How did Takuma Sato’s bounce-back victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 affect the IndyCar Driver Power Rankings?
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato bounced back from his involvement in an opening-lap crash in last Sunday’s IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway by holding off Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter in thrilling fashion to earn his fifth career victory and his second victory of the 2019 season at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
How did Sato’s victory in this 248-lap race around the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway oval in Madison, Illinois affect the IndyCar Driver Power Rankings?
These IndyCar Driver Power Rankings were calculated using a formula, which you can see here. But before they are revealed, take a look below at some of the highlights of this edition of these rankings.
Alternatively, click here to get started.
IndyCar Driver Power Rankings Analysis
In the matter of a seven-day span, Takuma Sato defined his entire 10-year IndyCar career with one word: inconsistency.
Last Sunday, he was involved in an opening lap wreck at Pocono Raceway that many people believe he triggered. Six days later, he dropped from fifth place to 22nd (last) before coming back to win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway with what was his first finish of higher than 10th in nearly three months.
Sato’s third place finish in the first race at the Raceway on Belle Isle back on Saturday, June 1 was his most recent top nine finish prior to this victory.
On the flip side, the consistency that Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud has shown over the last several months has allowed him to stake his claim atop these rankings.
But was this consistency, most recently shown by a fifth place finish in Saturday night’s race, enough to move him to #1?
Pagenaud has finished outside of the top nine in just one race since the season’s second race at Circuit of the Americas all the way back on Sunday, March 24, and he has not finished outside of the top nine since finishing in 17th place after his involvement in a first-lap crash in the second race at the Raceway on Belle Isle on Sunday, June 2.
His average finishes in the last seven, six, five, four, three and two races ranks are all the best among all drivers, although he is tied with Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci with an average finish of 4.00 in the last two.
Ferrucci also made a notable move up these rankings — in fact, the biggest move, up or down, among all drivers — following his third career-high and second consecutive fourth place finish of the season in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
Now let’s get started with the rankings.
#19 through #16
Last Rank: 19th (-)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 1
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 17.33
Average finish in last five races: 16.80
Most recent finish: 17th
Points in most recent race: 13
Standings position: 19th
Points: 211
Last Rank: 15th (-3)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 3
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 15.07
Average finish in last five races: 16.40
Most recent finish: 16th
Points in most recent race: 15
Standings position: 17th
Points: 252
Last Rank: 16th (-1)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 3
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 15.20
Average finish in last five races: 13.60
Most recent finish: 14th
Points in most recent race: 16
Standings position: 18th
Points: 239
Last Rank: 17th (+1)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 5
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 14.07
Average finish in last five races: 14.20
Most recent finish: 10th
Points in most recent race: 21
Standings position: 16th
Points: 254
#15 through #11
Last Rank: 18th (+3)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 4
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 15.00
Average finish in last five races: 11.60
Most recent finish: 3rd
Points in most recent race: 35
Standings position: 15th
Points: 258
Last Rank: 12th (-2)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 4
Top 5 finishes: 2
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 13.33
Average finish in last five races: 13.00
Most recent finish: 21st
Points in most recent race: 9
Standings position: 13th
Points: 287
Last Rank: 14th (+1)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 6
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 1
Average finish: 14.67
Average finish in last five races: 11.60
Most recent finish: 9th
Points in most recent race: 23
Standings position: 14th
Points: 282
Last Rank: 10th (-2)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 7
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 12.00
Average finish in last five races: 12.60
Most recent finish: 12th
Points in most recent race: 19
Standings position: 11th
Points: 316
Last Rank: 7th (-4)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 7
Top 5 finishes: 2
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 11.87
Average finish in last five races: 10.80
Most recent finish: 19th
Points in most recent race: 12
Standings position: 12th
Points: 312
#10 through #6
Last Rank: 13th (+3)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 7
Top 5 finishes: 4
Podium finishes: 4
Wins: 2
Average finish: 11.73
Average finish in last five races: 16.60
Most recent finish: 1st
Points in most recent race: 51
Standings position: 6th
Points: 382
Last Rank: 9th (-)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 8
Top 5 finishes: 4
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 11.67
Average finish in last five races: 10.80
Most recent finish: 11th
Points in most recent race: 20
Standings position: 10th
Points: 324
Last Rank: 8th (-)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 9
Top 5 finishes: 6
Podium finishes: 2
Wins: 0
Average finish: 10.13
Average finish in last five races: 12.60
Most recent finish: 8th
Points in most recent race: 24
Standings position: 7th
Points: 368
Last Rank: 6th (-1)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 11
Top 5 finishes: 4
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 10.20
Average finish in last five races: 10.60
Most recent finish: 18th
Points in most recent race: 12
Standings position: 8th
Points: 346
Last Rank: 11th (+5)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 7
Top 5 finishes: 3
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 11.80
Average finish in last five races: 8.60
Most recent finish: 4th
Points in most recent race: 35
Standings position: 9th
Points: 326
#5 through #1
Last Rank: 5th (-)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 9
Top 5 finishes: 6
Podium finishes: 4
Wins: 1
Average finish: 9.93
Average finish in last five races: 12.00
Most recent finish: 22nd
Points in most recent race: 9
Standings position: 5th
Points: 416
Last Rank: 4th (-)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 12
Top 5 finishes: 10
Podium finishes: 6
Wins: 2
Average finish: 6.60
Average finish in last five races: 9.00
Most recent finish: 13th
Points in most recent race: 17
Standings position: 3rd
Points: 517
Last Rank: 1st (-2)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 10
Top 5 finishes: 10
Podium finishes: 9
Wins: 2
Average finish: 7.40
Average finish in last five races: 5.40
Most recent finish: 20th
Points in most recent race: 10
Standings position: 4th
Points: 493
Last Rank: 2nd (-)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 12
Top 5 finishes: 11
Podium finishes: 7
Wins: 4
Average finish: 5.53
Average finish in last five races: 6.20
Most recent finish: 7th
Points in most recent race: 28
Standings position: 1st
Points: 563
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Last Rank: 3rd (+2)
Races: 15
Top 10 finishes: 13
Top 5 finishes: 6
Podium finishes: 4
Wins: 3
Average finish: 6.67
Average finish in last five races: 3.80
Most recent finish: 5th
Points in most recent race: 30
Standings position: 2nd
Points: 525
Biggest Movers
Up: Santino Ferrucci (+5)
Down: Sebastien Bourdais (-4)
IndyCar action is scheduled to return on Sunday, September 1 with the penultimate race of the 2019 season, the Grand Prix of Portland. NBC is set to broadcast this race live from Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET, and the green flag is set to wave shortly thereafter at 3:30 p.m. ET.
This article was our first IndyCar Driver Power Rankings article utilizing the new power rankings article format, which we detailed here. To see the non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings and both the formulated and non-formulated IndyCar Team Power Rankings, click here.