Surprise!!

Well, there's no race to preview this weekend. That's strange. The IndyCar Series has been running full bore ever since Indy, and a week off is more than due. This also give us at Scoring Indy a chance to a little bit of a retrospective, looking back at the numbers that surprised us, and the ones that didn't from Indy to Iowa. Away we go!!


Indianapolis 500

Most Surprising: Carlos Munoz - 62.05 -- Now, Munoz finishing well isn't a surprise. The Andretti Autosport cars were hooked up all Month of May long. What is surprising is that a rookie (any rookie) finished P2, had an average running position of 6.56, and a Race Score of 60+. For perspective, the most 60+ Race Scores that have been recorded in any single oval race this year is 4. And, a rookie got one of them. So, I'm not surprised about Carlos Munoz himself, but I'm surprised that an Indy rookie managed it. Well done, Munoz. Well done.

Least Surprising: Marco Andretti - 64.68 -- Andretti is the reason that Munoz's performance isn't a complete smack in the face to all things logical. He had it together for the entire month. It's only a matter of time before Marco wins the 500. Of course, we probably all said that about his dad...


Dual In Detroit Race 1

Most Surprising: Mike Conway, Destroyer of Worlds - 90.53 -- To review, the following things happened. 1) Mike Conway had raced once before in the IndyCar Series in 2013. 2) That race ended after 38 of the scheduled 80 laps at Long Beach and the word "Electrical" on the box score. 3) Mike Conway jumps into the second Dale Coyne Racing car, which finished 22, 24, 14, 25, and 30 in races up to that point. 4) Mike Conway, with limited seat time before qualifying, just slaps Justin Wilson's set up on the car. 5) Mike Conway destroys worlds. Just, an out-and-out impressive drive. Hope to see Conway again this year.

Least Surprising: Ryan Hunter-Reay - 76.63 -- RHR ran well at Barber, and Barber is perhaps the closest analogue to Belle Isle in the series. Now, I know that Barber is a road course and Belle Isle is streets, but they seem to race similarly, at least to my eye. Passes are at a premium. Pit strategy and tire conservation are important. So, when I look at what RHR did back in Alabama, I am not surprised that he ran so well at Detroit.


Dual In Detroit Race 2

Most Surprising: AJ Allmendinger - 1.33 -- I'm just not so sure what to make of the Dinger's part-time foray back into open-wheel racing this year. He was running well at Barber, but that ended poorly. His run at Long Beach ended with mechanical issues. He had a chance to win the Indy 500, but his seat belts came loose. He crashed on the first lap of the Dual in Detroit double header. So, I really thought he was going to have a good showing here. He did not. He crashed on the first lap again. I was surprised. Big ups, however, to AJ for winning the Nationwide Series race at Road America. Still would like to see him back in an Indy Car, however.

Least Surprising: Mike Conway, Destroyer of Worlds - 73.64 -- I saw Race 1, so I am entirely un-surprised by Conway's Race 2 showing. He'd have even won the second race too, if he hadn't been held up by Franchitti, but two podium finishes in one weekend is spectacular. 


Firestone 550k at Texas

Most Surprising: Takuma Sato - 54.11 -- Sato seemed to have been in a little bit of a swoon after Sao Paulo. Indy was Honda-ish. Belle Isle didn't go well either. And, after qualifying I wasn't sure that Texas would be better. But, Taku pulled it together on race night, nursing his tires to a P11 finish, up 10 grid spots from where he started the race. Could have gone Kanaan here, but the Indy 500 winner doing well on an oval isn't terribly surprising...

Least Surprising: Helio Castroneves - 91.31 -- This was, at least, the least surprising number after the first pit stop sequence. It was clear that tire management was going to rule the day. It was clear that Helio was good at it. It was clear that he was going to dominate. And, after we got about 100 laps in, everyone with eyeballs should have agreed.


Milwaukee IndyFest

Most Surprising: Will Power - 59.35 -- Power has been having a very un-Power-ish calendar year. Not only that, but he's not ever been known to perform well when not allowed to turn right. His only oval win is at Texas, basically the Anti-Milwaukee. He's never had a problem with qualifying, so I wasn't surprised when he pulled down the third spot on the grid, but when he held on to it for 250 laps, I must confess myself to be surprised.

Least Surprising: Helio Castroneves - 79.39 -- Here are Helio's Race Scores from Indy to Milwaukee: 59.11; 63.16; 46.51; 91.31; 79.39. If 45 is our informal cut off for "good drive" and 60 is the line for "great," then Helio had his fifth straight good to great race at Milwaukee, it should be of little surprise that he was dominating both the IndyCar Championship and the RSWC at that point.


Iowa Corn Indy 250

Most Surprising: James Hinchcliffe - 98.57 -- The Mayor of Hinchtown wins for the third time this year. That gives him more wins this season than anyone else in the series. The only other multi-time winner is RHR, the defending series champ. Hinchcliffe, however, has been boom or bust on the twisties, and on ovals it's mostly been blah, hanging out mid-pack at Indy, Texas, and Milwaukee. But, Andretti Autosport seems to have Iowa figured. This is a lot like Munoz being most surprising at Indy. I'm not surprised that an Andretti car did this well. I'm surprised that it was this one. One of these days, I'll be right when I pick Marco...

Least Surprising: Tony Kanaan - 60.75 -- TK has another solid, solid run on an oval track. First at Indy, third at Texas, tenth at Milwaukee, and third at Iowa. The best Race Score in that run: 79.74 at Indy, and the worst was a 37.76 at Milwaukee, which almost scored him some RSWC points. I'd wager that the Triple Crown is very much in play at Pocono.


Stay Tuned

We'll try to cook up something a little fun to preview Pocono in a week. In the mean time, I'm going to pretend I know things about Formula One by saying the word "Silverstone" as much as possible in the next two days.

-- Guido