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: Colton Herta, driver of the #88 Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 12: Colton Herta, driver of the #88 Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

#4 and #3

#4. . No. 9. Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda. SCOTT DIXON

Scott Dixon is never the most flashy driver on the grid, but he always gets the job done. He hasn’t won consecutive races since his three-race winning streak in the 2013 season, but he has finished lower than fourth place in the championship standings just once in the last 14 seasons. In fact, his fourth place finish in the 2019 standings was tied for his second worst result in the last 14 years. You can never sleep on the “Ice Man”, especially not after a “disappointing” year that saw several instances of misfortune and rare mistakes get the best of him.

#3. . No. 88. Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport, Honda. COLTON HERTA

Colton Herta finished just 10 races in his rookie season. No other full-time driver finished fewer than 13. He completed only 1,651 of 2,092 laps. No other full-time driver finished fewer than 1,761. Yet he still managed to finish in seventh place in the championship standings with the first two victories of his career, and perhaps most notably, he did it after leading laps in each of the final three races of the season after leading laps in just one of the first 14. Now officially an Andretti Autosport driver, the upside for Herta is phenomenal. His two wins in 2019 came at tracks where IndyCar had never been or had not been in at least 15 years, effectively where he and the rest of the field were on even ground. Now imagine what he can do with a year of experience under his belt.