Looking Back -- Milwaukee

Hello Internet! It's Friday, so you can depend on Scoring Indy to bring you up to date with all your IndyCar quantification needs. A double-dip coming today. First, this post where we look back on the Milwaukee IndyFest. A little later today (a few hours, tops) up will go the Iowa preview. So, that's what's on tap, but the pressing issue is the numbers. Here goes:

Milwaukee Scores

Race Finish	Driver	Qualifying	Grid	Laps Led	Completed	A.R.S.	R.S.W.C. Points
1	Hunter-Reay	4	4	65	250	77.11	15
2	Castroneves	18	17	0	250	80.08	25
3	Power	3	3	4	250	59.35	10
4	Viso	5	5	10	250	60.49	12
5	Hinchcliffe	2	2	0	250	50.34	4
6	Dixon	11	11	0	250	55.11	6
7	Sato	15	15	109	250	77.61	18
8	Franchitti	17	23	0	250	57.79	8
9	Wilson	13	13	1	249	45.92	2
10	Kanaan	7	7	0	249	37.76
11	Newgarden	8	8	0	249	36.26
12	Pagenaud	9	9	0	249	35.18
13	Saavadra	6	6	0	248	27.15
14	Carpenter	21	20	0	248	41.30	1
15	Briscoe	19	18	0	248	31.82
16	Rahal	23	24	0	247	31.44
17	Kimball	22	21	0	246	28.01
18	Jakes	12	12	0	245	12.00
19	Beatriz	20	19	0	242	18.72
20	Andretti	1	1	61	176	5.59
21	Vautier	10	10	0	173	2.37
22	Bourdais	14	14	0	152	3.81
23	Tagliani	16	16	0	146	0.37
24	de Silvestro	24	22	0	69	1.60

Observations

- Now, THIS is why I started writing this blog! look at the variety of Race Scores there in the Top 10. Here are the most interesting stories from the numbers for me:

- Helio Castroneves -- Finishes second. Doesn't lead a lap. BUT moves from P17 to P2. Has an Average Running Position of 5.84. Gobbles up all 25 RSWC Points. 

- Dario Franchitti -- "But, Guido," you say. "There are so many more interesting stories," you say. "You're just a huge Franchitti fanboy," you say. "So what?" I say. I've been fascinated by the "under-performance" of both Franchitti and Power this year (don't worry, I'll get to Will). This weekend, I thought that both of them had closer to vintage performances than they've had all year. Franchitti took a car that qualified back in 17th and that moved to the back of the pack for the start, and despite not really having a Top 10 car (his average running position was 12.39), he brought it home in P8. That's a pretty darn good run.

- Will Power -- Power looked even more vintage-er (yes, more vintage-er) than Dario. He ran up in the Top 5. He podium-ed an oval. HE PODIUM-ED AN OVAL! Don't count Will out the rest of the year. Ever.

- Takuma Sato -- Finishes 7th in the race. Finishes 2nd in the RSWC Points. Leads 109 laps. Gets bit by fuel strategy. If it were anyone other than Sato, I'd say he would make a push to contend for the RSWC by the end of the year. But, I just can't trust him yet.

Prediction Review

- #IndyFest Prediction 1) I was right about Andretti. Top 5 finish; Top 5 Race Score.

- VERDICT - My two least favorite words are "electrical" and "mechanical." Marco had it. He HAD IT! And, then he didn't. And, my dismal streak on ovals continues. 0 for 1.

- #IndyFest Prediction 2) More cars finish on the lead lap than did at Texas.

- VERDICT - Kinda a gimme. Think of this as training wheels for my oval predicting career. But, I'll take it. 1 for 2.

- #IndyFest Prediction 3) Josef Newgarden gets on the podium.

- VERDICT - Not so much. He was up as high as P4. He had a couple of Top 10 runs. I suppose if "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, everyone would have a Merry Christmas. 1 for 3.

- #IndyFest Prediction 4) Helio keeps his RSWC lead, but it shrinks.

- VERDICT - Halfway. He keeps the lead and actually grows it. 1.5 for 4. One of these days I'll get a hang of ovals.

Speaking of the RSWC...

Race Score World Championship Update

 

Driver	RCWC Points	Points Back
Castroneves	113	0
Hunter-Reay	91	-22
Sato	76	-37
Andretti	73	-40
Dixon	64	-49
Pagenaud	60	-53
Kanaan	59	-54
Conway	43	-70
Newgarden	43	-70
Wison	43	-70
Franchitti	39	-74
Hinchcliffe	30	-83
Kimball	28	-85
Viso	27	-86
Power	21	-92
Carpenter	14	-99
Rahal	13	-100
Munoz	12	-101
Servia	12	-101
Bourdais	8	-105
Jakes	8	-105
Tagliani	7	-106
de Silvestro	6	-107
Hildebrand	4	-109
Allmendinger	4	-109
Briscoe	1	-112

- I thought I would have witty observations. Instead I have questions. Here they are:

- Can Helio be caught? (Ok, that's a bad question. He obviously can. The question is "Will Helio be caught?")

- How high will Mike Conway finish? (I fully expect more races from him, when we go back to twisties.)

- How many series regulars will finish behind Munoz?

- Power or Franchitti, who finishes higher? (Maybe I'm stuck in 2010...)

- Will Ed Carpenter get up into the Top 10, and thereby validate my earliest ever prediction?

Stay Tuned

Will Iowa sort any of this out? Iowa preview coming up soon! See you then!

-- Guido