IndyCar: Gaps grow, but few major changes in points over last month

The last month of the Verizon IndyCar Series season was nothing short of a grind for its teams, crews, and drivers. Six races, Rounds 9-14, took place over four weekends, at Houston (two races), Pocono (500 miles), Iowa (300 laps) and Toronto (two same-day races).

It was a challenge unlike many have faced before given the way some of the weekend schedules shook out.

As it was, none of the six races really shook up the points that much. Some gaps grew between the leaders and the rest of the top 10, but no single driver gained more than two positions in the championship from the end of Texas June 7 to the end of Toronto on Sunday.

Here’s how the points were scored over the last six races. A bold number indicates the driver finished on the podium. Round 11, Pocono, was a double-points race for the 500-miler.

POINTS
#	Driver	E	9	10	11	12	13	14
2	Montoya	C	40	26	102	14	12	11	205
3	Castroneves	C	22	13	80	25	41	21	202
10	Kanaan	C	17	20	41	38	35	40	191
77	Pagenaud	H	16	51	56	19	33	8	183
11	Bourdais	C	32	30	29	11	54	22	178
9	Dixon	C	11	12	60	34	30	26	173
8	Briscoe	C	18	24	64	22	18	19	165
34	Munoz	H	35	8	70	18	13	13	157
28	Hunter-Reay	H	26	28	24	51	9	16	154
12	Power	C	16	19	41	16	22	36	150
27	Hinchcliffe	H	33	16	36	28	24	12	149
83	Kimball	C	12	32	26	20	26	32	148
25	Andretti	H	24	22	44	12	14	24	140
67	Newgarden	H	10	10	49	40	10	18	137
7	Aleshin	H	7	41	52	9	19	7	135
98	Hawksworth	H	28	35	8	15	17	28	131
19	J.Wilson	H	21	18	32	17	20	21	129
15	Rahal	H	19	14	22	26	28	10	119
18	Huertas	H	51	7	20	10	16	15	119
20	Conway	C	13	17	–	–	15	51	96
17	Saavedra	C	15	13	30	13	11	9	91
14	Sato	H	9	11	18	8	7	30	83
20	Carpenter	C	–	–	34	30	–	–	64
16	Filippi	H	9	15	–	–	8	14	46

From that, you can see Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves accumulated the most points; we chronicled Montoya’s rise after his Pocono win. But Montoya’s subsequent Iowa crash, post-race interview and awful Sunday in Toronto have put pause to his projected championship challenge – he’s now more than 100 points back with just four races to go.

Note too that the third member of the Team Penske trio, Will Power, has lost 52 points to Castroneves over the last six races. But he’s only 13 behind overall, thanks to his 39-point gap he had entering this stretch of six races in four weekends.

On that note, here’s how the points have shifted since Texas Motor Speedway, June 7:

POINTS
#	Driver	E	TMS	L6	Total		TMS	Chg
3	Castroneves	C	331	202	533	2	+1
12	Power	C	370	150	520	1	-1
28	Hunter-Reay	H	310	154	464	3	–
77	Pagenaud	H	279	183	462	4	–
2	Montoya	C	223	205	428	7	+2
9	Dixon	C	214	173	387	8	+2
34	Munoz	H	227	157	384	6	-1
10	Kanaan	C	189	191	380	9	+1
25	Andretti	H	235	140	375	5	-4
11	Bourdais	C	180	178	358	12	+2
8	Briscoe	C	179	165	344	13	+2
27	Hinchcliffe	H	181	149	330	11	-1
83	Kimball	C	169	148	317	14	+1
19	J.Wilson	H	182	129	311	10	-4
7	Aleshin	H	163	135	298	15	–
67	Newgarden	H	151	137	288	17	+1
98	Hawksworth	H	156	131	287	16	-1
15	Rahal	H	147	119	266	19	+1
18	Huertas	H	146	119	265	20	+1
14	Sato	H	151	83	234	18	-2
17	Saavedra	C	138	91	229	21	–
20	Conway	C	122	96	218	22	–
20	Carpenter	C	104	64	168	23	–
16	Filippi	H	–	46	46	–	–

Points position under the “TMS” tab is where the driver sat after TMS, and the change is to the right since. Montoya, Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais and Ryan Briscoe have all gained two positions, while Marco Andretti and Justin Wilson have each lost four.

The six doubleheader races are now in the books as well for 2014, with Rounds 6 and 7 at Detroit coming before Houston (Rounds 9 and 10) and Toronto (Rounds 13 and 14).

Unlike a year ago, when Dixon’s run of dominance on those three race weekends helped propel him toward the championship, no one driver stood out. Still, the top five drivers on the doubleheader weekends drove Chevrolets, and you can see for Montoya and Ryan Hunter-Reay, the doubleheaders have hurt their title chances:

POINTS
#	Driver	E	6	7	9	10	13	14
12	Power	C	51	41	16	19	22	36	185
3	Castroneves	C	34	53	22	13	41	21	184
10	Kanaan	C	35	22	17	20	35	40	169
11	Bourdais	C	17	10	32	30	54	22	165
83	Kimball	C	22	35	12	32	26	32	159
27	Hinchcliffe	H	28	32	33	16	24	12	145
77	Pagenaud	H	8	28	16	51	33	8	144
98	Hawksworth	H	11	17	28	35	17	28	136
9	Dixon	C	20	32	11	12	30	26	131
19	J.Wilson	H	32	18	21	18	20	21	130
18	Huertas	H	24	15	51	7	16	15	128
20	Conway	C	9	20	13	17	15	51	125
2	Montoya	C	18	17	40	26	12	11	124
15	Rahal	H	41	9	19	14	28	10	121
25	Andretti	H	21	14	24	22	14	24	119
34	Munoz	H	26	24	35	8	13	13	119
7	Aleshin	H	14	27	7	41	19	7	115
8	Briscoe	C	16	20	18	24	18	19	115
28	Hunter-Reay	H	14	11	26	28	9	16	104
14	Sato	H	12	14	9	11	7	30	83
17	Saavedra	C	16	8	15	13	11	9	72
67	Newgarden	H	10	13	10	10	10	18	71
16	Filippi	H	–	–	9	15	8	14	46

After an off weekend this weekend, three “standard” race weekends – a single full-length race following a single qualifying session with standard points – are on tap at Mid-Ohio, Milwaukee and Sonoma, before the double points season finale at Fontana, which could drastically shake things up.

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