I was wondering during the NASCAR Playoffs, what would it be like if the format was implemented in INDYCAR. So like anyone would do I conducted the experiment. The playoff field was limited to 12 instead of 16. The playoffs started at Gateway, followed by portland to round out the round of 12. The round of 8 is both milwaukee races.

At the final regular season finale, Colton Herta, who wasn't locked on points gets the win to put him in the playoffs

With everything sorted out, the final classification before the playoffs is:

|| || |#|Driver|Reg Points|Playoff Points|Cutline| |1|Alex Palou|411|25|ADVx2| |2|Will Power|362|22|ADVx2| |3|Scott Dixon|358|20|ADVx2| |4|Colton Herta|354|10|ADV| |5|Pato O'ward|340|17|ADVx2| |6|Scott Mclaughlin|328|16|ADVx2| |7|Josef Newgarden|266|9|ADV| |8|Kyle Kirkwood|314|3|Points| |9|Alexander Rossi|265|2|Points| |10|Santino Ferrucci|231|1|Points| |11|Christian Lundgaard|229|0|Points| |12|Marcus Ericsson|221|0|Points| |13|Felix Rosenqvist|220|0|N/A| |14|Marcus Armstrong|203|0|N/A|

* Playoff Points were added to drivers who haven't won by the bonus points listed in the nascar playoff format.

RO12:

After Gateway, Josef Newgarden Locks in to the round of 12 with the win.
After Portland, Will Power completes the Penske RO12 Sweep

Drivers Failing to transfer to the RO8 Are:

Pato O'ward-32 points, Christian Lundgaard-32 points, Alexander Rossi-32 points, and Kyle Kirkwood- 31 points.

RO8: Both Josef Newgarden and Will Power will both start with 5 points due to the earlier race wins

After Milwaukee 1, Pato O'ward wins, but since his elimination, he will not advance to the next round.

After Milwaukee 2, Scott Mclaughlin Wins the second race, locking himself into the final four.

Drivers Eliminated are: Colton Herta - 45 points, Alex Palou - 41 Points, Marcus Ericsson - 35, and Josef Newgarden - 17 points.

Your Championship 4 are: Scott Mclaughlin, Will Power, Santino Ferrucci, and Scott Dixon,

Your 2024 Champion after finishing just ahead of Santino Ferrucci is Scott Mclaughlin! Colten Herta won the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

Conclusion: This format does not reward consistency, but being clutch in the right moments. This format Makes drivers have to win to succeed, winning the second Milwaukee race likely won him the chip.

Final Classification:

|| || |1|Scott Mclaughlin|4000| |2|Santino Ferrucci|4000| |3|Scott Dixon|4000| |4|Will Power|4000| |5|Colton Herta|ELIM| |6|Alex Palou|ELIM| |7|Marcus Ericsson|ELIM| |8|Josef Newgarden|ELIM| |9|Pato Oward|ELIM| |10|Christian Lungaard|ELIM| |11|Alexander Rossi|ELIM| |12|Kyle Kirkwood|ELIM|

Does anyone know if these shirts still exist? My dad is a big oval & IRL fan and I think it would be a funny Christmas gift. Thanks!

Not a good picture, but I can't find any good pictures outside of the TV broadcast.

I totally forgot about this happening until Indycar posted the race to their YT last night, but yes, AJ Foyt did a start-and-park at the 1992 CART season opener on the streets of Surfer's Paradise.

Foyt's #14 was entered with former F1 driver Gregor Foitek behind the wheel. Apparently, the plan was for Foitek to run the #14 at the season-opening road/street races as well as Indy, but he balked at a high-speed oval. Foyt had returned from his nasty 1990 Road America crash in 1991, but struggled on the road/street courses, so other drivers started filling in the #14 the rest of 1991, and continued into 1992.

For whatever reason (either minimum car count or all franchised cars having to start every event, what I can find is very unclear), Foyt slotted into Leader Card Racing's backup car, renumbered to #17 (the number of Derrick Walker's second car, and who would be listed as the owner), started 23rd of 24 cars (King Hiro crashed in practice and didn't start.), and would complete 2 laps before parking it due to "transmission issues."

The four best selling car brands in America are Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, and Honda. You get what I'm saying right? There may not be a direct causation, however it seems that the best selling car brands all compete in either IndyCar or NASCAR. 5th 6th and 7th on this list? Nissan, Hyundai and Kia. This continues to make me think Hyundai could enter IndyCar, and Honda is certainly considering NASCAR. As for Toyota and Ford, they would be insane to not consider IndyCar. I don't think Nissan is in a good enough financial place to join either. And before anyone asks about Dodge, (A) Stellantis is in a bit of a purgatory in terms of business (even Ram and Jeep are struggling) and (B) they're not even in the top twenty for sales. What do you guys think? If a third manufacturer comes to IndyCar, would it be Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, or something completely out of left field?

And yes, I understand I can watch them any time

Interesting... https://youtu.be/nG2npYnGY-g?si=P0hob6wR44DkPK5X

Any chance we can get him in IndyCar next year??? https://racer.com/2024/11/06/sauber-confirms-bortoleto-for-2025-as-bottas-and-zhou-depart/

My personal choice would be Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999, since he won seven of 20 races and the championship.

However, there have been other great rookie seasons. One example is Teo Fabi in 1983, who finished second in the championship to Al Unser, Sr., but won four of 13 races.

Another one was Nigel Mansell winning the 1993 championship with five wins out of 16 races. Granted, he did this after having competed in Formula One from 1980 to 1992 and having won that championship.

Even earlier, in 1932, Bob Carey won two of the season's six races, earning him the championship. Tragically, he was killed in a crash before the start of the following season.

Certainly, there are other great rookie seasons.

The champion pit crew of will power ✍🏻

So, do we currently have 5 full time seats available?

2 x Dale Coyne 2 x Juncos Hollinger 1 x Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Obviously, some could be split between ovals and road/street courses.

Any rumours as to who is going where (unless you're Dale Coyne and that will be announced before first practice)

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Indy 500 for 2025– I was able to score tickets in section 5 of B stand, row M. Any input on this seating area is greatly appreciated, I worry it might be too low and visibility of the track limited. Thanks!