New Engine Package

The NTT INDYCAR Series will move to hybrid power for the 2024 season. The only difference between what they’ll use compared to what they initially announced is that with the introduction of the hybrid motor, the 2.4-liter engine that was initially supposed to be introduced, will be paused to allow the innovative hybrid technology to be paired with the proven 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 engines.

“We are most proud of the many advancements that the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has made in leading the motorsports world toward a more sustainable future”, INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “The 2.2-liter INDYCAR engines supplied by Honda and Chevrolet have provided the most competitive racing in the world. The 2024 hybrid engine package will provide even more excitement with horsepower increases over the current engine.”

This program is being developed through the collaboration of Ilmor, Chevrolet and Honda Performance Development. Testing of the hybrid motor has commenced and will continue through the offseason now.

The 2.4L package was supposed to add an additional 150-200 horsepower but by staying the same, I don’t expect such a large speed jump like initially though.

Still, with a recovery system, it’s going to change the strategy some and become something to watch.

How much does this change how the two compete against each other too.

Honda dominated the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. 12 wins in 17 races including last Sunday’s season finale at Laguna Seca should have easily netted them the engine championship. However, Chevy’s reliability allowed them to score their second straight instead.

Sunday’s race was a prime example. Scott Dixon won. Alex Palou was 3rd. That’s 2 of the top 3 finishers for a manufacturer that held a 16 point lead entering. However, if you take an engine change, your points don’t count.

Once you reach 5 engines, you’re also ineligible for points too.

The points are awarded to the top two finishers among those that have used 4 or fewer engines.

For Chevy, it was Will Power and Callum Ilott. For Honda, their top two were Christian Lundgaard and Romain Grosjean.

As a result, Chevy scored 91 points compared to Honda’s 63 on Sunday. That allowed them to despite 5 wins overall, to take home the crown.

When Chevy came back into the series in 2012, they were the top dog in the series. Prior to 2012 however, Honda could quite easily be regarded as the engine that saved INDYCAR though too. When no one else wanted to jump in, it was Honda who provided engines to literally every team. They were at the time, the sole engine provider of INDYCAR. That takes a lot of time, money and commitment in doing so for as long as they did.

In 2012, they got relief. Chevrolet would be coming back. A new car was coming out as well. While they welcomed the competition, the bow ties just flat out dominated.

They won every manufacturer title in that span.

Chevy won 67 times compared to just 33 triumphs for Honda.

But, once the new car came out in 2018, it was now all Honda. They took the manufacturers crown in 2018, 2019, 2020 and again in 2021.

Also, for the first time since Chevy came back in for 2012 and beyond, Honda in 2018 eclipsed Chevy for most wins in a single season (11-6). A year later, Chevy then won the advantage 9-8, but Honda still won the manufacturer’s championship.

2020 was the debut of the Aeroscreen. It’s flip flopped for wins each season since.

The two were evenly split 7-7 for race wins in 2020.

For 2021, it was 10-6 in favor of Honda.

Last year, it was 11-6 in favor of Chevy.

Now, it’s swung back to Honda, 12-5.

But, reliability was a thing too and Chevy beat Honda in that category despite the deficit in race wins.

Honda won 6 off the 7 natural road course races in 2023 but Chevy won 4 of the 5 ovals including the Indy 500.

If you take a step back and look at the grander picture of things, since 2018 the scoreboard for race wins reads: Honda 54, Chevrolet 44. In the three-year span of the Aerokits from 2015 through 2017, it was Chevy 34, Honda 15.

From 2018-2019 with the new car but without the Aeroscreen, it was Honda 19-15.

With the Aeroscreen it’s 29-24, advantage Honda.

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Can Anyone Stop Penske Or Ganassi?

Penske and Ganassi have combined to have won each of the last 11 series championships now. A year after going 1-2-3-4-5-6 in points, they just went 1-2-3-5-6-7.

They’ve won 13 of the 17 races this year and 47 of the 64 (73.4%) of the races with the Aeroscreen. Furthermore, if you go back to the 2022 Indy 500, they’ve combined to have won 24 of the last 30 (80%) of the races.

However, this season has taken a drastic turn between the two teams.

Last year, Penske won 9 of the 17 races and went 1-2-4 in points.

This year, Ganassi has won 9 of 17 races and had 1-2-6 in points. It was the first time since 2009 that they went 1-2 in points.

Last season, the Ganassi camp went 3-5-6 in points on the heels of four wins, one of which including the Indy 500. This year, Penske had 5 wins including the Indy 500 and finished 3-5-7 in points.

Still, while Penske is regarded as the top team ever in the sport with 236 wins and 295 poles compared to 131 wins and 95 poles to Ganassi, they’ve also been doing it for decades longer too. Ganassi is by all accounts, closing that gap back up.

If you go back to 1996, Penske leads Ganassi 140-131 in regards to trips to victory lane. In the two most important matrix, Indy 500 wins and championships, Penske leads 8-5 in trips to victory lane on Memorial Day weekend. However, Ganassi has doubled Penske up in championships 15-7 in that span as well.

This duo has ebbed and flowed with Penske winning 7 times in 2020 to 5 by Ganassi. In 2021, it was Ganassi with 6 wins and Penske with 3. Last year it was 9-4 and this year 8-5. That’s both tied 24-24 in victories during the Aeroscreen era.

Penske outperformed Ganassi in 2022 only for Ganassi to pay them back.

What happens in 2024? Can anyone close the gap?

Andretti Autosport comes to mind. They had the speed in 2023 but didn’t fully execute.

Andretti Autosport said all the right things entering the season. Better strategy calls, better team, faster cars. Time to deliver. It initially started off really well. They were quick in the Thermal Test. Fast in Sebring. Then, when it counted, they had 3 cars in the Fast Six in St. Pete. Kirkwood crashed in that session but still was quick. A day later, Devlin DeFrancesco crashed on the first lap in getting airborne, Kyle Kirkwood got airborne in a separate incident later, Colton Herta crashed with Will Power and Romain Grosjean crashed while battling for the lead with Scott McLaughlin.

2023 looked a lot like 2022.

In the next race, Kirkwood crashed on pit road with Alexander Rossi, DeFrancesco crashed in Turn 3 and Grosjean crashed with two laps remaining.

Long Beach and Barber went better. They won Long Beach (1st, 2nd) and had the runner-up at Barber too.

Indy went awry. A dismal Month of May led to more carnage in Detroit with Kirkwood crashing in qualifying, getting ran over in the race and Grosjean finding the wall again also in that race.

For Road America, strategy got in the way of Herta winning from the pole. In Mid-Ohio, speeding on pit road left Herta without another win from the pole. At Portland, tires and speeding again on pit road kept Herta away from a top 10 despite qualifying P3.

Grosjean crashed in Toronto and Portland, Kirkwood ran over Helio Castroneves and DeFrancesco in Toronto and was out early too.

Iowa was ho-hum, Nashville was a win, Indy road course return they were just there and the rest of the season followed suit.

It goes to show that if they can maximize their potential, they have the speed. They just don’t have the luck.

They went 10-11-13-22 in points.

Maybe it’s McLaren. While they went winless in 2023, they still seem on the cusp of breaking out.

The last time a team other than the “Big 3” won a championship was Panther in 2002 with Sam Hornish Jr. Pato O’Ward (more on him next) is close. Alexander Rossi had a nice debut season for the team. Can they and a new teammate take McLaren one step further?

I’m also curious how much RLL can continue to close the gap. They struggled in the first half of the season but once the page turned to the second half, they shined.

RLL had 4 poles this year. That’s as many poles in 17 races run this season than they had in the previous 202 races combined.

Rahal had a pole in 2017 at Belle Isle. Takuma Sato had 2 poles in 2019 and one in 2020. That was it.

They won with Christian Lundgaard in Toronto and had stellar pace on road and street courses. It’s ovals holding them back and they know it. Another year of learning and offseason development can really make them contenders again.

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Breakout Season For O’Ward, Kirkwood, Lundgaard?

Pato O’Ward was winless in 2023 and hasn’t won in his last 23 starts. However, it’s not like he’s not been close. He’s just missing that little bit that’s kept him from making the next leap from top 5 contender to a championship one.

O’Ward was almost the top Chevy driver this season. He’s finished 4th, 3rd, 7th, 4th in points in his four years in the series.

He’s honestly closing that gap to the big teams. The last 21 champions have hailed from the Penske, Ganassi or Andretti camps.

O’Ward’s only issue is not having a win with his crux this past season was being overly aggressive at times.

O’Ward had 3 runner-up finishes in the first 5 races of the season. He was 4th in 1 of the other 2 races. The one that he wasn’t was being overzealous in Long Beach.

The Indy 500 he was aggressive on the Lap 192 restart with Marcus Ericsson in Turn 3. He was first, slipped to third by time we got to Turn 1 and when trying to get back, he overstepped it. In Detroit, a bad pit stop while leading and pushing too hard to make up for it saw him catch the wall.

Take those three races out, his average finish on the season is 4.85.

He finished the season with results of 3rd, 8th, 8th, 3rd, 10th, 8th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th, 9th in the last 10 races.

Kyle Kirkwood could be on the verge of a breakout too. He scored his first two career wins this season and was P11 in the championship. I fully expect him to take it one step further in 2024.

Same for Christian Lundgaard.

Lundgaard was a top 5 driver over the second half of the season. The second-year Danish driver had finished 14th or worse in 4 of the first 7 races.

Now, 10 races later, Lundgaard not only has another pole and netting his first career race win (Toronto), but he also has scored 6 top 10 finishes including 3 of which in the top four at that.

His average finishing spot in the first 7 races?

12.42.

The last 10 races?

10.22

Qualifying is a big part of that. He started 11th, 27th, 17th, 6th, 1st, 31st, 18th in those first 7 races. Over the next 10, it’s been 7th, 5th, 1st, 20th, 21st, 13th, 2nd, 20th, 17th, 3rd.

He went from an average starting spot of 14.28 to 8.9.

Lundgaard’s worst results in this span are on ovals. The only four starts and finishes not in the top 10 over the last 10 races?

Iowa, Gateway and Portland.

Portland was because he was held up in qualifying but he’d rebound in the race to finish 11th.

Lundgaard has scored the fifth most points (328) on road and street courses this season trailing only Alex Palou (489) and Scott Dixon (402), Scott McLaughlin (342) and Pato O’Ward (330).

On ovals? He’s 20th with 62 points scored.

See the difference?

It’s ovals holding him back.

Same for Kirkwood. He has the seventh most road course points scored (282) but in a tie for 17th (90) on ovals.

These 3 could challenge the Penske and Ganassi’s for the title if they can get better on ovals and more consistent elsewhere.

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7th Title For Dixon?

Scott Dixon is showing no signs of slowing down. While he flashes glimpses of maybe this being it, Dixon quickly then shows why you can never question him. However, while he can’t win the championship on Sunday, will he ever any time after?

There’s no doubt that his career is winding down. I mean he’s been doing this for two decades now. His wins aren’t coming quite as often. But he still found himself in a position for his 7th straight finish in the top 4 of points and 17th time in the last 18 years. Do that long enough you’ll find titles. But can he keep doing that?

His first three titles came in five-year increments. 2003, 2008, 2013. Then, he exploded with championships won in 2015, 2018 and again in 2020. That’s three championships in a six-year span including 2 of the last 6.

Dixon had a top 7 finish in all but 1 race this year. That was when he was punted by Pato O’Ward in Long Beach. He was sixth at the time.

Since May, Dixon has finished 6th, 6th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 6th, 5th, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st. That’s an average finish of 3.76 in that 13-race stretch.

It’s just that Palou has been a little bit better.

Palou has finished 1st, 4th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 8th, 3rd, 3rd, 7th, 7th, 1st, 3rd in the same 13 races for an average finish of 3.23. He’s not finished worse than 8th since Portland last year.

That’s why even without a title this year, you can’t ever write Dixon off.

He is showing no signs of slowing down. While he flashes glimpses of maybe this being it, Dixon quickly then shows why you can never question him.

Still, time is against him though for that 8th title. Just 10 times has someone won the title at 41 years of age or older. Three drivers were 42. One was 43 and four more were 44. No one was 45 while two drivers won at 46.

Among the drivers to be crowned a champion at 41 years old and up, only one came since 1990. With his stats declining this year and the trends not being on his side, this is a legitimate question to ask if he’ll ever win another one?

However, I’ll never doubt his capabilities as Dixon is still on top of his game today.

Plus, when looking at seasons preceding championships, Dixon had 3 top 2 finishes in the final 4 races of 2007. He’d win the title in 2008.

In 2012, Dixon’s final four finishes were 1st, 14th, 4th, 3rd. He’d take home the championship in 2013.

In 2014, his final four finishes were 1st, 4th, 1st, 2nd. He’d win the title in 2015.

In 2019, he’d close out the season with 5 podiums in the final 7 races. He’d win the title in 2020.

His last 3 finishes on the season?

1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st.

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Palou vs. Newgarden

For the 2nd time in just 4 years in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Alex Palou is the champion. In fact, he’s been with Chip Ganassi Racing for 3 years and he’s won titles in 2 of them. With how dominant that he was this past season, how far he can go?

I don’t think it’s much of a secret now that Palou’s career may now be emboldened as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver. That’s great for us. While I know he had F1 dreams, at 26 years of age and the way that the last two years contractually have been handled, I don’t envision a path anymore overseas.

The McLaren door is shut. Mercedes has deals done through the next two seasons. Red Bull has a pipeline and Ferrari is Ferrari. I guess maybe Aston Martin’s journey to Honda in a few seasons could be a pathway, but even so, he’ll be pushing 30 by that point. Is that too late?

“I said it many times that it was not my fully focus,” Palou admitted on Sunday after scoring his 2nd championship in 3 years. “Then when an opportunity came, I had to go for it, I felt.

“At the same time I know I’m not 21 or 19. I’m already 26, which is good. I’m not saying I’m old, but I mean, it’s not that I’m super young.

“So next year I’ll be 27. If an opportunity comes in the future, which is like really, really small chances, I’ll think about it for sure, 100%.

“I’m happy honestly. As long as I keep on winning championships and races or battling for championships I think I’ll have a great career.”

Which is why I think Palou’s headed towards stardom here. He may very well be Ganassi’s next Scott Dixon and that’s more than okay to be known as that. As INDYCAR’s growth not only here domestically has grown, but worldwide as well, he could likely be a household name very soon anyways.

I mean just look at what he’s done in 3 years with Ganassi.

Since Palou has been in that 10 car, his ride has outperformed Dixon in fact. In 50 starts in this span, Palou has 9 wins and 24 podiums. Dixon has 6 wins and 15 podiums.

Palou’s average finish with Ganassi is 6.52.

Dixon’s average finish in this same span is 6.72.

“Unfortunately for one reason or another, we haven’t found that right combination for a few years,” Ganassi said of the 10 car in 2021. “You have to work just as hard. Sometimes you’re probably working harder than the guys on the 10 car and the 8 and the 48. They have to work harder sometimes than the champion.

“It’s as big as it gets. Just to see this young man come along, it’s been a few dry years in the 10 car. I go back to think of Dario and Dan Wheldon in the 10, all the successes they had.”

That’s why Ganassi valued Palou as much as he does and why he didn’t waver on wanting to keep him around. As a result, I think now that they’ll stay together for more years to come.

With him being this good, why would he magically lose pace?

Since Monterey last year, Palou has finished in the top 8 in literally every single race (17 races). His average finish is an astounding 3.55.

6 wins, one runner-up finish, four 3rd place runs gives him 11 podiums (61.1%). He’s had 14 top five finishes (77.7%). He’s untouchable.

Only 15 times now has someone won the title under the age of 27 years old. Palou has done it twice (24 years, 5 months, 25 days in 2021).

How far he can he go?

It’s hard to compare eras and what AJ Foyt or Mario Andretti did in their early years in the sport, or even Josef Newgarden to Palou since Newgarden started off with a smaller team for several early seasons before he joined Team Penske, but if you do look at Newgarden once he got to Penske, he was 26.

In 2 of his 1st 3 years at Penske, he also won titles. He was 5th between them. Palou was 5th last year.

Eerily similar stats.

Newgarden finished 2nd to Palou in 2021 and this year will have finished 3rd. This could be this era’s Andretti vs. Foyt.

Foyt had 7 championships (most), Andretti had 4 (3rd best). Foyt had 67 wins (most), Andretti with 52 (3rd). Andretti had 67 poles (2nd) Foyt had 53 (3rd). Andretti had 144 podiums (most), Foyt 119 (3rd). Andretti had 193 top five finishes (2nd best), Foyt 149 (3rd best).

Between 1960 and 1969, they had combined to win 8 titles in a 10 season span. Why can’t Palou and Newgarden do the same?

Newgarden with Penske and Palou with Ganassi. Combined, these two organizations have won each of the last 11 series championships. Newgarden and Palou have won 4 of the last 7 overall themselves.

Since 2021, Newgarden has 11 wins, 17 podiums, 24 top 5 finishes and 36 top 10 finishes in 49 starts.

In that same span, Palou has amassed 9 wins, 24 podiums, 29 top five finishes and 42 top 10 finishes.

That’s 20 of 49 wins (40.8%) between these two drivers the last three years.

Newgarden, 32, isn’t going to leave Penske anytime soon. He’s already tied for 13th on the all-time wins list.

He’s two wins shy of tying Dario Franchitti, Paul Tracy and Helio Castroneves for 10th ever. He’s five wins behind Al Unser Jr. for ninth. He’s six wins back from Bobby Unser in 8th and 8 wins behind Sebastien Bourdais in 7th.

How far can he take this?

Newgarden has won 4 or more times in 5 of his 7 seasons with Team Penske. If he gets 4 wins in each of his next two seasons, he’d be tied with Bourdais in 2025. Another 4 wins gets him to Will Power’s current mark at 41.

See, time is in Newgarden’s favor. He’s only 32-years-old. He’s only 13 wins shy of Michael Andretti, 23 shy of Mario and 24 of Scott Dixon. If he averages 4 wins for each season for a decade that’s 40 more wins which could take him clear of AJ Foyt’s 67 mark.

Which is why we’re witnessing a generational driver.

He won Long Beach. He won the Indy 500. He’s won two championships. He’s finished 2nd in each of the last 3 years for the title.

He just passed Al Unser Jr. for 12th on the all-time lap leaders chart at 3,885.

He’s nearing the all-time Penske wins leader mark already. Will Power has 38, Helio Castroneves has 30. Rick Mears has 29. Newgarden has 26.

His 14 oval wins rank him third behind Mears (22) and Castroneves (17).

Then you have Palou quickly climbing up the record books too and can equal what Newgarden is also doing in the same years too.

Newgarden is an oval king (4 wins in 5 races this season). Palou is a natural road course guru (9 wins since 2020, next best is 4).

These two could have a fun rivalry for the next decade to come.