The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season continues this weekend with the KOHLER Grand Prix at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race is scheduled for 55 laps.
Josef Newgarden earned his fifth career IndyCar pole position Saturday, and will lead the 23-car field to the start, scheduled to start at 1:12 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, June 24.
Here’s a quick look at some interesting statistics and tidbits regarding the race.
Verizon IndyCar Series (KOHLER Grand Prix; 1:12 p.m. ET/12:12 p.m. CT Sunday, June 24)
IndyCar Racing – Ties to Road America
- This weekend’s race marks the 28th IndyCar race at Road America. There were 25 races held during CART and Champ Car World Series, and have been two in Verizon IndyCar Series competition (2016 and 2017).
- Hector Rebaque won the first IndyCar race at Road America, in 1982. It marked Rebaque’s only IndyCar victory, and the first for a Mexican driver in IndyCar competition. Two other drivers – Jacques Villeneuve, the uncle of CART champion Jacques Villeneuve, and Alex Tagliani, both Canadians – also earned their only IndyCar victory at Road America.
- The Andretti family has six victories at Road America, with Mario Andretti and Michael Andretti each triumphing three times; that is the record for IndyCar wins. Emerson Fittipaldi also has three victories at Road America.
- Both Mario and Michael Andretti, as well as Jacques Villeneuve, the nephew, have back-to-back victories at Road America. Villeneuve is the last driver to win consecutive races at the track, in 1994 and 1995.
- Overall, between CART, Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series, 19 drivers have won IndyCar races at Road America.
- Since the IndyCar Series began racing at Road America in 2016, two drivers have won the race. Will Power won the 2016 race, and Scott Dixon is the defending race winner, having on the 2017 affair.
- Of the previous 27 IndyCar races at Road America, nine have been won from the pole position and 12 from the front row. Will Power was the most recent polesitter to win at Road America, in 2016. In total, 23 races have been won from the front three rows.
- Alex Tagliani won from the 13th position in the 2004 race, part of the Champ Car World Series. That marked the furthest back in which a driver started en route to winning the race.
- Overall, the average starting position for a race winner at Road America is 3.74 (3.0 in two IndyCar Series races).
- Six drivers – Mario Andretti (1984), Michael Andretti (1991), Jacques Villeneuve, nephew (1995), Alex Zanardi (1997), Cristiano da Matta (2002) and Sebastien Bourdais (2007) – have won at Road America en route to winning the series championship later in the season.
- Paul Tracy has led 143 laps – the most IndyCar laps led– in six races at Road America. Michael Andretti holds the record for most IndyCar races led at Road America, with seven.
- A total of 42 drivers have led at least one lap at Road America in IndyCar competition.
- The 1998 race at Road America featured a race-record six different leaders. Dario Franchitti won the 50-lap race.
- The 1982 and 1983 races featured a race-record 10 lead changes in each event.
- Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with eight IndyCar victories at Road America, including the 2016 race in the IndyCar Series. Chevrolet also won seven straight from 1987 to 1993.
- Hector Rebaque (1982) and Michael Andretti (1996) each led only the final lap in their victories.
- Mario Andretti (1987) and Paul Tracy (1993) are the only two drivers to win an IndyCar race at Road America after leading every lap (both led all 50 laps).
- The largest field in an IndyCar race at Belle Isle was 30 cars in 1994 (won by Jacques Villeneuve, the younger). The smallest field was 17 cars, during the 2006 and 2007 Champ Car World Series seasons.
- Christian Fittipaldi averaged a race-record 137.697 mph in the 1999 CART race at Road America, one of nine IndyCar races at the track that has featured zero full-course cautions. Of the two IndyCar Series races, Scott Dixon has the best winning average, at 123.431 mph in 2017.
- Dario Franchitti set the pole speed record at Road America at 145.924 mph for the 2000 race.
- A total of 1,356 laps have been contested in 27 IndyCar races at Road America.
2018 IndyCar Series Season
- Six drivers have won races in the first nine races this season: Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg, Florida); Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park); Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach); Will Power (Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500); Scott Dixon (Detroit Grand Prix, Race #1 and Texas Motor Speedway); and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Detroit Grand Prix, Race #2).
- Alexander Rossi has a season-high five podiums and is tied with Ryan Hunter-Reay for most top fives with seven. Graham Rahal and Scott Dixon each have a season-high eight top 10s.
- Will Power leads all drivers in laps led this season, having led 201 of 1,200 laps, though none has come since the Indianapolis 500 last month. Robert Wickens is second, with 172 laps led. Alexander Rossi has led a series-high seven races this season, and 133 laps led (fifth most).
- Overall, 21 drivers have led at least one lap this season. Six drivers – Takuma Sato, Gabby Chaves, Zach Veach, Max Chilton, Charlie Kimball and Matheus Leist – have competed in all nine races this season but have yet to lead a lap.
- Scott Dixon has the best average finish of all drivers this season, at 4.22.
- A total of 38 drivers have competed in at least one race this season. Alfonso Celis Jr., a former GP3 Series driver who has made two starts this season in the Indy Lights, will become the 39th, as he makes his series debut this weekend.
- Graham Rahal has showed qualifying has meant little, as he’s made up 64 positions this season in nine races – an average of 7.11 positions per race. He’s made up at least 20 positions in a race twice this year – 22 in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and 20 in the Indianapolis 500 – and overall has made up positions in seven of nine races (only race he finished worse than he started was Detroit Grand Prix, Race #1).
- Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon have completed all 1,200 laps this season.
KOHLER Grand Prix – 2018 Entry List
- Eleven countries/nationalities are represented in this weekend’s race: United States (8), Canada (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (2), France (2), New Zealand (1), Australia (1), United Arab Emirates (1), Japan (1), Colombia (1), and Mexico (1).
- Drivers ages include: 40-plus (2); 30-39 (8); 20-29 (12); 19-under (1)
- Previous Road America Winners: 2 – Will Power (2016); Scott Dixon (2017)
- 23 drivers entered in 2018 race have combined for 187 victories
- Drivers starts: More than 300 races (1); 200-299 races (3); 100-109 races (8); 50-99 races (0); 26-50 races (5); 0-25 races (6)
- Manufacturers: Honda (12); Chevrolet (11)
IndyCar Series Random Statistics – Current Drivers
- Tony Kanaan has gone 166 consecutive races without a pole position. His last pole position was at Richmond International Raceway in 2008.
- Will Power is the last driver to win back-to-back races in the IndyCar Series, as he swept the races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month (Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 12 and Indianapolis 500 on May 27). Simon Pagenaud is the last driver to win three consecutive IndyCar races, when he did so in 2016 at Long Beach, California; Birmingham, Alabama; and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Upcoming Milestones
- Scott Dixon is four starts away from 300 IndyCar races.
- Will Power is four starts away from 200 IndyCar races.
- Takuma Sato is six starts away from 150 IndyCar races.
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