Want Parity? IndyCar Is Your Answer

How exciting is the Verizon IndyCar series in 2014? Consider this: Nine different drivers have won the 14 races run thus far, and those winners represent six different teams!

Mike Conway, driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, won the second race of a Sunday doubleheader in the streets of Toronto this past weekend in his 10th start of the year (all road and street courses) to add to his win at Long Beach, while his car owner has driven the other four starts (all ovals) with a victory at Texas and pole at Indianapolis.

Earlier on Sunday, Sebastian Bourdais snapped a seven-year winless streak with a dominant victory. His last win? That came in 2007, driving in the now-defunct Champ Car series in Mexico City. And his team, KVSH Racing? It last won with Tony Kanaan in the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

Juan Pablo Montoya has returned to his open wheel roots this year, partnering with Penske Racing, and his early struggles were rewarded with a big victory at the double points race at Pocono over the July Fourth holiday.

With only four races to go in the season, Montoya’s teammate Helio Castroneves leads the points with a 15-point margin over a third Penske driver, Will Power, who has been stricken with a pandemic of self-incurred penalties.

Castroneves has only one victory, the second race of a doubleheader in Belle Isle, Detroit, while Power has two wins this year, at the season opener at St. Petersburg and the first race of the Detroit doubleheader.

Ryan Hunter-Reay leads the Andretti Autosport group and the series in wins in 2014 with three, the biggest coming in the 98th Indianapolis 500 in May, which was worth double points. But since the monumental victory, Hunter-Reay has fallen flat with a myriad of problems, many due to simply bad luck. Apart from a win at the short track Iowa Speedway two weeks ago, Hunter-Reay has a meager two top-10s in the eight other races since the Indy 500; yet he still remains third in points, 69 behind Castroneves.

Simon Pagenaud, the intriguing Frenchman, has two wins this year, coming at the inaugural Indianapolis Grand Prix and the second race of a doubleheader in Houston. Pagenaud has seen a rollercoaster of a season, with nine finishes of sixth or higher, but five finishes of 11th or lower, leaving him fourth in points, 71 behind. His Schmidt Peterson Hamilton team also harbors rookie driver Mikhail Aleshin, who has a season high of second at Houston, but seven finishes of 17th or worse and a history of contact with A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Takuma Sato.

Of all the upsets to nab a win this year, how about Carlos Huertas in the Dale Coyne car at Houston? In the first race of a doubleheader that weekend in late June, Huertas held off a slew of contenders in a race plagued by rain, and Huertas outlasted the field with a superior fuel strategy. It is his only finish better than eighth this year.

And how about all the drivers that haven’t won yet? Huge names such as Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and defending champion Scott Dixon? If those names manage to end their respective losing streaks before the year is out, we just might break the 2008 IndyCar record that was tied last year when 10 drivers found victory lane.

Even the engine manufacturer race is close! Between the two competing brands, Chevy holds the lead with eight wins this year, while Honda has six wins.

With two road courses and two ovals comprising the final four rounds of the year, including that final double points race at the season finale at Fontana (100 points for a win), the IndyCar series will be must-watch TV!

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