Floridian Ryan Hunter-Reay was the last American-born IndyCar Series champion in 2012 and the most recent American to win America’s premier open wheel racing series before that? Sam Hornish Jr in 2002. That was, of course, the old Indy Racing League days, before the influx of former CART drivers, an eternity ago, really.
Suffice to say, it’s been a very long time between drinks for the American IndyCar contingent – which notably includes second-generation star Graham Rahal and third-generation star Marco Andretti – but there are signs, big signs, that things are about to change.
The IndyCar Series, born out of the American Midwest and run with the venerable Indianapolis 500 as it’s centrepiece, seems set for a flag-waving USA revival. At least, if the weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is anything to go by.
Whichever way you care to look at the on-track proceedings at Barber Motorsports Park, it was a solid day for the home nation. Promising youngster Josef Newgarden, an open wheel racer from Tennessee, a state more aligned with NASCAR than IndyCar, won the 90-lap event, staving off challenges from New Zealander Scott Dixon and another American, Graham Rahal, to score his maiden IndyCar Series victory.
It was a popular win for a driver considered to be the future of the series, and if that is indeed the case, IndyCar racing is in good hands. That Rahal, the oft-maligned son of three-time series winner and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby, was such a force late in the race, scything through the field in what is generally considered an inferior Honda power plant, is also good news. Having been in the racing wilderness for a few years, there’ve been great signs this year in terms of speed and overall finishing positions. Rahal is a favourite of mine, and there’s no better antidote for IndyCar racing than Americans on the podium.
With another promising American, Connor Daly, announced to have secured a good seat at Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports for the Indianapolis 500, there is great momentum. After a strong showing in relief of Rocky Moran Jr for Dale Coyne Racing last weekend in Long Beach, in which he did not get any practice time, Daly’s solid run has definitely piqued the interest of team owners up and down pit lane.
Daly is another one to watch, as is Sage Karam, a youngster who impressed mightily at Indy last year, and will be with the powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing for most of the rest of this season, learning from the likes of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti. He could not have three better teachers.
Even the Indy Lights races at Barber were dominated by an American, the rising Spencer Pigot, who has climbed the ladder through feeder categories, and dominated by races at Barber, leading every lap of both races. Basically, he smashed the rest of his competitors, and now sits atop the Indy Lights championship points standings. Pigot’s goal is IndyCar, and it’s vitally important that he gets there.
The more Americans in the series, the more publicity the series will receive in mainstream press. I’ve been saying it for the longest time: IndyCar racing is the best open wheel racing in the world. The great shame is that few people know it exists.
If you’re an American and you love IndyCar, this is a good time. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti are the established stars. Graham Rahal is getting there. Ed Carpenter has always been solid on ovals, and will be a force as we head to Indianapolis this year. We shouldn’t forget Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball, an IndyCar race winner himself, and with Newgarden and Daly on the rise, and the possibility of Pigot joining the ranks in the near future, there is plenty to like going forward.
As much as IndyCar’s international diversity is good, there’s no doubt the series will be best served by having Americans up at the pointy end, winning championships and races.
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