Pruett’s cooldown lap: Mid-Ohio

After a flurry of 10 races in 12 weekends, the NTT IndyCar Series gets to take a well-deserved nap for the rest of July. With Mid-Ohio serving as the last race until we reconvene on the streets of Nashville -- and without the traditional mid-July trip to Toronto on the calendar -- we have plenty of time to ponder all that lies ahead. For now, let’s focus on a few specifics, starting with…

SHOOTING STAR

It’s time for a simple appreciation of everything Josef Newgarden has come to represent for Roger Penske. Since joining the team in 2017 with three wins from Ed Carpenter Racing on his record, the Tennessean has taken ownership of the team among its drivers. In the win column, he’s amassed 16 more victories for RP in 75 races to date. That’s a win rate of 21.3 percent. Next on the list since Newgarden arrived is Will Power, with 10 wins for a 13.3-percent win rate. And on that same calendar from 2017-21, Simon Pagenaud has six wins for an eight-percent win rate.

Power and Pagenaud obviously contributed Indy 500 wins since 2017, and there’s no denying the value they represent to RP, so while Newgarden is The Captain’s constant earner, give credit to his teammates who’ve delivered marquee victories at IndyCar’s biggest race.

But -- and there’s a noteworthy "but" to insert here -- as amazing as it might be to win Indy, it’s an annual roll of the dice. In the annual race to win championships, where drivers can have a great influence over the final outcome, Newgarden has become RP’s gold standard, taking the 2017 and 2019 titles. In his four full years at Team Penske, Newgarden has taken home championships at an incredible 50-percent clip. And adding to that marker, he’s been top dog among all Penske IndyCar drivers in the standings three out of those four years, and currently leads the team in 2021.

Mid-Ohio added to Newgarden's staggering tally. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Since his first race for RP, Newgarden has captured 2979 points. Next on the list is Pagenaud at 2347, and third, not far behind, is Power at 2299. For Newgarden, that’s 21.22 percent more points than Pagenaud, and 22.83 percent more than Power since he arrived. Once again, that’s extraordinary. It tells us that he has better days, on average, than his teammates, and that can’t be attributed to luck. Is Newgarden more talented than Power or Pagenaud? That part is debatable. Does he get the job done for his boss on a more regular basis than Power and Pagenaud? That’s not up for debate; it’s a fact.

For the sake of comparison outside of Team Penske since 2017, Newgarden’s main title rival, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon who took the 2018 and 2020 championships, has fewer wins (11), a lower win rate (14.6 percent), and fewer points (2742).

The numbers tell us one thing: Not only is Newgarden the class of his team, but he’s also risen above the best IndyCar driver of the 2000s -- from a statistical standpoint, at least -- since joining a team that was able to compete on an equal level. Is he better than Dixon? Let’s talk when four more championships arrive and his face is on the BorgWarner trophy.

Leaving Mid-Ohio, let’s just say that with his win and a manageable 69-point deficit for championship leader Alex Palou with six races to go, it felt like we just witnessed a turning point in Newgarden’s season and a re-energized run at title number three.

HEY MAN, NICE SHOT

Sunday’s 80-lap contest at Mid-Ohio capped the best weekend of work I’ve seen from Marcus Ericsson in IndyCar. His one weakness has been qualifying, which he nearly aced by earning P3 on Saturday. The race was close to perfection for the Swede who ran second or third all day and carved into Newgarden’s lead to close the event.

From as low as P13 in the standings after the first Texas race where pit stop problems marred his early season, Ericsson is up to P5 in the championship and has become a legitimate front-runner wherever the series goes. And in a reminder of how well his CGR team is performing, Ericsson is only third on the championship depth chart, with Palou (P1) and Dixon (P3) performing at higher levels.

ACME AT ANDRETTI

For most of my life, I’ve held firm to a belief that ACME, makers of cartoon anvils, dynamite, and all manner of products deployed by Wile E. Coyote to defeat the Road Runner, were an equal opportunity provider of mischief-causing items.

After the opening lap of the Mid-Ohio race, and Colton Herta’s brutal visits to pit lane, I’ve had to accept that fact that ACME does indeed make a secret Andretti Autosport cartoon anvil that can’t be stopped with prayers, the burning of sage, or other protective measures.

Andretti’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe -- the two drivers on the shakiest ground at the moment -- are the ones who hit each other to start the race and, in typical ACME style, there was no real fault to apportion to either driver. Nonetheless, ACME deployed its custom Andretti Autosport cartoon anvils on Lap 1 as RHR braked to avoid a slowing car going up the hill to Turn 5, and both drivers were struck from above. Hinchcliffe, the better off of the two, recovered to finish P17 after shining with a qualifying run to P9. Hunter-Reay was relegated to a finish of P24, and with half the team laid to waste by ACME, Herta was next in the company’s crosshairs.

Herta had looked best positioned to take the fight to Newgarden. But not for long... Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Running P2, he dealt with a faulty fuel probe on his first stop that dropped him to P7, and on his second and final stop, there was another delay that saw him pit from the lead, watch as a delay in inserting the replacement probe took place, and for good measure, he stalled the car and returned in P9. Just to ensure his day was completely miserable, another Andretti-only cartoon anvil fell when Herta was called into the pits for a splash of fuel on Lap 79 of 80 -- while holding P7 -- which left the front-row qualifier an unsavory P13 at the checkered flag.

And in the last note, it’s also clear that ACME has some work to do on its targeting system because they completely missed Alexander Rossi, its favorite Andretti Autosport target of 2021. Sneaking through its web of heartbreak, Rossi started P6 and finished P5 which, in another remarkable turn, produced his best back-to-back finishes of the year with runs to P7 and P5 in a span of a week.

Altogether, the Andretti Autosport cartoon anvil clobbered three quarters of the team, which was more than enough damage for one event.

Honorable mention goes to Ed Jones who outqualified his coveted teammate Romain Grosjean, and then became the only driver to plow into a smoke-hidden Will Power and end his day on the spot. Even when he does nothing wrong, things still go wrong for Jones. Just brutal. If the racing gods exist, they owe Jones a podium result, ASAP.

RTI REPORT

Whatever wasn’t working for Kyle Kirkwood and Andretti Autosport to open the Indy Lights season has been adequately addressed. Claiming one win from the first six races, the reigning Indy Pro 2000 champion has won five of the last six and moved to the top of the standings. Following a pair of wins to sweep Mid-Ohio, Kirkwood’s teammate Danial Frost -- another rookie -- helped himself with a pair of seconds as HMD/GRG’s David Malukas took a pair of thirds and his teammate Linus Lundqvist claimed a pair of fourths.

In Indy Pro 2000, Jay Howard’s Christian Rasmussen took a win and a P5 to extend his championship lead over Braden Eves, and Pabst Racing’s Hunter McElrea did good things with a P4 and a win to close the weekend.

And in USF2000, which has become a celebration of badass talent, Kiko Porto left with his championship lead, pole streak extended to five, and a win in the middle race for DEForce Racing while Cape Motorsports’ Michel d’Orlando won the first and third races to tighten the title battle.

We look to Lights for the next-generation stars, which makes sense, but don’t sleep on the remaining USF2000 races of 2021. The pool of talent is extremely deep.

MR. INVISIBLE

This award that nobody wants to win is often rather easy to hand out, but Mid-Ohio presented a few challenges. It seemed destined for Takuma Sato, but then he rallied somewhat to take P10, which wasn’t too far removed from his teammates. It makes Penske’s Simon Pagenaud a repeat winner of Mr. Invisible for being at the race, but not really in the race after qualifying P15, finishing P14, and watching his teammate Newgarden show what was possible by turning pole position into a dominant victory.

LEADERS CIRCLE

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s No. 45 entry piloted by Santino Ferrucci is up to P21 (127 points) in the Leaders Circle race, which doles out $1 million contracts to the top 22 entries at the end of the season. It’s his last race of the year, we’re told, so barring a change to those plans, or another skilled driver climbing into the No. 45, it will quickly fall out of the top 22.

Jones and his Vasser Sullivan team are on the bubble in the key Leaders Circle race, and this didn't help... Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images

That will ease the agita being experienced by Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan as its No. 18 entry driven by Ed Jones is currently on the bubble in P22 (125 points). Assuming the No. 45 will be out of the way after the next race or two, that would move the No. 18 up to P21 and promote the adversity-ridden No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP entry driven by Felix Rosenqvist up to P22 (106 points).

But the road is far from clear for the No. 7 as right behind them is the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing entry for Helio Castroneves (103 points), who’s returning to run five of the last six races. If Castroneves has better results to close the season, it’s conceivable the part-time MSR car could take P22 from AMSP.

Once the championship resumes, that’s the real Leaders Circle race to track. After the No. 06, the only entries of interest are the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing car driven by Dalton Kellett (95 points) and the No. 59 Carlin Racing machine of Max Chilton (92 points), who would need big runs to get a whiff of that $1 million.

MISC.

• Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal has done 10 races this year and earned seven top 10s (70%). RLL’s Takuma Sato has done 10 races this year and has earned five top 10s (50%). RLL’s Santino Ferrucci has done four races this year and earned four top 10s (100%). The latter also is making it hard to ignore the case being made for earning full-time employment in the near future.

• In the war among auto manufacturers trying to steal each other’s races, it’s all tied at an even 1-1 with Chevy taking a win to defend Round 2 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix (Pato O’Ward) and the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (Josef Newgarden). Honda defended and won its Honda Grand Prix of Alabama (Alex Palou) and Round 1 at Detroit (Marcus Ericsson). The season finale’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will break the tie and deliver the coveted and highly informal competition between the two brands.

• Scott Dixon was kind to apologize for hitting and spinning Penske’s Will Power on the first restart, but it was unnecessary. Although Dixon left Power the bare minimum of room on the inside of Turn 5, the footage made it rather clear that Power rode over the inside curb, which bounced the front of his car over and into Dixon. It’s semantics, of course, but it’s what actually happened.

• That was the smallest team in the series -- Carlin Racing -- qualifying P17 with Max Chilton, directly ahead of Romain Grosjean, Takuma Sato, and Pato O’Ward. Their race wasn’t super rewarding, but Chilton did come home in P18 to lead all the cars on alternate pit strategies, including Jack Harvey in P19.

• Speaking of Harvey, the Meyer Shank Racing driver embodied the narrow margins between success and failure these days in IndyCar. Primed for another run to make it inside the Firestone Fast Six, his spin and subsequent loss of his best lap turned qualifying into a miniature nightmare. That one mistake relegated Harvey to P23, and unlike Road America where there was no reason to go for an alternate strategy, the MSR team went for three stops instead of two with the hope of catching a break that never materialized. It’s also been a while since Harvey caught a break in a race; since the second Texas oval round on May 2, each of the seven ensuing finishes have been between P16-P23. Coming out of the break, this is the one team in the series that needs to take a hard look inward and start delivering on its potential.

• NBC’s use of James Brown’s song "Living In America" during the pre-race package was most excellent.

While the series' veterans have had their ups and downs, Ganassi’s Alex Palou continues to bring the No. 10 home among the top points-paying places. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

• Credit to Alex Palou for pushing like mad in P4 ahead of his final stop to eke out an advantage and return in P3 to limit Newgarden’s big points haul. Even so, an 88-point margin to Newgarden shrank to 69, but if there was a positive, Pato O’Ward’s good-bad day where he rallied from a dismal starting position of P20 to finish P9 added to the championship gap. By placing six spots behind the CGR driver, the AMSP man went from a deficit of 28 points leaving Road America to 39. For Dixon, P3 in the standings, his run to P4 saw a gap to Palou go from 53 points to 56. What does all that mean? Provided Newgarden stays on this performance streak, Palou, O’Ward, and Dixon will need to start winning if they don’t want to be overtaken in the standings.

• Hard not to feel gutted for Felix Rosenqvist. The AMSP cars weren’t sharp in qualifying, but that didn’t stop the returning ace from beating O’Ward with a fine run to P13 on Saturday. And, as we’ve come to expect, something cruel and undeserved found the Swede, who was hammered in the Lap 1 melee, lost a couple of laps to repairs, and circulated all day to finish P23.

• Ugly trip for Ed Carpenter Racing. There was a bright spot for Conor Daly, who improved nine positions, but after starting P24, it meant an unheralded drive to P15 was in order. Rinus VeeKay started a somewhat promising P11, but a late mistake with an off-track moment saw a drop to P16 at the checkered flag.

• Ryan Norman’s IndyCar debut was unremarkable, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. His fastest race lap of 1m09.693 was within a tenth of Grosjean and O’Ward, and faster than Pagenaud, Daly, and Sato.

• All right, it’s a long haul until we race again, so channel some positive energy and maybe share some kind and reflective words for my IndyCar reporting partner and colleague of 15 years. Robin Miller’s been going through the wars with health challenges, and he hates compliments, so don’t be afraid to stir the pot in a message by clicking here.