, Indycar chooses to go to a tight street track which invites crashes and televises it on an obscure cable channel. I don’t see how this keeps the momentum going after Indianapolis.

I am not against racing in Detroit. The city’s automotive history alone makes it worthy of having a race. There are parts of detroit I really like.But a better track where actual racing can take place would be great. perhaps this race could be at the end of June.

Indycar also needs to look into taking a week off after the 500. it would give the winner more time for appearance at more leisurely pace.

Notes

The 500 winner’s next race curse continues. Josef Newgarden had a fueling issue on his first stop, ran over an air gun on his next visit, nearly injuring a crewman in another pit, served a penalty for it, then hit the wall and broke a toe link, ending his day in 26th place.

This date in Alex Palou history: Palou finished 18th, his first finish outside the top 10 in 637 days.

I’m not sure what it will take for Colton Herta to win a race. He has to be the most frustrated driver in the paddock.

Felix Rosenqvist improved 16 positions to finish sixth. Saturday was the first time this year he had not qualified in the top 10.

Thanks for following along this weekend. I will be posting just basic information about Road America the next couple of days, and I’m not sure how much coverage I will be able to do. I leave for France and LeMans Wednesday afternoon.

Results