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INDYCAR: Power Rankings (Long Beach)

By fleshwound_NPG@fleshwound_NPG Apr 14, 2011, 1:46pm EDT

Ah, so much drama in the LBC....

Two wide? Or not two wide?

Heading into Long Beach that becomes an interesting question. Apparently these new restart rules are not setting well with the drivers….except for Will Power. He said his victory at Barber was one of the easiest of his career. Duh! He lead the entire race therefore didn't have to restart mid-pack! Put him among other cars and he gets punted again like he did at St. Pete.

Power's Sunday drive obviously puts him on top this week…but the rest of the field is another story. The restart rules did some shuffling of the rankings yet again. After two weeks Will and Dario are still 1-2, but it's a heck of a fight elsewhere.

Why didn't we have these rules earlier….when the TV ratings were more than 0.3?

THE GRID

1. Will Power

Previous Ranking: #2 (+1)

Haters gonna hate.

2. Dario Franchitti

Previous Ranking: #1 (-1)

Ya know, we haven't had an Ashley sighting in quite some time….

3. Tony Kanaan

Previous Ranking: #4 (+1)

New rule for Barber next year: No TV cameras, just an on-board for TK's car and have him start at the back. That would increase TV ratings higher than a damned 0.3 rating.

4. Simona De Silvestro

Previous Ranking: #3 (-1)

According to recent tweets by HVM's twitter feed she constantly sings "Don't Stop Believin" at the track and even while driving. With her ever-positive interviews, tweets and outlook on life I figured it would be this little number echoing in her head.

5. Oriol Servia

Previous Ranking: #7 (+2)

Newman-Haas hasn't looked this good in IndyCar since Metallica cut their hair.

6. Scott Dixon

Previous Ranking: #15 (+9)

He wasn't happy with how Will Power was cutting him off on restarts and let his emotions be known. Wait, the Iceman? Mad? What?!?!?! Where's THIS been?

7. Vitor Meira

Previous Ranking: #8 (+1)

That's the second time in a few years Helio has pissed off SuperTex....do we SERIOUSLY need to remind Helio of the consequences?

8. Alex Tagliani

Previous Ranking: #5 (-3)

Guess who's back....guess who's not happy about that.

9. Takuma Sato

Previous Ranking: #6 (-3)

Ran out of fuel. At least he's not running out of luck or talent like last year….

10. JR Hildebrand

Previous Ranking: #11 (+1)

Ya know, I don't know if anybody had this rookie with this team this high in the points standings this early in the year with the road courses. If Panther Racing gives him good oval cars like usual he's your Rookie of the Year if he can keep up his survival skills on these road courses....but not unless the Mayor of Hinchtown has anything to say about it.

11. Justin Wilson

Previous Ranking: #9 (-2)

Broken wrist or not, he shouldn't be this low in the standings considering how good he is on road courses.

12. Rafa Matos

Previous Ranking: #10 (-2)

It's still an unkown if they will run fulltime, but considering how high they are in points (and could be higher) they should consider it. Finishing in the Top-22 is not a stretch.

13. Helio Castroneves