As 2024 approaches and we find ourselves staring down the barrel of a new NTT IndyCar Series season, it’s only right that we reflect on and salute the achievements of the Series’ best before putting 2023 on the shelf.
This past season saw Alex Palou claim his second title, Josef Newgarden claim his first Indianapolis 500, and a part-time driver claimed Rookie of the Year honors ahead of three full-time contestants. Though we missed out on IndyCar’s now-customary title-deciding season finale, 2023 gave us plenty to talk about, though some names being honored here may prefer to forget their achievements from this season.
Driver of the Year: Alex Palou
This one goes without saying. Things may have been different if Palou had come across some close competition in his pursuit of a second Astor Cup, but that simply did not happen.
The Spaniard drove a dominant season which featured five wins, 10 podium finishes, and zero finishes worse than eighth place. Consistency is key, but consistency of this caliber is a whole different story. The same consistency that brought Will Power the 2022 title brought Palou to the same result albeit faster, with more gold along the way.
Palou’s storybook 2023 season came amidst an ongoing saga of legal issues surrounding the No. 10 driver’s once-anticipated move to Arrow McLaren. Palou displayed outstanding mental and emotional resilience to put together such a season under these conditions, on top of the already notoriously physical nature of IndyCar racing.
Rookie of the Year: Marcus Armstrong
I’m not sure how many of us had this one on our cards when the season began, but in retrospect, it makes enough sense. Marcus Armstrong contested the 2023 season on a part-time basis, contesting the road and street courses in the No. 11 while Takuma Sato piloted the fourth Chip Ganassi Racing entry on ovals.
Keeping in mind that Armstrong missed five races on a 17-race calendar, the New Zealander collected four top-10 results, with a best finish of eighth, three times. Further more, Armstrong only finished outside of the top 20 twice. Armstrong’s ROTY competitors fared markedly worse.
Agustin Canapino managed no top 10s, but grabbed three 12th-place finishes to offset a plethora of results of 20th or lower. Sting Ray Robb took home no top 10s, but three top 20s including a 12th-place result at Laguna Seca. Benjamin Pedersen showed pace, particularly on ovals, but only managed a…
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