Thanks to the research of racing statistician Scott Richards, some interesting facts and figures for the leading NTT IndyCar Series drivers have been generated entering the finale event of the season.
We’ll start with one that’s rather arcane but speaks to championship leader Alex Palou’s remarkable IndyCar ascendance since making his debut in 2020. The Spaniard has taken part in 80 IndyCar races since debuting at St. Petersburg with Dale Coyne Racing, and of those 80, he’s led the championship following 36 races. That means Palou has spent 45 percent of his IndyCar career sitting P1 in the standings.
And since he wasn’t close to being a contender as a rookie with Coyne over the 14-race 2020 season, if you look at what he’s achieved since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, he’s done 66 races for the team and all 36 instances of leading the championship have come from 2021-24. For Ganassi, Palou has led the championship after 55 percent of the races he’s piloted the No. 10 Honda. No wonder Ganassi has fought so hard to keep him.
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From a historical perspective, Palou’s tied with Rick Mears and Al Unser Jr. for leading the drivers’ standings across 36 combined races. Where Palou reached that tie after 80 races, it took 182 races for Mears to get to 36 and 196 for Little Al. Among modern era drivers, the only one to lead the championship 36 times at a faster clip was four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais, who got to 36 in 63 races after Houston in 2007.
And what about Palou’s main title rival Will Power? He got to 36 at Long Beach in 2014 after 123 races.
A few more Palou stats before moving on:
• He’d become the second-youngest three-time IndyCar champion at 27 years and five months, close behind Sam Hornish Jr. who won his third at the age of 27 and two months in 2006. Bourdais’ third was clinched at 27 and eight months.
• He’d become the seventh driver to score three titles in four years following Ted Horn (1946-48), Jimmy Bryan (1954, 1956-57), A.J. Foyt (1960-61, 1963-64), Rick Mears (1979, 1981-82), Sebastien Bourdais (2004-07), Dario Franchitti (2009-11).
• Scott Dixon has the most championships for Ganassi with six, followed by Franchitti with three. Palou would join him in a tie for that honor; he’s currently tied with Alex Zanardi at two, and behind them with one apiece is Jimmy Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya.
• The points leader entering the finale for the last eight years has won the championship. That bodes well for Palou, but it’s not a guarantee of success as evidenced by Montoya (34-point lead in 2015), Power (12 points in 2010, 11 points in 2011 and 17 points in 2012), Dixon (5 points in 2009), Helio Castroneves (1 point in 2006) and Franchitti (9 points in 1999).
For Power, a championship victory would also make him a three-timer and see him join and tie Mears as Penske’s greatest title-winning IndyCar drivers. Power is currently tied at two with Penske brethren Tom Sneva, Al Unser and Gil de Ferran, and current teammate Josef Newgarden. Danny Sullivan, Unser Jr., Hornish Jr. and Simon Pagenaud have each captured one championship for Penske.
More Power stats:
• At 43 years and 6 months, he would become the oldest champion since Al Unser in 1985 (46 years and 5 months).
• This season marks the 10th time Power has entered the last race with a mathematical chance to win the title, which ties him for second with former teammate Castroneves. Dixon leads this category with 15.
A few more tidbits from the year:
• Since joining Penske in 2017, Newgarden entered the season finale inside the top 3 in points for seven straight years, but that streak has met an unfortunate end.
• For the first time since 2019, Andretti Global has reached the last race with two drivers inside the top seven with Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood. The last to do it were Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
• If it felt like a lot of drivers rotated through the series in 2024, your suspicions are correct. Altogether, 43 drivers competed in IndyCar this season. Since 2002, the only years where the same or more drivers took part in the championship were 2011 with 46 and 2021 with the same tally of 43.
• Four of IndyCar’s 10 full-time teams have won races in 2024. Two of the four in Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske have taken 12 of the 16, or 75 percent of the victories. Arrow McLaren has three of the remaining four wins, all by Pato O’Ward, which accounts for 18.75 percent on the year, and the last is Andretti Global which has a single win worth 6.25 percent of the victory share.
• Among the four, Penske is the biggest winner of the year with eight and a 50-percent strike rate. And there’s one more race to run.
• Santino Ferrucci arrives at the farewell to 2024 in 10th, a position an AJ Foyt Racing driver has not held in decades. The last to do it for Foyt was Airton Dare in 2002, who was eighth.
Let’s close with a unique stat:
If IndyCar had a Most Consistent Driver award to offer, it would go to Arrow McLaren’s Rossi. who hits the final race sitting ninth in points for the third consecutive year, and his fourth time of being ninth in the last five seasons.
Rossi’s points total in the last three years has been highly exacting 361, 349 and 350, a variance of just 12 points, which seems like it must be a record.