MILLER: Mid-Season Report Card

IndyCar

MILLER: Mid-Season Report Card

The IndyCar season is halfway over, and SPEED's Robin Miller weighs in with his annual mid-season report card.

Robin Miller | Posted July 06, 2010 Indianapolis, IN

Where does Robin Miller rank the Ganassi team? You might be surprised. (LAT)

The first half of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season has produced a few interesting storylines but nothing approaching a surprise as Team Penske and Target/Ganassi are naturally hogging victory lane and the top rungs of the point standings.

But there has also been a resurgence for Andretti Autosport, a rally-around-Ryan campaign, a disappearing act from Danica and the plight of the American driver.

It’s time for the mid-season report card and your teacher is feeling much more lenient than in past years so accept the generosity but still take all the sharp objects away from Chip and Milka.

GRADE A

TEAM PENSKE: Big time auto racing is about the making the most of your situation and Will Power is repaying Roger Penske for running that third car in the best way possible: kicking ass. A part-timer with a broken back just under a year ago, Power’s prowess at road racing has elevated him to three victories and a 32-point lead in the championship. Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe each has one win and hoping to stay within eyesight of WP for the closing salvo of four ovals. But the intense competition among teammates drives this bus.

RANDY BERNARD: In less than six months, the displaced cowboy has literally taken the bull by the horns in an organization void of leadership for more than a decade. Bernard has put the wheels in motion for a $20 million hook to get NASCAR stars to the Indy 500, formed a committee of racers to adopt new car and engine rules and is forging a relationship with Bruton Smith while wisely weaning IndyCar off the ISC poison. He inherited the worst TV contract in modern history, an inept technical staff , a pissed off paddock and a directive not to spend money. But his enthusiasm, business savvy and work ethic has managed to put some optimism in the air. Bernard also has a lot of good ideas about purses, schedules and the media, His only major flaw is that he’s much too honest for auto racing, but he’ll learn.

SARAH FISHER: When everybody else was standing around and lamenting how sad it was that Graham Rahal had no ride, she stepped up and put the talented 21-year-old in the Dollar General car for the first two American races.

GRADE B

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT: Ryan Hunter-Reay’s three-race deal in a fourth car got legs following his victory at Long Beach and thanks to his performance and lots of sponsorship scrambling, RHR (sixth in the points) is on board for all of 2010. His presence also helped Tony Kanaan out of the funk as TK broke the Penske/Ganassi win streak on ovals with a masterful charge at Iowa. Marco Andretti remains maddeningly inconsistent while Danica’s dual career is taking its toll, as Juan Montoya predicted. She’s struggled in NASCAR’s second tier series as expected but, other than a second at Texas, she’s been MIA in her daytime job.

DREYER & REINBOLD: Justin Wilson is kinda like the modern day Mike Mosley: you wonder how many races he’d win if he ever got with one of the best teams. As it is, JWill’s first go-around with Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl has garnered a pair of seconds and four appearances in the Fast Six. Teammate Mike Conway was KO’d for the year at Indy.

FAZZT: The finishes have not equaled the excellence of this start-up team owned by Andre Azzi. Alex Tagliani and Rob Edwards. With Alan MacDonald heading the veteran engineering staff, Tags has qualified in the top eight in six of nine races and damn near won the pole in the season opener at Brazil.

HVM: Keith Wiggins’ shoestring operation has more moxie than money but still has given rookie Simona De Silvestro a platform to show her considerable skills. Under the calming influence of veteran engineer Mike Cannon, the Swiss Miss has put the oldest and most worn out cars in the paddock in front of a lot of drivers with more experience, better equipment and funding.

GRADE C+

TARGET/GANASSI: Dario Franchitti put a butt whippin’ on everyone at Indianapolis and figures to be in the hunt right to the end because he’s driving as good as ever. Scott Dixon’s lone win is puzzling yet he still looms in third place. But only two wins in nine starts is unacceptable for this team.

GRADE C

ABC/FOYT: Following a podium in the opener, Vitor Meira labored at mid-pack until Iowa (7th) as he fights the good one-car battle.

CONQUEST: Eric Bachelart continues to soldier on with a pair of rookies who have been steady in their learning curve. Mario Romancini (13th) did a nice job at Indy and Bertrand Baguette is adapting to ovals without any major dramas.

COYNE (Alex Lloyd Division): The 2007 Indy Lights champion is finally getting a full-time ride and shined at Indy (fourth). Also had a good run at Iowa (eighth) but lacks funding and feedback from his teammate.

DEFERRAN/LUCZO: Another single car effort, Rafa Matos has book-ended the season with two fine drives (12th to fourth at Brazil and 11th to fourth at The Glen) but struggled in between. He’s got the chops for good things and a veteran teammate might really jump start this group.

PANTHER: For a team with a reported multi-million dollar budget and a former champion, ninth place in the standings would seem to be under-achieving. But considering his mystifying struggles on road courses, Dan Wheldon is about where you figure. Too bad all the races aren’t at Indianapolis or on ovals.

GRADE D

KV RACING: When it was announced Mario Moraes, E.J. Viso and Takuma Sato were teaming up, an engineer for a rival team remarked: “That sounds like a lot of crash damage.” Other than Viso’s podium at Iowa and Moraes’ fifth last weekend, it’s been Carnage City for Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser with 17 accidents for their trio. Sato has been fast on ovals, right up until impact, and all the cars have shown plenty of speed but very little consistency.

NEWMAN/HAAS: A year after Graham Rahal had them back up front, this proud team has become a back marker with Hideki Mutoh.

GRADE F

COYNE (Milka Duno division): It’s not like she’s driving any slower but her lack of awareness on road courses is frightening. She needs to go away but it’s a vicious circle because Coyne needs her CITGO money to campaign Lloyd.

THE ROAD TO INDY: Last year’s Lights champ, California’s J.R. Hildebrand, hasn’t had a sniff of an IndyCar ride. What a joke of a ladder system.

Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.

Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.

In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Miller

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