Fourth-place finish at 500 'lit fire' under Max Chilton

Jim Ayello | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption 5 keys to the Detroit Grand Prix IndyStar Motorsports Insider Jim Ayello breaks down five key storylines. (June 2017)

DETROIT — Max Chilton doesn’t need the reminder, but he set one up anyway.

Less than 48 hours after leading a race-high 50 laps and finishing fourth at the Indianapolis 500, Chilton reconfigured the background of his phone to display a screenshot of the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings, where hit sits 10th.

Now every time he looks at his phone — about 100 times a day, he estimates — he is reinvigorated with the realization that for the first time in his short IndyCar career, he is in the hunt.

“I’ve never been this motivated,” Chilton told IndyStar on Wednesday.

Few in the series enjoyed a better May than the Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who finished a career-high seventh at the IndyCar Grand Prix before besting that mark two weeks later with his fourth-place run at the 500. His finish at the 500, which counts for double points, vaulted him into the top 10 in the championship, just 75 back from leader Helio Castroneves, who posted the fast lap time during Friday's practice ahead of the Detroit doubleheader.

More motor sports coverage:Doyel to IMS: Drop the blackout, for fans' sake (and your own)

5 things Jim thinks as IndyCar heads toward Detroit double

This former Formula One driver will replace Sebastien Bourdais at Detroit

The surge up the standings has sparked a confidence in the IndyCar sophomore that he’s never felt before — at least not in IndyCar. The ex-Formula One driver conceded that after 20 career IndyCar starts and just two top-10 finishes, doubt had begun to creep into the back of his mind.

“To be honest, yeah, you believe in yourself, but you think it’s my second year in IndyCar and I haven’t had any podiums and you start to sometimes doubt yourself,” said Chilton, who posted the 17th-fastest lap time during Friday's practice. “Sunday taught me I can lead and I can defend for multiple laps. It didn’t go my way, but that’s Indy. It picks the winner. I’ll be back. I might not ever win it, but I know (I can).”

One man who has never doubted Chilton’s abilities is CGR Managing Director Mike Hull, who calls the 26-year-old Englishman a “special talent.”

But everyone in the series is soaking with talent, Hull said. What stands out about Chilton, Hull noted wryly, is he has something many other drivers don't: a functioning set of ears.

“They actually work,” Hull said with a chuckle. “That’s big for a young driver. He also has a great mentor in Dario (Franchitti), and he utilizes the resources we have quite well. When you add all of those things together, you start to see results on the track.

Rookie Max Chilton crashes in Turn 2 during practice Max Chilton crashed in Turn 2 during Indy 500 qualification practice.

“IndyCar racing is a minimum of a three-year exercise,” Hull continued. “The first two years are the down payment. The third year is the return on investment. But we’re starting to see (results) this year. Assuming (Chilton) stays at it, I’m confident he’ll prove he’s the guy we knew we got when he came here."

Chilton admitted Wednesday that he feels like a different driver than the one who climbed into the cockpit Sunday afternoon, but different even from the one who climbed out of it Sunday evening.

Initially, when he greeted friends and family members after the race, he felt ecstatic, elated even with this fourth-place finish.

“I felt like I did the best job I could,” Chilton said. “I was happy at the end of the race. I wasn’t upset at all. … But then over the past couple of days, I’ve been sort of — well it’s a bit gut-wrenching learning that there were a few things I could have done differently to maybe win.”

It might be gut-wrenching to Chilton, but hearing him talk that way puts a smile on his mentor’s face.

Franchitti, a three-time 500 winner and four-time series champion, said that edge is something the young driver has been missing.

“He’s just hungry for it,’ Franchitti said Friday in between practices for this weekend’s doubleheader in Detroit. “Really hungry for it. It’s the first time I’ve really seen that side of him, because he really keeps (his emotions) quite well hidden. That’s another piece of the jigsaw puzzle he needs.

“It's only his second year, and he’s making good progress. He won’t be perfect every week. But he got good results in the GP and to finish fourth at the 500 and to be disappointed about it, I like that.”

Now, Franchitti said, it's a matter of capitalizing on that disappointment, turning it into motivation and producing more positive results — beginning in Detroit. Franchitti is confident that this new, edgier Max Chilton is ready to do just that.

"You can definitely tell," Franchitti said, "a little fire has been lit."

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.