The Verizon IndyCar Series has reached the halfway point in the 2016 season. There have been some surprising and some expected results along the way. The competitors have raced their way through the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida and turned 500 laps at over 210 mph in the Indianapolis 500.
Veterans are positioning themselves for a much-needed push to close out the last half of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series. Rookies and up-and-comers are trying to vie for all the points they can get to give them a chance at winning it all at season end.
The second half of the Verizon IndyCar Series will see the drivers competing on more road courses. They will be driving through the streets of Toronto, Ontario in mid-July and again on the road course in Watkins Glen, New York in September.
The talented group of open-wheeled speedsters will again test their mettle on traditional ovals. The field will be racing on Iowa speedway’s .875 mile oval in mid-July and reaching speeds well over 200 mph at Texas Speedway in the Firestone 600 in late August.
Carlos Munoz, Alexander Rossi’s teammate, sits in the sixth position. The Andretti Autosport owned Honda has been driven by Munoz to one top five performance when he claimed the runner-up position in the Indianapolis 500. He has also managed to grace the top ten on three other occasions in the Verizon IndyCar Series season.
In Mumoz’s fourth season he has yet to recorded a pole position during any qualifying rounds he has participated in. The #26 United Fiber and Data/ Pint Pharma sponsored driver has found his way to the front for only ten circuits in 2016. He has a average starting position of 12.2 and almost equals that at the end of his races with a 12.3 finishing average.
Will Power has secured the seventh spot in the Verizon IndyCar Series mid-way point. The 2014 IndyCar champion and three time runner-up got his first win at Belle Isle, Detroit on June 5th. The victory helped boost the Chip Gnassi racer to this position and I fully expect to see more climbing from this driver as the season progresses.
He has claimed victory at least once in each of the last eight seasons. Power has driven his Verizon/Snap-On sponsored Chevrolet to three top five’s and five top ten’s. The veteran has accumulated 36 poles over his career including one in 2016. Power is starting with a 5.9 average position but finishing a little back with an 8.3 average.
Eighth position in the point standings goes to Tony Kanaan with Chip Gnassi racing. The 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner and the 2004 Verizon IndyCar champion has yet to record a victory in 2016. He does however have two to five efforts and seven top ten’s on the circuit.
Consistency has been a mainstay for the driver of the NTT Data/ Comfort Revolution sponsored driver. He has finished seven of the eight contests thus far which has kept him in the top ten. Kanaan is the only IndyCar driver that has completed every lap of a racing season (2004). with a few more top five’s and maybe a trip to the winners circle and Kanaan could be a factor for the title in the last race at Sonoma in mid September.
Juan Pablo Montoya lays claim to the ninth position in the standings. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner has had a bit of a rough start by his standards in 2016. He has guided his #2 Verizon sponsored Penske Racing Chevrolet to a victory at St. Petersburg in the opening race of the year.
Since the fantastic start he has found trouble in several races and failed to finish in two of the events. Montoya has recorded four top five’s and another six top ten’s, but his on track setbacks have effected his position in the points race.
The talented driver has all the ability needed to overcome any adversity that the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series might throw his way. He is one of only three drivers that have won races in three different series. Montoya has found his way to glory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Formula One Series and the Verizon IndyCar Series. Only racing legends Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney have accomplished that feat. I fully anticipate a steady climb up the point standings for the 2015 runner-up.
Rounding out the top ten is Charlie Kimble. He is another Chip Gnassi Racing driver and former teammate of Juan Pablo Montoya. Kimble has guided his #83 Firestone/RaceWithInsulin.com sponsored Chevrolet to two top five’s and another five top ten’s. He has been safely turning laps in the 2016 Verizon IndyCar season and has managed to keep his car in all but one of the eight races he has competed in this year.
Kimble is the only driver on the circuit that races with Type 1 diabetes. The experienced veteran wears a continuous wireless glucose monitor while he’s turning laps, so if his glucose levels falls during an event, he can intake sugar-water to boost his levels.
The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Top 20 Point Standings:
1 Simon Pagenaud 357
2 Scott Dixon 277
3 Helio Castroneves 271
4 Josef Newgarden 259
5 Alexander Rossi 242
6 Carlos Munoz 242
7 Will Power 241
8 Tony Kanaan 240
9 Juan Pablo Montoya 233
10 Charlie Kimball 227
11 James Hinchcliffe 226
12 Graham Rahal 225
13 Ryan Hunter-Reay 224
14 Sebastien Bourdais 210
15 Conor Daly 177
16 Takuma Sato 173
17 Marco Andretti 166
18 Mikhail Aleshin 155
19 Max Chilton 139
20 Jack Hawksworth 110
