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ABC Supply 500: 3 takeaways from IndyCar at Pocono

By Brittany Frederick

MANSFIELD, OH - JULY 30: Ryan Hunter-Reay drives the #28 Honda IndyCar on the track during the Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 30, 2017 in Mansfield, Ohio. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
MANSFIELD, OH - JULY 30: Ryan Hunter-Reay drives the #28 Honda IndyCar on the track during the Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 30, 2017 in Mansfield, Ohio. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images) /
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Was Ryan Hunter-Reay the real hero of the ABC Supply 500? Here’s what we learned from Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series race at Pocono Raceway.

The Verizon IndyCar Series returned Sunday for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway and came roaring back into action in a big way.

Will Power clawed up from seemingly dead to repeat as race winner, while the “Tricky Triangle” tripped up a number of other drivers and even the NBCSN announcers. It was another wild drive at Pocono, and one that IndyCar fans can learn from.

If you missed any of Sunday’s race, you can get the complete ABC Supply 500 results here.

Here’s what we learned from the ABC Supply 500:

1) Ryan Hunter-Reay really is Captain America

Not to take anything away from Power’s impressive victory, but the person who deserves the most applause after Pocono is Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay. After coming from the rear to win the ABC Supply 500 in 2015, RHR battled from the back for another unbelievable drive on Sunday.

This year was even more remarkable because Hunter-Reay was doing it while under physical duress. He was involved in a vicious crash during qualifying where he hit two separate walls and had to be taken to the hospital Saturday night for evaluation. We didn’t even know until Sunday morning if he was going to be in the race. Then he came out and drove like gangbusters.

Both Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves got knocked around on Saturday and were back in action on Sunday. They deserve a major tip of the cap for playing through the pain when others wouldn’t have been able to, and particularly in RHR’s case, this is a man who deserves much more acclaim than he’s gotten in 2017. If not for a few bad breaks, he’d be an Indianapolis 500 winner and a title contender.

2) We should stop looking too far ahead

Sunday’s race was a great example of getting ahead of ourselves as observers. While as fans and TV commentators it’s natural to provide commentary based on what’s in front of your face at the time, most of what was said in the ABC Supply 500 couldn’t have been more wrong.

Will Power and second-place finisher Josef Newgarden were both spoken of as if they weren’t going to be factors in the race and ended up on the podium. Polesitter Takuma Sato’s supposed rocket ship failed him early as he got sucked into traffic and never really came back. And that Honda dominance at the front of the field? Well, three of the top four were Chevrolets from Team Penske in the end.

So now we’ve learned: unless someone’s car is on fire or into the wall (or both like poor James Hinchcliffe below), let’s not count them out of the race until the race is over.

3) It wasn’t a great weekend for Ed Carpenter Racing

If you’re a fan of Ed Carpenter Racing, this was not your weekend. First, Ed Carpenter missed the time for technical inspection by six minutes and wasn’t able to qualify, then Carpenter smashed up his car in another one of the pre-race accidents and had to start from the rear. Once in the race, it didn’t get any better. JR Hildebrand got tapped by Hinchcliffe, which led to both of them wrecking. He DNFed in 19th place while Carpenter was 12th. Better luck at Gateway, gentlemen.

Next: Updated IndyCar standings after ABC Supply 500

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