Anti-Hybrid Hybrid Club

The knives are out on X and Reddit, and they seem bent on labeling IndyCar as “The Fastest Parade on Earth.” 

Are they right? Does the data back this up?

The fashionable take is that the apparent lack of passing can be blamed on the hybrid system. The hybrid debuted in the middle of last season to a resounding “meh”. Quickly the detractors, who already believed that the cars were overweight and underpowered, went nuclear. Somehow, they believed, the cars had become undrivable overnight. Could that be true?

Looking at the Data

Here’s something to consider. Since the introduction of the hybrid to Indycar at Mid-Ohio last year, 405 net positions have been gained over 5 road and street course races. Looking at the previous running of each of those same five races in 2023 and 2024, there were a total of 399 net positions gained. Those figures are nearly identical but with a slight edge going toward the new hybrid formula. (Note: I’ve excluded Thermal as this year’s race was the first under the new format.) 

Why is “net positions gained” my stat of choice and not passes on track? Passes are an oddly elusive stat, the transponders aren’t accurate enough to reliably report passes in real-time. We can manually parse through the lap chart after each race but the lap chart only reports the running order as the cars cross the start/finish line. Even if you did compile every overtake, much of that total is irrelevant. Imagine a two-car wreck taking out the 5^th and 6^th place drivers, that would result in 42 “passes” as they drop through the field. But hey, you can always attempt to count each pass yourself while watching the broadcast. They never miss a pass on the broadcast. 

Looking at net positions gained also gives some valuable insight into the quality of racing in Indycar. 

Sure, on-track passing is awesome and a big part of what hooked us all when we watched our first race, but is that what’s most important? What does a race need in order to be considered “good”? In my opinion, a good race means an unpredictable outcome; that qualifying order does not equal finishing order. What IndyCar has done better than any other series is to ensure close competition while baking in strategic variables like fuel strategy, tire management, tire choice, push to pass and hybrid deployment to give drivers and teams every possible chance to move up the order through skill and creativity. Net positions gained gives full credit to spots gained on track or won on strategy. While I’m the first to admit a signature Scott Dixon extreme fuel save race is likely to be a bit of a snoozer, racing is a team sport and being a fan means knowing how to appreciate spectacular moves from the pit box or timing stand. 

Not good enough? There's always the NASCAR route. Mandatory yellow flags? Stage winners? Green/white/checkers? Playoffs? There is no shortage of gimmicks to manufacture drama in racing but you need to tread lightly before your beloved sport starts looking more like “sports entertainment”. Vince McMahon for IndyCar Commissioner? I think he’s available.

The fact that this is being brought up after Long Beach is even more problematic.

The Cost of the Hybrid System

Four of the last eight races at Long Beach have been won from pole position and the 2022 race was won from second on the grid after the pole-sitter stuffed it into the wall on lap 56. Winning from pole is not a new phenomenon for IndyCar and certainly not at Long Beach. If you truly believe that a problem exists and needs fixing, scrapping the hybrid is not the answer. I will admit, it’s hard to find an argument that the hybrid has improved things. The cost to teams has been enormous, lap times are the same or slower, and added complexity has made chasing the balance of the car more difficult. Fox has completely ignored the hybrid since they took over the broadcast rights. And yet, Roger Penske has already confirmed that the new car slated for 2027 will be a hybrid. Cue the fireworks.

The uncomfortable reality is that the powertrain formula is not for the fans. The worst-kept secret in the IndyCar paddock is that Honda has considered leaving the sport and the only certain outcome is that, without a hybrid powertrain, Honda is gone. While critics see hybrids as decades-old technology being shoe-horned into a perfectly good race car; Honda sees the hybrid as a tangible link to their road cars. Win on Sunday: sell on Monday. Keeping Honda as an engine supplier is worth having a 70-pound heavier car and all the annoyances that brings. It’s also entirely possible that the hybrid formula appeals to other manufacturers too, we could enter the 2027 season with a brand-new car and 3 or 4 competing engine manufacturers. That would be a huge step forward for the sport and cannot be ignored. Roger Penske’s rolodex is filled with Detroit bigwigs and we all know he has Porsche on speed-dial. There’s no telling what he could put together by then, or what might already be in the works. But one thing is clear, if the cost of doing business is keeping the hybrid, that's a cost that we, the fans, should be happy to pay.

Bonus fun-fact of the day: Remember when I said IndyCar had seen 405 net positions gained in the last 5 road and street course races (not counting Thermal)? What if I told you Formula 1 has only had 154 net positions gained in their last 5 races? Perspective is a beautiful thing.

The comment section is on X @BenScruggsGP