What the Numbers Say... 2013 Drivers & Teams

Hello Internet! It's Guido here with another Scoring Indy update. Last week, our look back at 2013's races gave us a chance to all become better readers of Race Scores. This week, we'll take a look back at some of the best drivers from 2013, and use that as a springboard going into 2014. Enough talk, though, let's get to some numbers!


Breakdown -- 2013 RSWC Top 10

Below, you can see the Top 10 drivers from last year's Race Score World Championship (where I award F1-style points based on Race Scores). You can see each driver's best, worst, and average scores, along with how many RSWC points that driver scored. Here's the table:

	High : Race	Low : Race	Average	RSWC Points
Dixon	98.19 : Toronto 2	-8.00 : Sao Paulo	52.39	198
Castroneves	91.31 : Texas	-8.34 : Houston 2	50.14	164
Hunter-Reay	85.57 : Barber	-17.16 : Long Beach	36.61	134
Pagenaud	77.37 : Belle Isle 2	2.74 : St. Pete	49.92	128
Andretti	73.15 : Long Beach	-4.66 : Houston 2	47.49	120
Power	95.62 : Houston 2	-0.60 : Long Beach	41.45	114
Wilson	86.11 : Long Beach	-9.41 : Sao Paulo	46.47	108
Franchitti	75.28 : Pocono	-3.33 : Barber	39.57	101
Kanaan	79.74 : Indy 500	-14.96 : Sao Paulo	35.63	97
Hinchcliffe	98.57 : Iowa	-11.25 : Long Beach	37.61	96

So, what can we glean from this? Here are some quick thoughts:

- Lots of lowest scores coming from Old Formula races (Barber, Long Beach, & Sao Paulo). This is pretty easily explainable, since the Old Formula tended to kick out big negative scores.

- Look at Hunter-Reay's line for a second. He finishes third in RSWC Points, despite having the second worst average score. This is a quirk of the points system, in my opinion. Giving out 25 points for the best Race Score means that if a driver has a couple of good performances that driver grabs bunches of RSWC Points, while not actually putting together a strong season. I'm considering a tweak to the scoring system to rectify this, but I'm not sold yet. It feels weird to bail for another points system after just one year.

- Allow me to sing the praises (for a minute) of Simon Pagenaud and Marco Andretti. Those are two young drivers, who were third and fifth in IndyCar Series points and fourth and fifth in the RSWC. That's impressive to begin with. What I find most impressive, however, is that they have outstanding average scores (49.92 for Pagenaud and 47.49 for Andretti) and they do this with high scores mired in the 70s. These two brought it consistently last year. That didn't surprise me about Pagenaud, but it did surprise me about Marco. If they keep it up, they'll be fun to watch for years to come.

- I miss Franchitti already... That's all.

Breakdown -- 2013 Teams

So, looking at some driver numbers is cool and all, but it doesn't really help us to preview the upcoming season, and with St. Pete basically two weeks away, I want to start previewing. So, I thought the best way to do that was to look at how various teams did last year. Below, you'll find a table of how various seats performed. I'll detail each briefly after we look at average scores.

	Average
Coyne 1	46.47
Target CGR	46.42
Penske	43.74
Other CGR	41.99
Andretti 1-3	40.89
Schmidt	36.71
KVSH	35.80
SFHR	34.26
Andretti 4	31.31
Coyne 2	31.20
Dragon	29.27
Panther	28.48
Foyt	27.70
RLL	26.67
BHA	23.81

- Coyne 1: I'm not surprised to see Dale Coyne Racing at the top of the chart, actually. I split Coyne into Car One and Car Two because of the ride-share program that was last year in Dale's second car. Wilson had an amazing year. Wilson is an amazing driver. He can win in that car. But, he hasn't won in that car without Bill Pappas, now at RLL. I don't expect that this number will stay as high next year, but I also don't expect it to dip below 40.

- Target CGR: You can make the argument that Ganassi Racing has become one big happy family. That certainly seemed to be the case from Pocono onwards last year, and I think with the addition of Briscoe in the #8 for 2014 you can definitely say that it's one four-car team this year. Last year, however, I went into the season unconvinced. Anyway, It's not surprising that the Red Cars are up here, but what I'm interested to see is how well Ganassi is served by the change to a Chevy after putting up such gaudy numbers last year in a Honda.

- Penske: This is probably the reason Ganassi went for that Chevy. The Captain's team would likely edge out the Target cars for the Top-Non-Wilson Spot if it hadn't been for a gremlin-infested start to the season for Will Power and a terrible weekend in Detroit for AJ Allmendinger. I expect another big year from this squad. And, I think it might be Will Power's year.

- Other CGR: This conglomeration of Charlie Kimball and Briscoe-at-the-500 come in with a solid performance. I'll use this space to glow about Charlie Kimball. I can't think of another first-time race winner that I was happier for last year. And, one has to assume that adding Ryan Briscoe to the mix only helps.

- Andretti 1-3: This is (perhaps) an artificial distinction, but I drew the line at Marco, Hinch, and RHR. It just seemed last season like Viso wasn't really part of the team. So, there's these three. In Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe you have a couple of boom-or-bust seasons, with high highs, but also low lows. Marco, as I discussed earlier was a model of consistency in 2013. These drivers know how to race. They'll be fine as long as the shift to Honda goes smoothly.

- Schmidt: I'm lumping both of Sam Schmidt's cars together, but I'm not sure that I should. The final number of 36.71 comes from Pagenaud being "weighed down" by Vautier. Now, I put "weighed down" in quotes, because I think Vautier knows how to drive, and (especially early in the year) I really saw some flashes of brilliance out of him. If Mikhail Aleshin is up to speed relatively quickly, this team can (and I stress CAN) be a powerhouse.

- KVSH: Not entirely sure what to make of these guys. They won the Indy 500. They didn't have a lot of superb showings other than that. Simona seemed to develop really well throughout the year in one of their cars. They hired the team of Sebastien and Sebastian that had been at Dragon racing. Just keep KV in mind when I get to Dragon.

- SFHR: I thought that 2013 was, by and large, a good season for Sara Fisher Hartman Racing and driver Josef Newgarden. I thought Newgarden (despite me stubbornly referring to him as Newgarten for like half the season) really started to come along, and he could have won a race or two (Sao Paulo and Baltimore come to mind immediately). The team has lost some key engineering folks, though. So, 2014 might be more of the same: reasonable with elements of brilliance, but possibly no more.

- Andretti 4: Not much to say here. I think all four Andretti Autosport cars will be lumped together a little more clearly with Munoz in the fourth car this year.

- Coyne 2: The little ride share that could comes in at 31.20, thanks in large part to all the worlds that Mike Conway destroyed last year. I'm not sure what I expect from this car next year. It mostly depends on the driver, I guess. We, of course, won't find out who is in this car until Spring Testing next week. I reserve judgment until then.

- Dragon: I said I'd get back to Sebastien and Sebastian. I'm not sure what to make of these two. Halfway through the season, I'd have told you that they were going nowhere in particular and getting there fast. But, Bourdais really started to put up results from Sonoma onwards. Saavedra, however, has never put up results at the highest level. I'd expect these two to finish with a better average next year (based on better equipment, and Bourdais' continued return to form), but I'm not sure they do much better in their new digs than said digs' previous occupants.

- Panther: Sad season. Sadder silly season. Everything that can be said has been said somewhere else.

- Foyt: Last year, Takuma Sato explored his ceiling, by winning at Long Beach, almost winning at Sao Paulo, and leading an astronomical number of laps at Milwaukee. He also explored his floor, by running over Ryan Hunter-Reay at Pocono, running four laps at Baltimore, and dropping like a stone after winning the pole at the first Houston race. If Sato can keep away from the floor, and spend more time near the ceiling, and if Larry Foyt and company can put a respectable car underneath him, this can be a good team.

- RLL: Tough year last year for the Rahal organization. They just didn't have the pace. Some engineering additions ought to help rectify that situation. But, I'm reserving judgment on the one and a half car team of Graham Rahal and Oriol Servia until we see some officially timed laps.

- BHA: Finally we come to Bryan Hera Autosport. This has the dubious distinction of being last on our list. This is mostly due to driver Alex Tagliani's rough middle of the season slump. This season might be another one in Rebuilding Mode for the organization, as they bring on Indy Lights grad, Jack Hawksworth for 2014.


One Last Thing

Now, you'll notice that one full-season team hasn't been mentioned yet. That's Ed Carpenter Racing. This is because I want to show you something. Before we look at it, even though you can see the highlighting from here, you should know two things.

1) As a full season entrant, Ed Carpenter Racing's average score last year was in the 30-31 range.

2) Ed Carpenter will only drive ovals in 2014, and Mike Conway will drive twisties.

	Average
Carpenter (Ovals)	54.03
Conway	49.80
Coyne 1	46.47
Target CGR	46.42
Penske	43.74
Other CGR	41.99
Andretti 1-3	40.89
Schmidt	36.71
KVSH	35.80
SFHR	34.26
Andretti 4	31.31
Coyne 2	31.20
Dragon	29.27
Panther	28.48
Foyt	27.70
RLL	26.67
BHA	23.81
Carpenter (Twisties)	21.22

Basically, you've taken a superlative oval driver and a superlative road/street driver (neither of whom cares for the other discipline) and given them a car to share. I think it's brilliant. Now, I'm not saying everyone should adopt this model, IndyCar racing is great because of how versatile the drivers are. But, some drivers aren't versatile. Some drivers are specialists, and I'm glad to see these two specialists in it together.

Stay Tuned

This concludes our two-part look back at the 2013 numbers. Hopefully, our collective appetite is now whetted for some IndyCar action in 2014. Next week, we'll have a grab bag with some stuff I'm working on for the upcoming season and probably something about the start of Formula 1 happening in Australia.

Spring testing commences soon! St. Pete will be upon us in the blink of an eye!

Remember to follow @ScoringIndy on Twitter for blog updates, race predictions, and terrible opinions.

See you next week!

-- Guido

What the Numbers Say... 2013 Races

Hello Internet! Look, look, it's a blog post the week after a blog post. That must mean that it's March, and it's almost time for the [as yet to be named title sponsor] IndyCar Series to get underway for 2014! I am excited beyond excited for this year, and I was even before the recent "good news every day" tidal wave. So, you can imagine that I am ready for 2014 to happen. Like immediately. But, before we can do that, I've been slowly digesting all of last year's numbers over the winter. (Let's be fair, it's still winter here in Wisconsin.) And, over the next two posts, I'll be presenting them to you in preparation for next season. Think of it as a "How to Read a Race Score" guide. (Even though I'm still figuring this all out as well...)


The Numbers of Note

Ok, enough goofing off. Here's the cold, hard, numerical truth about 2013 in IndyCar. This is each race, listed with the high Race Score, the low Race Score and the Average.

	High	Low	Average
St. Pete	80.82	1.27	36.78
Barber*	85.57	-14.36	31.35
Long Beach*	86.81	-17.16	30.80
Sao Paulo*	82.67	-14.96	28.90
Indy 500	79.74	0.99	35.77
Belle Isle 1	90.53	1.33	37.55
Belle Isle 2	77.37	1.33	36.94
Texas	91.31	1.36	36.64
Milwaukee	80.08	0.37	36.55
Iowa	98.57	0.07	36.50
Pocono	83.70	1.39	37.81
Toronto 1	75.73	1.14	36.68
Toronto 2	98.19	-4.57	36.68
Mid-Ohio	86.79	-0.83	36.16
Sonoma	75.52	-1.58	36.32
Baltimore	92.26	1.43	37.41
Houston 1	84.74	1.40	36.71
Houston 2	95.62	-8.34	36.99
Fontana	76.62	0.91	35.11

*Scored with the Old Formula

You get all that? Good. Confused by it? Me too. Let's chat shall we? I'll be referring back to the chart, so don't worry about scrolling up and down. It's not going anywhere.

A Primer on Race Scores

The "Race Score" (or sometimes "Aggregate Race Score") is a numerical tool that I use to help me try to quantify who races well on a particular day. The score takes into account: 1) Finishing position, 2) Laps led, 3) Positions gained on track (relative to both start and qualifying), 4) Average running position on track, and 5) Laps completed. If a driver qualifies on pole, starts on pole, leads every lap, and wins; that driver would have a Race Score of 100. That number is arbitrary, but it seemed like a good place to start.

For further reading on my current Race Score Formula, and how I arrived at it. I would suggest you check out a couple of posts from last year: Behind the Curtain on the New Formula and Pay No Attention to the Formula behind the Curtain. Just click the links and you'll go right there. Or, I'm bad at links. That could be the case.

Well, now that we're all caught up, onward to the data analysis. That's why we're all here! 

What the High Scores Mean

The High Score goes to the driver with the best race. This is often the winner. It is not always the winner. What the magnitude of the high score can tell us is how dominant/impressive that driver was over the course of the race.

High Highs

A very high top score indicates a very impressive drive. If you watched last year's race at Iowa Speedway, you probably aren't surprised that the highest score of the year goes to James Hinchcliffe at that race. Hinch led 226 of 250 laps; started second; finished first; and had an average running position of 1.23. That's dominant. Similar instances of high scores indicating dominance are found in: 

- Will Power's performance in the second Houston Race

- Scott Dixon at Toronto 2

- Mike Conway, DESTROYER OF WORLDS, at the first Belle Isle Race

- And, Helio Castroneves at Texas

But, a high top score can also indicate a very impressive run that is put together by a non-winner. This is mostly done by Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais had the highest score in Baltimore last season despite finishing the race in P3. This was accomplished in a couple of ways. First, he carved up the field, coming from P22 on the grid to nab the lead less than halfway into the race. Second, he led the second most laps behind only Power, who failed to finish the race.

In short, a High High indicates something special. Of course, something special is only fun to watch if it's something like Bourdais at Baltimore (worth noting that he did a similar thing at Toronto 1, but Dixon still outscored him). If something special is Hinchcliffe at Iowa, we'd better all hope they're battling farther back in the field. Regardless, I can appreciate special. My hat's off to these 90+ performances from 2013.

Low Highs

A "low" top score (we're talking in the 70s) usually means competition for the lead. Now, this can take on a variety of forms. Let's look at last year's "Under 80" crowd for a sampling:

- Indy 500: The top score in the 500 last year was 79.74, just barely low enough to count as low. Let's look at the contributing factors. 1) Three drivers led over 30 laps, and no driver led over 40. This lowers everyone's points for laps led, and brings scores down as a result. 2) No driver had an average running position less than P4. This makes sense with all the lead-shuffling that went on at IMS last year, and also indicates that less points will be had for average running position, which drops scores again. I would point out that this is a good example of how a low top score can actually indicate a dramatic race.

- Belle Isle 2: Top score here goes to Simon Pagenaud with a 77.37. This is an instance of a dominant driver (here that is Mike Conway, DESTROYER OF WORLDS) getting shuffled back late in the race due to strategy, and Pagenaud, who benefited from being able to stay out longer before his last stop, was able to strategize his way to the top, without leading as many laps as Conway and with a worse average running position. I find race strategy fascinating. I was glued to my TV for this. I understand that's not everyone's thing.

- Toronto 1 and Sonoma: These are very similar, so we'll lump them together. In both cases the Top 3 finishers in the race all led similar amounts of laps, with very similar average running positions. This leads to a flatter distribution of points. This leads to lower top scores. And, for my money, it leads to fascinating strategy and good road racing.

- Fontana: Finally we get to the finale at Fontana. Top score here goes to race winner and (dare I say) Oval Maestro, Will Power. The mathematical reasons for this being a lower top score are similar to the reasons at Indy. How we get to the math, however, is different. Indy had 19 cars finish on the lead lap. Fontana felt more like an Indy 500 from the early 1990s with only 5 entrants completing the posted race distance. Note, this is NOT a bad thing. Fontana was a compelling race. There was attrition. There was dust. There was more dust. There were worries about championship contenders being able to finish. There was even more dust. The point is, that a low top score usually indicates drama. Sometimes that drama is the pass-fest known as the 2013 Indy 500. Sometimes that drama is the attrition-fest known as the 2013 MAVTV 500.

What the Low Scores Mean

Let's just take a moment to glance at the "Low Score" column. This isn't nearly as fascinating as the high scores but there are a couple things worth noting. First, you'll see that in the three early-season races that didn't get re-scored with the New Formula, the bottom score is ABYSMAL. The "best" worst score from those races is -14.36. Basically, if a car that qualified well got punted out of a race early or something broke on it, that driver was faced with a score of worse than negative ten. That stinks. That's a lot of feel bad. Note: not that any drivers are actually reading me and therefore feeling bad, but I have a lot of feelings, so I'd feel bad for them.

Anyway, with the New Formula, you'll see that, most of the time, the worst score is between two and zero. I can live with that. Second, now those big negatives mean something. Let's look at the two "worst" offenders.

- Helio Castroneves at Houston 2: Not a lot went right for Helio in Houston, and this is an example. Starting from pole, Helio led the first 10 laps and then things went wrong. The car decided that it had had enough for the day and quit on him. He finished P23. That's a really bad day. Race Score: -8.34

- James Hinchcliffe at Toronto 2: The Toronto weekend did not end on a high note for Hinch, in much the same vein that Houston 2 stunk for Helio. Hinch's car didn't even make it out for the formation laps. He was down laps before even turning one. Let's just say, an average running position of 23.15 doesn't bode well for your scoring day. Race Score: -4.57

Basically, in the Brave New Formula World, if you're more than two points worse than zero, you've had something go terribly bad when you weren't supposed to.

What the Averages Mean

Finally, the "Average" column. The primary thing this column tells us is that the New Formula is higher scoring than the Old Formula. Now, this is something we know. Look at the averages for the three Old Formula races. We have: 31.35, 30.80, and 28.90. This led me to postulate (using 2012 scores, which exist only in the dark recesses of my computer, and these scores from 2013) than a "Good Score" was 35.00 or better. Usually, a 35+ score would put you in the Top 10, and score you  points for the Race Score World Championship, which is my totally made up championship where I award points to drivers based on race scores.

Now, we can see from the "Average" column above (I know, I know, it's a long way to scroll now...) that under the New Formula, an average score is between 35 and 38. Now, a 35 is no longer a points-paying score. With this mathematical construction in place, we're looking at what once was (if only in my mind) the indication of "ya done alright" now signifying "better pick it up." So, the question that we now wind up with is wondering what makes a "good score?" Hopefully, we can answer this below.

What Gets You RSWC Points

Last thing today, here's a chance for us to determine, going into 2014, a benchmark for "good score." In order to do this, let's take a look at the lowest points-paying scores from every New Formula race in 2013:

	Points-Paying
St. Pete	47.01
Barber	~~~
Long Beach	~~~
Sao Paulo	~~~
Indy 500	49.81
Belle Isle 1	45.26
Belle Isle 2	49.79
Texas	44.68
Milwaukee	41.30
Iowa	42.27
Pocono	47.46
Toronto 1	43.37
Toronto 2	43.26
Mid-Ohio	38.78
Sonoma	43.56
Baltimore	44.44
Houston 1	45.66
Houston 2	47.33
Fontana	45.97

As you can see, there is quite a range in scores, from 38.78 grabbing a single point at Mid-Ohio to needing 49.81 to score the single at the Indy 500. The average of these scores, however, is 45.00. And, the median score, within the group, is 44.97.

I think that (armed with this) we can draw the "good score" line at 45.00. This score will, most of the time, score you points, and even in a 23-ish car field, Top 10 is nothing to sneeze at. Let's take a quick look at the biggest outlier to make sure our position is solid.

- Mid-Ohio: The tenth-best score at Mid-Ohio was a very low 38.78, posted by Sebastien Bourdais, who qualified 14, stared 13, finished 12, and had an average running position of 11.58. No one would say that Bourdais set the world on fire at Mid-Ohio, so even though he sneaked into the points, I'm fine saying that his run is less than optimal. Additionally, the P9 score at Mid-Ohio was Hinchcliffe's 45.59: right there at "good score."

So, going forward, we'll call 45.00 and greater a good score, meaning drivers will have to do well above average to earn it.

Stay Tuned

I hope this look back at last year's numbers has brought some fond memories back. I also hope that with the information we've put together here today, we can all go into the 2014 IndyCar Series with a good idea of just how all these numbers work. And, with that in our pocket, we can get to another year of quantifying the race!

Remember to follow @ScoringIndy on Twitter for blog updates and race predictions. Seriously, you'll want to pay attention to those race predictions. They're sure to tell you exactly what won't happen.

Next week, we'll take a look at some driver's seasons. And, try to see who's primed for a good run in 2014, by looking back at entrant (not driver, entrant) performance in 2013.

See you then!

-- Guido

Guido Watches the 2012 Indy 500 #ThankYouDario

Hello Internet! Well, I was hoping to have this to you in late December, but December, as you might imagine, is the second-busiest month of the year for us ministers (second only to "whenever Easter is"), so this got pushed to the back burner. But, I am now going to view the 2012 Indy 500, Dario Franchitti's last win, on YouTube, and write about it.

Fear not, however, the 2014 IndyCar Series is almost upon us. I shall break out of my hibernation, and provide data and "insight" to all the universe! At least, that's how they tell me the internet works...

Here goes, the video can be found here:

Pre-Race: It should be noted at this point that the most complete video that I find for this race is the SkySports broadcast out of the UK. There's a delightful half-hour studio show beforehand, which gets the British audience prepared for what is to come. It cuts away to Dan Wheldon's #98 from 2011 (driven by Bryan Herta if I remember right). I get misty. Then, there's Mari Hulman George in her cardboard Wheldon glasses saying "Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines."

Cut to Marty Reid: Brent Mussberger, quivering crescendo in his voice sends it up to the booth with Marty, Scott, and Eddie. After mentioning Goodyear's second place finish from 1992, it flashes to JR Hildebrand's 2011 final turn crash. I think to myself, "What could have been..." But, before I can ponder JR too long (my hunch is he deserves a ride, I wonder what the numbers say...) Goodyear says "Lotus" and I laugh.

The Field: If you, like me, need a refresher on where everyone started the race. Here it is:

Row 1 - Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay
Row 2 - Andretti, Power, Castroneves
Row 3 - Newgarden, Kanaan, Viso
Row 4 - Barrichello, Tagliani, Rahal
Row 5 - Beatriz, Kimball, Dixon
Row 6 - Franchitti, Jakes, Hildebrand
Row 7 - Sato, Bell, Wilson
Row 8 - Jourdain Jr., Pagenaud, Saavedra
Row 9 - Bourdais, Cunningham, Servia
Row 10 - Carpenter, Conway, Legge
Row 11 - Clauson, De Silvestro, Alesi

In the pits: While the field is flashing along the top of the screen, the pit reporters give some pre-race updates. Vince Welch is in Power's pit, reminding us of his "recent" pit problems at the 500 and of his 3-race win streak of Barber, Long Beach, Sao Paulo, going into the 500. Has Power finally caught up on ovals? Jamie Little, chronicles the Andretti Autosport turn around from 2011 to 2012, while Rick DeBruhl reminds us of the Ganassi struggles during most of practice and also the Dixon/Franchitti breakout performance on Carb Day. Dr. Jerry Punch gives us our "upset alert" picks: tabbing Newgarden, Rahal, and Tony Kanaan.

Pace Laps: We run through the on-boards, and before I get a chance to blink, the 2012 Indianapolis 500 is........ GREEN.

[Aside: That phrase is what I will miss the most about Marty Reid. Dear Alan Bestwick, say that at the start of every race. Well, not the "Indianapolis 500" part, but you get my point. Love, Guido /aside]

Lap 1: And, already a lead change. Hinch jumps up front, and the two phrases that I remembered hearing all day there in person get said: something about the "new cars punching a big hole" and "you can't see the numbers."

Lap 4: These laps go by fast. All future updates will likely result in pausing the coverage.

Lap 7: So, the thing that I liked the most about this phase of the race being there that (for good reason) is given zero air time in the broadcast is the gap between cars 1-31 and the two Lotus-"powered" entries. You could see it growing each lap. It made both me and Hoff laugh. Enough about the Lotuses now. They'll be gone soon.

Lap 14: We come back after a break and two things happen immediately. I hear the words "fuel mileage" for the first time since pre-race (in a radio message between Hinch and his crew) and Bryan Clauson spins and stalls it, bringing out a caution. Heck of a save on Clauson's part. The broadcast crew liken it to the spin and win. Spoiler alert: Clauson doesn't.

[Aside: Put Clauson somewhere around Number 7 on my fictitious "Gosh, I'd like to see him/her in an IndyCar full time" list. Right between Townsend Bell and Katherine Legge. /aside]

Lap 15: Here come pit stops. I cringe. We watch TK's stop. Very smooth. Briscoe's too. Then there it is. We see Dario get puled into his pit stall. We see the nose get changed. We see three replays of Viso spinning our noble hero. (Oh yes, this is going to be super-biased.) Dario rejoins the field under caution, as does Newgarden, who'd stalled. My new best friends from Britain make a comment about Viso always being "in the thick of the action." Thomas Scheckter sympathies with the Gallant Fox.

Lap 19: We go green. The field gets 4 or 5 wide. Everyone survives. Not sure how.

Lap 25: I personally watch the "Franchitti" on the scroll at the top of the screen go from P24 to P23. This reminds me of this point watching the race live, when I kept bothering Hoff, telling him how Dario was gaining a position per lap(ish). He did not care about what was happening two-thirds down the field.

Lap 33: Doc interviews Jean Alesi in the pits. Now I want Formual 1 season to get back underway. Me like fast cars. Why cars no going fast now?

Lap 35: We ride on board with TK. The crew in the booth says the phrase "I don't think I'd want to be leading going into the last few laps." I remember the scrum at the end of the 2013 500. I smile. You finally get there, TK. Don't worry. The focus then turns to Sato, and we get to hear Bobby Rahal say "let's be a little more conservative on those passes." Foreshadowing much?

Lap 43: While my British friends chat to us, coming back from a break, here's the cars on the lead lap from the Leaders Scroll on the top of the picture: Andretti, Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Tagliani, Kanaan, Dixon, Sato, Rahal, Power, Castroneves, Conway, Hunter-Reay, Kimball, Wilson, Franchitti, Jourdain, Barrichello, Bell, Hildebrand, Carpenter, Beatriz, Jakes, Newgarden, Viso, Pagenaud, Legge, Bourdais.

Lap 45: Andretti pits. I must have started chirping about Chevy fuel mileage at this point. Hoff probably ignored me.

Lap 49: Dixon and Franchitti pit. If I wasn't chirping about fuel mileage before, I definitely was now.

Lap 61: We've seemed to settle into something approaching a groove with Andretti and Dixon 1 and 2, and an intriguing battle between Hinchcliffe, Briscoe, and Sato in the third through fifth spots. And, by lap 63 Sato's set up and reeled in Briscoe.

Lap 63: Speaking of Lap 63. We go on board with Hinch for a second. I see his red gloves. I miss Greg Moore.

Lap 68: Brent Musburger brings us back from break with an allusion to the "Andretti Curse." I'd put the Andretti Curse about third or fourth on my All-Time Curse Rankings. Definitely below the Billy Goat and the Madden Curse, but higher than say the Hope Diamond.

Lap 73: Checking in on our fearless hero in the #50, Dario moves into P4. I have told Hoff about every position that he has gained. Hoff has told me all the ways he doesn't care.

Lap 75: Andretti pits, as does Hinch. I'm sure I said words about fuel mileage again. Looking back, I'm shocked that Hoff didn't punch me SEVERAL times during this race. I want to punch me just remembering.

Lap 80: As I'm getting ready to reset the field after pit stops, Conway and Power get together. Cars get airborne. My breath catches in my chest. I remember being glad at that point watching live, that Power wouldn't win. Now, I just sit in shock. I attribute this to two things: 1) My views on Power have evolved from him being THE ENEMY, who must be prevented from beating Dario for things to a HECK of a driver, who really deserves a series championship. 2) That was a very scary crash.

Lap 82: Now that we're safely out of "Million Replays of a Very Nasty Crash" Land, here's who's still on the lead lap: Andretti, Dixon, Franchitti, Sato, Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Rahal, Castroneves, Kimball, Hildebrand, Barrichello, Carpenter, Bell, Wilson, Jakes.

Lap 87: The caution period ends. The restart is not nearly as scary as the last one.

[Aside: Marco says his boot is MELTED TO THE THROTTLE, and all his pit box can say is, "We'll try to remember that for Fontana." I guess there's not much you could do in that situation, but dang... If my foot were melted to a thing I would not like that one little bit. /aside]

Lap 90: We're yellow for Bia spinning. Pit stops are sure to follow.

Lap 92: Hinch bobbles it in pit road, with one tire change not completed before the air jack came down. Dixon and Franchitti are 1-2 with RHR third after okie-doking everyone by not pitting.

Lap 93: Hinch is in again, seemingly for fuel. Shouldn't kill him under yellow with over half the race to run.

Lap 98: Franchitti passes Saavedra. I love watching Dario pass people. I put on my cardboard Dan Wheldon glasses that I totally still have. RIP Lionheart.

Lap 100: Your lead lap drivers: Dixon, Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Rahal, Sato, Wilson, Kimball, Hildebrand, Jakes, Bell, Andretti, Castroneves, Kanaan, Carpenter, Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Barrichello, Pagenaud, and Jourdain. Lots of Hondas out front. I think I had told Hoff how awesome Hondas were about 734 times up there in stand HH. I am now convicted, since Ganassi's going to Chevy in 2014. Oh well, at least Dario always ran a Honda.

[Aside: This gives Marco Andretti a serious edge in the "Guido's New Favorite Driver Contest." /aside]

Lap 108: Jamie Little tells us how hot the gas men are down in pit lane. Didn't bother me live; I cooled myself with beer. Kidding; that's not healthy. I drank tons of water and relatively little beer. I'll have to go to a non-blisteringly-hot-500 some time.

Lap 112: Dixon and Franchitti are hanging out right behind Michel Jourdain. I'm sure Hoff was hearing how brilliant Dixie and Dario were for doing this. Scott Goodyear confirms my brilliance.

Lap 114: Hunter-Reay pits, leaving Hondas, Hondas, and more Hondas up front. This is because of Franchitti's moral superiority to all other human beings. At least, I think that's what I told Hoff. He may have hit me. He may also have pointed out that Dixon was in front of Dario. I may have given him the stink-eye.

Lap 119: Franchitti pits. Dixon doesn't. My heart sinks. At least no one punted him.

Lap 120: In goes Dixon. My eyes go to the end of pit road. The cameras don't, but Justin Wilson ran over a hose, so at least I saw that.

Lap 121: Huge chunk of rubber on the track. I'm pretty sure a NASCAR race would have been red flagged for that much debris. Seriously though. I must have watched this race 15 times, and I've never seen that before. A little surprised that there wasn't a yellow.

Lap 126:  RHR shuts it off. That stinks. I like him.

Lap 137: Things have been quiet for a minute or two, so the commentary folks take us through the field. We are reminded that all four Ganassi cars are in the Top 7 and that Townsend Bell has sneaked into the Top 10. Seriously, why can't Bell get a full-time ride? He's number 6 on my fictitious "Gosh, I'd like to see him/her in an IndyCar full time" list, as we learned 123 laps ago! I suppose I should figure out who the five above him are...

Lap 143:  Marco Andretti is upset with his race car. In other news, the sky is blue. The commentators fear that his car has developed Hunter-Reay-itis. Marco says the right rear is down to chords.

Lap 145: Marco comes in. The right rear does not look like chords to me. It doesn't to Jamie Little either. But, Marco's car doesn't look to be shaking. We go yellow for Saavedra being stopped at pit road exit. Here come the stops!

Lap 147: While my buddies in the UK chat, Sato pits as do Dixon and Franchitti. They come out Sato, Franchitti, Dixon (same as they came in.)

[Aside: Why is it still called the "United Kingdom" if there's a queen? Additionally, these are the sort of questions that keep me from being productive 75% of the time. /aside]

Lap 153: The restart goes: Sato, Target Cars, Logjam. Dario goes to the front. And, as we transition to 154, Dixon goes to second.

Lap 155: Justin Wilson passes Hinch for P4. Wilson had a good run at Indy in 2013, as well (which, for my money is more impressive, since the Hondas got eaten in '13.) If 2014 really is the last year of the Everyone-Has-The-Same-Aero Era, I'm installing Wilson as my early "I told you so" pick. He really seems to understand how to race this configuration in a draft. I base this on the two Indy 500s as well as the 2012 Texas race, which Wilson won.

Lap 160: Did you ever play sports in high school or something? When you were doing conditioning, did you ever have to do an "Indian Run?" (I don't know a less offensive way to say that.) It's where everyone runs along in a line, and whoever's last, has to run to the front, and once s/he gets there the new last person runs to the front. If you've done one, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, I'm not sure that helped. But, that seems to be what Dixon and Franchitti are doing, just switching spots at will.

Lap 163: Yellow comes out. Newgarden is in the grass. I probably say something terribly stupid to Hoff up in stand HH about Hondas being able to make it all the way home from here on one stop. Hoff says they'll need yellow. I tell him it doesn't matter

Lap 166: Literally everyone comes in for fuel and tires. Looks like Dixon, Franchitti, Sato on the way out. I'm still trying to convince Hoff that the Hondas can totally make it if it stays green. He's telling me there will definitely be yellow. I tell him I don't think there will be. I am wrong.

Lap 171: Hoff's dad is a HUGE Ed Carpenter fan (insofar as Hoff's dad, who might watch one race a year is a huge fan of any driver). He pointed out that Ed has a very good restart. I pointed out that Franchitti is now leading.

Lap 174: Dixon informs Mike Hull that no one wants to lead. He hopes this will help him save fuel. I point out that he is currently leading, and I enjoy a private moment of irony.

Lap 177: Carpenter moves into P3. Pretty much everyone sitting around me in stand HH lost it at that point. Turns out that they like Ed Carpenter in Indianapolis. It's almost like he's from there.

Lap 180: There goes Ed. Out comes the yellow. Everyone we were sitting with cried. I probably said something to Hoff about the Hondas TOTALLY being able to make it now. He reminds me that with this much yellow, everyone will be able to make it now.

Lap 184: Tony Kanaan restarts as only Tony Kanaan can. You can hear the cheers from the crowd as he sweeps through turn 4. You can hear the cheers from the Guido as Franchitti takes the lead back at the start of lap 185.

Lap 187: TK takes the lead back. Marco crashes. Yellow comes out.

Lap 191: Yellow stays out. Everyone sitting around us began to complain about how long this caution is lasting. Mussberger talks about Tony Kanaan a bunch. Tony talks about how cool it would be to have his face next to Dan and Dario on the Borg-Warner. I silently tell him, "Don't worry, buddy."

Lap 194: The restart happens. Franchitti gets out front, like a boss. With this areo package you just can't lead at Indy...

Lap 195: Dixon tags in and takes the lead from Franchitti. Kanaan is behind Sato in P4.

Lap 197: Franchitti tags in. Sato is starting to try and insinuate himself.

Lap 198: Dixon tags in. Goodyear says the words "Sato's car...seems to slide mid-turn." What delicious foreshadowing!

Lap 199: Sato follows Franchitti as he tags himself into the lead. TK tries to put a move on Dixon, but he can't manage it.

Lap 200: We see the white flag. Sato gets a run on Dario down the front stretch. Franchitti gives zero room. Sato spins. Franchitti wins. Ask Hoff, I lost it. I lost it hard. Festivities ensue, but the race is over, and I am tired.

And, that, friends is the 2012 Indy 500. A fitting introduction to live IndyCar racing, and sadly for 2014 it appears to continue being my only exposure to live IndyCar racing. But, enough sadness. We go green in St. Pete in just one month, so I'll be back to weekly posts from here on out. We've got a ton of 2013 review and 2014 preview numbers to drop in the next little while. And, after that we'll be into full-on race mode.

See you next Friday!

-- Guido