Montoya leads points as IndyCar hits the halfway mark - MotorSportsTalk

Although he was frustrated after finishing 10th twice in Detroit, Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya still leads the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings at the halfway mark of the season.

Already eight of 16 races are in the books at the conclusion of this week’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans.

Here’s the points standings. Realistically, the title contenders fall to fifth-placed Helio Castroneves, at 70 points back of Montoya (315-245).

Scott Dixon rallied from 92 down at one point in 2013 (after 10 of 19 races), but he had two doubleheader weekends at Toronto and Houston still remaining at this juncture in that season.

Sebastien Bourdais and Marco Andretti, currently sixth and seventh at 87 and 91 points back of Montoya, respectively, are on the fringe of title contention.

Standings down to 20th-placed Stefano Coletti include all drivers who have competed in all eight races (except the injured James Hinchcliffe and road/street course-only Luca Filippi), with Sage Karam in 21st on down having missed one or more events.

1. 2-Juan Pablo Montoya, 315
2. 1-Will Power, 294
3. 9-Scott Dixon, 252
4. 15-Graham Rahal, 246
5. 3-Helio Castroneves, 245
6. 11-Sebastien Bourdais, 228
7. 27-Marco Andretti, 224
8. 67-Josef Newgarden, 206
9. 22-Simon Pagenaud, 193
10. 83-Charlie Kimball, 187
11. 26-Carlos Munoz, 180
12. 10-Tony Kanaan, 174
13. 28-Ryan Hunter-Reay, 171
14. 14-Takuma Sato, 166
15. 98-Gabby Chaves, 133
16. 7-James Jakes, 132
17. 5-James Hinchcliffe, 129
18. 41-Jack Hawksworth, 128
19. 20-Luca Filippi, 120
20. 4-Stefano Coletti, 104

21. 8-Sage Karam, 77
22. 29-Simona de Silvestro, 66
23. 5-Conor Daly, 63
24. 6-JR Hildebrand, 57
25. 19-Tristan Vautier, 55
26. 17-Sebastian Saavedra, 47
27. 19-Francesco Dracone, 38
28. 5-Ryan Briscoe, 36
29. 24-Townsend Bell, 32
30. 18-Carlos Huertas, 31
31. 18-Rodolfo Gonzalez, 27
32. 48-Alex Tagliani, 27
33. 25-Justin Wilson, 25
34. 63-Pippa Mann, 16
35. 20-Ed Carpenter, 10
36. 32-Oriol Servia, 10
37. 19-James Davison, 10
38. 88-Bryan Clauson, 10
39. 91-Buddy Lazier, 0
40. 18-Rocky Moran Jr., 0

Follow @TonyDiZinno

Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.

Seattle Supercross numbers — *Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports*

For the fifth time in 10 rounds. Sexton, Webb, and Eli Tomac shared the podium in Detroit. Between them, the trio has taken 23 podiums, leaving only seven for the remainder of the field. Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia have two each with Aaron Plessinger scoring the other.

Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.

Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.

Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.

The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.

In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.

Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.

Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.

Last Five Seattle Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2019: Dylan Ferrandis
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Aaron Plessinger
2014: Cole Seely

By the Numbers

Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

More SuperMotocross coverage

How to Watch Seattle Supercross
Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”
Power Rankings after Detroit
Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan
Results and points after Detroit
Chase Sexton wins in Detroit, penalized seven points

Read more about SuperMotocross