IndyCar: Full standings without Penske scandal (a new contender?)

As a long-time follower of motorsports and a die-hard IndyCar fan, I can’t help but feel that the 2024 season has been filled with twists and turns, both on and off the track. The recent scandal involving Team Penske’s misuse of the push-to-pass system during the St. Petersburg race six months ago has had a significant impact on the championship standings.

If Scott McLaughlin hadn’t accidentally triggered the push-to-pass feature during a single restart six months ago at the 2024 IndyCar season opener on St. Petersburg’s streets, Florida, his post-race punishment might have been similar to that given to Team Penske colleague Will Power – a penalty might not have been issued in this case at all.

In the race, both McLaughlin and his teammate Newgarden were discovered to have breached the rules regarding the use of the push-to-pass feature. Interestingly, despite this rule violation happening on three separate instances for Newgarden, he managed to clinch the victory in the end.

Approximately six weeks after an unexpected malfunction in the system occurred during a practice run for the following street race in Long Beach, California (which happens to be Team Penske’s territory), it was uncovered that they still held control over the push-to-pass overtaking feature during the initial start and restarts. This feature is designed to be deactivated under such circumstances.

No other team had access, and Team Penske had taken advantage in St. Petersburg.

McLaughlin admitted a mistake, while Newgarden claimed he believed there had been a rule change (which surprisingly turned out to be true as confirmed by in-race communication). However, IndyCar penalized the team severely due to clear instances of manipulation or cheating.

In a change of positions, McLaughlin forfeited his third-place standing and Newgarden surrendered his victory, causing all drivers who originally finished behind them to advance. As a result, McLaughlin lost all 35 points he had earned, while Newgarden retained the one point from his legal pole position win, but lost 53 out of his initial total of 54 points.

Initially moving from fourth position to second, Power was penalized ten points since Team 12 illegally accessed an exploit. In other words, IndyCar didn’t want Team Penske to potentially win the championship indirectly through Power gaining eight points due to their own scandal. Consequently, Power experienced a net loss of two points in the final tally.

As a gamer, I managed to climb up four spots from sixth place, scoring an additional 6 points instead of the initial 28. This strategic move put me six points ahead of Power, 39 points ahead of McLaughlin, and a whopping 57 points ahead of Newgarden.

What would the IndyCar championship look like?

Prior to this upcoming Sunday afternoon’s rearranged season finale at Nashville Superspeedway, marking the first IndyCar race on the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) oval in Lebanon, Tennessee since 2008, let’s take a moment to consider how the championship standings would appear if the scandal hadn’t taken place.

In our analysis, we’ll consider if Newgarden and McLaughlin would have maintained the same race positions at St. Petersburg, as they likely would have. Additionally, for the sake of argument, we’ll speculate that any unfair advantage they might have had won’t factor into future races (which is a significant assumption).

As we approach Sunday’s 206-lap race, it’s shaping up to be a tense three-way championship fight among Palou, McLaughlin, and Power. Instead of Palou holding a substantial 33-point advantage over Power, with McLaughlin trailing by another 17 points, the situation has tightened significantly. Now, Palou only leads McLaughlin by 11 points, while Power is just 27 points behind the leader, making this year’s first title a much more hotly contested affair.

Despite earning his second consecutive Indy 500 victory this year, Newgarden’s overall performance hasn’t been strong enough to make him a title contender.

After 16 out of a total 17 races this season, here’s how the leaders in the championship currently stand.

Alex Palou has 525 points, zero behind him.

And there is what they would look like without the scandal.

Alex Palou leads with 521 points (no penalties)

If I manage to close a gap of 11 points against Palou, who I’ve already outperformed in our head-to-head battles this season, during the upcoming weekend, and prevent Power from gaining an additional 16 points, then the 2024 IndyCar season will be a tale of “unrealized potential” for the 31-year-old Kiwi racer like me.

Experience the live action of The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, happening this Sunday, September 15, from 3:00 p.m. ET at Nashville Superspeedway, exclusively on NBC. To ensure you don’t miss a single moment of the 2024 IndyCar season finale, sign up now for a free trial of FuboTV!

2024-09-11 17:32