Photo Credit: INDYCAR Photo
As we reach the halfway point of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series, let’s look back at some stats through the first eight races of the season:
Only five drivers have completed all eight races without any DNF’s
- Marco Andretti
- Santino Ferrucci (R)
- Josef Newgarden
- Simon Pagenaud
- Alexander Rossi
That quite an impressive feat for any driver to finish every race, especially with the closeness of competition and the relative ease of crashing or suffering a mechanical failure.
Being able to complete laps and finish every race helps translate into success. Rookies benefit most from completing races and laps as every race and lap builds experience for rookies.
Most Laps Completed (out of a possible 743 total laps)
- Santino Ferrucci (R) – 741
- Alexander Rossi – 739
- Marco Andretti – 736
- Simon Pagenaud – 731
- Will Power – 729
- James Hinchcliffe – 725
- Scott Dixon – 723
- Josef Newgarden – 722
- Zach Veach – 715
- Felix Rosenqvist & Takuma Sato – Tied with 708
Completing all but two laps through the first half of the season definitely builds confidence in a driver. “I think it’s important, especially as a rookie, to get as much seat time as possible” said Ferrucci. “And that generally means taking care of your equipment and your car. It’s better that way, the crew definitely appreciates it.”
Laps Led
- Josef Newgarden – 129
- Alexander Rossi – 125
- Simon Pagenaud – 121
- Scott Dixon – 98
- Takuma Sato – 78
When you look at the list of race winners so far in 2019, there are six different winners through eight races which is the same as last year.
- Josef Newgarden & Simon Pagenaud – 2 wins each
- Scott Dixon, Colton Herta (R), Alexander Rossi, & Takuma Sato – 1 win each
Perhaps one of the most important stats for any driver who wants to with the series championship are Top-Five Finishes. Both Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi have six top-five finishes so far this year, a staggering rate of 75%. With success rates like that, it’s no wonder why both Newgarden and Rossi are the top two drivers in the championship standings.
If you really want to break that tie, it’s worth noting that Rossi has seven Top-10 finishes while Newgarden only has six.
