Oilpressure

Rookie Benjamin Pedersen did not make many friends in the paddock, this past weekend at Mid-Ohio. For those that missed it, Pedersen incurred the wrath of race-winner and current points leader Alex Palou for not letting Palou get by to lap him. He later angered several other drivers for the same offense, including Scott McLaughlin, Alexander Rossi and David Malukas.

This has been a topic of debate for as long as I’ve followed the sport – probably longer. The blue “move-over” flag is an advisory flag, when it is shown. It is not mandatory, and is considered a courtesy by a driver if they do move over.

When I was a kid and I saw my first program cover for the Indianapolis 500, it featured nothing but the collection of racing flags over the Wing & Wheel.

As a five year-old, I asked my brother to explain the meaning of each of the flags. When he got to the blue flag with the diagonal gold bar, he described it as the “move-over” flag. I asked what it meant, and he said that someone had to move over if someone else was trying to pass them. Confused, I asked “I thought they were racing each other. Why would they move over and let the other car pass?” He tried to explain it was only a suggestion to the driver. I then asked “Why would they ever do that, if they are racing?”

I can’t speak to the unwritten rules of the paddock, nor do I know the expectations of conduct between drivers. But many people today are just as confused as the five year-old me, back in the summer of 1964.

Some think Alex Palou had a legitimate beef with Pedersen. He was leading the race and was trying to build as big a lead as possible. Pedersen was the slowest car on the track, and was running around twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth. When you are that slow and you are holding up the leader, it’s considered bad protocol to continue to make your car too wide for the leader to pass you.

On the flip side, not only does Pedersen have every right to defend against the leader – it is in his best interest to do everything reasonably possible to avoid going a lap down. With Palou still behind him, the two drivers were still on the same lap. In the event of a caution, the pace car would pick up the field with Palou, and Pedersen would be able to go all the way around and line up at the end of the line behind everyone else. Then he is on equal footing with everyone in front of him. If Pedersen lets Palou get by, he is currently a lap down and highly unlikely to get that lap back.

Under no circumstances was Benjamin Pedersen considered a threat to win the race. But there is a lot more to it than being in a position to win the race. A driver’s career future depends on results. A rookie driver finishing in the Top-Ten, is on a lot better footing than one finishing twenty-sixth, like Pedersen did on Sunday. It’s my understanding that Pedersen is under contract with Foyt for next season, also – but it is in a driver’s nature to try to score as high a finish as possible.

There is something else to consider. Last season, both Foyt cars finished the season 24th and 25th in points. That is outside of the Leaders Circle payout which is roughly the Top-Twenty two entries for the season. I say “roughly” because not every car is eligible and there are other factors that come into play. Missing out on the Leaders Circle payout for 2023 equates to about $910,000 per car. Almost a million dollars is significant to teams like Penske and Ganaasi. It is crucial for survival for a team like Foyt.

Benjamin Pedersen is currently 26th in points. His teammate, Santino Ferrucci, is currently 18th, and would seem to be a lock for one of the twenty-two spots in the Leaders Circle, but Pedersen needs to overtake for drivers between now and the end of the season to qualify for the Leaders Circle. I would be surprised if Pedersen was not being told to defend against each car, because a car that they are battling for the final Leaders Circle spot may be right behind the car they are battling. As Kevin Lee said the other night, while explaining this on Trackside; if Pedersen is going to make the Leaders Circle, “he’s going to have to get his giddy-up on”.

There was a lot of tough talk from drivers during and after the race on Sunday, as well as James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell in the booth regarding the lack of cooperation and the poor sporting nature of Benjamin Pedersen. Much of that may have been justified, but I did want to point out that this may not have been all Pedersen’s fault.

As I said earlier, this has always been a topic of debate. Advisory flags mean nothing. Relying on the good nature of a driver to “do the right thing” is pointless. More times than not the “right thing” to a driver is what benefits them the most. It is normally not beneficial to a driver to pull over and let other drivers blow by you. You may make a few friends in the paddock, but you’ll also find yourself looking for another ride.

IndyCar needs to install some iron-clad rules with teeth in them, when it comes to lapped cars. There is a big difference between lapped cars and soon-to-be lapped cars.

Here’s what I propose; If the leader is about to put a car a lap down, the driver of that car should have every right to defend himself from being lapped. The leader obviously has the faster car, so it is up to the leader to get by that car. In other words – let them fight it out on the track. But once that car goes a lap down, they are expected to put up minimal resistance when the other leaders come through. If Race Control deems them to be defending too vigorously, the blue “move-over” flag will be displayed – except this time it will not be advisory, it will be mandatory with consequences if it is not obeyed.

We’ve heard other ideas this week. Scott Dixon says that the push-to-pass should be disabled on cars a lap down or more past the halfway point of a race. That flirts with big-brother a little too much to my liking.

Of course, waiting to be made to let cars go by means that fewer drivers will actually be courteous and will battle until they are told to move over. On the road, I always prefer my fellow drivers be nice and wave me into traffic from a parking lot, instead of me risking a fender by forcing my way into someone. I like to think that drivers can coexist on the race track without being told what to do.

But when results affect the future of careers, and teams depend on millions from the Leader Circle – not many drivers are going to abide by a code of ethics to “do the right thing”.

Alex Palou had a lot at stake on Sunday, when he saw his lead dwindling while waiting for Pedersen to pull over and let him by. But you know what? Pedersen and AJ Foyt Racing had a lot at stake too. Palou and Pedersen were just doing their job. Let’s just leave it at that, without making a villain out of Pedersen.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on July 7, 2023 at 4:02 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.