How Do We Evaluate The 2016 IndyCar Series Season?

Now that the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season is behind us, how did the campaign stack up? Beyond The Flag looks back at the open-wheel season that was.

The 2016 IndyCar season ended Sunday with Simon Pagenaud hoisting his first-ever Astor Cup and bringing the championship back to Team Penske. So naturally the question on Wednesday is, was it worth the ride?

As we discussed last month, the 2016 season for the Verizon IndyCar Series looked a lot like the 2015 season in many respects. One driver had firm control of the championship fight, except this year the story ended with that driver securing the title at Sonoma. Team Penske once again leapt ahead of the competition. And there was the usual scuttlebutt about somebody not performing up to expectations that was a bit short-sighted.

The comparison is not necessarily a bad thing because 2015 was in general a very entertaining and strong season for IndyCar. But there were also some noticeable differences, too, and both those and the similarities are worth exploring.

One of the complaints about both this season and last has been the Penske domination factor. In 2016, Penske had a clear stranglehold on the results column, with ten race victories (62%) and eleven pole positions (68%) over sixteen events.

More from IndyCar

That’s actually a marked difference from 2015, because Penske had two less poles than the thirteen they earned last year (81%), but more than tripled up from the three trips to Victory Lane they had (18%). So Penske does have a clear edge in qualifying but it really hasn’t paid off until this year.

One common thorn in Penske’s side has been – no surprise here – Scott Dixon. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver was one of only two non-Penske entrants to get a Verizon P1 Award last year, and his three race wins handed him his fourth championship. Dixon in 2016 was the only non-Penske driver with multiple victories and multiple poles.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the 2016 and 2015 seasons was the emergence of the young drivers. Yes, Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal continued their climb that they started last year, but it’s been awhile since we’ve had a rookie class worth talking about the way we are right now.

2016 Rookie of the Year Alexander Rossi vastly outpaced 2015 Rookie of the Year Gabby Chaves, finishing four spots ahead of Chaves in the IndyCar championship and of course, earning his win in the 100th Indianapolis 500. It’s a bittersweet stat line, since Rossi literally replaced Chaves in the No. 98 entry for Bryan Herta Autosport, but in retrospect you can’t deny that Rossi delivered.

Fellow newcomers Max Chilton and Conor Daly (technically a rookie as this was his first full-time season) finished close to last year’s rookies Sage Karam and Stefano Coletti, coming in 18th and 19th instead of 19th and 20th. One thing that didn’t change? Daly’s terrible luck at the 500, as he was 29th this year…which was actually up from 33rd in 2015.

But Rossi, Chilton and Daly created a buzz that Chaves, Karam and Colletti did not. Rossi’s strategy call to win the 500 made him an overnight sensation, and the “will he/won’t he go back to F1” was a season-long talking point. Chilton had a quiet season taking over the No. 8 CGR Chevrolet, after Karam’s 2015 season will unfortunately always be recalled for his altercation with Ed Carpenter and the debris from his car that struck Justin Wilson at Pocono. Daly might break stuff at bad times, but he was still less damage-prone than Coletti, actually led laps in several races, and is a guy that you can’t help but love.

Which brings us back to our original question: was the 2016 IndyCar season a good one? If you’re a fan of the drivers and not just the drive, absolutely.

Team Penske might have won most of the races during the 2016 IndyCar season but that doesn’t mean they were all walkovers. The battle between Pagenaud and Rahal during the 2016 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, for example, was some of the best racing all year and could’ve possibly gone Rahal’s way if he hadn’t suffered damage. Let’s relive it:

And speaking of Rahal, that four-way battle at the end of the 2016 Firestone 600 between him, James Hinchcliffe, Pagenaud and Kanaan was marvelous. Those last few laps in Texas brought back memories of the nail-biting battle that was the final MAVTV 500 at Fontana:

There were some good racing moments to be had in the 2016 IndyCar season. Maybe there wasn’t one race as thrilling as Fontana or the championship chaos that was the 2015 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, but these scenes plus returns to Watkins Glen and Road America will make 2016 a year to look back on fondly.

But now let’s talk about the biggest commonality between this year and last year, and really the largest plus for the 2016 IndyCar season: the off-track environment that more than matches up with the on-track product. 2016’s additions to the league weren’t just people we wanted to watch race; they were people we wanted to watch, in general. Who wasn’t thrilled to see Daly finally get a full-time ride after years of hustling for a few races? Rossi seemed to grow more comfortable with IndyCar as the season progressed (being thrust swiftly into the national spotlight probably didn’t help that) and Chilton brought his own heart and humility to the paddock.

They joined a league that was once again full of storylines reminding fans why we love to watch racing. Last year we pulled together for Wilson and Hinchcliffe; this year it was remembering the awesomeness that was Bryan Clauson and cheering the comebacks of Josef Newgarden and Will Power. And even if you’re one of those folks who doesn’t like Penske at the top, you can’t help but feel happy for Pagenaud, who fought so hard for so long and finally realized his dream of being an IndyCar champion on Sunday.

Next: Which IndyCar Free Agents' Stock Rose At Sonoma?

When we look back on the 2016 IndyCar season, we’ll see the league continuing down the path that made it so exciting last year. There was solid racing but beyond that, the young drivers continued to charge on, the veterans proved they’re not just going to roll over, and every person on the roster brought something to the league both on track and off of it. There may not have been the suspense that came with the 2015 championship hunt but with another season or two like this, the sky’s the limit.

What did you think of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season?

How Do We Evaluate The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Season?

By Brittany Frederick | Sep 21, 2016

Now that the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season is behind us, how did the campaign stack up? Beyond The Flag looks back at the open-wheel season that was.

More from IndyCar