Dual 1 Quick-Post

Hello Internet, Guido here with a Scoring Indy quick update on Race 1 from Detroit. I said quick, so here are the numbers:


2014 Detroit Race 1 Scores

Finish	Driver	Grid	Led	Completed	A.R.P	Race Score	RSWC Points
1	Power	16	21	70	5.91	91.95	10
2	Rahal	9	10	70	7.31	70.95	8
3	Kanaan	8	0	70	7.30	61.67	4
4	Wilson	19	0	70	11.50	68.94	6
5	Castroneves	1	30	70	4.67	63.27	5
6	Hinchcliffe	2	0	70	6.00	45.45
7	Munoz	11	0	70	10.50	49.24	1
8	Huertas	12	0	70	12.14	45.24
9	Kimball	20	0	70	11.49	55.32	3
10	Andretti	18	1	70	10.39	51.41	2
11	Dixon	10	1	70	9.27	37.94
12	Montoya	6	0	70	10.21	26.95
13	Bourdais	7	0	70	12.99	21.23
14	Saavedra	13	0	70	14.06	25.67
15	Briscoe	5	5	70	8.37	21.52
16	Hunter-Reay	21	0	69	12.06	34.42
17	Aleshin	22	2	68	11.69	34.02
18	Sato	15	0	66	18.64	9.52
19	Hawksworth	3	0	65	14.66	-4.72
20	Newgarden	14	0	36	9.08	10.71
21	Conway	4	0	14	4.00	3.64
22	Pagenaud	17	0	4	15.75	1.71

A Word on Strategy

The one observation from this race is a quick look at the three (plus one) main strategies that we saw yesterday, by looking at some example drivers:

The Stop-Early Three-Stopper

Power -- Power's winning strategy was a textbook "get off sequence early" three-stop strategy. Power dove into the pits under an early yellow, losing virtually no track position, and in doing so allowed himself to A) not worry a lick about fuel, and B) run alternate/option/red tires for as little of the race as possible. Here's to you, Will Power. Masterclass.

Kimball -- Kimball's strategy worked similar to Power's, except that he started on primary tires. This resulted in Kimball staying out later than Power for his second stop (blacks-to-reds) but coming in sooner for his final stop (reds-to-blacks) in order to get rid of the troublesome alternates.

Effectiveness -- You have to say it was effective, it won the race. Andy, by and large drivers on this strategy, who used this strategy and finished the race out-performed their Average Running Position.


The Short-Stint Three-Stopper

Rahal -- This strategy is a variation on the strategy seen above. But, while Power started on alternates, and pitted early to ditch them; Rahal started on blacks (as did Kimball), and needed to short-stint his reds somewhere else. He wound up running longer on his alternate tires than Power, and had to make all three pit stops under green, circumstances that may have served to lose him the race (although, I can't imagine that Graham Rahal is disappointed with a runner-up finish.) Rahal did, however run fewer laps on reds than Kimball, which may have served to his benefit.

Unintentionals -- Rahal was the only driver to try this strategy on purpose. But, a couple of drivers wound up inadvertently on similar strategies. Carlos Munoz took a fuel-only stop under yellow during the second caution period, and Carlos Huertas functionally adopted this strategy by serving his drive-through penalty.

Effectiveness -- It allowed Rahal to get his best result of the year, and he did so by out-performing his car, based on A.R.P. If the yellows had fallen differently (or if Power had bobbled out front), Rahal could have gotten it.


The Two-Stopper

Castroneves & Hinchcliffe -- These strategies are actually identical, and are the baseline by which the other strategies can be evaluated. Both drivers pitted first at lap 17 under yellow, then 29 laps later on 46. Both drivers also started on scuffed alternates, and ran sticker blacks the rest of the way.

Effectiveness -- As I said, this is the baseline strategy, and I call it this, because cars on this strategy basically finished right on track with their spots in the running order: Helio P5 with an A.R.P. of 4.67 and Hinch P6 with a 6.00 A.R.P.


The All-Yellows Four-Stopper

Wilson -- This is the oddball strategy of the bunch. Wilson made one more stop than other drivers in contention, and made each stop under yellow flag conditions. This led to Wilson being behind on running position (but because he only pitted under yellow, not necessarily track position) all day, but it kept him with fresh tires under him, which seem to have served him well.

Effectiveness -- It certainly didn't help Wilson run up front, his A.R.P. is quite low down the order (11.50), but he was able to stay on track laying down green laps while others pitted. Big payoff for the off-the wall call.


Stay Tuned

Be sure to follow @ScoringIndy on Twitter. You can already see my (sure to be) terrible race predictions for Race 2 of this weekend's event. You'll also get blog updates, for when new scores and previews go live. See you after Race 2!!

-- Guido