Unlike Formula 1, IndyCar doesn’t have a team championship. They have a driver’s championship, an engine manufacturer championship, even a championship for the pit crews. But there’s nothing to rank and honor a team’s collective performance on the track. We thing that’s a missed opportunity deepen the relationship with fans and bring more intrigue to the season. So in the spirit of American ingenuity, we’re creating one: the Rides & Drives IndyCar Team Championship.
But, I can hear you saying, how can this be fair when some teams have three cars and others have only two? Simple.
We will rank the teams each week based on the average of the driver’s championship points for all the drivers on an individual team. Thus for Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, Arrow McLaren, and RLL, we add the total points earned by the team’s drivers in a race and divide by three. For Meyer Shank, ECR, DCR, AJ Foyt, and JHR, we add the points and divide by two.
Here’s where we stand after the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.
Though Penske and Andretti are tied at the top they got there in very different ways. Andretti is relying mostly on Kyle Kirkwood who has 126 points, 67 points ahead of teammate Will Power. Penske on the other hand, has all three drivers scoring solid points with Newgarden leading the way at 93, McLaughlin at 85, and Malukas at 84. Even though Alex Palou is second in the championship at 100 points, his teammates aren’t helping him out. Dixon and Simpson have just 59 and 46 points. And Though O’Ward has been consistently in the top five, Siegel’s 26 points (24th in the championship) is pulling the whole team down.
We’ll update these standings after each race and present a championship award to the winning team after the checkered flag flies at Laguna Seca in September!
