Beyond the Flag
Fansided

IndyCar: Driver Power Rankings After Texas

By Asher Fair

Jun 10, 2017; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon (9) and Simon Pagenaud (1) during the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 10, 2017; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon (9) and Simon Pagenaud (1) during the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
May 26, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; IndyCar Series driver Mikhail Aleshin during Carb Day for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
May 26, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; IndyCar Series driver Mikhail Aleshin during Carb Day for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

After the ninth of 17 races this season, how do the Verizon IndyCar Series driver power rankings look? Who is trending upwards after the Texas race, and who is falling?

NOTE: This list only includes full-time drivers. The “Last Race” category includes each driver’s rankings in the previous edition of the IndyCar driver power rankings.

Also note that since Sebastien Bourdais will be out for the season, he has been omitted from this list.

#19 through #16

[Last Race: 18th (-1)] — Winning pole at Texas, the first pole of his IndyCar career, very well could’ve turned Charlie Kimball’s season around, but a mechanical issue early on in the race prevented that from being the case. Kimball’s best finish more than halfway through the season is still just 8th place, which he has done twice. He has had an abysmal season to say the very least thus far.. No. 83. Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda. CHARLIE KIMBALL. #19

AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet. CONOR DALY. #18. [Last Race: 19th (+1)] — Edging out Charlie Kimball for the 18th position in these power rankings is Conor Daly. Many times before I’ve said his best finish of the season was his 14th place finish at Phoenix in which he finished 70 laps down. Now, his best finish of the season is a 7th place effort at Texas, but he spun at the end of the race. That 7th place finish can be a momentum builder, but he could have done without the spin.. No. 4

#17. [Last Race: 17th (-)] — Carlos Munoz finally looked like he had great speed in a race this season at Texas, but that race was cut short after he was involved in the huge eight-car wreck. As one of the most talented full-time drivers in this year’s field, Munoz has had an awful year largely due to the fact that AJ Foyt Enterprises as a whole has struggled mightily at pretty much every race so far this season.. No. 14. AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet. CARLOS MUNOZ

#16. [Last Race: 14th (-2)] — While many may blame Tony Kanaan for causing the huge eight-car wreck at Texas, Mikhail Aleshin could easily be at fault as well, and he crashed because of it. After a season-high 6th place finish at the first Belle Isle race looked like it may turn Aleshin’s season around, he has continued to struggle and has not been on the level of competition that he was on at the end of last season so far this season.. No. 7. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda. MIKHAIL ALESHIN