IndyCar Driver Power Rankings after 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Following the opening race of the 2019 IndyCar season, how do the sport’s 20 full-time drivers stack up against one another?

For the first time in his IndyCar career, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden opened up a season with a victory, as he won the 2019 season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Newgarden’s victory in this 110-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has been the season opener in each season of his eight-year IndyCar career, was his first career top six finish in it. He recorded a career-high seventh place finish in the 2017 season opener at the track.

His victory is also the first victory earned by a Chevrolet driver in a season opener since former Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2016 season opener at the track.

In the 17-race 2018 season, Newgarden was responsible for three of the six victories that were earned by Chevrolet drivers, specifically Team Penske drivers. He earned the first of these three victories in the season’s second race at ISM Raceway, which is not on the 2019 schedule, so while he had never previously won the season opener, he is no stranger to starting off seasons strong.

Newgarden was responsible for four of the 10 victories that were earned by Chevrolet drivers, specifically Team Penske drivers, in the 17-race 2017 season, and he earned his first victory of that season in the season’s third race at Barber Motorsports Park, which was just his third race as a Team Penske driver.

How do the IndyCar Driver Power Rankings look following the 2019 season opener? Here are the non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings following Newgarden’s season-opening victory on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

NOTE: The “trend” column of these non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings reflects driver movement since the preseason IndyCar Driver Power Rankings, which you can see here.

Non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings

Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Engine – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Josef Newgarden – #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet – [3rd (+2)]
2nd – Scott Dixon – #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Will Power – #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet – [5th (+2)]
4th – Alexander Rossi – #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda – [2nd (-2)]
5th – Felix Rosenqvist – #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – [13th (+8)]
6th – James Hinchcliffe – #5, Arrow SPM, Honda – [9th (+3)]
7th – Simon Pagenaud – #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet – [6th (-1)]
8th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda – [4th (-4)]
9th – Colton Herta – #88, Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Honda – [15th (+6)]
10th – Sebastien Bourdais – #18, DCR with Vasser-Sullivan, Honda – [8th (-2)]
11th – Graham Rahal – #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda – [7th (-4)]
12th – Marco Andretti – #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda – [11th (-1)]
13th – Zach Veach – #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda – [10th (-3)]
14th – Santino Ferrucci – #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda – [18th (+4)]
15th – Spencer Pigot – #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – [16th (+1)]
16th – Takuma Sato – #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda – [14th (-2)]
17th – Marcus Ericsson – #7, Arrow SPM, Honda – [12th (-5)]
18th – Tony Kanaan – #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – [17th (-1)]
19th – Max Chilton – #59, Carlin, Chevrolet – [20th (+1)]
20th – Matheus Leist – #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – [19th (-1)]

Biggest Movers
Up: Felix Rosenqvist (+8)
Down: Marcus Ericsson (-5)

Here are the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings following the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. To see how the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.