IndyCar St. Pete GP

That was a satisfying race. A very satisfying race. How satisfying was it? And, for whom? What great questions, Internet. Let's look at the Bacchanalia of data:

Race Finish	Driver	Starting Position	Laps Led	Laps Completed	Race Score
1	Hinchcliffe	4	26	110	67.82
2	Castroneves	5	42	110	73.09
3	Andretti	7	0	110	54.00
4	Kanaan	11	0	110	58.00
5	Dixon	20	0	110	72.00
6	de Silvestro	3	0	110	34.00
7	Viso	22	0	110	68.00
8	Sato	2	0	110	24.00
9	Wilson	13	0	110	42.00
10	Tagliani	17	0	110	46.00
11	Bourdais	21	0	110	50.00
12	Kimball	14	0	110	32.00
13	Rahal	15	0	110	30.00
14	Carpenter	23	0	110	42.00
15	Jakes	18	0	110	28.00
16	Power	1	26	107	2.31
17	Servia	12	16	104	15.42
18	Hunter-Reay	8	0	79	1.64
19	Hildebrand	24	0	78	21.09
20	Saavedra	9	0	72	-2.40
21	Vautier	6	0	69	-8.82
22	Beatriz	25	0	55	11.00
23	Newgarten	16	0	50	-0.36
24	Pagenaud	19	0	26	1.64
25	Franchitti	10	0	18	-2.91

As always (with IndyCar races) my numbers come from Indycar.com/stats.

So, observations on the scoring as well as general observations (this week, at least, done in award form):

- Race Score Podium 1) Castroneves 73.09; 2) Dixon 72.00; 3) Viso 68.00

- Now, that is a controversial three-spot! I don't disagree that the best and second best drives go to Helio and Dixon, but the algorithm and I might just have words about Viso edging Hinch. But, this is meant to spark thought. What do you think? Is moving up from P22 to P7 better than winning from the second row, while leading 26 laps? Let's ponder that.

- The "Flashes of Brilliance" Award for driver who impressed me, but whose Race Score fails to do so: Tristian Vautier. The IndyCar Rookie of the Year (Number 1 in a field of 1) looked VERY VERY good before retiring the car with mechanical problems. Keep your eyes on this guy. I don't think he'll finish in negative numbers very often.

- The "I Was Right" Award for thing I said that somehow wound up being true: I said Bourdais would look much better at St. Pete this year. (Not really a stretch, I know.) But, without the Lotus, and with an entire race completed, Bourdais jumped up from P21 to P11 and finished with a Race Score of 50.00.

- The "Robbed by Qualifying" Award goes to Simona de Silvestro. A good run for de Silvestro, holding on to P3 for a long period toward the end of the race before losing her tires in a nasty nasty way (trivia: What goes off faster, those Street Circuit Reds or the Pirelli "Hards" that were at Sepang for the F1 race?) at the end. Simona's finish in sixth spot is impressive, but her Race Score numbers would have been even better if she hadn't started inside the second row. Instead, she has a respectable Race Score of 34.00 and winds up just out of the points in...

The Race Score World Championship

R.S. Standings	Driver	Race Score	RSWC Points
1	Castroneves	73.09	25
2	Dixon	72.00	18
3	Viso	68.00	15
4	Hinchcliffe	67.82	12
5	Kanaan	58.00	10
6	Andretti	54.00	8
7	Bourdais	50.00	6
8	Tagliani	46.00	4
9	Wilson	42.00	2
10	Carpenter	42.00	1

- Yes, that's right Ed Carpenter. Ed gets 1 RSWC point (Wilson wins the tiebreaker for finishing higher). I hereby go on the record saying that Carpenter finishes in top 10 in the RSWC this year.

- Remember what I said about Bourdais? I feel super-smart now.

- Tagliani picks up 4 points after not being seen much on television. Really nice livery, though! Really nice.

Well, that's that I've got for now. I might come back with an F1 Bonus Blog later this week, but don't be surprised if I don't. It's Holy Week. I'm busy. See you in Barber! (I'll surely blog before Barber, but that sounded good.)

-- Guido