Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske swapped roles between 2022 and 2023.
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.
Here’s a look at how teams performed over the last two seasons.
Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou has now finished 1st, 5th, 1st in his three years with this team. Scott Dixon has finished 4th, 3rd, 2nd in the same three seasons. Marcus Ericsson was 6th, 6th, 6th in his three years.
For Marcus Armstrong and Takuma Sato though, they combined to take this fourth entry from 22nd in the entrant standings to 14th this season.
They won 6 of the 7 natural road course races with Alex Palou going 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 7th, 1st, 3rd on them, Scott Dixon 7th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 1st, Marcus Ericsson 10th, 8th, 6th, 27th, 10th, 7th, 15th and Marcus Armstrong 11th, 15th, 24th, 9th, 24th, 19th, 8th.
On street courses, Palou went 8th, 5th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Dixon in 3rd, 27th, 4th, 4th, 5th, Ericsson 1st, 3rd, 9th, 11th, 7th and Armstrong 11th, 8th, 8th, 7th, 13th.
For ovals, Palou was 3rd, 4th, 8th, 3rd, 7th, Dixon 5th, 6th, 6th, 6th, 1st, Ericsson 8th, 2nd, 4th, 9th, 10th and Takuma Sato being 28th, 7th, 9th, 25th, 26th.
Team Penske
Ironically enough, while Josef Newgarden finally won at Indy, this year tied his worst points finish since joining Team Penske in 2017. He was 1st, 5th, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd in his first six years while driving for the Captain. How, he’s 5th.
This was the second time in 3 years that Will Power failed to finish in the top five in points. He had done so in 11 straight years prior to 2021. His last three points finishes have been 9th, 1st, 7th. He became the first defending series champ to go winless in his defense season.
Scott McLaughlin has steadily improved. He was 14th as a rookie in 2021, 4th last year and now 3rd this as the top Penske scorer in 2023.
Ovals were their strong suit. Josef Newgarden went 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 25th. Scott McLaughlin was 6th, 14th, 2nd, 5th, 5th and Will Power 16th, 23rd, 5th, 2nd, 9th.
The street courses were their next best. Newgarden was 17th, 9th, 10th, 5th, 4th, McLaughlin 13th, 10th, 7th, 6th, 2nd and Power 7th, 6th, 2nd, 14th, 10th.
On natural road courses, Newgarden went 15th, 7th, 2nd, 12th, 25th, 5th, 21st. McLaughlin was 1st, 16th, 8th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 2nd and Power 3rd, 12th, 13th, 3rd, 6th, 25th, 4th.
Andretti Autosport
It was wildly similar seasons this year compared to last. Colton Herta was 10th in both points finishes. Romain Grosjean was 13th in each too. Devlin DeFrancesco was 23rd in 2022 and 24th in 2023. Kyle Kirkwood took over the car that Alexander Rossi was 9th in a year ago and was 11th this time around.
Kirkwood had the seventh most road course points scored (282) but in a tie for 17th (90) on ovals.
Herta’s points finishes have been 7th, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 10th. Kirkwood was 24th last year. Grosjean has finished 15th, 13th, 13th.
They were at their best on the streets. Herta was 20th, 4th, 11th, 3rd, 21st. Kirkwood was 15th, 1st, 6th, 15th, 1st. Grosjean was 18th, 2nd, 24th, 22nd, 6th.
On natural road courses, Herta was 14th, 9th, 5th, 11th, 13th, 13th, 23rd, Kirkwood 12th, 14th, 9th, 17th, 9th, 10th, 25th and Grosjean 2nd, 11th, 25th, 13th, 18th, 27th, 11th. Herta won 2 poles and had 2 races won if not for strategy and speeding.
For ovals, Herta was 7th, 9th, 19th, 7th, 6th, Kirkwood 27th, 28th, 7th, 11th, 15th and Grosjean 14th, 30th, 11th, 12th, 12th. Indy is a big place they’re eyeing improvment on.
Before the UAK was introduced in the 2018 season, Andretti Autosport had won 3 Indy 500’s in a four-year span including 2 straight. Since? 0-for-5.
They’re falling further and further behind.
They led only 3 laps in 2022 with finishing 5-20-22-30-31 that day. This past year, they finished 9-13-17-28-30 with just one lap led. 1 top 5, 2 top 10’s and 4 laps led in two years here. That’s not very Andretti like. It was a disappointment for the Andretti Autosport cars in qualifying too. They didn’t have a single driver in the Shootout and would only start 15th (Kyle Kirkwood), 19th (Romain Grosjean), 21st (Colton Herta), 24th (Marco Andretti) and 26th (Devlin DeFrancesco). Marco Andretti calls is embarrassing to be this way for another year.
Arrow McLaren Racing
Pato O’Ward carried the banner for the team this season in scoring his 3rd top 4 points result in 4 years. He was 4th in 2020, 3rd in 2021, 7th last year and now 4th this time around again.
Alexander Rossi took over Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 7 ride this season. That car was 8th in entrant points a year ago and 9th this time around.
Rosenqvist drove the new third entry to a 12th place points finish. He was 6th, 11th, 21st, 8th in his previous 4 years.
Rossi has finished 11th, 7th, 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th, 9th, 9th in his 8 years in the sport.
They were at their best on natural road courses. O’Ward was 4th, 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 3rd, 4th, 9th. Rosenqvist was 9th, 5th, 20th, 25t, 27th, 2nd, 19th. Rossi was 8th, 3rd, 19th, 10th, 5th, 20th, 7th.
Ovals were their next best. O’Ward was 2nd, 24th, 3rd, 10th, 2nd. Rosenqvist was 26th, 27th, 13th, 4th, 8th with Rossi being 22nd, 5th, 10th, 15th, 4th.
On the streets, O’Ward was 2nd, 17th, 26th, 8th, 8th, Rosenqvist 19th, 7th 3rd, 10th, 22nd and Rossi 4th, 22nd, 5th, 16th, 19th.
They’re closing that gap to the big teams. The last 20 champions have hailed from the Penske, Ganassi or Andretti camps. Ganassi will make this 21 straight.
The last time a team other than the “Big 3” won a championship was Panther in 2002 with Sam Hornish Jr.
O’Ward’s only issue is not having a win all season with his crux 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 ended the season with finishes of 3rd, 8th, 8th, 3rd, 10th, 8th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th, 9th in the last 10 races.
Rossi’s thing was that he qualified between 7th-13th on 11 of 17 occasions. If he could just improve the starting spot, watch out.
Race pace, he had it. Rossi had 6 top five finishes and one podium in 17 races. It was just that he had to start further back than he wanted to.
If they can improve qualifying in 2024, he could be a contender for more wins again.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Christian Lundgaard led the charge for RLL in 2023 with a win and two poles. He was 8th in the final standings after being 14th as a rookie a year ago. The ride he was in, the No. 45 Honda, was 20th last year in entrant points so to have a 12-spot gain was huge.
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.
The 30 car that Lundgaard drove in 2022 dropped to 23rd this season with Jack Harvey, Conor Daly and Juri Vips in the ride.
Graham Rahal went from 11th to 16th in entrant points. He had points finishes of 9th, 10th, 18th, 19th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 6th, 7th, 11th prior. With 2 poles and a great end of the season for speed for him, this team is rising coming into 2024.
Ed Carpenter Racing
Mission accomplished for Ryan Hunter-Reay to get the 20 car into the leaders circle and ascending at seasons end. Same for Rinus VeeKay who had 3 top 11 finishes in the final 4 races.
VeeKay went from 12th to 15th in entrant points as he was 14th, 12th, 12th in his first three years.
The 20 car went from 17th to 21st.
Indy was once again their highlight. 11 straight years now ECR has had a driver in the Fast 12 Shootout. Rinus Veekay has qualified 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd here. Conor Daly led the most laps in 2021, then was 6th and 8th the last two years.
For Ed Carpenter, he finished 13th, 20th, 24th, 23rd, 24th in his 5 starts. Last year, he was 13th, 19th, 25th, 17th, 22nd in the same 5 races.
With this Aeroscreen, he’s made 20 starts with 2 top 10’s (both 5th place finishes) and 15 finishes of 15th or worse. He had 8 top 10’s in 17 starts prior including 14 of the 17 in the top 12.
For the 20 and 21 cars, on street courses, the 20 car went 14th, 23rd, 15th, 26th, 16th and the 21 21st, 26th, 18th, 13th, 14th. On natural road courses, the 20 ride was 25th, 19th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 10th. VeeKay was 16th, 13th, 12th, 15th, 11th, 6th, 18th in the same rcaes.
Dale Coyne Racing
David Malukas went from 16th to 18th this year in entrant points while Sting Ray Robb took the 51 from 19th to 26th.
Malukas as at his best on ovals going 4th, 29th, 12th, 8th, 3rd. Robb was 25th, 31st, 25th, 28th, 21st int he same 5 races.
Juncos Hollinger Racing
They to me overachieved. Callum Ilott didn’t have the growth that I expected but he showed flashes of speed too. Agustin Canapino put the car in the leaders circle despite not seeing these tracks before and had an very impressive season.
Meyer Shank Racing
It was a disappointing season for this bunch. They were P15 and P18 a year ago and this time around P19 and P25.
The 60 car was struggling before Simon Pagenaud was injured but with Tom Blomqvist, Linus Lundqvist and Conor Daly filling in the second half of the season, it was just an average car. This ride went from 13th to 15th to 25th in entrant points the last three years.
Helio Castroneves had a better second half of the season, but it still wasn’t what he’d like for it to have been.
As a result, you get two new drivers coming over for 2024.
In 40 starts with MSR, Castroneves had the 2021 Indy 500 win, but just 6 total top 10 finishes overall. That ‘500 win was his lone top 5 too.
His second half of the season this year went a lot better than last though. A year ago, he had an average finish of 16th through the first 10 races. It was 17.14 in the final 7. This year, he had an average finish of 18.8 through the same 10 races (7 of the 10 19th or worse). Over the final 7, he had an average finish of 15.14 (5 of 7 being 15th or better).
The ride started ascending as Castroneves steps out and into a third part-time entry for Indy only.
AJ Foyt Racing
Santino Ferrucci took the 14 car from 24th to 20th in entrant points and put them in the leaders circle for 2024. Benjamin Pedersen was 27th after the car was 25th a year ago so not much of a drop off there between the two seasons.
Indy was their highlight with boy cars making the Shootout and Ferrucci not only qualifying 4th, but finishing 3rd.
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