Indy field is wide open

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It’s no secret that in racing, money goes a long way.

It’s a good portion of the reason why powerhouse teams owned by Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi and Michael Andretti win as often as they do in IndyCar. Money buys developmental resources, better facilities, better equipped crews, and it simply makes cars go faster.

Breaking it down further, more money equals more wins.

But in IndyCar, the gap between the richer, large multi-car teams and the smaller teams with less money is closing. And the quality of racing is benefiting.

IndyCar has seen four different teams win in the first four races this year alone. One third of the “Fast Nine” in Indianapolis 500 qualifying was made up of teams that predominantly operate as single-car operations.

This type of parity is fantastic for the state of IndyCar when a series that has fallen victim to being dominated by Penske and Ganassi teams in recent past is now full of potential winners. It means you don’t need to break the bank to win an IndyCar race.

It rewards the best drivers and hardest-working teams with wins. It’s gotten to a point where one slip can cost a podium finish. One bad race can make the difference between a championship and falling out of contention.

I thought Josef Newgarden described the current state of IndyCar best.

“It’s getting pretty silly now, at certain points,” Newgarden said Saturday. “If you literally miss something by, I mean, a 10th of a second, you can be out of the whole mix.”

It’s true. It’s silly to think that the single-car program run by Ed Carpenter could compete with a four-car powerhouse like Chip Ganassi Racing.

But Carpenter beat Ganassi. Twice.

Newgarden in his single-car operation joined Carpenter as well as the likes of Andretti Auto Sport and Team Penske, beating all four of the Ganassi entries.

This type of thing is uncommon. The richer teams are always going to rise to the top. The teams spent many years building their programs, and those are the teams the fans look up to.

But parity in IndyCar is never a bad thing.

It’s the unpredictable nature that keeps people coming back to IndyCar. And as the Indianapolis 500 draws increasingly near, it becomes harder and harder to determine a favorite to win.

My early consensus says one of the Penske boys will kiss the bricks on Sunday. Indianapolis Motor Speedway practically owes the Captain a win after some of the luck his teams have had the past few years, and I feel like Will Power is due for his big win.

Because Josef Newgarden will tell you, IndyCar is downright “silly.”
And based on the racing in IndyCar as of late, “silly” is absolutely fantastic.
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sbeishui@indiana.edu