IndyCar 2014 Primer: The Drivers - MotorSportsTalk

All drivers in this year’s Verizon IndyCar Series have been written about in detail already this month. But if you need a one or two-sentence breakdown of each, we’ve got that too.

Here’s a quick look through the projected field of full-season drivers (Note: the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing has not been confirmed yet, and Oriol Servia in the No. 16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda is only for Rounds 2-5).

My MotorSportsTalk colleague Chris Estrada hit the Chevrolet drivers, and I hit the Honda drivers in this piece.

CHEVROLET TEAMS

TEAM PENSKE

#2 – Juan Pablo Montoya: It’s not a matter of if the former Indy 500/CART champ can find his open-wheel stride again after seven years in NASCAR, but a matter of when.

#3 – Helio Castroneves: Last year was his best chance yet to win a series title. But was it his last? The Brazilian will do all he can to earn another shot at the crown.

#12 – Will Power: Three wins in the last five races of 2013 have made him a chic pick to be the 2014 champ. We’re not going to change their minds about that: He’s a legit threat.

CHIP GANASSI RACING

#8 – Ryan Briscoe: Steady veteran should be good for at least one trip to Victory Lane this year, but you have to think that he wants so much more in his second go-round with Ganassi.

#9 – Scott Dixon: The defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion has done almost everything in his career – except pull off a successful title defense. The third time could be the charm for him.

#10 – Tony Kanaan: After finally capturing the Indy 500, TK seeks to re-establish himself as a threat on road/street courses in the car that used to belong to friend Dario Franchitti.

#83 – Charlie Kimball: For three years, he’s flown under the radar and shown step-by-step improvement. Mid-Ohio last year was a breakthrough, but can he become a week-in, week-out presence among the leaders in Year 4?

KVSH RACING/ KV/AFS RACING

#11 – Sebastien Bourdais: The four-time Champ Car titleholder showed to be as tough as he’s ever been on street circuits last year. The KV camp, hoping to prove its mettle outside the ovals, surely hopes he’ll be the same in 2014.

#17 – Sebastian Saavedra: The Colombian driver should improve upon his body of work with decent equipment at his disposal. First priority: Start further up the grid (2013 average start: 17.7).

ED CARPENTER RACING

#20 – Mike Conway (road/street): One of the most potent road racing talents in the series, he can certainly put the No. 20 car toward the front on the twisty tracks.

#20 – Ed Carpenter (ovals): Falling back to the ovals for the greater good of his team, Carpenter should still contend for solid results in his speedway appearances as he normally does.

HONDA TEAMS

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT

#25 – Marco Andretti – Good, not great 2013 will improve to a great 2014 with a win or two and an improved qualifying effort.

#27 – James Hinchcliffe – More changes with new engineer, sponsor and engine manufacturer, but he should handle it well.

#28 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – It feels like a comeback year for RHR after snakebit 2013.

#34 – Carlos Munoz – Early rookie-of-the-year pick looks to build on impressive 2013 cameos.

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING

#15 – Graham Rahal – Ingredients there for his best season since 2009; like Marco Andretti, must qualify better because the racing chops are there.

#16 – Oriol Servia – A welcome addition for at least four races, and he’ll probably overachieve.

DALE COYNE RACING

#18 – Carlos Huertas – Limited testing plus the small resources of DCR’s second car equal a likely uphill struggle for the Colombian rookie, assuming he will be in this seat.

#19 – Justin Wilson – A likely race winner at some point assuming he overachieves at the same level he consistently has throughout his career.

SCHMIDT PETERSON MOTORSPORTS

#7 – Mikhail Aleshin – Has surprise potential but may take a few races to gel with the series and team.

#77 – Simon Pagenaud – Undoubtedly the biggest threat to the established “power teams” after finishing third in 2013.

A.J. FOYT RACING

#14 – Takuma Sato – Good at times in 2013, and will be better with more race finishes.

SARAH FISHER HARTMAN RACING

#67 – Josef Newgarden – Year three could see the young American sink or swim depending on how well he adjusts to team changes.

BRYAN HERTA AUTOSPORT

#98 – Jack Hawksworth – Late add to the field, but the rookie could surprise on road and street courses. Needs more polish on ovals.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

Follow @EstradaWriting

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Read more about SuperMotocross