2016 Grand Prix At The Glen: 3 Things We Learned
Scott Dixon won, Will Power wrecked, and we learned a lot when IndyCar returned to Watkins Glen for the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen.
There were high expectations for IndyCar‘s return to Watkins Glen International, and the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen did not disappoint.
Scott Dixon dominated almost the entire weekend, culminating with securing his fourth victory at the New York course. The four-time champion also climbed to fourth place on the all-time wins list with his 40th trip to Victory Lane.
Meanwhile, the championship field was narrowed down from nine hopefuls to just two with a shot as Simon Pagenaud‘s seventh-place finish put him 43 points in front of Will Power. Power had the worst possible day at Watkins Glen, getting wrecked by Dixon’s teammate Charlie Kimball to come home 20th.
Here are the three things we learned from the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen:
1) Everyone needs some personal space
Kimball might be hearing from a few of his fellow drivers today. He was involved in two of the Grand Prix at the Glen’s biggest wrecks; first he made contact with Graham Rahal that turned Rahal into the wall, and later on it was Kimball tapping the rear of Power’s car that caused Power to crash – and potentially also ended his hopes at obtaining a second IndyCar championship.
Race control looked at both incidents and took no action either time but those were two of the eight championship-eligible drivers taken out after relatively minor contact. It just goes to show that even the smallest bump between cars can end someone’s day, or in this case also do severe damage to their season. Close racing is a fact of life in IndyCar but it can also come with huge consequences.
2) James Hinchcliffe must have walked under a ladder
If winning the Grand Prix at the Glen broke Dixon’s streak of bad luck, Hinchcliffe obviously picked it up. He’s had a miserable last few weeks. First he was beaten at the line in Texas by Rahal, then his almost race-winning car was penalized by the league, which also eliminated him from the IndyCar championship hunt.
At Watkins Glen he was again flagged by the league in qualifying. He overcame that penalty to be driving second in the closing laps of the race, but then bad luck struck again. Hinchcliffe was passed by Josef Newgarden, then ran out of fuel before he could get across the finish line. At least Sebastien Bourdais helped him out, letting him hitch a ride back on the No. 11 KVSH Racing Chevrolet.
3) No one cares about your championship
Paul Tracy repeated this a few times during the NBCSN telecast but it’s absolutely true: No one cares about your championship – or anything else you have going on – when you’re racing in the middle of the pack and they only have two races to potentially save their season.
We saw that again and again during the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen. The situations between Kimball, Rahal and Power were the most obvious but everyone was desperate and driving like it on Sunday. Bourdais briefly went airborne after he was forced onto the grass while battling two other cars. Marco Andretti was seen running up on his teammate Carlos Munoz. And let’s not overlook that Lap 1, Turn 1 chaos that ended with Bourdais turned the wrong way.
The Verizon IndyCar Series is already incredibly competitive, but when it’s coming down to the wire and people are potentially driving for their futures, there’s not going to be any quarter given. And that’s what keeps us on the edge of our seats.
What were your takeaways from the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen?
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