IndyCar: 2019 rookie class not living in anybody’s shadow

By Asher Fair | Mar 27, 2019

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 15: Ed Jones, driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, on track during pracrtice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway on September 15, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /

It was going to take a lot to live up to what Robert Wickens did as a rookie in the 2018 IndyCar season. But the rookies of the 2019 season have not been living in anybody’s shadow.

Before he was left paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a nasty crash in the 14th race of the 17-race 2018 IndyCar season at Pocono Raceway, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Robert Wickens had been having a rookie season for the ages.

In the 13 races that took place before his accident, the 30-year-old Canadian had recorded 10 top 10 finishes, seven top five finishes and four podium finishes. He recorded career-high finishes of second place in the races at ISM Raceway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Wickens only failed to finish in the top 10 in three races due to issues that were out of his control. He dominated one of those races and was wrecked with under two laps to go, and he led another one for several laps before he was wrecked. Mechanical issues prevented him from recording a solid result in the other one.

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Wickens was slated for a top six finish in the championship standings before his accident, and he was well within striking distance of the top three. He was having arguably the best rookie season since Juan Pablo Montoya put together his sensational rookie CART season back in 1999.

Montoya recorded seven victories, nine podium finishes, 10 top five finishes and 13 top 10 finishes in the 20-race 1999 season en route to being crowned champion.

As a result, the 2019 rookie class had a lot to live up to. But the drivers in this unusually deep rookie class, a few in particular, have not struggled to perform at a high level.

Simply put, the drivers of this year’s rookie class are not living in anybody’s shadow.

Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist kicked off his IndyCar career by qualifying in third place for the season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in his #10 Honda. He led 31 of the race’s 110 laps en route to a fourth place finish, and he pulled this off with “one arm”.

The 27-year-old Swede was running in the top 10 for much of the season’s second race, the IndyCar Classic, at Circuit of the Americas before a crash relegated him to a 23rd place finish.

Meanwhile, Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta has already done what not even Wickens could do in his rookie season: win a race.

After finishing in an impressive eighth place in the season opener, Herta won the the season’s second race in his #88 Honda, making him the youngest race winner in IndyCar history. He sits in second in the championship standings behind only 2017 IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden of Team Penske through the season’s first two races.

Carlin rookie Patricio O’Ward, who is not a full-time driver but is set to compete in a total of 13 of the 17 races on this year’s schedule, finished in an impressive eighth place in the season’s second race, which was his first start of the season and the second start of his career, in his #31 Chevrolet.

Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci was the biggest mover of the season opener. After starting all the way back in 23rd place, he drove his #19 Honda up 14 positions to finish in ninth place. He was running in the top 10 for much of the season’s second race, but he only managed to finish in 20th.

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Marcus Ericsson was forced to retire from the season opener due to a mechanical issue, and he was running in the top five in the season’s second race before he was penalized for an unsafe release during his last pit stop. He likely would have had a shot at his first career podium finish had it not been for this penalty.

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The drivers of this year’s IndyCar rookie class have certainly followed up Robert Wickens’ sensational rookie season year quite well thus far to prove that they are not living in anybody’s shadow, and with only two of the 2019 season’s 17 races having been contested, they should have plenty of opportunities to continue to perform at a high level throughout the rest of the season.