INDYCAR: 2023 Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America Driver Rankings

Crash INDYCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America.
Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport at Road America
Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport at Road America

Alex Palou: 10

Palou is on fire right now, winning three of the last four races, and hoꦅlding a 74-p🐻oint lead in the championship.

Josef Newgarden: 9

Road America is a place🌟 where Newgarden has ꧙been dominant, and he nearly earned another win today.

Pato O'Ward: 9

Considering the contact at tꦗhe start of the race and being penalized for blocking, a podium finish was a brilliant result for the young driver.

Scott Dixon: 9

Dixon did it again, with a phenomenal drive going fr🧔om 23rd to earn a 4th place finish.

Colton Herta: 7

After dominating most of the race, a 5th place fi🔯nish feels like a real gut punch for Herta, who is on a 21-race winless streak.

Marcus Ericsson: 7

Jus🍌t an okay day for Ericsson, who was bumped off track multiple times tod♎ay.

Christian Lundgaard: 7

A much-needed result for RLL Racing, who has really beenꦕ struggling this season.

Scott McLaughlin: 7

After gaining ground early in the race, McLaug🎀hlin hit a plataue to finish 8th.

Kyle Kirkwood: 8

He spun on the opening lap, was pena🐻lized, but reboun⛄ded once again for a top-ten finish.

Alexander Rossi: 6

Rossi led all three practice sessions this weekend, but didn't execute in qua🐷lifying and w💧as getting the short end of the stick in wheel-to-wheel battles in the race.

Alexander Rossi
Alexander Rossi

Graham Rahal: 7

It was a quiet da🐼y for🐼 Rahal, but his best race day since the season-opener at St Petersburg.

Rinus VeeKay: 5

Yet another underwhelming performance for VeeKay, who nearly caused a𝓰 serious incident on pit lane and spun Felix Rosenqvist on track, but was surprisin🍌gly not given a penalty.

Will Power: 7

Considering how his first two days went this weekend, today's race🧔 was relatively mild for the Team Penske driver.

Simon Pagenaud: 6

A 14th place finish is a positive thing for Meyer Shank Racing, which speaks volume🦹s about how their season has gone.

Helio Castroneves: 6

See above.

Santino Ferrucci: 5

A great qualifying effort was flushed🍌 down the drai꧅n when he was shoved off course midway through the race.

Ryan Hunter-Reay: 5

The veteran's debut in the No. 20 car went about as expected🐷, as the Ed Carpenter Racing team continꩵues to struggle as a whole.

Callum Ilott: 5

Many expected Ilott to perform🔥 much better this weekend, given his prowess on this type of circuit.

Agustin Canapino: 5

Not a ba🥃d day for the rookie, although he did ha♍ve himself a big moment midway through the race in the final turn.

Felix Rosenqvist: 4

One of the worst days of the season for Felix, who was getting blocked, shoved off course, and just c꧃ouldn't ever get back to the front of the field.

Benjamin Pedersen: 4

His outstanding qualifying drive was ruined when he was the victim of a pack of cars trying to go through Turn 6, wherജe cars on the outside simply don't stand a chance.

Sting Ray Robb: 3

No su🥀rprises here. About what we have come to expect from the rookie driver.

Devlin DeFrancesco: 5

He was running near the top-ten for most of the racꦅe, but fell behind on the final pit stop sequence.

Marcus Armstrong: 7

Although it was his worst result of the season, the rookie led laps and was contending in the first half of the race, mixing it up with Herta and Newgarden. A late off relegated himꦺ to such a poor finish, but his performance behind the wheel was another masterpiece.

Romain Grosjean: 1

Grosjean spent more time in the grass than he did on the pavement tod𓃲ay.

Romain Grosjean, Will Power
Romain Grosjean, Will Power

Jack Harvey: 2

Anoಞther poor performance for Harvey, which should surprise no𝄹 one.

David Malukas: 5

His str🎀ong Saturday took a hit when his car lost power midway through today's race.

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