Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
The Indianapolis 500 — the biggest race of the INDYCAR season — was also the first oval race of the year.
But did it give much insight into which drivers will perform best on ovals? Probably not.
The 2.5-mile rectangular asphalt oval is nothing like any of the other ovals. The others are Nashville (1.33-mile concrete), WWTR Gateway (1.25-mile asphalt), Milwaukee (one-mile asphalt) and Iowa (0.875-mile asphalt).
So keeping that in mind, the influence of the Indy 500 on the power rankings is a little debatable. In trying to weigh all the factors, here’s the list:
Dropped out: Rinus VeeKay (Last Week: 9)
On the verge: David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi
10. Colton Herta (LW: 10)
Herta showed speed at Indy, but then a crash in qualifying on Saturday put him behind. Herta finished 17th after a speeding penalty and then overshooting his pit. It was certainly a disappointing result when he had the speed.
9. Marcus Ericsson (LW: Not Ranked)
Ericsson, it could be argued, should have won the Indy 500, as Alex Palou passed Ericsson when lapped traffic hindered his pace. It was still a great drive by Ericsson after finishes of 20th or worse in three of the previous four races.
8. Scott Dixon (LW: 7)
Dixon finished 23rd at Indianapolis, three laps down after his left rear brake overheated on the warmup laps of the race. Up until then, he had a relatively solid month.
7. Will Power (LW: 4)
Power finished as the best Team Penske car in the 500. Unfortunately for Power, it was a 19th-place finish and one lap down. A 20-second pit stop where Power overshot his pit stall and ran over the front air hose ruined his day.
6. Scott McLaughlin (LW: 2)
McLaughlin probably still can’t figure out what happened as he wrecked on the pace laps of the race, ending his day before it could even begin.
5. Felix Rosenqvist (LW: 8)
Rosenqvist earned a solid fifth-place finish, completing a solid month at Indy where he also started fifth. The Meyer Shank Racing driver has five top 10s in the six races this year.
4. Christian Lundgaard (LW: 5)
Lundgaard finished a quiet ninth at Indy, where he started eighth. This was another relatively good day, especially considering he didn’t have the strongest car.
3. Kyle Kirkwood (LW: 6)
Kirkwood had confidence in his car the entire month of May but just missed it in qualifying, starting 23rd. To see him race up to sixth was not a surprise. The Andretti driver is third in the series standings.
2. Pato O’Ward (LW: 3)
O’Ward’s fourth-place finish at Indy ended what he called a good points day, as he moved up to second in the standings. That would be great if he wasn’t 115 points behind Palou.
1. Alex Palou (LW: 1)
Palou’s win earned him his fifth victory in the six races to open the season. It will take at least a few races to knock the Ganassi driver off this spot.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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