2017 IndyCar Series preview - SPM, Penske

Concluding our team-by-team preview of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series, which opens this weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg.

• Andretti, Foyt season previews

• Carpenter, Coyne season previews

• Ganassi, Rahal season previews

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

James Hinchcliffe, No. 5 Honda | Engineer: Allen McDonald | 2016 Championship Finish: 13th

Mikhail Aleshin, No. 7 Honda | Engineer: Blair Perschbacher | 2016 Championship Finish: 15th

Pruett on power moves: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is the only team to make no substantial changes during the offseason. And was it the right call? The general feeling within the team after 2016 was that it underperformed in some areas and was snakebitten in others. With the exception of Hinchcliffe's Indy 500 pole and a few podium visits, more could have been taken from the season-long output by both entries, and with a bit of luck, Hinchcliffe and Aleshin could have won at least one race apiece.

There were occasions where the SPM's Honda-powered team hit its stride as many other Honda entries faltered, and despite languishing toward the bottom of the team rankings, the lack of power moves isn't necessarily a bad thing. SPM's belief that more can be extracted by keeping its existing roster in place makes sense.

SPM's assessment is undoubtedly accurate, but like Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, the team could be threatened by other Honda programs that have taken much bigger strides to improve through personnel changes. In the case of SPM, it becomes a race to see if the spike in engineering (or engineering and driver) talent at Andretti and Coyne will create a wider divide to Hinchcliffe and Aleshin, or if SPM's ability to get more out of its entire team will allow its drivers to routinely displace a Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi or Sebastien Bourdais.

And then you have a rock-solid RLLR to contend with, and the ominous presence of Chip Ganassi Racing and Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan to worry about. SPM has placed incredible faith in its drivers and engineers to turn the program around in 2017. As the one team that chose to stick with the same soldiers, the pressure is on to show its plan is a winner.

Miller on drivers and wins: A pole at Indy, a podium in his hometown and a loss by the width of an eyelash at Texas were more than enough proof that the Mayor of Hinchtown made a complete and satisfying return to the cockpit. It seemed to be feast or famine in qualifying, but a lot of that can be put on the aero kit disadvantage. The Madder Russian should have won Mid-Ohio and drove brilliantly at Pocono, and knows he belongs in IndyCar. One of these guys gets a W in 2017.

Team Penske

Simon Pagenaud, No. 1 Chevy | Engineer: Ben Bretzman | 2016 Championship Finish: 1st

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevy | Engineer: Brian Campe | 2016 Championship Finish: 4th

Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Chevy | Engineer: Jonathan Diuguid | 2016 Championship Finish: 3rd

Will Power, No. 12 Chevy | Engineer: David Faustino | 2016 Championship Finish: 2nd

Hello: Josef Newgarden (from Ed Carpenter Racing)
Goodbye: Juan Montoya (reduced to Indy 500-only role)

Pruett on power moves: The Golden State Warriors and Team Penske finally have something in common: Both won the lottery by signing the most coveted free agent during the offseason. It's a bit premature to hail Josef Newgarden as IndyCar's version of Kevin Durant, but the move to place the Tennessean in Juan Pablo Montoya's former full-time seat has the same feel of Durant joining the Warriors.

If the stockpile of ammunition with defending series champion Simon Pagenaud, 2014 champ Will Power and perennial title challenger Helio Castroneves wasn't thoroughly frightening, Penske made sure the team went into 2017 with a four-headed monster by locking the series' fastest rising star into a multi-year contract.

It's just one change, but it has the ability to alter IndyCar's landscape for at least the next decade if Newgarden can develop into Penske's centerpiece for the next 10 or 15 years. Where some teams needed to make big plays to improve their ability to confront Team Penske, Penske and team president Tim Cindric ensured they took another stride forward to hold the rest of the teams at bay by shoring up its fourth entry with Newgarden.

It could take Newgarden and his engineer Brian Campe a little while to establish the same rapport Newgarden had with Jeremy Milless at ECR, but I don't expect the duo to lose the year like Pagenaud and his engineer Ben Bretzman did when they landed with Penske in 2015. The best team got better with one move, and got younger at the same time.

The only other change of note is an internal one, as Cindric has moved from calling race strategy for Will Power to looking after the same responsibility for Newgarden. Jon "Myron" Bouslog, who handled strategy for Montoya, moved sideways to take care of Power's strategy. I like the call here as it will help Newgarden to assimilate at a faster rate with Cindric directly connected to his entry, and for Power, I've felt a change of strategists was long overdue, so it could add a welcome new variable to his program.

Penske's one power move and modest infrastructure change has, in every imaginable way, made it a scarier organization that's primed to retain its championship with ease. With just two rival Chevy teams to worry about during the aero kit freeze, would anyone bet on ECR or AJ Foyt Racing toppling the Captain? Not me.

Miller on drivers and wins: Considering the talent, package, depth, resources and Ilmor/Chevy advantage, you could see Team Penske winning every race. Pagenaud blossomed into the champion we figured he would be while Power made him sweat with a strong second half that included 1-1-2-1-2-1 to make things interesting. Newgarden will fit perfectly into this equation and be a contender – everywhere. And while Castroneves hasn't won in a couple years, he's still plenty capable and R.P. really only wants him to win at one place. I'm not sure which one of these four will be the champion, but it will be another Team Penske 1-2-3 in the standings and they'll combine for at least 10 victories.