Beyond the Flag
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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: Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 12: Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

#8 and #7

#8. . No. 28. Andretti Autosport, Honda. RYAN HUNTER-REAY

Ryan Hunter-Reay has not been as consistent of a frontrunner in recent years as he was in the first six years of his tenure at Andretti Autosport, when he won at least one race every year, never finished outside of the top seven in the championship standings, won the 2012 title and won the 2014 Indianapolis 500. Now he has gone winless in three of the last four seasons. He is still no stranger to the podium, having recorded eight podium finishes in these three winless seasons, including two in 2019, but he is on the lower end of the top-tier drivers at this point, even possibly the upper-end of the mid-pack. 2020 is a big year for him as he looks to bounce back and land a new contract.

Team Penske, Chevrolet. WILL POWER. #7. . No. 12

Will Power has finished in the top five in the championship standings in each of his first 10 seasons driving full-time for Team Penske, and there is no reason to believe that that will change in 2019. However, his championship upside is why he is ranked so low in these power rankings. At this point, he is the three-driver Team Penske team’s third best driver. That was certainly the case in 2019, when it took him until late in the season to win even just race, at which point his two teammates had already combined to win seven. Expect him to win multiple races again, just as he has done in nine of his first 10 seasons with the team, but unless he can improve upon his consistency, individual race wins could once again be the highlights of his season.