INDYCAR Confidential: Drivers Give Inside Scoop on 6 Pressing Questions

Will Power just looked at the question on the sheet in front of him and just laughed. “Ooooohhh,” he said, followed by a word not suitable for print. The question was about him. When the 25 full-time INDYCAR drivers met with FOX Sports last month, we gave them a six-question survey to fill out. They didn’t have to write in any answers — they just put a mark by which answer(s) they chose. So here are the results: 1. Should INDYCAR consider any other championship format other than full-season points system? No-22 votesYes-3 votes This wasn’t a surprise other than maybe that three drivers actually wanted something else. “No playoffs, please,” Felix Rosenqvist said when answering that question. “NASCAR’s format works well because of there’s so many races,” said Santino Ferrucci, who has dabbled in NASCAR. “I don’t like how it boils down to one race, winner takes all [which has since changed]. But INDYCAR, since our championship is so short, I do think that we keep our point system. I think it makes a lot of sense.” 2. Which new venue are you looking forward to the most?(Washington D.C. was not announced at the time of this question) Arlington-25 votesPhoenix-ZeroMarkham-Zero This was a little bit of a surprise. But racing around the baseball and football stadiums in Arlington seems to excite pretty much everyone. 3. How many races will new Andretti Global driver Will Power win this year? Two-10 votesOne-10 votesFour or more-2 votesThree-1 voteZero-1 vote One driver declined to vote. One driver was very specific with the answer of two races, writing in Long Beach and Markham. Power’s replacement at Team Penske, David Malukas, scoffed at this question, thinking maybe it was specifically for him. “Oh, this is a dig at me,” Malukas said. We told Power of the results at the Phoenix test last week. “It’s quite unknown, isn’t it?” Power told me. “It’s like, where are you going to stack up? It’s very difficult to win in INDYCAR these days. So I hope we win some races. I really do. We’ve definitely got the capability.” Should he be judged on wins this year? “I think you’ve got to get a win — that’s a key,” Power said. “You’ve got to get a win. You need to get a win.” 4. Which series driver do you trust the most racing side-by-side? Scott Dixon-12 votesAlex Palou-8Felix Rosenqvist-7Scott McLaughlin-6Kyle Kirkwood-5Pato O’Ward-5Graham Rahal-4Marcus Ericsson-4Christian Lundgaard-2Will Power-2Alex Rossi-2Kyffin Simpson-2 (Six drivers got one vote; five drivers got no votes) 5. Which series driver do you trust the least racing side-by-side? Christian Rasmussen-13 votesRomain Grosjean-12 Santino Ferrucci-9Louis Foster-7Rinus VeeKay-6Nolan Siegel-6Josef Newgarden-4Graham Rahal-4Sting Ray Robb-4 (rest of drivers 1-3 votes) Drivers know their reputations. Rasmussen said he knew he would get called out on this question. So we asked him if he felt he had to change his driving style. “No, I don’t think so,” Rasmussen said. “We’re refining it. You’re getting better and better all the time. But also I think we’ve done a really good job this year, especially the oval performances this year was very, very strong, being the third-highest finishing in points on the ovals alone. So we’ve just got to have that road and street course performance to follow, and then we’ll be in pretty good shape.” Ferrucci figured he’d be high on this list, too, and had mixed emotions. “I would be surprised if I’m not among least comfortable to be raced with,” Ferrucci said. “But then again, I’d also be disappointed because I feel like I’ve run a lot of people really clean.” Is that a bad thing? “I’d rather them be afraid of you than friendly with you,” Ferrucci said. “I feel like that goes better.” 6. Which driver, when you pass him, gives you a feeling of accomplishment? Alex Palou-14 votesJosef Newgarden-10Scott Dixon-9Will Power-8Scott McLaughlin-6Kyle Kirkwood-5Rinus VeeKay-5Pato O’Ward-5 (rest of drivers 2-4 votes) Kyle Kirkwood marked all the drivers down “All of them, can I just go down the line?” Kirkwood said. “Better than getting passed.” Rosenqvist was clear on one of his answers: “Dixon, he’s pretty good at defending.” Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.