IndyCar Notes: Aleshin prepares for first oval test - MotorSportsTalk

Fresh off a fourth-place finish in the GTD category yesterday at the Rolex 24, IndyCar Series rookie Mikhail Aleshin will get back to open-wheel work tomorrow at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he’ll take his rookie oval test.

The driver of the No. 55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, a product of various European series such as Formula Renault 3.5 and the GP2 Series, has never competed on an oval before. Needless to say, tomorrow should be an interesting day for him.

“It will be very important for me because I never have tested on an oval so I am looking forward to it,” he said. “We had some time working on this test with the team at the shop so I’m quite happy to say that the team has really helped me a lot to get all the details fast.

“Ovals will be something really special for me. I’m looking forward to the start of the season.”

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When IndyCar Series team owner/driver Ed Carpenter won the pole position for last year’s Indianapolis 500, he became the first Indiana native to pull off the feat since Pat O’Connor did it in 1957.

Now, Carpenter has an award that’s named after O’Connor, who lost his life one year later at Indianapolis in a first-lap accident. Carpenter was given the Pat O’Connor Award from the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans group during a banquet ceremony yesterday.

The award is voted on by the group’s executive board and is given to a driver for the Midwestern U.S. that in turn gives “devotion, cooperation, and constant effort to make auto racing the sport of which they are proud.”

Past winners of the award include NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon, former Indy 500 champion Eddie Cheever Jr., and another current IndyCar team owner, Sarah Fisher.

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17^th after qualifying 14^th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)