Has Lundgaard moved into IndyCar's elite after first win?

07/18/23 • 70 min

A wet qualifying made for a jumbled order, but even in the dry the Toronto IndyCar street race provided plenty of talking points for this week’s episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast, including a maiden win for Christian Lundgaard.

Can Lundgaard now be considered one of IndyCar's elite drivers? And how much will the momentum from this win impact his peaky Rahal Letterman Lanigan team? Those are two questions expertly answered by Indy Lights champion, Indy 500 regular and our co-hoist JR Hildebrand.

JR and co-host Jack Benyon also analyse Alex Palou’s 15th-to-second drive through the field, and bring listeners up to speed on the latest silly season rumours - including how Palou represents 'the cork in the bottle'.

The guys also discuss how Tom Blomqvist faired on his maiden IndyCar weekend after being thrown in at the deep end, and preview the Iowa double header, debating whether track specialist Josef Newgarden might use the event to erode Palou’s championship advantage.

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Previous Episode

Who is IndyCar's best driver behind Palou? Our mid-season driver rankings

The Race IndyCar Podcast delivers its annual top 10 drivers of the season at the championship’s mid-way point, with one enormous twist.

This year co-hosts Jack Benyon of The Race and Indy 500 regular JR Hildebrand have gone for a top 11 to reflect the foregone conclusion of runaway championship leader Alex Palou being the most obvious number one in racing ranking history.

The co-hosts pick their top 11 of the season - or their top 10 without Palou, if you prefer - and then an average of the two is taken, with tie-breaks being decided by number of wins.

Among the biggest surprises are the co-hosts picking different 'number 1s' behind Palou, putting Pato O’Ward four-places apart in their rankings, and also managing to place a driver who is behind Marcus Ericsson in the points standings ahead of him in their rankings.

You can also contact the show via [email protected] where you can send written or voice note questions for the hosts, request special guests and tell us more of what you want to hear.

NOTE: This episode was recorded before Simon Pagenaud was ruled out of racing in Toronto.

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Next Episode

Palou limits damage as Newgarden doubles up in Iowa

This week's episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast reflects on Josef Newgarden's Iowa double and how it impacts his title fight with Alex Palou.

Ace oval racer JR Hildebrand breaks down the skills that have taken Newgarden to six career victories at the circuit, and gives his take on Newgarden’s post-race outburst about traffic.

JR and co-host Jack Benyon also discuss Palou’s podium recovery and how he managed it with a “bad” car. The hosting duo also look at what it takes to come from Europe and excel on ovals, as a pair of sophomores starred, and give their verdict on a late Felix Rosenqvist charge and the pair of disqualifications in race two.