2020 IndyCar Grand Prix explained

The 2020 GMR Grand Prix, was an IndyCar Series event scheduled for July 4, 2020 and was the second of fourteen rounds of the 2020 IndyCar Series Season. It was originally scheduled for May 9, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] As a result of the postponement, the race was run as a double-header event with the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with IndyCar sharing the card with the Shell 150 NASCAR Xfinity Series event, the day before the NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400.[2] The race was also reduced from 85 laps to 80 laps to compensate for the compacted schedule, and was the first of two meetings held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The second road course meeting was held October 2–4 as part of the Harvest Auto Racing Classic featuring the Intercontinental GT Challenge. It was the inaugural NASCAR meeting race for INDYCAR.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held Friday, July 3, with the first session beginning at 4:30 p.m. EST. With temperatures much higher than the normal May date the event had normally been run at, qualifying times were slower than in years previous. Will Power qualified on pole position with a time of 1:10.1779, besting Jack Harvey and Colton Herta. Rookie Oliver Askew set the fastest time of the day in the second round of qualifying with a 1:09.8780, but wore out his tires in doing so, causing him to only manage 5th place in the Firestone Fast 6 session.[3]

KeyMeaning
Rookie
Past winner
PosNo.NameGrp.Round 1Round 2Fast 6
112 Will Power 21:10.25481:10.13131:10.1779
260 Jack Harvey21:10.51571:10.02381:10.3653
388 Colton Herta21:10.41141:10.09851:10.5197
415 Graham Rahal21:10.56471:10.07071:10.5844
57 Oliver Askew 11:10.53061:09.87801:10.8404
61 Josef Newgarden11:10.61881:10.1420No Time
79 Scott Dixon21:10.50001:10.1990
820 Conor Daly11:10.56581:10.2169
910 Felix Rosenqvist11:10.55581:10.2310
1059 Max Chilton11:10.54651:10.3055
1127 Alexander Rossi21:10.59471:10.3426
1228 Ryan Hunter-Reay11:10.58801:10.5764
135 Patricio O'Ward11:10.7333
148 Marcus Ericsson21:10.6287
1518 Santino Ferrucci11:10.7902
1645 Spencer Pigot21:10.6350
1730 Takuma Sato11:10.8853
1821 Rinus VeeKay 21:10.7070
1929 James Hinchcliffe11:11.1478
2022 Simon Pagenaud 21:10.7438
2155 Álex Palou 11:11.1815
2226 Zach Veach21:11.2762
2324 Sage Karam11:11.7774
244 Charlie Kimball21:11.4026
2598 Marco Andretti11:12.0513
2614 Dalton Kellett 21:11.5876

Race

DriverTeamEngineLapsTime/StatusPit
Stops
GridLaps
Led
19 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda801:41:59.3232372651
215 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda80+19.946241841
322 Simon Pagenaud Team PenskeChevrolet80+20.56432035
488 Colton HertaAndretti Harding Steinbrenner RacingHonda80+25.0883332
521 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter RacingChevrolet80+25.63631830
68 Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda80+25.713314129
71 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet80+31.89736427
85 Patricio O'WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet80+33.83631324
918 Santino FerrucciDale Coyne Racing w/Vasser-SullivanHonda80+43.04621522
1030 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda80+44.89141720
1129 James HinchcliffeAndretti AutosportHonda80+46.16731919
1220 Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet80+49.9772818
1328 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda80+50.48931217
1426 Zach VeachAndretti AutosportHonda80+52.217422117
1510 Felix RosenqvistChip Ganassi RacingHonda80+56.6883915
1659 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet80+1:00.23131014
1760 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda80+1:03.84532114
184 Charlie KimballA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet80+1:05.51932412
1955 Álex Palou Dale Coyne Racing w/Team GohHonda80+1:06.47832111
2012 Will Power Team PenskeChevrolet80+1:11.612312814
2114 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet79+1 Lap3269
2298 Marco AndrettinowrapAndretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-AgajanianHonda79+1 Lap3258
2324 Sage KaramDreyer & Reinbold RacingChevrolet79+1 Lap3237
2445 Spencer PigotRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing w/Citrone/Buhl AutosportHonda74Mechanical21617
2527 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda41Mechanical2115
267 Oliver Askew Arrow McLaren SPChevrolet34Contact155

Race statistics

Average speed: 114.789mph

Lead changes: 10

Lap leader breakdown
From
lap
To
lap
Total
laps
Driver
11616Will Power
17171Jack Harvey
18269Graham Rahal
273812Will Power
39479Graham Rahal
48547Scott Dixon
55551Spencer Pigot
56561Marcus Ericsson
57604Josef Newgarden
61611Zach Veach
628019Scott Dixon

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Scott Dixon104
2 Simon Pagenaud75
3 Josef Newgarden64
34 Colton Herta58
125 Graham Rahal54

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Indianapolis 500 rescheduled to August. David. Malsher. March 26, 2020. July 3, 2020. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network.
  2. Web site: Daly, Pagenaud: IndyCar, NASCAR double-header at IMS is "awesome". David. Malsher. June 30, 2020. July 3, 2020. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network.
  3. Web site: Power soars to pole on Indy road course. Robin. Miller. July 3, 2020. July 3, 2020. Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc..