Versatility key to becoming Verizon IndyCar Series champion

The greatest IndyCar drivers – like Mario Andretti – won in NASCAR, F1 and Sportscars. That is what AR1 calls a truly great versatile driver. Juan Montoya fits that bill today.

There is not a more versatile racing series in the world than the Verizon IndyCar Series, and that’s been a trademark of American open-wheel racing for some time.

On Saturday, Auto Club Speedway will host the fourth MAV TV 500 on the fastest track in the series. It'll be the third oval race this season, following the Indianapolis 500 and the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. Of the remaining five events on the schedule, three will be on ovals.

There have been 10 IndyCar races leading to Fontana, the majority of them on street courses (St. Petersburg, Long Beach, two in Detroit and Toronto).

No other series comes close to the variety of competitive venues. NASCAR does vary from its usual oval stock car races for a pair of Sprint Cup road races, but no other discipline ventures from its traditional roots.

“That’s what we build our reputation on," said Graham Rahal, fifth in the points race. “The IndyCar champion has to be good at everything. This is so different than any other series. We need to keep playing that up.

“It highlights what the drivers are all about. I like them all, they provide a different challenge. I grew up a road racer, but a good short oval race can be a lot of fun."

Of course the MAV TV 500 doesn’t quite fit that bill. The race is 250 laps around the two-mile superspeedway and has the distinction of hosting the fastest race ever in the country (Sam Hornish Jr.’s 207.151 mph average in 2003).

Points leader Juan Pablo Montoya won the Indy 500 and Scott Dixon, the 2013 series champion, prevailed in Texas. To demonstrate the versatility of the drivers, Montoya won the season opener at St. Petersburg and Dixon took the checkered flag at Long Beach.

With his win at Texas, Dixon increased his IndyCar total to 37, fifth best in Indy car history. The New Zealand native trails only A.J. Foyt (67), Mario Andretti (52), Michael Andretti (42) and Al Unser 39 on the all-time win list.

Of Dixon’s total, 18 have been on ovals and 19 on street/road courses. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won on 21 different venues — a dozen different ovals, five street courses and four road courses — of the 47 on which he has competed in.

“A lot of credit goes to the team (Ganassi Racing) because they’ve been good at a lot of different tracks," he said. “We pride ourselves not just being good at one discipline, but all of them.

“The same was true with Dario (Franchitti,). To win a championship you have to be good at all kinds of tracks."

Dixon’s achievements are similar to a trend among the all-time win leaders who are still active.

Sebastien Bourdais, eighth on the list with 32 wins, has competed on 42 tracks, and won on 20. The four-time Champ Car champion (2004-07), he has four wins on ovals and the remainder on street/road courses. He has competed twice at ACS, starting third and finishing 12th in 2013, among the 42 tracks he’s raced.

Helio Castroneves, who trails Team Penske teammates Montoya and Will Power, plus Dixon in the standings, is tied for 11th on the list with Rick Mears, who serves as technical advisor for Team Penske. Both have 29 wins, but Mears’ majority are on ovals (22) compared to 15 for Castroneves.

Of the 15 oval wins, including three at the Indy 500, Castroneves has won on 10 different tracks, and 17 in all.

Tony Kanaan, who won the 2014 MAV TV 500 to wrap up the IndyCar series, leads active drivers by competing at 52 different venues. Louis Brewster, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin