Road America is a famous race track where IndyCar cars compete. It has lots of turns, so drivers who handle the track well usually do better than average.
“Cinderellas” means drivers who aren’t usually expected to do well, but they can surprise everyone. Even if their team isn’t the biggest, they might be strong at this track.
Qualifying is when drivers try to set the fastest lap before the race. Your qualifying result helps decide where you start, which can make the race easier or harder.
The pits are where teams service the cars during the race weekend. Pit stops can affect race strategy and who ends up in front.
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Indycar Dad: Welcome to the IndyCar Dad podcast. I do a five-minute podcast about IndyCar. I watch everything and read everything about IndyCar all week long and summarize it in five minutes. And today I'm doing a five-minute preview of the Road America race.
The race is this Sunday, and I've gone through the last six years of races, analyzed all the results to put together a list of drivers you should watch out. In the past, when I first started doing a podcast, I tried to predict who would win and who would not, you know, who would win.
I think a lot of pundits do that. But I think it doesn't really add to the fun of watching the race. So now instead, I look for outliers in the results for people that do great or bad, or both. People who are very consistent and who people are very consistently fast.
So I'm going to give you a list of about nine drivers and These will be people that you can watch rise and fall on the charts, and also you can cheer for or cheer against, depending on how you like. So we're going to classify this week's racers in three ways.
One, people that are very solid at Road America. The results for Road America when you do the statistical analysis is that a lot of drivers fall in the same average range. There's a very wide number of guys that average about a tenth place finish here.
So ⁓ I will pick three drivers that are up faster than that. Then we'll talk about some drivers that are checkers or wreckers. These are guys that they either win it or they're 20th. So those are fun to watch because you usually that's the type of people that pass aggressively.
And then I'll pick three drivers that I call Cinderellas. These are drivers on lesser teams that probably ⁓ don't usually have good results. But have done especially well at Road America in the past.
So let's go. Solid drivers. These are guys that have great results and they're better than everyone else. And ⁓ the first solid driver we're gonna say is Alex Pelow. ⁓ Alex Pelow with a 6.8 ⁓ average finish is two positions better than second place.
So, but 6.8 is actually a pretty bad average. In some of the races, we have guys that have like a 3.0. ⁓ You know, so 6.8 means there's a lot of people have chances to do well at Road America. So ⁓ X extra good race to watch.
Second in the in the results is Scott McLaughlin. Not because he's ever won the race, he's only ever finished on the podium one time out of five, but he's a very solid performer here. So Scott McLaughlin is probably someone we're gonna see in the top 10 most of the race.
Another solid performer here who's had a second place finish is Marcus Erickson. Marcus Erickson is also on hot streak lately. So I think we'll probably see a solid result out of him. So let's get to the more exciting guys.
I like the checkers of records types, and we've got four drivers that are checkers of records. Joseph Newgarden is checkers of records here. He in the last six years he finished 25th, 21st, 19th, 2 seconds, and a win.
So he's won at this track before. You don't think of New Garden as a road course specialist, but he's won this race once and he's finished second twice in the last six years. Really good results. ⁓ another checkers of records guy is Will Power.
And Will Power is a very aggressive passer at this track. So it's one to watch. I think Will Power thinks you can pass at like four or five different corners on this track, and he tries it. So ⁓ watch for Will to get into some ⁓ Heated rivalries on track.
So and Will has been having one of those seasons where he's been real aggressive and he's had some contact. And I'm not sure he's in the mood to change. So ⁓ Felix Rosenquist is checkers of records here.
It's where he won his first indie car race. Last year he finished second here. And ⁓ but he's also finished 20th. So I like to watch Felix. I'm rooting for him, and I think he's gonna be a good one to watch.
If he qualifies well, expect him to do well. But you never know what's gonna happen at this track with yellows and that type of thing. And Pato Award is checkers of records. ⁓ he's never won this race.
He's finished second, he's finished third, and ⁓ but he's also finished 26th. So so there you go. That's ⁓ four that are checkers of records. Newgard and power, Rosenquist, and Oward. And then there are three drivers I'm gonna pick for you to watch that are Cinderellas at this track.
These are drivers that are in lesser equipment, lesser funded teams, but I think maybe they'll score well. ⁓ one is Roman Grosjon. He just does well at this track. He's actually like seventh in in average finish for ⁓ for him, and he's never been in a great car.
In fact, his first two seasons with Dale Coyne, he finished fifth and then he finished fourth. So he's had some good results here and not so great cars. ⁓ next check ⁓ next Cinderella story is ⁓ Santino Santino Ferrucci.
Last year he finished on the podium. I don't know if you remember him catching the beer and drinking it. The camera was on him because he finished third in the race. So ⁓ he can pull off a good performance.
In 2020, he also finished sixth. So did well there. And then the third Cinderella I have for you is Graham Ray Hall. Generally, a top 10 finish for him here would be really good. But Grant's been doing really well this season, so look for him to have a strong finish.
So there you go. That's my preview. For the ⁓ Road America IndyCar Race, one of my favorite tracks. I did check the weather right before I did this podcast, and there is a chance of rain on Sunday, and that would be really exciting.
We had rained ⁓ at qualifying a couple years ago, and that's how we got, I think, Louis Foster or Linus Linus Lundquist, I think, was on poll. So exciting stuff. ⁓ I love Road America. If you get to attend it, if you could attend any one race outside the Indy 500, Road America is my vote.
The food's great, the venue's great, the tracks great, and the people are great. And the viewing, the paddock's open, so you can walk around the paddock, and the paddock is located right behind the pits.
So essentially you are right one chain link fence away from the pit cruise. So great race. ⁓ if you're going, have fun. If you're watching from the couch like I am, also have fun. Get your snacks ready and have a good time.
I'm Indy Car Dad. I hope you hope you have fun at the races. I hope to see you at the track. And I try to put this all together for you in five minutes so that you don't waste your precious time. ⁓ follow me on all the podcast networks, and I'm on Instagram and TikTok as IndyCard.
About this episode
Road America is the focus as the IndyCar Dad breaks down the field with three buckets: “solid,” “checkers or wreckers,” and “Cinderellas.” He frames “checkers or wreckers” as drivers who either win or finish far back, and highlights the underdog upside of lesser teams. Weather could be the swing factor, with a chance of rain on Sunday and past examples of rain reshaping results. The episode also includes a quick, friendly note on enjoying the weekend—especially if you’re near the pit cruise.
A preview of the upcoming Road America IndyCar race, featuring a breakdown of drivers to watch and insights into their performance at the track. The host provides valuable analysis and recommendations for race enthusiasts.
Takeaways
Driver classifications at Road America: solid performers, checkers or wreckers, and Cinderellas.
Insight into the performance and track history of key drivers to watch at the upcoming race.
