Points, they are(n’t really) a-changin’

If one driver left the Music City Grand Prix with a giant exhale of relief, it was championship leader Alex Palou. Despite having an unrewarding finish of seventh, the Spaniard dodged a few title-related bullets as his closest rival Pato O’Ward made a mess of things and finished back in 13th.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, who held third in the standings before the race, was the only one to gain ground in the quest for his seventh title. Dixon placed second and knocked O’Ward from second to third in the championship. And despite a rough home event, Josef Newgarden didn’t fall far after claiming 10th in Nashville. He held onto fourth in the standings as a result.

With five races left to run, here’s how the championship chase was altered after Nashville, along with some movers elsewhere in the standings.

P1: Alex Palou (39-point lead to second before Nashville, +42 to second entering this weekend’s Indy GP)
P2: Scott Dixon (-56 to Palou before Nashville, cut down to -42 into Indy, rose one spot)
P3: Pato O’Ward (-39 before, grew to -48 into Indy, fell one spot)
P4: Josef Newgarden (-69 before, grew to -75 into Indy)
P5: Marcus Ericsson (-104 before, shrank to -79 into Indy)

After the top five, comprised of three Ganassi drivers, and one each from Arrow McLaren SP and Penske, there are a few who are still in with a mathematical shot of the title, but from a practical standpoint, have no real chance of winning the championship without miracles taking place.

P6: Graham Rahal (-128 before, -124 into Indy, rose three spots)
P7: Simon Pagenaud (-113 before, grew to -130 into Indy, fell one spot)
P8: Colton Herta (-124 before, grew to -135 into Indy, fell one spot)

The biggest negative movement came with Sebastien Bourdais, who was P15 before and P18 after the lap five incident.

Altogether, things got a little bit better for the three Ganassi drivers while O’Ward and Newgarden took a few steps in the wrong direction. Essentially, the championship fight didn’t have any drastic changes, barring Ericsson going from a long shot to closing in on Newgarden, and if someone’s going to mount a big charge to topple the ultra-consistent Palou, they’ll need to make a statement in Indy and hope the points leader has a bad day.
By the time we reach late Saturday afternoon, there’s only four more opportunities to rearrange the standings.

Leaders Circle

A fine day of racing for Ed Jones moved the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda off the Leaders Circle $1 million payout bubble for 2022. Entering the event 22nd in Entrants points, the No. 18 car is now 20th.
Behind the DCRwVS car, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s No. 45 entry driven by Santino Ferrucci — who will be replaced by Christian Lundgaard this weekend — is holding fast in 21st, and in a notable drop, the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda shared by Jimmie Johnson and Tony Kanaan is the new entry on the bubble in 22nd after Johnson finished next-to-last in Nashville.

At 140 points for the No. 48 in the Entrants race, a strong result for AMSP’s Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 7 Chevy has closed the gap to 22nd: the car is not far behind at 130 points. The only change behind the No. 7 is with the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing car driven by Dalton Kellett, who fell to last among the regular entries, two points behind the No. 59 Carlin Racing machine of Max Chilton.

Rosenqvist’s drive went a long way towards digging the No.7 out of a Leaders Circle hole. Barry Cantrell/Lumen Digital Agency

Marcus math

Marcus Ericsson had what I call a “Bingo Card” race where he seemingly crossed off holding every position in the field at some point in the contest. Enjoy this run through his day in Tennessee:

1. Started 18th.
2. Lap 1: Improves to 15th, but fell to 16th the next lap.
3. Lap 5: Does his Space-X impersonation on the Sebastien Bourdais Memorial Launch Pad, pits for repairs and ends the lap 25th.
4. Lap 8: Receives a penalty for the unapproved moon orbit, pits from 21st to serve a stop-and-go, resumes in 25th.
5. Lap 16: Improves to 24th.
6. Lap 17: Improves to 19th when a bunch of cars pit under caution.
7. Lap 18: Improves to 17th when more cars pit under caution.
8. Lap 19: Jumps to 12th during the one green lap of racing.
9. Lap 20: Pits with everyone else under caution, comes out in 11th.
10. Lap 24: Improves to 10th.
11. Lap 32: Vaults to fourth under caution as many drivers pit.
12. Lap 33: Takes first under caution as more pit.
13. Lap 36: Green flag and leads until lap 43.
14. Lap 45: Pits from first under caution, falls to second as Herta takes the lead
15. Lap 46: Shuffled back to eighth under caution.
16. Lap 49: Takes restart from seventh as O’Ward pits.
17. Lap 52: More pit stops, including one from Herta, moves him up to third under caution.
18. Lap 53: Back to second.
19. Lap 56: Back to first under caution, keeps it to the checkered flag.

So, that’s P1, P2, P3, P4, P7, P8, P10, P11, P12, P15, P16, P17, P18, P19, P21, P24, and P25. Of the 27 positions in the race, Ericsson spent time in 17 of them by the end of the content. How wild is that?

The Golden Bowling Ball Award…

Goes to Toowoomba’s finest, who bowled the biggest strike of the year by creating a pop-up Cars & Coffee Nashville at Turn 11 with Pagenaud, and then wiped out another teammate in McLaughlin because, well, you never want to leave a pin standing if it’s within reach. Fortunately for Josef Newgarden, he was too far away for Power to bowl a perfect Team Penske strike.

Unapologetic

Reading the team’s post-race quotes, Will Power said all he had to say about the two incidents with teammates by mentioning one and icing the other.
“Pretty crazy day,” he surmised. “I feel bad for Scott, definitely. I thought he saw me and I was on new tires and he had like 15 laps on his, and it was totally on me. Just a bad move. Rough day to say the least.”

We can rightfully assume his bosses let their displeasure be known after the event. But what’s that dynamic like between the pair of champions and Indy 500 winners like over the next five rounds? Was that throw-down pass that pitched the Frenchman into the wall a less-than-subtle message of what Power thinks of the likely-to-be-leaving Pagenaud?

Would Power try that same passing attempt in Turn 11 if it were Newgarden instead of Pagenaud? Not a chance.