IndyCar Driver Power Rankings after 2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
By Asher Fair
How do the IndyCar Driver Power Rankings look following the 2019 season’s third race, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, at Barber Motorsports Park?
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato became the third different driver to win an IndyCar race through the 17-race 2019 season’s first three races, as he dominated the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta are the other two drivers who have gotten to victory lane this season, as Newgarden won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida while Herta became the youngest race winner in IndyCar history by winning the season’s second race at Circuit of the Americas.
Sato’s victory in the 90-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama made the 2019 season the seventh consecutive season that has featured three different drivers winning one of the season’s first three races.
The last time this didn’t happen was in the 2012 season when Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves won the season opener before Team Penske’s Will Power went on to win each of the next three races.
How do the IndyCar Driver Power Rankings look following Sato’s first victory of the season? Here are the non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings following the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
Non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Engine – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Josef Newgarden – #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet – [1st (0)]
2nd – Takuma Sato – #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda – [11th (+9)]
3rd – Scott Dixon – #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – [4th (+1)]
4th – Alexander Rossi – #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda – [3rd (-1)]
5th – Colton Herta – #88, Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Honda – [2nd (-3)]
6th – Sebastien Bourdais – #18, DCR with Vasser-Sullivan, Honda – [10th (+4)]
7th – James Hinchcliffe – #5, Arrow SPM, Honda – [12th (+5)]
8th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda – [6th (-2)]
9th – Will Power – #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet – [7th (-2)]
10th – Graham Rahal – #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda – [5th (-5)]
11th – Simon Pagenaud – #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet – [14th (+3)]
12th – Felix Rosenqvist – #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – [9th (-3)]
13th – Marco Andretti – #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda – [8th (-5)]
14th – Marcus Ericsson – #7, Arrow SPM, Honda – [17th (+3)]
15th – Santino Ferrucci – #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda – [16th (+1)]
16th – Spencer Pigot – #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – [13th (-3)]
17th – Zach Veach – #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda – [20th (+3)]
18th – Tony Kanaan – #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – [15th (-3)]
19th – Matheus Leist – #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – [18th (-1)]
20th – Max Chilton – #59, Carlin, Chevrolet – [19th (-1)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Takuma Sato (+9)
Down: Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti (-5)
Here are the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings with three races down and 14 races remaining on the 2019 schedule. To see how the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.