Hello Internet! Guido here with another Scoring Indy
update! The Verizon IndyCar Series has begun, and I already can't wait to get
to Long Beach. But, before that, we need to take a glance back at the St.
Petersburg scores. There's a lot of data there, so let's hop to it!
2014 St. Pete Scores
| Finish | Driver | Grid | Led | Completed | A.R.P. | Race Score | RSWC Points |
| 1 | Power | 4 | 74 | 110 | 1.98 | 92.15 | 10 |
| 2 | Hunter-Reay | 3 | 0 | 110 | 3.01 | 63.62 | 6 |
| 3 | Castroneves | 10 | 2 | 110 | 3.20 | 71.52 | 8 |
| 4 | Dixon | 5 | 0 | 110 | 5.43 | 56.93 | 4 |
| 5 | Pagenaud | 14 | 0 | 110 | 9.99 | 60.62 | 5 |
| 6 | Kanaan | 2 | 0 | 110 | 5.63 | 46.02 | |
| 7 | Sato | 1 | 33 | 110 | 3.78 | 54.27 | 1 |
| 8 | Wilson | 16 | 0 | 110 | 8.49 | 56.83 | 3 |
| 9 | Newgarden | 22 | 0 | 110 | 13.10 | 55.91 | 2 |
| 10 | Briscoe | 9 | 0 | 110 | 10.38 | 37.30 | |
| 11 | Saavedra | 11 | 0 | 110 | 13.96 | 31.87 | |
| 12 | Aleshin | 15 | 0 | 110 | 17.30 | 29.85 | |
| 13 | Bourdais | 13 | 0 | 110 | 13.44 | 29.64 | |
| 14 | Rahal | 21 | 0 | 110 | 15.89 | 35.01 | |
| 15 | Montoya | 18 | 0 | 110 | 15.24 | 28.43 | |
| 16 | Conway | 12 | 1 | 110 | 9.47 | 25.34 | |
| 17 | Munoz | 7 | 0 | 110 | 12.23 | 10.26 | |
| 18 | Huertas | 17 | 0 | 110 | 19.01 | 12.11 | |
| 19 | Hinchcliffe | 19 | 0 | 109 | 20.97 | 9.10 | |
| 20 | Kimball | 20 | 0 | 108 | 19.75 | 9.38 | |
| 21 | Hawksworth | 8 | 0 | 83 | 12.59 | 0.07 | |
| 22 | Andretti | 6 | 0 | 82 | 14.89 | -7.40 |
A quick
vocabulary lesson:
- Finish
-- The position in which a driver is classified in the official box score.
- Grid --
The starting position assigned to a driver.
- Led --
Laps during which that driver is scored in the lead on the official lap chart.
-
Completed -- Number of laps completed by that driver in the race.
- A.R.P.
-- Abbreviation for "Average Running Position." The average of the
positions, in which that driver is scored, during each lap he/she completes.
- Race
Score -- What my mathematical black box spits out when I input all of the
above. 90+ is a special drive. 45+ is a drive to be happy with. <40 is not
often a good day. (These numbers are general rules of thumb. I'm still learning
here.)
- RSWC Points -- Race Score World Championship
Points. I award points to the Top 8 Race Scores like this: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
We'll see how the results shake out over the year, and how they compare to the
official IndyCar Series points standings.
Observations
- First of all, I really like at least one of the changes that I made to the RSWC, so far. It seems to be correct to only award points to eight drivers, especially with a field of only 22. As the field grows and shrinks with one-offs and such, we'll continue to try and get a pulse on that, but I think we can say with certainty that it worked for this race. The jury is still out on the revamp of the actual points themselves, but I think we'll get a handle on that in the next month.
- Now, on to the actual data. Power turns in a dominating 92.15. To put that in perspective, there were only five scores of 90+ last year. This only happens about a quarter of the time. Special stuff. Good strategy. Nice race setup. Will Power, ladies and gentlemen.
- Now, maybe my readers more familiar with racecraft can help me out on this one, but I did not understand the timing of Takuma Sato's second pit stop. Sato elected to stay out on course after Power pitted from the lead, but he wasn't making up any time, since he was mired in back-of-the-field traffic. I realize that Sato was able to stay out longer, but it can't be the right decision to stay out, just to be slowed down by the cars in front of you, can it? Because, right now, I feel like that's what cost Sato the podium, if not the race.
- Looking farther down the sheet, we see a respectable-for P14 score of 35.01 for Graham Rahal. Really game effort by Rahal to go from the back to mid-pack on the start and keep it there throughout. I know that I usually say 45 is the cut-off for "happy with it" but 35.01 is a GREAT score for finishing 14th of 22. A good drive to build on for that team.
- Mike Conway, oh Mike Conway. The Destroyer of Worlds had his world destroyed in the last segment of the race. Bringing home a car with an Average Running Position of 9.47 home in P16 is tragic stuff. Conway was doomed by a miscommunication from his pit and a penalty for passing the pace car. Rough stuff, but a lot of positives for the Super-Squad of Specialists that is Ed Carpenter Racing.
- Finally, a quick "bully for you" to Tony Kanaan for placing just on the outside of the RSWC Points looking in. Even though Kanaan went "backwards" during the race, starting in P2 and finishing P6, he did all that on his lean fuel mix, after having the fuel knob literally fall off his steering wheel. Impressive work, sir. A 46.02 running lean is nothing to sneeze at.
- Finally, a quick "bully for you" to Tony Kanaan for placing just on the outside of the RSWC Points looking in. Even though Kanaan went "backwards" during the race, starting in P2 and finishing P6, he did all that on his lean fuel mix, after having the fuel knob literally fall off his steering wheel. Impressive work, sir. A 46.02 running lean is nothing to sneeze at.
Sorting Out the Point-Scorers
The inagural 2014 RSWC Table looks like this:
| Driver | Points |
| Power | 10 |
| Castroneves | 8 |
| Hunter-Reay | 6 |
| Pagenaud | 5 |
| Dixon | 4 |
| Wilson | 3 |
| Newgarden | 2 |
| Sato | 1 |
- Power, Castroneves, Hunter-Reay. Can't argue with that order for top drives. Well, you can (and that's the beauty of it), but I think it's right.
- Simon Pagenaud, at least to me, had a very quiet Top 4 day. Top 4 in terms of Race Scores that is. He finished the race P5. He, however, jumps Dixon in terms of scoring because of his march through the field from P14 to P5, whereas Dixon basically held steady all race long. And, this takes nothing away from Dixon, who turned in a 56.93-scoring drive on a track that does not usually favor his team.
- I also want to take a second just to highlight Justin Wilson and Josef Newgarden. Wilson, despite finishing back in P8, nearly equaled Scott Dixon's 56.93 with a score of 56.83. A real accomplishment by the Englishman, in my book, to take a car that couldn't get out of Q1 (yes, yes I know it was wet) and run it in the Top 10 all day. A similar feat was accomplished by Newgarden, who literally started last, and hauled his machine up to the Top 10 by the end of the thing. This Newgarden kid is going to win something one of these days...
- Finally, all of Sato's laps led keep him on the points list.
The Hall of Averages
Since we've already looked at the RSWC Table, which will normally share this space, here's just a quick look at everyone's average Race Score so far this year (Spoiler Alert: you know these already.)
| Driver | Average |
| Power | 92.15 |
| Castroneves | 71.52 |
| Hunter-Reay | 63.62 |
| Pagenaud | 60.62 |
| Dixon | 56.93 |
| Wilson | 56.83 |
| Newgarden | 55.91 |
| Sato | 54.27 |
| Kanaan | 46.02 |
| Briscoe | 37.30 |
| Rahal | 35.01 |
| Saavedra | 31.81 |
| Aleshin | 29.85 |
| Bourdais | 29.64 |
| Montoya | 28.43 |
| Conway | 25.34 |
| Huertas | 12.11 |
| Munoz | 10.26 |
| Kimball | 9.38 |
| Hinchcliffe | 9.10 |
| Hawksworth | 0.07 |
| Andretti | -7.40 |
- Not much to say that hasn't been said, but the points table as well as this table of average scores will be grouped together in a "Race Score World Championship Update" section after every race. These averages will start to tell us something (hopefully) by the time the GP of Indianapolis rolls around.
Prediction Review
And now a look at my (usually dismal) race predictions from Twitter:
- #FirestoneGP Prediction 1) Hawksworth is the highest finishing rookie in the race.
VERDICT -- Well, he could have been, but then he wrecked. So, no. 0 for 1.
- #FirestoneGP Prediction 2) At least one Colombian scores RSWC Points.
VERDICT -- I really thought I was hedging my bets here with all the Columbians in the field. I was sure that Munoz or the good-qualifying Saavedra would eek out just one point (or that Juan Pablo Montoya had been sandbagging us all). But, it was not to be 0 for 2.
- #FirestoneGP Prediction 3) Power or Sato to win, you get the field.
VERDICT -- Nailed it. The only two leaders of substance, and they're my picks. Still think Sato should have finished higher. Seriously, let me know about that strategy. 1 for 3!
- #FirestoneGP Prediction 4) The top 8 race finishers will not all score RSWC Points.
VERDICT -- Thanks to Tony Kanann and the falling fuel knob, I squeak it out! 2 for 4. That's not bad for me.
Stay Tuned
Next week, there won't be a race to preview. Now, later in the season, when I've got a lot of numbers to play with, these off weeks can be pretty fun. But, as of right now, I've only got one race worth of data for 2014. That makes off-weeks lame. So, I turn to you: my dozen(s) of faithful readers. (I know there are at least 3, so I'm doing some generous rounding.) I have two questions for you:
1) What sort of content are you interested in seeing during off weeks?
2) How should I pick my new favorite driver?
Number Two might require some explanation. Here goes. Anyone who read me last year (or goes back and reads my old posts) knows that I'm an unabashed fan of the Gallant Fox, Dario Franchitti. And, yes, I know I'm the only one who calls him that. See this post for the genesis of the nickname. But, with Dario's injury-forced retirement, I'm left without a favorite. How should I decide?
You can leave suggestions in the comments, or tweet them to me @ScoringIndy on Twitter. Be sure to follow, so that you get blog updates as well as the comic relief that the inaccuracy of my Race Predictions always brings. See you Friday!
1) What sort of content are you interested in seeing during off weeks?
2) How should I pick my new favorite driver?
Number Two might require some explanation. Here goes. Anyone who read me last year (or goes back and reads my old posts) knows that I'm an unabashed fan of the Gallant Fox, Dario Franchitti. And, yes, I know I'm the only one who calls him that. See this post for the genesis of the nickname. But, with Dario's injury-forced retirement, I'm left without a favorite. How should I decide?
You can leave suggestions in the comments, or tweet them to me @ScoringIndy on Twitter. Be sure to follow, so that you get blog updates as well as the comic relief that the inaccuracy of my Race Predictions always brings. See you Friday!
-- Guido
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