The Verizon IndyCar Series points standings have shifted a bit after the Indianapolis 500, and all the extra points that came with it.
Here’s a table breakdown of points after the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, then after the Indianapolis 500. The GP of Indy breakdown is on the left, the post-Indy 500 breakdown is on the right.
P
#
Driver
Pts
P
#
Driver
PRE-INDY
INDY
TOTAL
1
12
Power
149
1
28
Hunter-Reay
148
126
274
2
28
Hunter-Reay
148
2
12
Power
149
85
234
3
77
Pagenaud
143
3
3
Castroneves
102
118
220
4
3
Castroneves
102
4
77
Pagenaud
143
68
211
5
9
Dixon
102
5
25
Andretti
89
103
192
6
20
Conway
93
6
34
Munoz
61
99
160
7
25
Andretti
89
7
2
Montoya
70
82
152
8
19
J.Wilson
87
8
11
Bourdais
81
62
143
9
10
Kanaan
82
9
9
Dixon
102
30
132
10
11
Bourdais
81
10
19
J.Wilson
87
36
123
11
8
Briscoe
80
11
8
Briscoe
80
41
121
12
14
Sato
75
12
14
Sato
75
38
113
13
67
Newgarden
71
13
98
Hawksworth
71
42
113
14
98
Hawksworth
71
14
67
Newgarden
71
38
109
15
2
Montoya
70
15
27
Hinchcliffe
56
49
105
16
83
Kimball
67
16
10
Kanaan
82
22
104
17
17
Saavedra
63
17
17
Saavedra
63
38
101
18
18
Huertas
63
18
7
Aleshin
59
37
96
19
34
Munoz
61
19
20
Conway
93
93
20
7
Aleshin
59
20
18
Huertas
63
30
93
21
27
Hinchcliffe
56
21
83
Kimball
67
25
92
22
15
Rahal
55
22
16
Servia
55
33
88
23
16
Servia
55
23
26
Busch
80
80
24
41
Plowman
12
24
15
Rahal
55
24
79
25
26
Montagny
8
25
21
Hildebrand
66
66
26
22
Karam
57
57
27
20
Carpenter
53
53
28
33
Davison
34
34
29
5
Villeneuve
29
29
30
68
Tagliani
28
28
31
6
Bell
22
22
32
63
Mann
21
21
33
41
Plowman
12
6
18
34
91
B.Lazier
11
11
35
26
Montagny
8
8
With that established, here’s how everyone got the points they did at the Indianapolis 500. Indianapolis points were determined in two ways: Saturday qualifying Positions 1-33 were awarded points in decreasing order from 33 for first down to 1 for 33rd, plus a run of 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the Fast Nine on Sunday. Then in Sunday’s race, double points were awarded per finishing position, with 1 bonus point on offer for leading one lap and 2 for leading the most laps.
P
#
Driver
INDY QUAL
INDY RACE
INDY TOTAL
1
28
Hunter-Reay
23
103
126
2
3
Castroneves
37
81
118
3
25
Andretti
32
71
103
4
34
Munoz
35
64
99
5
12
Power
36
49
85
6
2
Montoya
21
61
82
7
26
Ku.Busch
24
56
80
8
77
Pagenaud
32
36
68
9
21
Hildebrand
26
40
66
10
11
Bourdais
10
52
62
11
22
Karam
13
44
57
12
20
Carpenter
42
11
53
13
27
Hinchcliffe
38
11
49
14
98
Hawksworth
22
20
42
15
8
Briscoe
17
24
41
16
17
Saavedra
8
30
38
17
14
Sato
16
22
38
18
67
Newgarden
28
10
38
19
7
Aleshin
18
19
37
20
19
J.Wilson
20
16
36
21
33
Davison
6
28
34
22
16
Servia
5
28
33
23
9
Dixon
19
11
30
24
18
Huertas
4
26
30
25
5
Villeneuve
7
22
29
26
68
Tagliani
3
25
28
27
83
Kimball
15
10
25
28
15
Rahal
14
10
24
29
10
Kanaan
11
11
22
30
6
Bell
12
10
22
31
63
Mann
9
12
21
32
91
B.Lazier
1
10
11
33
41
Plowman
2
4
6
Note the biggest movers in the standings from pre-Indy 500 to post-Indy 500:
Carlos Munoz, +13, P19 to P6
Juan Pablo Montoya, +8, P15 to P7
James Hinchcliffe, +6, P21 to P15
Scott Dixon, -4, P5 to P9
Charlie Kimball, -5, P16 to P21
Mike Conway, -13, P6 to P19 (did not race)
Note also four drivers, Oriol Servia, Martin Plowman, Alex Tagliani and Jacques Villeneuve, incurred 10 driver and entrant point penalties for unapproved engine changes. Those 10 points were taken out of their Indianapolis 500 points totals.
There were not giant fluctuations in the positions, evidenced by the fact the top four in the standings entering the Indy 500 are still the top four leaving it. The points gaps themselves though, have increased, between drivers who either did or did not have a good month of May.
As we head to Detroit this weekend, the championship could swing yet again, as we head to our first double-header weekend of 2014.
In 2013, Scott Dixon thoroughly dominated the doubleheaders as he scored 83 more points than any other driver in the six races, on the three doubleheader weekends.
Chances are the points will swing once more through this weekend.
As the SuperMotocross season heads outdoors, the NBC Power Rankings change significantly with results from the Motocross opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. The Power Rankings assign a numeric value to each individual moto (90 points maximum) as well as the overall standings (100 points) and averages that number over the past 45 days. Included in the Power Rankings are results from the final five Supercross rounds, which fit into that 45-day timeframe.Dylan Ferrandis finished on the podium in his first race back after experience a concussion in Supercross Round 4 at Houston. – Align Media
It didn’t take long for Jett Lawrence to rocket to the top of the SuperMotocross rankings – only about 74 minutes in fact. Lawrence dominated his first moto and beat his teammate Chase Sexton, the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross champion, to the line by 10 seconds. He had to fight a little harder for the second moto win as Sexton stalked him throughout the race and ended up less than a second behind.
Beginning this week, we have added the SuperMotocross points’ ranking beside the rider’s name and in one fell swoop, Lawrence went from being unranked in the 450 class to 26th. To qualify for the inaugural SuperMotocross’ guaranteed 20 positions that automatically make the gate for the three-race championship series, Lawrence needs to be inside the top 20 in combined Supercross and Motocross points. The bubble is currently held by Justin Starling and Lawrence needs to make up 44 points to overtake him.
Sexton’s second-place finish in the overall standings at Fox Raceway marked his ninth consecutive top-five finish. After the race, Sexton compared the battle he had with Lawrence to the one he experienced with Eli Tomac in last year’s Pro Motocross championship. These two riders had a significant advantage over the field in Pala, but there is still a lot of racing to be completed.
After missing 13 rounds to a concussion, Dylan Ferrandis told NBC Sports that he was not going to do anything risky in the season opener at Fox Raceway. If he dialed back his effort at all, one would be hard-pressed to notice. He finished third in both motos and was third in the overall standings. Ferrandis began the weekend just outside the top 20 in combined SuperMotocross points and climbed to 19th. In the next few weeks, he will get a little more breathing room over the cutline and then challenge for wins.
Adam Cianciarulo’s three-race streak of top-five finishes ended with a sixth-place overall at Fox Raceway, but that was enough to advance him one position in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings and land him eighth in the combined points standings. His individual motos were moderate, but Cianciarulo is still battling the effects of injury and a nagging loss of strength in his wrist.
Aaron Plessinger returned from injury in the Supercross season finale to finish second at Salt Lake City. He added another top-five to his season total and now has six of those in the 13 rounds he’s made. With Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac not currently racing in Motocross, Plessinger has an opportunity to rise to the third seeding in short order.
A bad start to Moto 1 at Fox Raceway was not enough to deter Hunter Lawrence. Neither was the fact that he was riding with sore ribs after experiencing a practice crash earlier in the week. He was a distant 10th to start the first race and for most of the 30 minutes, it seemed he would finish off the podium. Lawrence did not win the 250 East Supercross championship by giving in to hopelessness or pain, however.
Lawrence picked off one rider and then another until he found the battle for the top five in front of him at the halfway point. Once the field started to lap riders, Lawrence used the opportunity to continue forward through the grid. He passed third-place Jo Shimoda with two laps remaining and challenged Maximus Vohland for second on the final trip around Fox Raceway, but had to settle for the final spot on the podium. Lawrence dominated Moto 2 and claimed the overall victory in Pala.
Justin Cooper made his first start of the season at Fox Raceway and earned enough NBC Power Average points to climb to second. Partly this was due to consistently strong runs in both motos and a 5-4 that gave him the fifth position overall, but he is also not weighed down with moderate Supercross results. It will take a week or two to see where his strength lands him on the grid.
In only his third Pro Motocross National, Haiden Deegan scored a second-place finish in the overall standings. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire may feel he has something to prove after finishing second to Jett Lawrence in the 250 SX West division. He certainly rode like that was the case in Moto 1 and easily outpaced the field on his way to victory lane. In Moto 2, he crashed twice on Lap 1 and dropped back to 39th. It took half of the race to get inside the top 20 and salvage points. By the end of the race, he was 11th and while that was enough to get him on the overall podium, it cost him points in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
Haiden Deegan surprised the field in Houston in his 250 Supercross debut by finishing fifth. At the time, he said his strong result was because there were no expectations. He echoed that statement after the Motocross season opener. His second-place finish in the overall standings was enough to project him five positions up the SuperMotocross Rankings. In 11 rounds in the combined series, Deegan has earned seven top-fives and a worst finish of eighth.
Jo Shimoda did not make his first Supercross race of 2023 until late in the season. He finished fourth on the hybrid track of Atlanta, which had some similar elements to Fox Raceway. His fourth-place finish in Moto 1 of the Motocross opener made it seem likely he would score an overall podium, but a sixth in the second race cost him points in the NBC Power Rankings in a field that promises to be extremely tight.
250 Rankings
This
Week
Driver (SMX rank)
Power
Avg.
Last
Week
Diff.
1.
Hunter Lawrence (1)
89.56
2
1
2.
Justin Cooper (42)
84.67
NA
3.
RJ Hampshire (3)
83.67
3
0
3.
Haiden Deegan (4)
83.67
8
5
5.
Jo Shimoda (16)
82.33
7
2
6.
Guillem Farres (46)
79.33
NA
7.
Levi Kitchen (6)
79.11
5
-2
8.
Max Anstie (5)
77.83
12
4
9.
Max Vohland (8)
77.50
14
5
10.
Enzo Lopes (10)
76.00
11
1
11.
Mitchell Oldenburg (13)
74.25
16
5
12.
Carson Mumford (19)
71.22
17
5
13.
Jordon Smith (7)
70.56
9
-4
14.
Ryder DiFrancesco (48)
70.33
NA
15.
Chris Blose (12)
67.00
13
-2
16.
Chance Hymas (27)
66.00
19
3
17.
Tom Vialle (9)
65.78
18
1
18.
Jett Reynolds (55)
63.33
NA
19.
Michael Mosiman (28)
62.33
20
1
20.
Garrett Marchbanks (64)
59.00
NA
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner in Supercross and overall winner in Motocross. It awards 90 points for each Moto, Heat and Triple Crown win. The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.
