Hey everyone! Welcome back to my blog!
Lets get right to it shall we? Keep reading for part four of my IndyCar mid season reviews.
Team Penske
I've gotta be honest upfront: everyone knows Penske is my favorite team so its hard for me to be objective when it comes to them. But I'm going to try my very very best.
Okay, so Penske.
Overall, Team Penske has been having a pretty good season so far.
I mean, when you win the Indy 500 and one of your drivers currently has the most wins in the season, I'd say you're doing well.
I would even go so far to say that they are the most successful team so far this season.
Will Power
Man oh man, Will Power. Where do I even start?
The guy has been so inconsistent.
He's basically either finished in the top five or has had a DNF.
I really don't know what to say about Will to be honest.
I mean I can talk for hours about how amazing his Indy 500 win, but besides that Power's season has been disappointing.
Lets hope that the second half of the season holds a lot more luck for Power then the beginning of the season has.
Mid season grade: B- (like I mentioned in a different review, the Indy 500 carries a lot of weight here so that is why Will's grade is so high).
Simon Pagenaud
You wouldn't think that two years after his dominating run to the 2016 championship that I'd be saying that Simon Pagenaud is the weakest link on Team Penske.
Granted, weak link might not be the right term, but he's clearly driver #3 on the team right now.
And I'm really disappointed about that.
I love Pagenuad, but he's really had a rough start to the season.
He's started to finally figure out ovals with the new aero kit, but he's still struggling with the car on road and street courses.
However, he did have a pretty decent preformance at Road America last weekend.
Granted he didn't qualify well, but he managed a 7th place finish. Still, not your standard Pagenaud.
Hopefully he's on a upswing now, but one can only hope.
Mid Season Grade: C
Josef Newgarden
Let me start of by being honest, Josef is my favorite driver so I have a really hard time saying anything negative about him.
That being said, I don't really think there's anything too negative to be said about his at this point in the season.
He seamed to be on a streak after winning Pheonix and Barber, but then hit a lull over the past handful of races.
Detroit and the Indy GP have never gone well fro Josef so I wasn't surprised by his not so great finishes.
Everyone was saying he was in a lull, but he was sure to pick back up.
And that he did just that with a dominating weekend at Road America.
I still think he has a great shot at winning the championship.
I think he's just getting started.
Mid season grade: B-
Carlin Racing
IndyCar needs more new teams, thats a given.
But being a new IndyCar team, thats a hard task.
Just look at Carlin racing so far this season.
You can hardly say they've had much success so far this season.
I just hope that when it's all said and done that they are back agin next year because we need them in IndyCar.
Max Chilton
I really don't have much to say about Max Chilton so far this season. I mean I know he's on a new team and they are all struggling, but his results have been abysmal.
His highest finish so far this season is 11th.
He needs to step up his game.
Mid Season Grade: D-
Charlie Kimball
Okay, yes Charlie is on a new team and thats hard.
BUT, as a veteran driver in the series his best finish is 8th.
Like Max, he needs to step up his game if Carlin wants to become a serious IndyCar team.
Mid season grade: D-
Juncos Racing
Like Carlin, Juncos is another new team in the series, so props to them because they are important for the series.
That being said, they haven't been very impressive so far.
I think what is really hurting them is that they don't have a full time driver in their car.
Swaping out their drivers every race in their sole car in my opinion its not a good way to figure out how to run competitively in the series.
Yes, I know it all comes down to sponsorship money, but I think they'd be much better off if they just kept Kyle Kaiser in the car full time.
That kid has some serious potential.
Mid season grade: D
We'll thats all I've got for you today!
See y'all next time for one final installment of my IndyCar mid season reviews!
xxkaitlyn
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