A non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver hasn’t won an IndyCar race since the 2016 season. Will this change in the 2019 season, and if so, who will change it?
Josef Newgarden has driven for Team Penske since the 2017 IndyCar season. But in the 2016 season when he was still driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, he won the race at Iowa Speedway in July behind the wheel of the #21 Chevrolet.
Since then, none of the current Chevrolet teams aside of Team Penske have had any of their drivers win any IndyCar races, although Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon did win the race at Watkins Glen International in September of that year behind the wheel of the #9 Chevrolet. However, Chip Ganassi Racing are now a Honda team again.
The four Chevrolet teams that compete in IndyCar on a full-time basis are Team Penske, Ed Carpenter Racing, A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Carlin. Since Newgarden earned what was his third career IndyCar victory in that race, these four teams have combined to win 20 of the 40 races.
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However, they haven’t really “combined” to do so, as Team Penske’s drivers have been responsible for all 20 of these victories. In fact, Newgarden himself has been responsible for seven of them. Will Power has been responsible for eight of them while Simon Pagenaud has been responsible for four of them and Helio Castroneves has been responsible for one of them.
Will a non-Team Penske driver find victory lane after an IndyCar race in the 2019 season? They have, in fact, come close to doing so since Newgarden’s (and really Dixon’s) victory on a few occasions.
J.R. Hildebrand finished in second place in the race at Iowa Speedway in July of 2017 behind the wheel of the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, and Spencer Pigot finished in second in the race at the track in July of 2018 behind the wheel of the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet as well. Ed Carpenter finished in second in the 2018 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May behind the wheel of the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises haven’t earned a victory since they were still a Honda team in the 2013 season. Takuma Sato won the race on the streets of Long Beach, California behind the wheel of the #14 Honda that season. The team’s most recent victory as a Chevrolet team took place in the 2002 season when Airton Dare drove the #14 Chevrolet to victory in the race at Kansas Speedway.
Of the team’s two current drivers, Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist, only Kanaan has experience winning races in Chevrolet-powered cars.
Kanaan’s most recent IndyCar victory took place in the 2014 season when he drove the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the race at Auto Club Speedway. His most recent victory driving for a Chevrolet team that are not currently a Honda team is his 2013 Indianapolis 500 victory. He drove the #11 KV Racing Technology to victory lane in this race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
KV Racing Technology, however, no longer exist. Kanaan does not have any other victories to his name while driving for a Chevrolet team, and his career appears to be on the decline. Leist, meanwhile, seems to be pretty far away from competing for victories following his rookie season.
Carlin, meanwhile, only began competing in IndyCar in the 2018 season. Neither one of their two drivers, Max Chilton and Charlie Kimball, has won any races driving for Chevrolet teams. Chilton has never won a race while Kimball’s lone career victory is his victory in the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the 2013 season. He drove the #83 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in that race.
The most recent driver to win a race while driving for a non-Team Penske Chevrolet team, specifically one that have not since become a Honda team, at the time of the victory (other than Newgarden, who won two races driving the #67 CFH Racing Chevrolet in the 2015 season as well) is Ed Carpenter, who won the race at Texas Motor Speedway in the 2014 season. He drove the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet in this race.
Given the success that Ed Carpenter Racing have had in the oval races, including the short oval races and the superspeedway races, over the last few seasons, expect them to be the first non-Team Penske Chevrolet team to earn a victory since the 2016 season. As far as which driven will be the driver to earn this victory, expect that to be Pigot.
It would not be right to sleep on Carpenter, who is still hungry for his first career Indy 500 victory and his first IndyCar victory since the 2014 season, but Pigot is the team’s full-time driver, and he has shown strength in road and street course races as well. At this point, he has more potential than Carpenter. However, I don’t think he will get the job done in the 2019 season.
When will a non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver find victory lane following an IndyCar race? Which driver will be the driver who finally ends the win drought among non-Team Penske Chevrolet drivers?