Heading to Detroit, the Indy 500 shook up IndyCar’s points

Simon Pagenaud still leads the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings heading to this weekend’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans, but his lead’s been reduced after an Indianapolis 500 that saw him and the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet revealed as “human.”

After starting eighth and finishing 19th in the 100th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, never really a factor, Pagenaud’s ridiculous two seconds, three wins to start 2016 meant he lost a sizable chunk of his points lead for the first time this year.

Pagenaud left the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis with a 76-point lead and after qualifying points were added in Indy, his lead expanded to 83 points with a plus-seven net on Scott Dixon.

But with Dixon ending eighth in the race to Pagenaud’s 19th, the Frenchman’s lead into Detroit this weekend - in what is now the No. 22 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Team Penske Chevrolet - is down to 57 points.

With 10 races to go and still this weekend’s doubleheader, plus the Sonoma double points finale, this points championship is now wide open.

Other big movers from the Angie’s List Grand Prix to the Indianapolis 500 include the biggest mover, Alexander Rossi, who gained 11 spots after pulling off the shock but impressive win. Carlos Munoz and Josef Newgarden, who finished second and third, each gained eight spots.

Drivers who fell back were Juan Pablo Montoya and Graham Rahal, who both lost seven spots.

Another interesting note: In the series Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle, it was Conor Daly 88, Max Chilton 80 and Rossi 79. But Rossi’s win has blown that title wide open, now at 203 to Chilton’s 122 and Daly’s 108.

Here’s a breakdown of points after the Angie’s List Grand Prix on the left, versus the Indianapolis 500 on the right, with the positions gained and lost:

POS	#	DRIVER	POINTS		POS	#	DRIVER	POINTS	CHANGE
1	22	Pagenaud	242		1	22	Pagenaud	292
2	9	Dixon	166		2	9	Dixon	235
3	2	Montoya	160		3	3	Castroneves	224	+1
4	3	Castroneves	159		4	21	Newgarden	211	+8
5	15	Rahal	133		5	5	Hinchcliffe	205	+3
6	10	Kanaan	111		6	98	Rossi	203	+11
7	83	Kimball	111		7	26	Munoz	199	+8
8	5	Hinchcliffe	110		8	10	Kanaan	192	-2
9	28	Hunter-Reay	109		9	42	Kimball	189	-2
10	12	Power	105		10	2	Montoya	187	-7
11	14	Sato	102		11	12	Power	178	-1
12	21	Newgarden	100		12	15	Rahal	173	-7
13	18	Daly	88		13	28	Hunter-Reay	162	-4
14	7	Aleshin	87		14	11	Bourdais	134	+5
15	26	Munoz	84		15	14	Sato	134	-4
16	8	Chilton	80		16	27	Andretti	130	+2
17	98	Rossi	79		17	7	Aleshin	127	-3
18	27	Andretti	76		18	8	Chilton	122	-2
19	11	Bourdais	75		19	18	Daly	108	-6
20	41	Hawksworth	60		20	41	Hawksworth	91
21	19	Filippi	45		21	6	Hildebrand	84	+6
22	16	Pigot	35		22	77	Servia	72	+3
23	61	Brabham	14		23	29	Bell	55
24	19	Chaves	13		24	16	Pigot	50	-2
25	12	Servia	12		25	19	Chaves	46	-1
26	20	Carpenter	9		26	19	Filippi	45	-5
27	6	Hildebrand	8		27	61	Brabham	37	-4
28	35	Tagliani	7		28	35	Tagliani	35
					29	63	Mann	33
					30	20	Carpenter	33	-4
					31	24	Karam	22
					32	88	Clauson	21
					33	25	S.Wilson	14
					34	4	B.Lazier	12

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