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IndyCar: Carlin Motorsport steadily progressing in first season

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 08: Max Chilton, driver of the #59 Gallagher Chevrolet (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 08: Max Chilton, driver of the #59 Gallagher Chevrolet (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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Carlin Motorsport have certainly struggled in their first season in IndyCar. But they have been steadily progressing, especially in recent races.

Coming into the the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit, which was the eighth of 17 races on the 2018 IndyCar schedule, on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, Carlin Motorsport’s two drivers, Charlie Kimball and Max Chilton, had struggled mightily in their first seven races driving for the sport’s newest team.

At that point in the season, in the 14 races combined in which those two drivers had driven, they had recorded just one top 15 finish. That lone top 15 finish was Kimball’s 10th place finish on the streets of Long Beach, California.

The next highest finish of Kimball, the driver of the #23 Chevrolet, was only a 17th place finish at ISM Raceway. Meanwhile, Chilton, the driver of the #59 Chevrolet, had finished no higher than 16th. He finished in 16th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

But the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit and the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway showed that Carlin Motorsport are indeed making steady progress. The four finishes of the team’s two drivers combined in these two races account for four of the team’s best five finishes so far this season.

Kimball finished in eighth place, a season-high finish and a team-high finish, in the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. Meanwhile, Chilton finished in 11th, a season-high finish, in that race as well.

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Kimball recorded his second consecutive top 10 finish and his third top 10 finish of the season with a 10th place finish in the DXC Technology 600. Meanwhile, Chilton finished in 12th for his second consecutive top 12 finish and his second best finish of the season.

While these results are nowhere near spectacular, they are great for Carlin Motorsport and they certainly show that the team have made steady progress. After coming into the eighth race of the season with just one top 15 finish, they ended up leaving the ninth race of the season with five top 12 finishes as they continue to build for the future and gain valuable experience in their first season as an IndyCar team.

Another factoid that is crazy but true about the team’s marked improvements over the course of the last two races is the fact that they are one of only two teams that have not had any one of their drivers finish outside of the top 12 in either of those two races. They are the only Chevrolet team that can say that.

Chip Ganassi Racing are the only other team that can say that, as Scott Dixon finished in fourth place and won at Belle Isle and Texas, respectively, in his #9 Honda, and Ed Jones finished in third and ninth at Belle Isle and Texas, respectively, in his #10 Honda.

Next: Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time

How will Charlie Kimball and Max Chilton perform for Carlin Motorsport in the next IndyCar race, the 2018 Kohler Grand Prix? Tune in to the live broadcast of that race from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Sunday, June 24. It is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.