Where Did This Term Come From?
On Monday, we learned that the number of available seats in the NTT IndyCar Series has been whittled down to one. Jacob Abel was confirmed for the full season in the No. 51 car at Dale Coyne Racing. This is good for both parties. Jacob Abel has proven he is worthy of an opportunity, and this also brings stability to a team that I think had ten different drivers in their two cars over the past season. It’s hard to build any continuity with that type of arrangement. Hopefully Dale Coyne can find a fulltime driver for the No 18 – the last remaining open seat.
While all of this is good news, this isn’t about Jacob Abel fulfilling a dream come true or the status of Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) on whether they will have more stability this coming season.
Instead, this is going to be something of a rant.
Those who know me personally, or even those that have been long-time readers of this site, know that I can have a tendency to be shallow and petty at times. I don’t set out to be, but it has been pointed out to me by my wife, and many others, that I can obsess over the most obscure and trivial matters. Sometimes I’ll come across something that really annoys me, that others don’t think twice about.
About every other year, I will devote an entire post to trendy phrases and buzzwords that irk me. I did not do one of those in 2024, so I will probably do one in February – before the season starts. On this particular item that involves DCR, some will think I am over-obsessing over nothing. But I’m betting that many of you will actually agree with me on this fixation.
Since I am considered “media”, I get most of the press releases from the teams e-mailed directly to me. When I saw the headline for the Jacob Abel press-release, I was perplexed. Here is a screenshot of the headline:
My question is…what is a Vice Champion?
For those that don’t know, Jacob Abel finished second in the Indy NXT championship, behind Louis Foster. Obviously, Foster was the champion, but I didn’t know that made Abel the vice-champion.
That is a term I have never heard before. Is this a European thing? Is this a common term in the junior formulas or development series?
We are getting more and more European terms entering into the IndyCar lexicon. If we are eavesdropping on a driver’s radio communication, it’s becoming more common to hear a command to the driver to Box-box-box, instead of the more familiar Pit-pit-pit. Box is very common across the pond, but in the US we say pit. Personally, I think it should stay across the pond. Adopting the word box makes it seem like IndyCar is a wannabee Formula One, and we are trying to do whatever we can to be like them.
Is Vice Champion from F1? What does it even mean? It sounds like a term from a kid’s soccer league, where everyone gets a trophy. Is the losing team in each match referred to as the Vice Champion, to differentiate them from the winning team – instead of calling them the losers?
Why not call them the Assistant Champion? That sounds like it’s pretty good, but not as good as the champion. I guess first loser would be completely unacceptable. How about winner of the non-championship class? Hmmm…
The term Vice Champion makes me wonder; if the champion is unable to fulfill his or her duties as champion, does the Vice-Champion suddenly become the Champion? It’s all very confusing to me.
If I am looking for another way to describe the driver that finished second in the championship, I might call them the runner-up. Is that demeaning? Does it hearken back to the days of beauty pageants, which are now very taboo in today’s society?
Am I so out of the loop that I have completely missed the rise in popularity of this term? I have been following racing for over sixty years, but I never once heard of a Vice Champion until Monday. Do I sound like an old man yelling at a cloud, or do I have a legitimate argument that this is a stupid and pointless term that actually sounds…made up?
The press release that was e-mailed came from a person whose name was unfamiliar, which tells me that DCR may have a new person writing and sending out press releases. I’m curious, because DCR’s previous PR person was very good. Perhaps she left in the offseason and this unfamiliar person has taken her place. Maybe in his world, the term Vice Champion is commonplace. It isn’t in mine.
We live in a world where made-up words like conversate, irregardless and flustrated are becoming more and more accepted every day. Perhaps Vice Champion is the latest made up term. Or maybe I am just that out of touch, not knowing that Vice-Champion is a widely accepted term in racing. I’m just too old and stupid to know any better. I don’t think so.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
January 17, 2025 at 4:49 am
No, yeah….
January 17, 2025 at 5:43 am
I had never heard the term before the press release either. My first thought was “Co-Champion?” I didn’t think they tied, and there is a tie breaker system. I could live without seeing this term again.
January 17, 2025 at 8:17 am
We may have to let this question marinate a bit, and then circle back to it. I wish I could come up with a creative way to work T-Bell & Hinch’s weird use of “delta” into this as well. Sorry.
I don’t promote violence, but people using terms like “Vice Champion” should probably be punched in the face or at the very least, kicked in the shin. lol!
January 18, 2025 at 1:29 pm
You’re literally promoting violence. Somebody is a snowflake.
January 17, 2025 at 8:47 am
I’m pretty sure it’s a European thing. I tried to look it up, and with the exception of the DCR announcement, everything was F1, F2, F3, Fifa soccer or the like. Even the AI thing on google came up with…
A vice champion is a competitor who finishes in second place. Some examples of vice champions include:
Tomás Barreto: In 2020, Barreto became the Under 23 European Rowing Vice-Champion in Germany.
Switzerland: In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Switzerland was the vice world champion after being eliminated by Ukraine in a penalty shootout.
Bovy: In 2023, Bovy won the vice-champion title in women’s motorsport.
I’ve heard of Vice-President, Vice as section of a police department, but never vice-champion. I guess to some, it sounds better than 2nd place or runner-up. I think A.J. would have definitely punched someone in the face… hmmm… maybe that’s why he went after Arie Luyendyk?
January 17, 2025 at 8:48 am
“Safety car” makes me want to throw something at the screen just as much as when I hear “box box box.”
January 18, 2025 at 1:30 pm
Language changes. Get over it.
January 17, 2025 at 9:16 am
The semantics of the term “vice-champion” seem tangled to me. “Vice” in this context means “next in rank” similar to how it does in an organizational (government, corporate, military) context, which would not be a problem but for the fact that using the term in the same context also implies (as George points out) the ability for the vice-X to stand in for the X. While there are certainly some examples to the contrary, that is not generally how championships and awards work. Such accolades are rarely re-awarded to a “vice-champion”.
(Ir)regardless of the semantics, the term comes across as a bit pretentious to my ears. Best to stick with “runner-up”, though I wouldn’t mind hearing Reece Bobby ruminate on how “if you ain’t first, you’re vice champion!”
January 17, 2025 at 10:06 am
George – It is rather obvious.
He is simply the Champion of Vice …….
January 17, 2025 at 10:32 am
well, you might email back with your adVice.
January 17, 2025 at 10:50 am
Makes me think of especially indulgent 1970s rock stars …
January 17, 2025 at 11:48 am
It’s nice to know that I was Vice-First Place Finisher in the 1968 Punt, Pass and Kick Competition (sponsored by Ford) instead of placing a distant second to stupid Larry Carter.
January 17, 2025 at 5:21 pm
Off topic, but I noticed that the Speedway museum is selling quite a few cars through Sotheby’s.
January 17, 2025 at 6:09 pm
They’re selling off all non-Speedway related cars in order to concentrate on 500 cars more. $$$
January 18, 2025 at 6:50 am
Just possible that the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R ‘Monza’ Streamliner driven by Fangio and briefly by Moss will create a world record. Time will tell but $50m is the reserve. In 2022 MB sold a 1955 300 SLR for euro 135m so maybe this one will come up short price wise although then it might hold the Vice World Record.
January 21, 2025 at 12:24 pm
I did read or hear that “push” and “pit” are commonly misheard on radios and a driver that was told to push pitted or a driver told to pit kept going. Therefore, “box” has been adopted to avoid the miscommunication.
I recall the days of drivers being given countdown to pitting as L3, L2, Pit. Meaning Laps to pit 3, 2, NOW.