#10– Alex Palou, 1st within the championship standings (656 factors) – 17 races
- 5 wins, 10 podiums, 13 prime fives, 17 prime 10s, 2 poles, 11 Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: 1st (IMS Street Course – Race 1, Detroit, Street America, Mid-Ohio, Portland)
- Greatest Begin: 1st (Indianapolis 500, Detroit)
#9 – Scott Dixon, 2nd within the championship standings (578 factors) – 17 races
- 3 wins, 6 podiums, 11 prime fives, 16 prime 10s, 0 poles, 9 Quick Six Look
- Greatest End: 1st (IMS Street Course – Race 2, Gateway, Laguna Seca)
- Greatest Begin: 2nd (Texas)
#8 – Marcus Ericsson, sixth within the championship standings (438 factors) – 17 races
- 1 win, 3 podiums, 4 prime fives, 14 prime 10s, 0 poles, 4 Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: 1st (St. Petersburg)
- Greatest Begin: 2nd (Lengthy Seaside)
#11 – Marcus Armstrong, twentieth within the championship standings (214 factors) – 12 races
- 0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 prime fives, 5 prime 10s, 0 poles, Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: seventh (Toronto)
- Greatest Begin: seventh (IMS Street Course – Race 2)
#11 – Takuma Sato, twenty ninth within the championship standings (70 factors) – 5 races
- 0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 prime fives, 2 prime 10s, 0 poles, 1 Quick Six Look
- Greatest End: seventh (Indianapolis 500)
- Greatest Begin: sixth (Texas)
Joey Barnes: Filthy.
That’s how I might describe the season that Alex Palou had in 2023. To not solely seize prime 10s in each race, however to nothing decrease than eighth and solely 4 outcomes outdoors the highest 5 is simply staggering. By now, contemplating the drama away from the observe over the previous two years – and can doubtless be ongoing for a while in future – it simply exhibits the psychological toughness of the Spaniard. In some ways, it’s a reduce above the nickname of ‘The Iceman’ given to team-mate Scott Dixon.
The scary factor is Palou is just 26 years outdated and has now scored two titles in solely 4 years in IndyCar, which signifies that barring a situation that sees him finally go to Formulation 1 (kidding, type of), he might be an issue for the sphere for a few years to return.
Scott Dixon’s season was a bit bizarre to me. A superb chunk of the season it was questioning if he would find yourself win-less, after which he closes out the yr in typical Dixon style by successful three of 4 and making a massively late push within the championship.
If not for the Lengthy Seaside incident with Pato O’Ward, that was very doubtless a race that would have been received. As an alternative, it proved to be the dagger because it was his solely outcome outdoors the highest 10 all yr and left him chasing his team-mate and the championship. I’ll be curious to see if there’s a change in urgency in the beginning of the season, particularly realizing what Palou is able to placing collectively.
Going into the 2023 season, it felt just like the yr that Marcus Ericsson would take one other step and turn into a big-time participant within the title image. And it seemed promising after successful in St. Petersburg and beginning the yr with eight consecutive prime 10s, which included one other two podiums. Clearly, the end result on the Indianapolis 500 was a intestine punch.
Getting caught up in a large number in the beginning at Mid-Ohio delivered a Twenty seventh-place end the Swede couldn’t actually afford. One may argue it kickstarted an underwhelming second half of the yr that featured one prime 5 and nil podiums. Shifting to Andretti World for subsequent season might be fascinating to see if that extracts extra from Ericsson.
Marcus Armstrong was a nice shock, taking prime rookie honors regardless of operating a partial season. Oddly sufficient, he scored the identical quantity of factors as AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, who ran all 17 rounds. The one cause Ferrucci ended up nineteenth to Armstrong’s twentieth was the tie-breaker of finest end, which the previous held with a third-place end within the Indy 500.
Picture by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Photos
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Nick Degroot: Chip Ganassi Racing ended the yr 1-2 within the championship standings. Alex Palou completely obliterated the competitors. The Spaniard ended the yr with 5 wins, ten podiums, and a mean end of three.7 with no end worse than eighth. It was near-perfect.
He was 78 factors forward of Dixon at season’s finish, and 168pts away from the closest non-Ganassi driver. It wasn’t Max Verstappen ranges of dominance, however it’s about as shut as you are going to get in fashionable IndyCar racing.
Dixon got here on robust at season’s finish, successful three of the final 4 races. However can they hold this degree of dominance up for one more yr?
Marcus Ericsson misplaced out on back-to-back Indy 500 wins with Newgarden’s last-lap cross, however he nonetheless had an honest yr with a victory at St. Pete and sixth within the last standings. I am curious to see how Linus Lindqvist performs in that automotive subsequent yr.
Their fourth automotive as soon as once more lagged behind the others, however it was a good rookie season for Marcus Armstrong. He confirmed some velocity, captured ROTY honors and accomplished 1,046 of a doable 1,050 laps. I discover that final stat to be essentially the most spectacular when taking a look at a rookie marketing campaign.
