In spirit of Olympics, France leads mythical INDYCAR Nations Cup

While watching the Olympics along with much of the rest of the world, I was reminded that the site of many competitions for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was once a racetrack.

The Jacarepaguá road course hosted numerous racing events from Formula One to MotoGP. Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna made his F1 debut there in 1984. The layout also featured a trapezoid-shaped “roval” – an oval that drove like a road course – which hosted Indy car races for five years.

Another Brazilian, Andre Ribeiro, thrilled the home crowd by winning the inaugural Indy car race on the Rio roval in 1996. Other Indy car winners included Paul Tracy, Greg Moore, Juan Pablo Montoya and Adrian Fernandez – an international cast of Canadians, Colombians and Mexicans befitting of the Olympics.

Since the Olympics is a sporting event that captures our imagination and most of us swell with a bit of national pride, it reminded me of a time when Indy car racing awarded a championship based on drivers’ home countries. It was akin to the nations' medal count so emphasized at each Olympiad.

From 1995-2007, CART and Champ Car awarded the Nations Cup, a season-long championship where a country scored the same points as its highest-finishing driver in a race. Brazil and the United States each won the Nations Cup four times, but France won the last three Nations Cup titles. Not surprising since one Sebastien Bourdais was in the process of collecting four consecutive Champ Car drivers’ championships from 2004-07.

Using the same scoring method, it’s no surprise to find the same three countries battling over a mythical 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Nations Cup.

Here’s a look at what the standings would be through the 12 completed races, with points earned from the top finisher for each nation at each race, including bonus points. With Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud collecting a total of five race wins to date, it’s no surprise that France again leads the way: