- I was SUPER happy to see Sato bring it home. I have enjoyed watching him race (especially this year and last), but I have not enjoyed watching him crash. This time, he raced well and did not crash. If you read the last two sentences, you can infer that I enjoyed all that put together. The other reason that I enjoyed Taku's run is that I only have one degree of separation from AJ Foyt (one of the members of my parish knows him). And, this makes AJ the IndyCar owner to whom I am most closely connected in a Kevin Bacon-ish type way. Years from now, when this blog makes me IndyCar famous (that's like normal famous, except just for IndyCar) I will have actually met IndyCar owners, but for now my one degree from AJ Foyt is as good as it gets.
Long Beach Results
Ok, I promised you a lovely data picnic. Here it is (A.R.S. is Aggregate Race Score):
| Race Finish | Driver | Qualifying Position | Starting Position | Laps Led | Laps Completed | A.R.S |
| 1 | Sato | 4 | 4 | 50 | 80 | 86.81 |
| 2 | Rahal | 11 | 11 | 0 | 80 | 64.81 |
| 3 | Wilson | 25 | 24 | 0 | 80 | 86.11 |
| 4 | Franchitti | 1 | 1 | 27 | 80 | 55.76 |
| 5 | Hildebrand | 12 | 12 | 0 | 80 | 55.56 |
| 6 | Servia | 18 | 18 | 0 | 80 | 62.96 |
| 7 | Andretti | 26 | 25 | 0 | 80 | 73.15 |
| 8 | Pagenaud | 17 | 17 | 0 | 80 | 53.70 |
| 9 | de Silvestro | 20 | 19 | 0 | 80 | 54.63 |
| 10 | Castroneves | 6 | 6 | 0 | 80 | 25.93 |
| 11 | Dixon | 27 | 26 | 0 | 80 | 60.19 |
| 12 | Jakes | 13 | 13 | 0 | 80 | 31.48 |
| 13 | Newgarden | 16 | 16 | 0 | 80 | 33.33 |
| 14 | Beatriz | 23 | 22 | 0 | 80 | 41.67 |
| 15 | Bourdais | 15 | 15 | 0 | 80 | 24.07 |
| 16 | Power | 3 | 3 | 2 | 80 | -0.60 |
| 17 | Vautier | 19 | 27 | 0 | 80 | 31.48 |
| 18 | Carpenter | 24 | 23 | 0 | 80 | 28.70 |
| 19 | Tagliani | 22 | 21 | 0 | 79 | 21.24 |
| 20 | Kanaan | 8 | 8 | 0 | 78 | -6.85 |
| 21 | Kimball | 9 | 9 | 0 | 78 | -8.70 |
| 22 | Viso | 10 | 10 | 0 | 53 | -3.61 |
| 23 | Allmendinger | 14 | 14 | 0 | 51 | -1.37 |
| 24 | Hunter-Reay | 2 | 2 | 1 | 49 | -17.16 |
| 25 | Conway | 5 | 5 | 0 | 38 | -12.04 |
| 26 | Hinchcliffe | 7 | 7 | 0 | 34 | -11.25 |
| 27 | Saavedra | 21 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1.70 |
Observations & Prediction Review
- This week we've got some pretty high highs and some pretty low lows. Just looking at the numbers, you see two drivers above 86 (Sato, who dominated the race, and Wilson, who passed EVERYONE). But, you also see eight drivers, EIGHT, who wind up with negative scores.
- Aside, I don't like negative scores. They make me sad and seem like no fun. But, there is good news, the new formula I'm working on tends to skew the numbers upward. So, come the Indy 500 and afterwards, negatives may become much rarer.
- #TGPLB Prediction 1) Franchitti de-funks himself with a good run: Top 5 Race, Top 10 Race Score.
- VERDICT: Nailed it. Kneel before Zod! P4 on track, 7th best Aggregate Race Score.
- #TGPLB Prediction 2) James Jakes has a better Race Score than anyone from Andretti Autosport.
- VERDICT: Not quite. Marco Andretti makes me look foolish here. In my defense, however, the spirit of the prediction was that Rahal Letterman Lannigan was better set up for the race than was Andretti, and I think the spirit of that held true (see Rahal, Graham finishing P2). In my further defense, Jakesy CRUSHED RHR, Hinch, and Viso. 75% ain't bad, but I did say "anyone."
- #TLBGP Prediction 3) Simona gets RSWC points.
- VERDICT: Yes, she does. Two of them. See below.
- #TGPLB Prediction 4) Mike Conway wins. 4a) Mike Conway races again in IndyCar this season.
- VERDICT: Dead wrong. Probably twice. I don't regret it, though. He was running pretty well (not race-winning well, but well) up until he got "Electrical"-ed out.
- All in all, two predictions perfect, one mostly, and one big swing and a miss. I'll take it.
Race Score World Championship
Here's your updated RSWC Standings:
| Driver | RCWC Points | Points Back |
| Castroneves | 43 | 0 |
| Dixon | 36 | -7 |
| Andretti | 27 | -16 |
| Sato | 25 | -18 |
| Hunter-Reay | 25 | -18 |
| Wison | 20 | -23 |
| Newgarden | 15 | -28 |
| Viso | 15 | -28 |
| Pagenaud | 13 | -30 |
| Rahal | 12 | -31 |
| Hinchcliffe | 12 | -31 |
| Kanaan | 11 | -32 |
| Servia | 10 | -33 |
| Kimball | 8 | -35 |
| Franchitti | 6 | -37 |
| Bourdais | 6 | -37 |
| Tagliani | 6 | -37 |
| Power | 6 | -37 |
| Hildebrand | 4 | -39 |
| de Silvestro | 2 | -41 |
| Carpenter | 1 | -42 |
- Good to see de Silvestro score here. Her good qualifying position, and tire degradation were her undoing in St. Pete (although, it appears the new formula would have scored her a point or two), I think she'll be a major (or at least more major) player in the RSWC by the end of the season.
- I still stand by Ed Carpenter and his one point. He WILL score RSWC points on ovals, and his 28.70 this week was better than RSWC Leader, Helio Castroneves' 25.93. We haven't heard the last from Ed.
- Finally, as should be apparent, Castroneves fails to score, tightening things up between him, Dixon, and Andretti.
There's an open weekend before Sao Paulo, so stay tuned to the blog for the regularly scheduled Friday update. I'm going to have a little bit of fun with my Alma Mater and bicycles. Plus, you might just get introduced to a good friend of mine.
Later,
-- Guido
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