Marcus Armstrong and Agustin Canapino’s incidents in a late three-lap span shook up the battle to become the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie of the year race. Armstrong was in the top 10 coming to his final stop on Lap 80 but when he peeled out of his pit box, his right rear literally fell off.

He’d finish 19th as a result costing him a ton of points.

Canapino was in position to capitalize and was 16th at the time. He got off track in Turn 12 sparking the second and final caution and ending his day in 26th. Canapino went from around 14 points scored to 5.

Armstrong went from 24-28 scored to 11.

The gap between them now is 26.

“We were doing a good job during the race, but unfortunately I made a mistake with the cold tires,” Canapino said. “I needed a bit more experience and I’m sorry for the whole team, Ricardo and Brad. It’s a shame because we were in a good position to battle inside the top-15.

“Now I have to look forward, and try to finish positively when we visit Laguna Seca for the final round of the season.”

That’s not the only thing Canapino’s spin altered. It shook up the leaders circle race too. Canapino entered the race -1 but with being in the top 20 and Tom Blomqvist down in 25th and Devlin DeFrancesco behind Canapino, he was going to be on the good side of the cut line.

Instead, he’s now -5. Blomqvist finished 24th and went from +1 to -3.

DeFrancesco finished 17th and moves from -4 to +3 heading into the season finale. That has massive implications in the sense that if he can stay in the top 22, then Andretti may keep four cars around in 2024. If he falls back even one spot, then they may downsize to three cars.

Juri Vips finished 18th and gained 5 points in going from +1 to +6. Ryan Hunter-Reay is +13, Helio Castroneves is now +34 and Santino Ferrucci +35.

It’s likely now coming down to Vips, DeFrancesco, Blomqvist and Canapino for the final two spots. 2 get in the money and 2 don’t.