IndyCar: Post-Season Driver Grades

Asher Fair

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Drivers race on the first lap of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway on September 17, 2017 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

With the 2017 IndyCar season now complete, which drivers looked good, and which drivers didn’t? Here are the post-season driver grades.

With 17 races complete and none remaining on IndyCar‘s 2017 schedule, the season is now over, and drivers and teams are looking ahead to the 2018 season.

While drivers and teams are looking ahead to the 2018 season now that the 2017 season is complete, there are still nearly six months to go until the 2018 season begins.

Therefore, it’s time to grade the performances of each of IndyCar’s 19 full-time drivers, who represented a total of eight different teams, in the 2017 season.

Here is an alphabetical list of the 19 full-time drivers before we get started.

Marco Andretti, No. 27, Andretti Autosport, Honda
Sebastien Bourdais, No. 18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
Helio Castroneves, No. 3, Team Penske, Chevrolet
Max Chilton, No. 8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
Conor Daly, No. 4, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
Scott Dixon, No. 9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
JR Hildebrand, No. 21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
James Hinchcliffe, No. 5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28, Andretti Autosport, Honda
Ed Jones, No. 19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
Tony Kanaan, No. 10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
Charlie Kimball, No. 83, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
Carlos Munoz, No. 14, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
Josef Newgarden, No. 2, Team Penske, Chevrolet
Simon Pagenaud, No. 1, Team Penske, Chevrolet
Will Power, No. 12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
Graham Rahal, No. 15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
Alexander Rossi, No. 98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda
Takuma Sato, No. 26, Andretti Autosport, Honda

SONOMA, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Graham Rahal, driver of the #15 United Rentals/SoldierStrong Honda (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)

Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda

SONOMA, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Sebastien Bourdais of France driver of the #18 UNIFIN Honda (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Dale Coyne Racing, Honda

SONOMA, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Carlos Munoz, driver of the #14 ABC Supply Chevrolet (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)

AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet

SONOMA, CA – SEPTEMBER 17: Scott Dixon of New Zealand driver of the #9 NTT Data Honda (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda

SONOMA, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Alexander Rossi of the United States driver of the #98 NAPA Auto Parts Honda (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Andretti Autosport, Honda

SONOMA, CA – SEPTEMBER 17: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 hum by Verizon Chevrolet (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)

Team Penske, Chevrolet

More from IndyCar

How will the grades change next season with some drivers staying put at their current teams, some changing teams, some potentially leaving the sport for good and some making their debuts as full-time drivers in 2018?

How many new drivers will be added as full-time drivers in the 2018 season? How many and which drivers will become a part of which different teams’ driver lineups?

Will Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud continue to lead the way as far as driver grades go, or will somebody else challenge them, possibly even with an “A+” grade? Stay tuned to find out following the action from the IndyCar circuit in 2018.

Next: IndyCar Driver Power Rankings

Do you agree with these post-season driver grades? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Asher Fair

Asher has been with FanSided since Feb. 2017, primarily covering motorsport – NASCAR, IndyCar, and F1 – for Beyond the Flag. He became an officially accredited media member in Sep. 2019 and was hired as Junior Editor in Oct. 2020. Following a promotion to Associate Editor in Jul. 2021, he continues to manage the site and also occasionally contributes on FanSided's NFL and NCAA sites.