NTT IndyCar Series Championship Predictions Four Races Out

Beginning of the last race of the 2017 season with Josef Newgarden in command as the field gets ready - 2 by 2 - entering Turn 11 at Sonoma Raceway for race start. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

NTT IndyCar Series Championship Predictions Four Races Out

Predictions are a tricky business since this is always about placing odds on human outcomes. Variables are all over the map from driver talent and mistake performance involvement, equipment preparation and in-race support performance, track layout combined with prevailing weather, to the old adage of past performance is the best predictor of future performance and outcomes.

That being stated, there is a great portal for information about future chances that allow predictions to hit their mark much better than not. This portal is titled The Single Seater and the reason they are so good at what they do, they eliminate emotion as much as they can through mathematics ... statistics ... all that include the adage stated above.

Winner's Circle celebration as caught by NBCSN at 2:01:05 - from left to right is GoPro Grand Prix Of Sonoma race winner Simon Pagenaud being congratulated by 2017 NTT IndyCar Series Championship winner Josef Newgarden, Motorsports Journal Managing Editor Edmund Jenks, and NBCSN's Broadcaster Jon Beekhuis. Image Credit: NBCSN telecast via screengrab (2017)

This excerpted and edited from Single Seater -

State of the Championship: Assessing Newgarden’s Weak Spot
By: Drew Bennison - Aug. 8th, 2019

There are four races left in the IndyCar season. The finale at Laguna Seca has double points on offer, meaning there are at most 266 points available to any one driver. The Single Seater model currently has Newgarden in control of the championship with a 66.4% chance of winning the series title. Rossi has around a 30.9% chance of winning as he sits 16 points behind Newgarden, and Dixon and Pagenaud both hold a 1.3% chance of pulling off a late-season upset.

The helmet, gloves, and HANS device of Josef Newgarden just a minute before J-New puts them on for the final practice at the 2019 Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach. The Team Penske driver finished this fourth race of the season P2 at about 20 seconds behind Alexander Rossi, his chief rival going into these final four races. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2019)

Newgarden holds the lead
Newgarden has led the points standings for most of the year thanks in no small part to his qualifying efforts. He has the second-best average starting position this year (5.8) just behind Rossi (5.5) and was the fifth most consistent qualifier as judged by average starting deviation. Newgarden qualifies for races incredibly well, but he doesn’t start races well at all. On average he loses -0.9 places in the first two laps of the race and has only retained his starting position on 54% of race starts. Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only driver in the top-10 of the points who retains his starting position at a worse rate. This could pose a threat in the final quarter of the season as two of the last four races are on road/street courses where passing is tougher. Giving up a good qualifying effort in the opening laps puts Newgarden at greater risk of getting involved in a crash or simply being unable to pass a championship rival back. Even on the ovals where it’s traditionally easier to overtake, giving up free track position obviously isn’t an ideal way to close out a tight championship battle.

Andretti Autosport celebrates its 200th win as a racing organization in the Long Beach Grand Prix Victory Circle. This mark was secured by Alexander Rossi as he won his second consecutive Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach (2018 & 2019). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2019)

Rossi’s advantage
Rossi has been an even better qualifier than Newgarden with two pole positions and retains his starting position at a much higher rate than Newgarden — doing so 85% of the time. Attacking Newgarden’s weakness on the start is going to be a solid approach for Rossi to claw back the 16 point deficit. Newgarden is not a driver that makes a ton of mistakes in the race — his overly optimistic dive to Hunter-Reay’s inside on the last lap at Mid Ohio is not a move you’ll see him go for again — so being in front of him early is so important. All drivers are aggressive at the start of the race, but Rossi can be more tactfully aggressive since he knows Newgarden struggles in the first two laps. And what might be an even bigger advantage for Rossi is if Newgarden knows he struggles on starts, leading to out-of-character driving in an effort to retain his position that could cause him to make a mistake. Winning a championship is as much a mental game of keeping your concentration high as it is a physical battle on track.

So what could Newgarden do to improve this weakness in his profile? I’m not a driver coach, but I would think that taking some time in practice to simulate the start and running on cold tires could only serve to benefit him. His teammates both retain their starting position more than 75% of the time, so maybe they have some advice for their fellow driver too. With only four races left, it would do more harm than good to try to do much more and risk psyching himself out at race starts. It’ll be a problem to deal with in the off-season.

Chip Ganassi Racing's 5-time IndyCar Racing Series Champion takes the pre-race fan greet ride just as every other driver. Here Scott rides around with sunglasses and his PNC Bank hat on backwards as her tracks around infamous Turn 9 at the Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach circuit. Vantage thanks to Doug Mockett, from his special trackside suite sponsored by Doug Mockett & Company - Fine Architectural Hardware. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2019) 

Pagenaud, Dixon round out the top-four
Pagenaud and Dixon are both longshots to win the title as they sit 47 and 62 points out of the championship lead. Their success in the title hunt is going to come down more to what mistakes Newgarden and Rossi make more than anything they can do. 

INDY 500 winner for 2019 had a hot hand at IMS winning everything the track had to offer - IndyCar Grand Prix and the INDY 500. Image Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher - NTT IndyCar Series (2019)

Pagenaud has actually been the luckiest driver this season already according to Expected Points. He is outperforming his xPoints through Mid Ohio by +72. That means he’s scored 72 more points than we would have expected him to as judged by his average track position in races. For example, in the Indy GP Pagenaud had an ATP of 6.6, led only five laps, and was in the top-five for just 41% of the race. We would have expected him to score 28.5 points that race (about a sixth-place finish) but instead he scored 51. We see drivers who overperform compared to their expected points for a stretch of time eventually regress back to the mean. This could be over the next couple of races or next season, we don’t know exactly. But if Pagenaud is really riding a somewhat lucky sequence of races, it could mean Dixon has a good shot of at least overtaking him in the points in these last four races if Pagenaud’s results start to line up with how he has been driving. Right now, our model has Pagenaud with an expected championship finishing position of 3.3 compared to Dixon’s 3.4.

Pocono is up next
In the 50,000 simulations we did of the last races of the IndyCar season, no other driver won the championship besides these four. Newgarden and Rossi head into Pocono with a combined 97% chance of winning the title. There have been just three oval races so far this year, but Newgarden has the edge over Rossi in average starting (6) and finishing (2) position on these types of tracks. He also scores better in ATP (4.2) and ATP25 (1.9). A good weekend at Pocono could give him some breathing room in the points, but it won’t be easy. Rossi has had a good start to his career at Pocono with two podiums including a win in three races there. Newgarden has two podiums and no wins in six attempts.

These aren’t huge sample sizes, and I’d say these guys are about even. Newgarden with the advantage at ovals this season and Rossi with the advantage at Pocono the past few years. A DNF from either Rossi or Newgarden would probably flip the championship odds from “lean Newgarden” to “likely Newgarden” or to “lean Rossi” depending on who DNFs, so Rossi has more to lose than Newgarden does when it comes to a strategy gamble or risky overtake opportunities. I expect both of these guys to play it relatively safe (no high-risk-low-reward moves like we saw with Newgarden at Mid Ohio) at Pocono with three races still to go after. Pagenaud and Dixon might try to shake up the race a bit with alternative strategies given their longshot status too.

The Current Championship Odds

“Expected Championship Position”
The Expected Championship Position for each driver is the average championship finishing position we would “expect” from a driver if the end of the season were repeated infinite times. It is useful to get a point estimate forecast for each driver.

Statistical Information & Image Credit: TheSingleSeater.com (2019)

[Reference Here]

Sitting on the sidelines is only fun when one is engaged and informed.

So, with four races remaining in the 2019 season - ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway - Long Pond Pennsylvania, Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway - Madison Illinois, Grand Prix Of Portland at Portland International Raceway - Portland Oregon, Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey California it's GREEN, GREEN, GREEN and may the best of outcomes prevail for all, even if the odds strongly favor Team Penske's 2017 NTT Series Champion to chalk-up a number two for his career in the double-points race at Monterey.

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: INDYCAR, POCONO, GATEWAY, PORTLAND, LAGUNA SECA, POINTS CHAMPIONSHIP, Newgarden, Rossi Dixon, Pagenaud, The EDJE 

Hershel McGriff Takes On Chuckwalla Valley Raceway For A Shakedown Run

The Money Shot - "Wheel Up" - This image was captured on July 11, 2010 while Hershel McGriff was taking his first runs in his new 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign car during its first Shakedown Trial held at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR). Turns #8, #9, and #10 are a series of curves designed to mimic the challenges posed in the famed "Corkscrew" at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Turn # 9 is an off-camber right, left-hand turn that drops off into the strong right-hand turn #10. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Hershel McGriff Takes On Chuckwalla Valley Raceway For A Shakedown Run

A funny thing happened on the way to perform a photo shoot of the West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame induction ceremony for the class of 2010, held on July 2, 2010 at the AZUSA Greens Golf Club ... I met Hershel McGriff.

Oh sure, Parnelli Jones was sitting at the same table with other presenters, WCSCHOF members, inductees and Master of Ceremony - Vice President/General Manager Iowa Speedway, Craig Armstrong. They were all there to usher in and honor the 7th class of 12 inductees (many posthumously), and the two hour ceremony was truly an honor to just witness ... but I met Hershel McGriff.

We were talking after dinner, before the ceremony and the subject came up about race tracks in the southwest. I told him that I had attended a track opening last April and that this track was very well designed. The track is located between Blythe and Indio off of California Interstate 10, and is called the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR). The funny thing was that Herschel then asked me if the track would allow him to make his first shakedown runs in the new car he had put together to compete in the 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign. He mentioned that he was running short on time and it would be of great service to be able to check out the car before he hit the track in Portland to race in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Bi-Mart Salute To The Troops "125" event held the weekend of July 17-18, 2010.

Well, I had talked with the President of Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Micky Grana, back in April. I had also met his wife Aimee and so I figured, why not? Just give it a go!

Micky was gracious enough to have a conversation with Hershel and they put together a time this last Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 7:00 am PT.

When I rolled into the paddock area around 7:15 a.m., the McGriff family was already there with the car rolled out of the trailer transporter, Hershel was suited up in the cockpit, the car was cranking up to start, and it caught the spark and roared to life. Ahhhh the sound of a race engine in a Busch, ahh, er, Nationwide, err, NASCAR K&N Pro Series car (once known as a Winston West Series car).

Hershel took to the track and came back quickly. When he rolled up, he was greeted by the one person who has almost always set up his cars to run over the decades, Hershel McGriff Jr., a credible driver in his own right.

The "Hershels" discuss vibration and possible solutions before the car is put up on jacks. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

McGriff, the senior, complained that there was a front wheel vibration right off the bat as he entered the track so they pulled the car next to the transporter, placed it up on jack stands and went to work on identifying the problem. Herschel Jr., with the assistance of his cart-racing daughter, Mariah, found that at cold, or low tire pressures, the front sway bar's outside bolts stuck out and rubbed the inside wall of the tire.

Shakedown pit captain, Hershel McGriff Jr. and his daughter, Mariah diagnose the problem with the front sway bar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

After about 30 minutes, the car was ready to resume its Shakedown Trial which it passed with flying colors.

Shakedown pit captain, Hershel McGriff Jr. as he re-shims the front sway bar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Inside the McGriff Coach, after the Shakedown, Hershel commented on how he is familiar with the area around Desert Center, California and the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. He has had a longtime association with Park Corporation which also sponsors his cars. Park Corporation has as part of its business mission the purchase and operation of mining businesses throughout the country.

Hershel talked about the anticipation of being at the Portland event this year. He observed that in 2009 the media crush was very intense due to multiple factors. It was the first NASCAR sanctioned race held at Portland International Raceway since 1986, McGriff had won this last race in 1986 and thus was the defending champion, and at 81 he became the oldest driver ever to race in a sanctioned NASCAR event. ESPN, Associated Press, FOX Sports, and all of the media attention that NASCAR could bring was in the mix ... it is amazing that Hershel had enough time to prepare and finish the race at P13. Some people would say, "Geeeez, from Champion to 13th?, What is that about?" Try asking this of the drivers who had been driving the whole season, every season since 1986 and were only able to finish in 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and so on through the field of 27 cars who all came to compete and win.

About the track at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway? Hershel liked the layout and especially liked the dropping "S" turn combination of #11 and #12 after the slow rising straight that follows the mini "Corkscrew". He said that it reminded him a series of turns that he will encounter at Portland next weekend.

Looking back across the track at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway from turn #14 to the long, banked, 180 degree right-hand turn #13 at the southern end of the facility. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Further, he wished he had more time and less self-imposed restrictions based upon the shakedown trial task at hand because he really wanted to figure out where the best place would be to place the car in the long, banked, 180 degree right-hand turn #13 reminiscent of the long, banked sweeper at the former Riverside International Raceway which he raced on many times throughout his career.

The McGriff family - Hershel, wife Sherrie, Sherrie's daughter-in-law Sharon (Shakedown pit captain, Hershel Junior's wife), granddaughter and future racer Mariah were getting ready to continue on to Portland, Oregon where the next scheduled stop of those riding in the Coach Sunday night was Bakersfield.

Hershel McGriff at the end of a successful Shakedown Trial in his coach parked at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Herschel McGriff at 82, still has the drive and the grace to express a disappointment on not being able to carry enough speed to have his front wheel rise up off of the pavement for a great action photograph of his 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign car during the Shakedown Trial at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR). As one can easily tell, he was even able to deliver on this internal wish (photo evidence at top of posting), in that, he never communicated this desire of his to be able to create a circumstance that would produce such a shot.

Never count Hershel McGriff out once he gets his mind around any goal ... once one meets him and gets to know him on any level, one comes away with the feeling that Hershel may be just the person that could actually deliver on the goal.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: 2010, 50th Anniversary, BI-MART, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Corkscrew. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, CVR, Hershel McGriff, Impala SS, K and N Pro Series, NASCAR, Park Corporation, Portland, The EDJE