The Power Rankings have been hella shook up with the month of May now in the rear view mirror. With a wet and wild Indy Grand Prix, track record setting speeds in qualifying and a new Indy 500 champion crowned, the month of May never disappoints. Yes, of course Marcus Ericsson is first on the list, he’s the Indy 500 champion and now the points leader after double points in the 500. He also scored a fourth place finish at the grand prix earlier in the month. It’s hard to find a driver outside of Ericsson that could say they had a good month. Conor Daly with a 4th place finish in the Grand Prix and 6th in the Indy 500 had the second best month when it comes to results.
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1-9. MARCUS ERICSSON: (UP 10) - No shocker here, the champ scored his first career oval win and a 4th in the grand prix as mentioned. He is now the points leader after leading 13 laps from his 5th starting position. Although the Indy 500 champ historically doesn’t fare well at Belle Isle, Ericsson picked up his first career win there a year ago.
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9. CONOR DALY: (NEW TO THE TOP 10) - Daly had a month that was consistent and fast throughout. Despite not having a great qualifying effort for the Indy 500, he played the pit strategy just right to find himself battling up front for the race lead with Scott Dixon. Daly qualified in the fast 6 for the Grand Prix and backed that up with a 4th place showing, his best of the 2002 season. At the end of the 500, Daly scored his best career finish, coming home 6th for Ed Carpenter Racing and his sponsor Bit Nile. Daly heads to Belle Isle with the momentum he has been looking for since joining ECR. He scored a career best second place back in 2016 and has two other Top 10 finishes off the Detroit River.
HONORABLE MENTION:
SANTINO FERRUCCI: Ferrucci had his 4th straight Top 10 finish in the Indy 500, this time for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing. The Connecticut native will get the nod again this Sunday, filling in for Callum Ilott at Juncos Hollinger Racing. Ferrucci scored two Top 10 finishes last year at Belle Isle for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He’s finished inside the top 10 in 6 of his last 7 races including Texas this season where he subbed for Jack Harvey.
THE ROOKIES: I’m talking about the actual rookies here. David Malukas was fast all month long and should have been given the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Award. Christian Lundgaard brought the #30 car home with a Top 10 finish at the Indy GP and improved 12 positions to finish 18th in the 500. Kyle Kirkwood had a solid Top 20 and announced he will be heading to Andretti Autosport at season's end. Get well soon to Callum Ilott as well!
SIMON PAGENAUD: When the rain come during the Grand Prix, you knew Simon Pagenaud was going to work his way up to the front, just like he did in winning back in 2019. Pagenaud scored his best finish for Meyer-Shank Racing, finishing runner up to Colton Herta. Pagenaud wasn’t in contention to win Sunday’s 500, but did come home with a respectable 8th place finish. 8th is also where he finds himself in the current standings.
Race winners Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou and Scott McLaughlin all had their struggles in May. Herta wins on the road course and then had his worst race weekend in quite awhile. Team Penske struggled in May and should be back to contending for race wins over the next two weeks at Detroit and Road America.
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