We are two weeks into the 2021 IndyCar season and the young guys have taken the glory. At Birmingham Patricio O’Ward took the pole for Arrow-McLaren and Alex Palou won the race for Chip Ganassi. Last Sunday, Colton Herta won both the pole and the race at St. Petersburg for Andretti Autosports. To be fair, Will Power and Scott Dixon have been in the mix, with two top five and two top ten finishes.
Honda has powered both winners. The rookies have not been overly impressive. Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean scored a tenth at Birmingham. Former NASCAR Champ Jimmy Johnson has a nineteenth and twenty second to his credit.
At Birmingham the top five finishers were: 1) Alex Palou in a Ganassi Honda, 2) Will Power in a Penske Chevy, 3) Scott Dixon in a Ganassi Honda 4) Patricio O’Ward in a Arrow McLaren Chevy, 5) Sebastian Bourdais in a Foyt Chevy.
At St. Petersburg the top five finishing order was as follows: 1) Colton Herta in an Andretti Honda, 2) Josef Newgarden in a Penske Chevy, 3) Simon Pagenaud in a Penske Chevy, 4) Jack Harvey in a Meyer Shank Racing Honda, 5) Scott Dixon in a Ganassi Honda.
This coming Saturday, May 1st the Genesys 300 will be run at the Texas Motor Speedway. The next day, Sunday the 2nd, they will run XPEL 375 in Fort Worth.
Apparently Ferrari Formula 1 Racing has expressed a strong interest in having Colton Herta drive for them. When Ferrari was engaged in talks with IndyCar about the possibility of designing and building an IndyCar engine, they became aware of Colton’s driving talent. The engine talks came to nothing but the Italians are still very interested in Herta. Michael Andretti said he would not stand in the way if Herta decides he wants to compete in Formula 1 for Ferrari.
Colts and the NFL Draft
Thursday night, the NFL will conduct the first round of the 2021 college draft. Jacksonville has the first pick and it’s pretty much a given that they will select QB Trevor Lawrence of Clemson. The Jets are second and will most likely pick BYU QB Zach Wilson. The third pick belongs to the 49ers. The 49ers traded up to get the third pick. They supposedly wanted Ohio State QB Justin Fields but now they say that they have no interest in Fields. They may be looking at Alabama’s Mac Jones who had a spectacular year at quarterback for the Tide in 2020. But who knows.
So what about the Colts? They have pick #21. Not quite high enough to get the premium talent. They need to find a quality replacement for the retired Anthony Castonzo. But will a top flight left tackle be available when they pick? Chris Ballard is being very coy about what the Horseshoe will do. Many fans and some in the media are hoping Ballard will be able to make a deal to move up on the draft board and grab a top notch tackle. But what if he doesn’t? I’ve seen a number of mock drafts and they each have Ballard going in a different direction. There’s talk of an edge rush (which they could use) but again will a good pass rusher be available when they pick? Cornerback, linebacker, wide receiver, even tight end are also in the mix.
Ballard will make the most of his pick. He just might trade back to get more picks in the second and third rounds. It’s always fun to see Ballard play his hand in the draft. He frequently goes against conventional wisdom and it has paid off for him and the Colts. OBTW Jim Irsay thinks they should go for a cornerback.