Leaders Circle

A semi-decent race for the No. 48 CGR Honda with Tony Kanaan at the controls has moved it from the $1 million Leaders Circle contract bubble by one spot to 21st (168 points). That wasn’t unexpected, as the part-time No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda was parked for the weekend and fell down to 22nd (165 points). But the car is meant to return for the remainder of the season, and with Jimmie Johnson returning to the No. 48, an experienced driver in the No. 45 RLL machine could pose problems for CGR in the Entrants’ standings.

Felix Rosenqvist left WWTR with mechanical problems that ruined his day, but even so, the No. 7 AMSP Chevy is close in 23rd (161 points). There’s some separation ahead and behind this trio, so barring any surprises, it’s the Nos. 48, 45, and 7 left to duke it out for $1 million. They’re covered by seven points!

RTI report

Big weekend with double wins for David Malukas in his HMD/GRG entry, who retook the Indy Lights championship lead. Both rounds featured 1-2-3s by Malukas, Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood, and GRG/HMG teammate Benjamin Pedersen. Former championship leader Linus Lundqvist was among those affected in the first race by a spate of tire problems that led race director Tony Cotman to throw the checkered flag nine laps early. With his crash, the gap to Malukas and Kirkwood grew to a point where Lundqvist will need to dominate most of the three events and six races on the calendar.

And nice work by Braden Eves to take his third Indy Pro 2000 wins of the year for Exclusive Autosport; points leader Christian Rasmussen stayed close, though, taking second with his ninth podium of 2021. Two more race weekend with five rounds will settle the title.

Tony Kanaan gave the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda a quiet but solid run on Saturday night, and elevated the entry inside the Leaders’ Circle bubble. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images

Swedish security blanket

Chip Ganassi Racing has a new blue and yellow security blanket by the name of Marcus Ericsson. He’s always there or thereabouts at the front, it seems, and that’s something CGR hasn’t had as a three- or four-car team in the past. Even as a two-car team, CGR has struggled since Dario Franchitti’s retirement to have more than one title contender in play.

Ericsson’s finished inside the top 10 for seven consecutive races, which includes two wins and another podium. He’s also finished inside the top 10 in 10 of the 13 races held so far in 2021. The only other driver with two wins and 10 top 10s? Points leader O’Ward. For all the people who dismissed Ericsson as a second-rate ride buyer from Europe, it might be time to revise that ill-fitting view.

Misc.

* Bizarre event for Ed Carpenter. Complete absence of speed in qualifying, terrible qualifying session that left him in 22nd, and a solo crash while running 18th early in the race. Not sure what to make of it beyond it being a forgettable close to his season. VeeKay also struggled in practice and qualifying with a run to 23rd, but he did manage to go forward and challenge for a top 10 result until the restart from his bosses’ crash led to his own.

* Three of life-long road racer Scott McLaughlin’s top IndyCar finishes have come from ovals. Also bizarre…

* Dario Franchitti sent over a photo as he and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown were sitting together near midnight at Le Mans to watch qualifying at WWTR. Gotta love how even while being at the world’s biggest motor race last weekend, those two were transfixed by all that was going down in Gateway. Congrats to Franchitti, as well, for winning his class at the Le Mans vintage event held prior to the big 24-hour event.

* It would be cruel at this point to give James Hinchcliffe the Cartoon Anvil award. Just cruel.

* Nice run by Takuma Sato to match his second-best result of the year with a charge from 16th to sixth. Similar nod to Jack Harvey who, after a string of seven rough races, has captured a sixth and 10th at the last two rounds. Sato, by coincidence, has inverted things and gone 10th and sixth.

* There comes a point in every bad season where small victories are found, and with two straight finishes of 11th, Conor Daly’s secured his two best results of 2021 split across the No. 20 ECR Chevy he shares with Carpenter and the No. 59 Carlin Racing Chevy he shares with Max Chilton.

* Alexander Rossi managed to do the one thing I feared would happen: Nail the giant Get Well Robin sticker on the Turn 2 SAFER barrier. (Photo courtesy of Cody Oakwood)

Enjoy some downtime while IndyCar steps away from this rollercoaster of a season. The cars might be silent for a few weeks, but trust me, the silly season hasn’t slowed. We’ll get another installment going in the coming days.