INDYCAR Power Rankings: Who has Indy 500 hangover and who is just over it

The Indianapolis 500 — the biggest race of the INDYCAR season — was also the first oval race of the year.

But did it give much insight into which drivers will perform best on ovals? Probably not.

The 2.5-mile rectangular asphalt oval is nothing like any of the other ovals. The others are Nashville (1.33-mile concrete), WWTR Gateway (1.25-mile asphalt), Milwaukee (one-mile asphalt) and Iowa (0.875-mile asphalt).

So keeping that in mind, the influence of the Indy 500 on the power rankings is a little debatable. In trying to weigh all the factors, here’s the list:

Dropped out: Rinus VeeKay (Last Week: 9)

On the verge: David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi

10. Colton Herta (LW: 10)

Herta showed speed at Indy, but then a crash in qualifying on Saturday put him behind. Herta finished 17th after a speeding penalty and then overshooting his pit. It was certainly a disappointing result when he had the speed.

9. Marcus Ericsson (LW: Not Ranked)

Ericsson, it could be argued, should have won the Indy 500, as Alex Palou passed Ericsson when lapped traffic hindered his pace. It was still a great drive by Ericsson after finishes of 20th or worse in three of the previous four races.

8. Scott Dixon (LW: 7)

Dixon finished 23rd at Indianapolis, three laps down after his left rear brake overheated on the warmup laps of the race. Up until then, he had a relatively solid month.

7. Will Power (LW: 4)

Power finished as the best Team Penske car in the 500. Unfortunately for Power, it was a 19th-place finish and one lap down. A 20-second pit stop where Power overshot his pit stall and ran over the front air hose ruined his day.

6. Scott McLaughlin (LW: 2)

McLaughlin probably still can’t figure out what happened as he