Each of the season’s first four NTT INDYCAR SERIES races were won by different drivers, one of those drivers winning a series race for the first time. Consider that only 38 points separate the top nine drivers in the standings – last year that first-to-nine margin after four races was 60 points. Last year, Rinus VeeKay was 38 points out of the lead after four races, and he stood seventh in the standings. This year, Kyle Kirkwood trails by 38 points, but he’s ninth with a race win. This year, being 62 points out of the lead ranks 15th. Last year, Ericsson entered the season’s premier event in eighth place, 53 points out of the lead. When he collected 109 points for qualifying in the fifth position and winning the race, he vaulted to the series lead by 13 points, a 66-point swing. The last time Dixon, a six-time series champion, was this deep in the standings after four races was 2011, but he was 84 points out of the lead that year. This year he is more than half as close – only 32 points in arrears.

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