Beyond the Flag
Fansided

IndyCar: Early 2020 power rankings; a new champion?

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 08: Takuma Sato of Japan, driver of the #30 ABeam Consulting Honda, races Scott Dixon of New Zealand, driver of the #9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, at the start of the NTT IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 08, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 08: Takuma Sato of Japan, driver of the #30 ABeam Consulting Honda, races Scott Dixon of New Zealand, driver of the #9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, at the start of the NTT IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 08, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 12: Simon Pagenaud, driver of the #22 Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 12: Simon Pagenaud, driver of the #22 Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

#6 and #5

#6. . No. 10. Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda. FELIX ROSENQVIST

While it didn’t include a victory, Felix Rosenqvist had one of the best rookie IndyCar seasons from start to finish that the series has seen. He took the Rookie of the Year honors with a sixth place finish in the championship standings, propelled by his success in the road and street course races, which included two career-high runner-up finishes at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Portland International Raceway, notably late in the season. He also finished in fourth on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in his debut. Perhaps most impressively, he was still mathematically eligible to win the road and street course title heading into the finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he finished in an impressive fifth.

. No. 22. Team Penske, Chevrolet. SIMON PAGENAUD. #5

Simon Pagenaud’s IndyCar career needed what 2019 provided. Following a winless 2018 season, his second winless season in four years at Team Penske, he bounced back with a three-win year in 2019. Most notably, he won the Indianapolis 500, and he finished in second place in the championship standings. What makes Pagenaud an interesting driver to watch moving forward is the fact that he recorded just one podium finish in the 14 races that he did not win in 2019, and the fact that the Indy 500 was a double points-paying race certainly helped boost his position in the standings. Can he replicate that success in 2020, or is he poised to regress after a dream season that included pretty much everything except for what would have been his second title?