The Scorecard from Iowa -- A Test Case

Hey there Internet!! It's Guido here with another Scoring Indy update. This week, we'll look at the scorecard from Iowa, talk about why it works, and look forward to the IndyCar Series home stretch. Let's get to it!


Iowa Corn 300 Scorecard

Here it is. Reminder, R.R.P. is Representative Running Position*

Finish	Driver	Grid	Led	Completed	R.R.P.	Race Score
1	Hunter-Reay	9	37	300	4.85	80.40
2	Newgarden	7	111	300	2.78	85.12
3	Karam	10	0	300	6.63	70.38
4	Rahal	17	7	300	11.63	67.84
5	Munoz	12	0	300	6.98	66.71
6	Carpenter	11	0	300	9.73	58.76
7	Andretti	8	0	300	8.38	55.14
8	Briscoe	19	0	300	10.75	60.29
9	Bourdais	24	6	300	12.83	60.15
10	Power	6	2	300	9.33	43.93
11	Castroneves	1	50	300	5.10	46.72
12	Vautier	20	0	299	15.13	43.99
13	Hawksworth	21	7	299	15.85	41.89
14	Pagenaud	5	0	299	14.00	24.97
15	Jakes	14	3	299	14.90	30.57
16	Chaves	23	0	299	18.77	31.03
17	Wilson	18	0	297	15.69	27.93
18	Dixon	4	0	263	5.26	25.19
19	Sato	15	0	260	14.97	19.35
20	Coletti	13	0	191	20.76	7.39
21	Kanaan	2	70	189	2.25	19.85
22	Kimball	16	7	170	15.35	10.02
23	Mann	22	0	136	21.56	5.09
24	Montoya	3	0	9	5.56	1.82

*Drivers completing all 300 laps were scored on a non-scientific representative sample of 40 laps. All other drivers (with the exception of Montoya) were scored on each lap within the sample that they completed. Since Montoya only ran 9 laps, I counted them all.



What This Tells Us


At the very least, this tells us that R.R.P. is a pretty decent replacement for Average Running Position. IndyCar.com puts out "Inside the Box Score" articles after most races (I think) and in them, occasionally Average Running Position stats get shared. This makes me know that they exist somewhere.


If anyone knows how I can get access to this information without having to calculate it myself, let me know.


Anyway, the "Inside the Box Score" article for Iowa let us know the A.R.P. for both Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden. RHR's was 5.25, and Newgarden's was 2.61. Those are both within half a position of their Representative Running Positions, and affect their Race Scores by less than a point each. And, their relative positions remain unaffected.



Looking Ahead


The last three races of the season are upon us, and with Mid-Ohio, Pocono, and Sonoma on offer, I think we're in for good racing. I've been spending a lot of time with the Littlest Guido recently, so I'm a little late this week, I know and things are a little bare bones. Hopefully you enjoy the numbers, and we'll have more to share in the next few races. See you out there!


-- Guido