Inside Line: Most Underrated Driver This Season?
Today's question: We're just past the halfway point of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, as there are seven races remaining on the 17-race schedule. Who is the most underrated driver in the series so far this season?
Curt Cavin: I'm going to throw everyone for a loop and choose Kyle Kirkwood, and here's why: We have been so fascinated by Alex Palou's domination that we haven't considered that in any recent year we would be standing on chairs to applaud what Kirkwood has accomplished. He already has three race wins this season, which ties the most by any driver last year. The Andretti Global driver scored his third win of this season in the eighth race. Last year, it took 14 races for a driver to win three races, and Palou, the series champion, wasn't one of them. Two years ago, it took nine races for Palou to get his third of the year. In fact, other than Palou this year, no driver has won three races quicker since Scott Dixon won the first three of the 2020 season. Additionally, Kirkwood already has a short oval victory – last month at World Wide Technology Raceway -- making him one of the leading candidates to reach victory at least once this weekend in Iowa Speedway's doubleheader. Blame Palou for this overshadowing; Kirkwood has done his part to earn the spotlight.
Eric Smith: Rinus VeeKay is the driver that comes to my mind. Dale Coyne Racing had no top-10 finishes all last season, but VeeKay, who was the 27th and final full-time driver signed for this year, has six this season, including three straight. He's 13th in the standings, 19 points shy of 10th, and has a top-10 finish on every discipline of track the series offers. He's my pick for an underrated driver.
Arni Sribhen: Quite a few drivers, including some mentioned by my colleagues here, have had their moments in the spotlight this season, but Marcus Armstrong just consistently delivers strong results for Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian. In just his third NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year sits a career-best eighth in the point standings. And while he has yet to finish better than fifth this season, Armstrong has scored top-10 finishes five times in the last six races. His only blemish since May is an 18th-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, but even there, he overcame a crash in pre-qualifying practice to have a solid points day. There's a reason Chip Ganassi Racing signed the speedy Kiwi to a multiyear deal and kept him in the family through its technical partnership with Meyer Shank Racing. Armstrong is just a breakthrough result away from being considered a regular contender and leaving this conversation.
Paul Kelly: Kyffin Simpson. Look, it's no secret that Simpson brought and continues to bring significant funding to Chip Ganassi Racing since he joined the team for his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut in 2024. And Kyff Dawg didn't exactly smash the competition in INDY NXT by Firestone, where he produced no wins, one pole and two podium finishes over two seasons. His best finish last season as a rookie in the top series was 12th. But Cayman Islands resident Simpson has evolved into more than just a ride-buyer this season, as his progress is one of the best under-the-radar stories of 2025. He has four top-10 finishes this season, including three in his last four starts. He earned his first Firestone Fast Six appearance last weekend at Mid-Ohio, qualifying third. He was running third in the race on legitimate pace before being assessed a drive-through penalty for clipping the foot of Dale Coyne Racing crew member Nico Don while exiting a pit stop. In fact, after the race, winner Scott Dixon said he was surprised Simpson didn't round out a 1-2-3 finish for CGR. Here's the most telling stat about Simpson's improvement: He finished a fairly anonymous 21st in points last season. This year, he's up to 15th, ahead of Indianapolis 500 winners Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden among full-timers in the series.
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Indianapolis Star
29 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
IndyCar Farm to Finish 275 at Iowa Speedway live race updates, leaderboard, crashes, stream, TV
The IndyCar Series completes its doubleheader weekend in the Iowa countryside with the Farm to Finish 275 on the 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway oval. Pato O'Ward picked up his first win of the season Saturday, with a trio of Team Penske drivers trailing closely: pole-sitter Josef Newgarden was second, Will Power third and Scott McLaughlin — who started last — fourth. O'Ward remains well behind series points leader Alex Palou, who finished fifth. Nathan Brown is your best IndyCar follow, and keep up with coverage throughout the season with IndyStar's motorsports newsletter. Follow along here for the leaderboard updates, crashes and more, and remember to refresh. Row 1 1. Alex Palou, 184.014 mph 2. Felix Rosenqvist, 183.975 mph Row 2 3. David Malukas, 183.369 mph 4. Josef Newgarden, 183.316 mph Row 3 5. Nolan Siegel, 183.194 mph 6. Will Power, 183.072 mph Row 4 7. Conor Daly, 182.943 mph 8. Scott Dixon, 182.664 mph Row 5 9. Pato O'Ward, 182.645 mph 10. Graham Rahal, 182.489 mph Row 6 11. Robert Shwartzman, 182.489 mph 12. Marcus Armstrong, 182.409 mph Row 7 13. Callum Ilott, 182.214 mph 14. Marcus Ericsson, 182.154 mph Row 8 15. Alexander Rossi, 181.846 mph 16. Louis Foster, 181.805 mph Row 9 17. Christian Rasmussen, 181.681 mph 18. Kyffin Simpson, 181.589 mph Row 10 19. Colton Herta, 181.472 mph 20. Santino Ferrucci, 181.205 mph Row 11 21. Kyle Kirkwood, 181.181 mph 22. Christian Lundgaard, 180.920 mph Row 12 23. Devlin DeFrancesco, 180.664 mph 24. Sting Ray Robb, 177.683 mph Row 13 25. Jacob Abel, 177.145 mph 26. Rinus VeeKay, 170.822 mph Row 14 27. Scott McLaughlin, no time Alex Palou, has won six races, is back to a two-races-of-max-points lead on and Kyle Kirkwood, who has three race wins. Scott Dixon and Pato O'Ward also have wins. Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin won the first race, and teammate Will Power won the second. 'You feel that intensity': Will IndyCar return to Iowa Speedway? Pivotal weekend may decide future The Inside Line: Nathan Brown and Joey Barnes break down the race at Mid-Ohio (All times ET; all IndyCar sessions are on IndyCar Live, IndyCar Radio and Sirius XM Channel 218) 1-3:30 p.m.: IndyCar race 2, 275 laps, Fox TV: Coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 12, 2025, on Fox. Green flag is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. Will Buxton is the play-by-play voice, with analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. Fox Sports app. Watch free with a Fubo trial IndyCar Nation is on SiriusXM Channel 218, IndyCar Live and the IndyCar Radio Network (check affiliates for each race) Sunday: Partly cloudy skies and highs in the low 80s. The 2025 IndyCar Series schedule includes 17 races, all televised on Fox. (Times are ET; %-downtown street course, &-road course, *-oval) March 2, St. Petersburg, Florida % (Winner: Alex Palou) March 23, Thermal, California & (Winner: Alex Palou) April 13, Long Beach, California % (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) May 4, Birmingham, Alabama & (Winner: Alex Palou) May 10, Indianapolis & (Winner: Alex Palou) May 25, Indianapolis 500 * (Winner: Alex Palou) June 1, Detroit % (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) June 15, St. Louis * (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) June 22, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin & (Winner: Alex Palou) July 6, Lexington, Ohio & (Winner: Scott Dixon) July 12, Newton, Iowa * (Winner: Pato O'Ward) July 13, Newton, Iowa *, 1 p.m. July 20, Toronto %, noon July 27, Monterey, California &, 3 p.m. Aug. 10, Portland &, 3 p.m. Aug. 24, Milwaukee *, 2 p.m. Aug. 31, Nashville *, 2:30 p.m.
Indianapolis Star
12 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
How will Pato O'Ward celebrate Synk 275 win? Gifting Josef Newgarden Kit-Kats: 'A lot of salt to get rid of'
NEWTON, Iowa — For Pato O'Ward, Saturday's win in the Synk 275 was deeply personal. Don't mind the fact that win No. 8 of his career came on his 100th start, or that Iowa Speedway became the first track in his IndyCar career where he's snagged a second win — with that first one three years ago in Corn Country coming in his 50th IndyCar start — or that he goes to bed 20 points closer to championship leader Alex Palou. Because after 16 runner-up finishes in his career, six times to Josef Newgarden, the young Mexican driver wasn't about to surrender the late-race lead he inherited at the close of the race's final pitstop exchange, certainly not to the Team Penske driver who led the first 232 laps and took the checkered flag stalking O'Ward's rear-wing, seething as he drove. 'He's the guy that I've been most around, especially to win races. If it wasn't for him, I would have a lot more wins,' O'Ward said, chuckling and leaning back in his chair as he spoke. 'But he's a tough competitor. I think this year for him has been quite different to what it's been in the past. 'I see him very differently, to be honest: like his attitude and everything is definitely not the Josef that I've always praised, I would say.' When asked by IndyStar to elaborate — "Was there, for example, a particularly tense post-race moment between the two?" — IndyCar's superstar driver simply smiled and offered this: 'I'm gonna ask Kit-Kat to send a care package to his home, because he's got a lot of salt to get rid of.' 'I've studied him. I know how to race him. He gets what he gives, and if he was flirting with fire there, then that's what he got, and that's what I was going to give him,' O'Ward continued. 'Because you get to these points in your career, and for me, especially today when I was behind him, I said, 'Today is the day that's going to change.' 'Because obviously (Josef) has a lot more experience than I do, but I think over the years, I've grown to realize that I'm pretty handy, at least on certain ovals. And I believe our package is very strong, and it's important to capitalize when we can get those wins.' As pivotal, emotional and cherished as many of O'Ward's seven previous wins in his IndyCar career have been, some might argue that a few of his close calls have similarly defined and shaped his first chapter or two in the sport, too. That late-race sprint out of the pits in 2020 at World Wide Technology Raceway that he lost by mere inches. His thorough throttling of the field at Texas Motor Speedway, where he at one point lapped the rest of the field, but where he also lost a back-and-forth, lap-by-lap, side-by-side battle by virtue of an ill-timed race-ending caution. The 2024 St. Pete season opener he never got to celebrate, but nonetheless owns the trophy and the win in the record books. The devastating Indianapolis 500 heartbreaker that left him in tears, where he led at the close of Lap 199, only to watch a blur of red and yellow breeze by on the outside through Turn 3 of Lap 200. All those runner-up finishes and more have come at the hands of Newgarden, the two-time series champ and two-time 500 winner who O'Ward spoke glowingly of early in his career and who not long ago appeared to be creating a publicly playful "older brother, younger brother" dynamic simultaneously as they became IndyCar's biggest stars. At least on O'Ward's side, much of that shine has clearly worn off, but as the Arrow McLaren driver explained, that doesn't take away from the way in which Newgarden, and Team Penske, have become the class of the field at IndyCar's annual stop in Newton, Iowa. That fact, he said, shaped the way in which O'Ward patiently, methodically drove and studied himself through the opening stages of Saturday's 275-lap race. For one, O'Ward said he wasn't surprised to see Newgarden pop into the pits first for the final exchange of the race on Lap 233, as he allowed Saturday's polesitter to burn ever so slightly more fuel while running out front for the first 232 laps. Not only did that put Newgarden at risk of getting caught a lap down by an untimely caution, but when O'Ward did finally pit two laps later, the 26-year-old knew doing so would, if executed properly, give him clean air and the chance to pop out of the pits with some cushion to the No. 2 Chevy trailing behind. Then it would be up to him to hold off the six-time Iowa Speedway winner. 'Hand him over to the world': How Pato O'Ward became IndyCar's biggest star And so O'Ward tore out of the pits for the final time like a bat out of hell, cognizant of the fact he'd spun earlier in the morning in practice doing just that, but also supremely focused on nothing but the task at hand and the opportunity in his lap — particularly after Newgarden's final stop ran a hair long due to the smallest of delays getting his left-front tire secured. 'Yeah, if we were just a little quicker, then we (pass him),' Newgarden said, stone-faced, steely eyed as he spoke. 'It just takes one bobble. 'We just needed to maintain position. That was going to be the key.' As he had referenced earlier in the day in the wake of securing pole for the first of two races in the doubleheader weekend, Newgarden entered the weekend staunchly of the belief IndyCar had gone the wrong direction in its package decision — one with high downforce and lower engine boost — brought in an attempt to remedy what last year at Iowa Speedway was single-track racing due to the lack of a second runnable lane. That frustration seeped into his dejection Saturday evening, as he settled for his second podium of the year in a season that for him, and Team Penske, is yet to include a win. Climbing to 14th in points from 19th, snapping a streak of three consecutive DNFs and grabbing just his fourth top 10 of the year offered little consolation for the 31-time IndyCar race-winner. '(Pato) pushed me up in (Turn) 3 on the restart when I had a good run. You're going for the win, so I almost — I can't fault him,' Newgarden said. 'But with this package, I was flat out. Couldn't do anything different. He got position, and that was that. 'I was just kind of managing risk today. A day like today was going, I wish I would have done a little bit more, but we've got tomorrow, so we'll see what we can bring.' History in IndyNXT: Myles Rowe becomes first Black driver to win IndyCar or NASCAR race at Iowa Speedway The difference in the pair shone in the way in which O'Ward has handled close calls in 2025 — a season where at the halfway mark, he had finished runner up three times without picking up a win. His most consistent season on race days, O'Ward said, has seemed to coincide with a run of his worst season-long qualifying performances — leaving him so often in damage control mode trying to salvage top 10s or top 5s as he watched Palou gobble up first- and second-place finishes left and right. Even as he sat in Newgarden's rearview mirror for nearly 150 consecutive laps — much of that with a gap that ping-ponged either side of half-a-second — O'Ward didn't feel as if he needed this win. There was no desperation, something he said he began to see come alive in one of IndyCar's fiercest modern-day competitors as Newgarden tried to slice and squeeze his way back to the lead to no avail. 'How bad did I need it? I wanted it,' O'Ward said. 'I wouldn't necessarily say that if I didn't get it, it was going to be the end of the world. We've been chipping away at it, and if it wasn't a win, I think it was going to be a second place. 'Josef, he was poised to get another win. He's dominated here. But like I said, we've had a lot of battles, a lot of 1-2 finishes, and in a lot of those, I've been the two. It's just way nicer and a way better feeling when you're No. 1. Yeah, I know how to race him. He's probably the guy that I know how he races the most and the one that I've studied the most, because he's the one that I've been behind the most.'
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mexico's O'Ward wins at Iowa in 100th career IndyCar start
Mexican racer Pato O'Ward won his eighth career title in is 100th career IndyCar start by capturing the Iowa 275 (James Gilbert) Mexico's Pato O'Ward held off American Josef Newgarden over the after a late restart to win Saturday's IndyCar Iowa 275, taking his eighth career triumph in his 100th IndyCar start. O'Ward took his first victory of the season by edging six-time Iowa winner Newgarden after 275 laps over the 0.894-mile (1.43km) Iowa Speedway oval in the first of two weekend races at Newton, Iowa. Advertisement "This is great. We've been waiting for this one all year," O'Ward said. "It's crazy. My 50th race was also a win here in Iowa (in 2022) and that's the only other win I have here so it's a cool story." O'Ward overtook pole-sitter Newgarden on the last pit stop exchange and held him off after a restart with 10 laps remaining. "Josef is the master at these races. He rules around here so I knew we had to be spot on," O'Ward said. Newgarden led 232 laps but settled for second, followed by Penske Racing teammates Will Power of Australia and New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin, who started 27th and last after a qualifying crash but nearly made the podium. Advertisement "We lost track position there and it was game over," Newgarden said. On lap 153, Newgarden surpassed 2,000 laps led at Iowa, the first time any driver has led that many laps at any IndyCar track. O'Ward had not won since last year at the Milwaukee oval. "This is awesome and we have another chance tomorrow," O'Ward said. "It would be really cool to double up." Spain's Alex Palou, who won the pole for Sunday's race, is the campaign points leader with six wins including the Indianapolis 500 but saw his lead shrink from 114 to 105 points, 461-356 over O'Ward. Advertisement Pole-sitter Newgarden grabbed the lead at the start and O'Ward charged into second after the first set of pit stops. They stayed that way until Newgarden's last pit stop with 43 laps remaining. He returned to the track just behind O'Ward and the Mexican refueled and stayed ahead of Newgarden until US racer Nolan Siegel crashed, halting the race for outer wall repairs. That set up a restart with 15 laps remaining, but Britain's Callum brushed the outer wall to force another restart with 10 laps remaining, O'Ward speeding away and staying ahead to the finish. js/bb
