Winning the NTT P1 Award is important for many reasons. It rewards the crew for preparing a fast Indy car and rewards the driver able to wring the most speed possible out of the car’s setup.
It also includes a nice trophy for NTT IndyCar Series sponsor (NTT), along with a check.
On a natural terrain road course, such as Circuit of The Americas and this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, it’s also vital in many ways.
The INDYCAR Classic at COTA two weeks ago saw some fantastic racing throughout the field with 189 total passes including 144 passes for position. But for the first 45 laps in the race, pole-winner Will Power was having his way, leading every lap up to that point and appearing on his way to victory.
That, of course, all changed when a half-shaft broke on his final pit stop during the only caution period of the race, dooming Power from first to last in the field.
But when Power was on the track, other drivers were unable to close the gap on the leader. That is a byproduct of road course racing because the leader of the race can determine the pace for the rest of the field.
Let’s have three-time Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama race winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske explain.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily the leader, themselves, it just seems when you get someone out front that is quick, they are able to control the pace of the field the best,” Newgarden told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “It’s still possible to pass the leader. I remember last year at Road America with Ryan Hunter-Reay, it was not easy to keep him behind me. There were a lot of moments where he was close to passing us.
“I think it’s possible to pass the leader, but you have a bit more advantage to control the competition behind you and you lose that control the further you are in the pack.
“I think passing is possible. You saw it throughout the pack, but you have an easier time as a leader to control the what is going on behind you.”
Newgarden is off to a fast start through the first two races of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season. He won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10. He backed that up with a second-place finish to rookie driver Colton Herta in the INDYCAR Classic on March 24.
Herta was the leader on the final restart of the race and was able to control the field behind him with a tremendous restart.
“I thought our restart was OK at COTA, but Colton got a really good restart,” Newgarden said. “They were just much quicker on cold tires and that is probably one of the difficulties on our side, getting cold tires up to speed. That has a different effect. We seem to be stronger on the longer stints. I thought Colton and the guys were quicker getting up to speed.
“My restart was OK, but Colton’s was really good, too. He was quicker at getting up to speed, essentially.”