The CART series visited Laguna Seca 22 times from 1983 through 2004.
And then the IndyCars disappeared until this weekend.
Laguna Seca Raceway was the site of the finale from 1989 through 1996 with some of the greatest names in open wheel racing crowned on these grounds.
Their presence hovers over the field this week as Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Simon Pagenaud, and Scott Dixon are vying for the championship in a race where it’s twice as easy to gain or lose ground. This week, the points, and the stakes, are doubled.
Even though the statistics are from a different era, it is notable that the winner of an IndyCar race at Laguna Seca has started third or better in all but two events. Jimmy Vasser won from sixth in 1997; Max Papis (25th) came from deep in the field to win in 2001.
There were five or fewer lead changes in 19 of the 22 races, including the last 15.
Here are some of the storylines to watch this Sunday:
- The points contenders’ performances on road and street courses will be under a microscope this week: Rossi (with an average finish of 5.55, two wins and nine top fives), Dixon (6.27 with two wins and eight top-fives), Newgarden (6.36 with two wins and eight top fives) and Pagenaud (8.00 with two wins and no other top-fives) all have another top five in their sights. While Rossi has a 41-point deficit to erase, he also has the best record at this type of circuit in 2019.
- Equally important, Rossi is seeking to extend his current top-five streak on twisty tracks to seven consecutive. He finished second and fifth at Belle Isle and has not been outside the top five since.
- He has far fewer top-fives than his three rivals, but Pagenaud currently has the longest top-10 streak (eight consecutive on road courses and ovals). This includes one win at Toronto, which gives him hope.
- The rookie of the year battle comes down to Felix Rosenqvist and Santino Ferrucci, but who has momentum? Ferrucci had it with back-to-back fourth-place finishes at Pocono and Gateway. Rosenqvist stole it with a second-place finish at Portland, which is his second runner-up finish in the last four races.
- A mechanical issue at Gateway snapped an eight-race streak on ovals and road courses, but he still had an impressive mark on the twisty tracks. Rahal’s seven-race, top-10 streak on that course type literally came to a crashing halt before the race even started when he was involved in a multicar crash on the opening lap of the Grand Prix of Portland. Restarting that streak could be difficult because Rahal was unable to score back-to-back top-10s in the previous seven road or street courses.
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