Summaries of 2022 IndyCar Races
2022 INDYCAR RACE SUMMARY
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MAY 1    GP of Alabama      BARBER MOTORSPORT PARK     BIRMINGHAM AL - 90 LAPS
MAY 14    GMR GP      INDY MOTOR SPEEDWAY R/C        INDIANAPOLIS IN -  85 LAPS
MAR 20      XPEL 375         TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY        FORT WORTH TX - 248 LAPS
APRIL 25       Grand Prix of  ST PETERSBURG FLA -  100 LAPS
INDEX
MAY 29       Indy 500          INDY MOTOR SPEEDWAY         INDIANAPOLIS IN -  200 LAPS
JUNE 05         Detroit GP          BELLE ISLE  - RACE 1            DETROIT, MI -  70 LAPS
JUNE 12     REV Group GP          ROAD AMERICA            ELKHART LAKE, WI  -  55 LAPS
JULY 03       Honda Indy 200                 MID-OHIO                  LEXINGTON, IL  -  80 LAPS
Points Leader - Scott McLaughlin - 54 pts
August 07                 Music City Grand Prix               Streets of NASHVILLE, TN  -  80 LAPS
July 30                      Gallagher Grand Prix                          IMS Road Course -  85 LAPS
August 20         Bommarito Auto Group 500        WWT Raceway      ST LOUIS -  260 LAPS
September 04     Grand Prix of Portland    Portland Int'l Raceway   PORTLAND OR -  110 LAPS
September 11     Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey     WeatherTech Raceway CA -  90 LAPS
April 10               Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach              LONG BEACH CA  -  85 LAPS
JULY 17                 Honda Indy Toronto                         TORONTO CANADA  -  85 LAPS
JULY 23         Hy-Vee Deals.com 250        Iowa Speedway         NEWTON IA  -  250 LAPS
JULY 24           Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300      Iowa Speedway    NEWTON IA  -  300 LAPS
The weather was in the upper 70s for the race in St. Petersburg Florida.  Scott McLaughlin placed
his Penske Chevy on the pole.  Even though the field had 26 drivers, the race got off clean and
stayed clean on this tight 1.8-mile street race.  The only caution occurred on Lap 25 of 100, when
rookie David Malukas got high in the chicane, lost traction and hit the wall, ending his race, but not
involving any other cars.  All the other drivers finished the race except AJ Foyt Racing’s Dalton
Kellett, who retired on Lap 73 with mechanical issues.

That caution reverberated throughout the rest of the race as it affected some drivers race strategy.
Drivers who may have finished well today, did not due to pitting three times.  Those drivers were
Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Jack Harvey, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.  Scott Dixon
led 26 laps, but he also had to pit three times, finishing highest of all the 3-stoppers in 8th.
Scott McLaughlin led most of the race and
won his first IndyCar race.  Alex Palou made
his way from tenth to finish 2nd, a half-second
behind McLaughlin, resulting in an exciting finish.  

Will Power, who just missed pole, finished
another two seconds back in 3rd.
The Start
For the first time, drivers were invited to run some laps before practice on Saturday to lay down
some rubber in an effort to create traction in the outer lanes of the grease-stained Nascar track.  
Seven drivers volunteered and it seemed to be beneficial.

Scott McLaughlin passed pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist on the 2nd lap of the race and was in the
lead most of the day.

Santino Ferrucci, who last raced IndyCar at the 2021 Indy 500 for RLL, was called on by the team
to fill-in for injured Jack Harvey.  With only a few hours notice, Ferrucci jumped in the car and drove
from last place to finish in 9th!  The other two RLL cars wrecked.

Rookie Kyle Kirkwood showed promise today.  Starting from 23rd on the grid, Kirkwood worked his
way up to 9th by Lap 30.  He was leading the race on Lap 205, when he lost traction in a corner and
crashed.  Kirkwood races for A.J. Foyt, who attended the race.  Foyt may scold him, but the rest of
us were surely impressed.

Marcus Ericsson reached the top 10 by lap 64 of 248. As the fortunes of others waxed and waned,
he stayed in the top 5 consistently through the rest of the race, finishing 3rd.

Josef Newgarden spent the whole race behind McLaughlin and was chasing him at the end for the win.
As the Penske duo came up on slower traffic, Newgarden was able to get past his teammate coming
out of the last turn and take the win in a very exciting finish!
Points Leader - Scott McLaughlin - 97 pts
The 3rd Penske driver,
Will Power, came in 4th,
just missing a 1-2-3 finish
for Team Penske's 600th
victory.

The F1 race finished just in
time for me to catch the
start of this race.  The
increased excitement factor
was immediately apparent!

IndyCar needs more ovals!
Josef Newgarden's Win Was Team Penske' 600th Victory
(Newgarden, Penske, McLaughlin, Power)
Josef Newgarden Nips Scott McLaughlin for the Win!
Points Leader - Josef Newgarden - 118 pts
In qualifying, Colton Herta won pole and was over a second a lap faster than his nearest Andretti
Autosport teammate, Alex Rossi, who qualified 5th.  Herta was favored to win. He not only had the
fastest car on Saturday, he won this race last September.

With temperature in the 90s, the race got off to a clean start.
By lap 6, Herta had pulled out a 2.5-second gap over 2nd-place Josef Newarden.  
A crash by Dalton Kellett brought out the first of four cautions, bunching the field back up.

During the first pit stop rotation, Alex Palou moved into the lead.  
To Herta's dismay, he found himself back in 3rd, behind Newgarden.

During the next pit stop, Newgarden took the lead over Palou.  
As Herta prepared to come into the pits, he hit the wall, ending
his race!

A few laps later Simon Pagenaud tangled with Takuma Sato
while going by the fountain. Pagenaud ended up in the flower
bed which brought out a full-course yellow.

During the restart, on lap 65 of 85, Marcus Ericsson, who had
worked his way up from 6th to 3rd, hit the wall. This allowed
Roman Grosjean to move up to 3rd.  

Within 3 laps, Grosjean passed Palou for 2nd-place!

With 15 laps to go, the top 3 cars were locked in close combat.

On lap 75, Jimmie Johnson wrecked, taking David Malukas out in the process and bringing out another
caution.

After the final restart, Pato O'Ward got by Scott Dixon to take 5th.

Grosjean and Palou stayed on Newgarden's tail, but were unable to get by him during a thrilling finish.

Sato hit the wall during the last lap and the race finished under yellow.

This was Newgarden's first victory at Long Beach.
Josef Newgarden leading Romain Grosjean
Josef Newgarden Won Again
Points Leader - Alex Palou - 144 pts
The event was sold out and the track was dry for the race after some showers over the weekend.

Rinus VeeKay won the pole, followed by Pato O'Ward and Alex Palou.  Starting from the front
is important at this fast, flowing track.  While Colton Herta had shown he also had a fast car
during practice, problems in qualifying resulted in a 10th place start for him.  

8 drivers pit early (Laps 11-13), including Herta, Romain Grosjean, Josef Newgarden and
Marcus Ericsson.  A few laps after the rest of the field made their pit stops (Laps 28-30),
Callum Illot spun into the gravel, bringing out the only caution of the race.  The drivers who had pit
early were able to pit again under that caution, but they still needed to make a 3rd pit stop and they
did not advance on the leaders, who were on a 2-stop strategy.

VeeKay and Pato O'Ward pit for the final time on Lap 61.  Afterward, O'Ward passed Veekay for
the lead.  Then Palou had a fast pit stop and came out in front of Veekay.  They held their positions
to the end.
Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) Led First 2/3rds of Race
Pato O'Ward Won
the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
for Arrow McLaren SP
With 3 laps to go, Romain Grosjean hit Graham Rahal
twice during a passing attempt into a corner. While both
were fortunate to come out unscathed, Rahal thought it
was intentional.  No penalty was handed to Grosjean
however, who was voted the most popular driver this
year in a fan poll. During the last lap, Rahal began to
run out of fuel, which allowed Grosjean to get past him
for 7th-place.

Will Power's race fortune continued.  Starting from 19th,
he made steady progress and finished 4th for the third
time in a row and is 4th place in points.

While Simon Pagenaud only finished in 11th, he had a
good race, having moved up quickly from 24th, then
hovered around 10th and 11th throughout the last half of
the race.

This was O'Ward's 3rd career win.

2nd place went to Palou.  This was his best finish yet this
year.  He took over the points lead in the championship  
thanks to his consistency.
Scott McLaughlin Won
Points Leader - Will Power - 170 pts
Will Power earned the pole on a hot sunny day.  The race began on a wet track and Power was
passed by Pato O'Ward and Alex Palou on the first lap.  Power stayed in the Top 10 through the
race and brought his #12 Penske Chevrolet home in 3rd, which moved him into the points lead of
the IndyCar Series championship.

The threat of rain endured throughout the race.  The track would almost dry entirely, then rain would
hit to varying degrees, sometimes only falling on half of the track.  This play havoc with the teams'
tire strategies - when to pit and whether to use rain tires or slicks, became a tough decision.

The slippery conditions also played havoc with the drivers.  There were many slides, spins and
contacts made.  The rain increased at the end and tall rooster tails arose from the back of the cars
as the drivers struggled to see.  

The large number of cautions was the only drawback to this very exciting race.  Around Lap 58,
the race went from a lap race to a timed race.

All the drivers pit for rain tires on laps 3 & 4.

One memorable moment happened early on when Colton Herta lost traction on the rear of his car
as he went into a corner.  The rear swung out and Herta somehow kept control as the IndyCar drifted
through the turn like a Formula Drift car!  A few moments later, he passed Palou for the lead.  Well
done Herta!

Josef Newgarden started third.  On Lap 17, he got bounced around like a ping pong ball between
three other cars. He ended up stalled off track and had to be towed back to the pits.

There were some big winners and losers in this wet and wild race.

BAD LUCK:
* Pato O'Ward drove like a man possessed.  He spun twice in Turn 1 while leading, both times in
front of Felix Rosenqvist, resulting in contact and causing the lead to pass from him to his McLaren
teammate!  O'Ward finished a lap down back in 19th, while Rosenqvist finished in 6th.
* Alex Palou fell from 2nd to last place when he spun out on lap 5.
* Rinus VeeKay worked his way into the Top Ten, then got pushed off track by Callum Ilott then hit
by Devlin DeFrancesco.   He finished 2 laps down in 23rd.
* Scott McLaughlin started 11th and moved up to 2nd by lap 46. During a pit stop under yellow,
he got out in front of Herta to take P1.  He then spun while still under caution!  He was passed by
several cars, but was allowed to take the green
flag from 2nd place.  It did not matter though, as
he spun in the middle of the course halfway
through that first green lap, sending other cars  
scattering off course as they tried to avoid him.  
He finished a lap down in 20th.

GOOD LUCK:
* Colton Herta started the race in 14th, was
the first to pit for tires and came out in 1st.  
Herta would lead most of the green laps in this
caution filled race.
* Simon Pagenaud started 21st and shot up to
13th after the early pit stops for tires.  By the
half-way point, he was in 11th.  His luck
continued and he finished the race 2nd!
* Marcus Ericsson started in 15th, fell back to
23rd, and was working his way forward, when
fortune smiled and he found himself in 1st place
during the 4th caution period on lap 36.  He
finished in 5th.

MIXED LUCK:
* Scott Dixon started 18th. By the 2nd set of pit
stops, he was in 10th . He then fell to 22nd, but
began marching forward through the field again
and finished in 10th.
Colton Herta Won
Juan Montoya Battling with Felix Rosenqvist in the GMR Grand Prix
Points Leader - Marcus Ericsson - 226 pts
Chip Ganassi Racing had the fastest cars of any team, and with 5
cars entered, their chances for winning the Indy 500 were good.
Their cars qualified in 1st (Dixon), 2nd (Palou), 5th (Ericsson),
6th (Kanaan) and 12th (Johnson).

It was a sunny day, a little warm (77-80 degrees) and a little windy.

Scott Dixon and Alex Palou controlled the first 68 laps of the race.  
As Palou was pitting, Callum Ilott crashed in Turn 2 bringing out the
first caution.  Unfortunately for Palou, the pit lane closed and he had
to drive on through.  He ended up at the end of the field.

Conor Daly then replaced Palou for battling Dixon for the lead. When
Daly pit on Lap 105, Romain Grosjean crashed in T2 bringing out
another caution.  Once the race resumed, Pato O'Ward slotted into
2nd, behind Dixon while Daly fell back to 3rd.  
Points Leader - Will Power - 255 pts
Josef Newgarden started from Pole and led the first 13 Laps.

In an intriguing race that blended strategy and speed, Will Power earned his first victory of the season,
leading 55 of 70 laps.  With his consistency this season, the win moved him into the points lead.
Starting back in 16th, Power used a two-stop strategy, warding off a charging Alex Rossi at the end.  
Scott Dixon came in 3rd.  

Teams unfurled different tire and fuel strategies almost from the drop of the green flag. Andretti
Autosport called Rossi to the pits after just four laps to remove the Firestone “red” tires andaffix the
more durable “black” tires, choosing a three-stop strategy.

Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing chose a different route for Power and Dixon, respectively,
opting for two-stop races. But there was variety even among that option.

As Power's red tires began to fade at the end, Rossi kept narrowing the gap to him, getting it down to
2 seconds with one lap to go.

Rinus VeeKay crashed on the last lap as Power crossed the finish line.  Other than that, there were
no full-course yellows on this bumpy street circuit, though there were several incidents.  Graham Rahal
slid into the turn 2 wall on Lap 2 and was able to limp back to the pits with a right rear flat, but his day
was done.

Kyle Kirkwood had been running in 5th, when he exited the pits on lap 48 brushed the wall. After he
returned to the pits he learned the car was too damaged to continue. Kirkwood competed in the IMSA
race this weekend and injured his right hand.
Will Power Won
Alex Rossi (2nd), Will Power (1st), Firebird, Scott Dixon (3rd)
Will Power's Team Penske Car
Points Leader - Marcus Ericsson - 293 pts
Alex Rossi started on pole, next to Josef
Newgarden.

3 yellow flags caused 6 caution laps at the
beginning of the race:
LAP 1 - Jimmie Johnson went off track in Turn
3 after contact with Tatiana Calderon, who had
drifted left to avoid stack up in front of her.  
They restarted him, but he lost a lap.
LAP 3 - Marcus Ericsson made contact with
Alex Palou's rear wheel, breaking a part and
sending him off track and out of race.
LAP 7 - Devlin DeFrancesco tried to pass Will
Power and hit his rear, sending Power into wall.
Power returned to pits for front wing.  
DeFrancesco received a stop and go penalty for
Avoidable Contact.

Rossi led until first pit stops, after which he was
in 4th.  After the next set of stops, he was in
2nd, behind Newgarden.  Marcus Ericsson and
Colton Herta followed behind in 3rd and 4th.

LAP 47 - After the final pit stops, Pato O'Ward
began having engine trouble with his McLaren
Chevrolet and was out of the race, bringing out
a full-course yellow.
LAP 50 - After the restart, Helio Castroneves
went off track and created another full-course
yellow.
With 3 laps to go, Newgarden made a great start.  Marcus Ericsson got by Rossi for 2nd.
With no push-to-pass left, Herta was unable to keep Romain Grosjean from passing him for 4th
on the last lap.
Josef Newgarden Won
Alexander Rossi Led at Start
After the next set of pitstops, O'Ward got out in
front to lead the race.  Four laps later, another
caution came out on lap 152.  On the restart,
Dixon took the lead back, but O'Ward would fight
back, retaking the lead twice before Dixon pit on
lap 175.  Dixon came in too hot and didn't get the
car slowed enough.  He received a stop-and-go
penalty for speeding in the pit lane.  With only 25
laps to go, Dixon went from the lead to 26th.  He
had led the most laps of the race.

With scattered pit stops leading up to the final
10 laps, Marcus Ericsson found himself in the
lead, followed by O'Ward, Tony Kanaan and
Felix Roseqvist, drivers who had all spent the
race in the top 10.

With 8 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson, running
back in 25th, crashed.  Like the previous
crashes during the race, it happened late in T2,
where the rear of the car snapped around,
sending it into the safety barrier.

IndCar waved the red flag to halt the race so
that it could finish under green.

With two laps to go, O'Ward got one chance at
Ericsson, who weaved like a snake down the
main straight to avoid giving O'Ward a tow.  
As the leaders approached the last turn of the
race in this exciting race, Sage Karam wrecked
from 13th place, and the race officially ended
under yellow, though neither cautions at the end
affected the racing order.
Marcus Ericsson Won the Indy 500
Points Leader - Marcus Ericsson - 321 pts
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio was a very scrappy race that resulted in lots of contact
and 5 caution periods.        

While the Arrow McLaren SP team had fast cars with Pato O’Ward on pole, both cars
suffered mechanical failures and did not finish.
O’Ward led the first 28 Laps.  Scott McLaughlin led the rest of the race, winning his 2nd
IndyCar race.  Alex Palou finished behind him.

Will Power had qualified a lowly 21st, then spun out on the first lap and fell back to last place.  
From 27th, he worked his way forward and finished in 3rd!  While most drivers only pit
twice, Power had to pit thrice, however he was the only driver to always pit during a caution.  
He is 2nd in points.

Rinus VeeKay started in 11th and finished in 4th.  Scott Dixon started and finished in 5th.
Indy 500 Winner Marcus Ericsson finished 6th, maintaining his lead in the championship.

Jack Harvey ran into the back of Dalton Kellett in the Keyhole.  Harvey had to restart
from the back while Kellett’s race was over.   

Also receiving penalties for avoidable contact were teammates Alex Rossi and Romain
Grosjean on lap 71.  Both finished at the back of the field.
Scott McLaughlin Won
Alex Palou (Ganassi),  Mclaughlin (Penske), Power (Penske)
Points Leader - Marcus Ericsson - 351 pts
After a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic, IndyCar returned to the bumpy, multi-surfaced street track in
Toronto.  The race was a sell out.  

Colton Herta started on pole with Scott Dixon lined up beside him.

Takuma Sato got pushed off the track on the first lap by Pato O'Ward.  Sato limped back to the pits on
three wheels.  His race was done. A caution came out to clean up debris.

Herta led until lap 19 when Dixon beat him out of the pits.  Dixon cruised to the win, his first of the year,
while Herta maintained 2nd place throughout the rest of the race.

Alex Rossi qualified 4th.  On lap 45, Felix Rosenqvist tried to pass him on the inside and ended up
bumping Rossi off track and into the wall. Rossi had to retire while Rosenvist finished on the podium.  
During the caution period, most drivers pitted.  Josef Newgarden did not park close enough to the pit
wall, which resulted in a slow stop that dropped him back to 11th.  He would finish in 10th.

Another caution came out on lap 55 to repair the track.

Graham Rahal started in 14th and worked his way up to finish in 4th - his best finish of the year.

Marcus Ericsson finished in 5th, retaining his lead on the championship.

On lap 62, last place Kyle Kirkwood went to pass Jimmie Johnson.  Johnson didn't see him, came
down on him and they both wrecked.  That was Kirkwood's 5th DNF of the year, more than any other
driver so far.  That was the 4th and last caution of the race.  Sadly, the 2nd most DNFs is by his AJ Foyt
teammate Dalton Kellett, who retired for the 4th time when his engine blew on lap 32.

Alex Palou was the most improved driver of the race, starting in 22nd and finishing 6th.

As the laps wound down, the race was between 2nd-place Herta and 3rd-place Rosenqvist.

This was Dixon's 52nd IndyCar win, tying him with 2nd place Mario Andretti on the All-Time Most Wins
list. AJ Foyt owns the record at 67 Indy car wins.
Scott Dixon Won His 52nd IndyCar Race
Points Leader - Marcus Ericsson - 375 pts
The Iowa oval track is very bumpy. The shaky ride
did not cause any damage to the IndyCars.  All the
cars completed the race with the exception of Ed
Carpenter and Felix Rosenqvist, who both spun
and hit the wall backwards, in separate incidences.  
The ambient temperature approached 100 degrees
during the race.  At the end, some of the drivers
looked fairly fresh, while others were tired and
overheated. I noticed Rinus Veekay wore a cooling
vest under his uniform, which was like a grid of mini
ice packs.  Perhaps the other drivers had those as
well?

The track is short and fast and the leaders often
found themselves fighting their way through lapped
traffic.

Pole sitter Will Power led the first 22 laps before
teammate Josef Newgarden took the lead.  He
never relinquished it (except for a stint where
Jimmie Johnson led) and picked up his 4th win
of the season.  Newgarden is now only 15 points
behind 1st place Marcus Ericsson in the points
race.

Power and Pato O'Ward spent most of the day
exchanging 2nd place. O'Ward took it on lap 216
and held on to the end, with Power finishing 3rd.

Alex Palou was midfield during the first third of the
race, then began to move up, finally reaching 3rd.
Romain Grosjean followed him and was in 4th.

But tire wear dropped them back at the end and
VeeKay and Scott Dixon got by them to finish 4th
and 5th respectively.

Christian Lundgaard was the most improved of
the day, starting 20th and finishing 10th.

Jimmie Johnson did well, battling with VeeKay
often and riding the high line.  He caused the first
caution when he spun.  He did not hit anything
though.  In the end, Johnson finished 11th.

THOSE WITH BAD LUCK

Though Colton Herta started from 17th, he
worked his way up to 3rd by lap 50.  By lap 100,
he was in 10th and on the radio complaining about
his car.  A caution resulted in everyone pitting.  
Herta came out in last place and would remain
there for the rest of the race, finishing 8 laps down.

Conor Daly's day started full of promise, as he'd
qualified in 3rd. Unfortunately he began falling back.
On lap 96, he suddenly fell from 15th down to 24th.
He finished in 19th.

Scott McLaughlin started 5th and stayed in the
top 5 until misfortune hit when he pit on lap 167
during a caution.  When the race resumed, he lost
a wheel nut and he had to limp back to the pits.
This sent him to the rear and he finished in 22nd.
Rinus VeeKay's Cooling Pad
Josef Newgarden Led 208 Laps
Josef Newgarden Won
O'Ward , Newgarden, Power
It was a clean race, other than O'Ward's
pitcrew sending him out and almost colliding with
Alex Rossi who was just coming in.  Rossi had
to hit the brakes.  No penalties were handed out
during the race.
Points Leader - Marcus Ericsson - 403 pts
While the Iowa Speedway is bumpy, it allows for 2-wide racing all the way around.  Sometimes they
even run 3-wide.  Overnight rain washed away much of the accumulated rubber from the track.
The race again sold out for the second day in a row.

Will Power again started on pole.  He and Josef Newgarden seemed to have the fastest cars during
the first stint.  They entered the pits at the same time and Power barely maintained his lead on pit exit.  
On Lap 83, the two came up behind Romain Grosjean.  With him in the way, Newgarden was able to
get past Power to take over the lead.
Pato O'Ward Won
On Lap 120, Kyle Kirkwood got up into the marbles and
crashed, bringing out the first caution.  

During the 3rd set of pit stops, Pato O'Ward got out in front
of both Penskes.  While Newgarden was able to quickly take
his lead back,  O'Ward stayed in 2nd, dropping Power back
to 3rd.

Newgarden handily held on to the lead up through lap 234,
when something broke on his right rear suspension and sent
him backwards hard into the wall.  He got out on his own and
seemed ok.  Later, in the bus lot, he collapsed and hit the
back of his head.  He was taken to the hospital and brain
scans appeared ok. He was kept overnight for observation.

O'Ward inherited the lead and held on to the end, winning his
2nd IndyCar race of the year.

Power came in 2nd, moving ahead of Newgarden in the points
to take 2nd, behind Marcus Ericsson, who finished 6th today.

Scott Dixon was the most improved, starting 18th and
finishing 4th.
Points Leader - Will Power - 431 pts
The triple header race weekend on the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
resulted in a shortened weekend for IndyCar,
as they shared the track, in different sessions,
with the Nascar Xfinity and Cup series. IndyCar
had one practice session Friday morning,
followed a few hours later with qualifying.  
Felix Rosenqvist won the pole, a few ticks
faster than Alex Rossi.

Then there was a warmup session on Saturday
morning before the Gallagher Grand Prix, which
started at 12:30 pm.

There was some incidents in the first few laps
that brought out a caution.  On the first lap,
Pato O'Ward got spun by Will Power in T2
and resumed at the end of the field.  Power
got hit on the inside and fell back to 16th from
4th.  Helio Castroneves tried crashing his way
between two cars and sent one flying off into
the grass and Dalton Kellett spun and stalled
the engine, brining out the first caution on Laps
3-4.  (Later, Castroneves was penalized and
sent to the back of the field for spinning out Kyle
Kirkwood.  

On Lap 13, Conor Daly overshot his pit box and
fell to the back of the field. Near the end, he had
to give up a position for blocking.
Alexander Rossi Maintains His Lead over 2nd place Christian Lundgaard
Alexander Rossi Won
Both Andretti Motorsport wins have been at the IMS road course this year.
Rosenqvist relinquished his lead on Lap 7 and
began getting passed.  He fell back as far as
12th, but finished 9th.

Starting in 9th, Colton Herta quickly moved up
and took over the lead on lap 8.  

At the half-way point of the race, Herta's car
bottomed out over a curb hard enough to break
something in the drive line.  He was able to coast
to the entrance to pit lane before coming to a
stop, and the race remained green, but his day
was done.

His Andretti teammate, Alex Rossi, inherited the
lead, followed by rookie Christian Lundgaard
who drives for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.  
(David Letterman was at the race today.)  
Following next were three Penske cars (Power,
Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden.)
Next were Rinus VeeKay, Graham Rahal and
Scott Dixon.  All of these drivers held onto their
positions to the end.

Simon Pagenaud ran out of fuel on lap 36.

Power's 2nd place finished moved him into the
points lead while Marcus Ericsson was the
most improved, having moved from 25th to
finish in 11th.
Colton Herta (Andretti), Scott Dixon (Ganassi)
Points Leader - Will Power - 450 pts
The Nashville street circuit received some modifications in an attempt to cut down on the accidents that
occurred at the inaugural race last year.  Those mods did not seem to make any difference.  

A storm blew in on race day that cooled things down for a while.  Lightning delayed the start about two hours.

Scott McLaughlin was on pole, with Romain Grosjean starting beside him.

Within the first 8 laps Colton Herta damaged his front wing and Alex Rossi locked up and stalled his car,
resulting in both going a lap down.

Alex Palou, Simon Pagenaud, Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas lucked out when the 2nd yellow flag
flew after they had just pitted.  They all got shuffled to the front with Palou now leading.  McLaughlin, who
had led since the start, filed in behind them.

The race went green on lap 26 and Graham Rahal ran into the back of Pato O’Ward, pushing him into the
back of Will Power and triggering an incident behind them. Power made it through, but would have to shift
manually for the remainder of the race which hurt him at the end.  O’Ward and Rahal were out.  This
accident caused a backup behind them where Dalton Kellet slammed into the back of Scott Dixon,
sending Dixie back to the pits with a flat tire.  Kellet and Simona De Silvestro, who was behind Kellett,
were now out of the race.

Dixon’s pit crew had a hard time getting the wheel off.  And there was further damage.  Dixon would return
to the pits three more times over the upcoming caution laps in an attempt to get the problem sorted out.

On the restart on lap 33, Callum Ilott sent Rossi and himself off into a run-off area.  Rossi quickly returned
to the track, but Ilott had a punctured tire and would finish last, 4 laps down.  A moment later Devlin
DeFrancesco and Takuma Sato came together and both ended up in the wall and out of the race.

On the restart,  Pagenaud was now in 2nd behind Palou. In 3rd and 4th were rookies Malukas and Kirkwood.  
Within 3 laps, McLaughlin moved into 2nd while Herta moved from 13th to 8th.  Pagenaud fell back to 7th.

On lap 51, Rinus VeeKay, Christian Lundgaard, Dixon and Power dove into pits to make their final stop.
Surprisingly, Rahal had come back out on the track.  He crashed himself into the wall at a corner, bringing
out another caution, but not before VeeKay had exited the pits, came around and ran into the back of him,
damaging his front wing.  VeeKay had been in 6th before the incident, but would now finish a lap down.  
The caution proved fortuitous for the other three drivers.  Newgarden chose not to pit and took over the
lead, while Dixon, Lundgaard and Power moved into position behind him.  Palou rejoined behind those 4.
Scott Dixon Won
With eleven cars on the lead lap, the race went
green with 2 laps left.

With a flapping front wing, Palou used his PTP
to immediately take 3rd away from Lundgaard.  

Rossi and Herta followed up by passing
Lundgaard too.  After losing a lap toward the
beginning, the pair were happy to finish in the
Top 5.

Felix Rosenqvist used his fresh tires to pass
Newgarden and take 7th place.

McLaughlin couldn’t quite catch Dixon, who then
won his 2nd race of the year, this time by a tenth
of a second.  This win moved him up two spots
into second in the championship.  This was his
53rd IndyCar win, moving him past Mario
Andretti into 2nd on the All Time Wins list.
Mario Andretti won 52 of
his 407 IndyCar races.

Including other series,
he won 109 races.
Many teams experienced front end damage.
Like the previous stint, the passing action was extremely exciting as the race resumed on lap 56. Herta got
by Malukas, moving into 5th.  Palou damaged his front wing after running into the back of Power, but would
continue.  With his shifting problems, Power fell back to 12th during this stint.

On lap 64, Kirkwood crashed into Malukas in an attempt to pass him in T9, knocking them both out of the
race and bring out yet another caution.  Newgarden didn’t have the fuel and was forced to pit, giving up the
lead.

The race went green on lap 70.  Dixon led, with Lundgaard behind him.  Lundgaard would find it hard to
defend the position during the last ten laps as he was out of push-to-pass time and those around him had
plenty.

McLaughlin passed Palou and Herta to move into 3rd, and then Grosjean passed Herta.  Then another caution
came out as Jimmie Johnson crashed by himself on the bridge, a replica of his crash last year.

With 5 laps left, the race resumed.  While McLaughlin got by Lundgaard for 2nd,  Newgarden passed three
cars at once, and made contact with the third - 5th place Grosjean - that sent him into the wall and out of
the race, bringing out the 8th and final caution.  All the cars returned to the pits to await the clean up.
Points Leader - Will Power - 482 pts
Will Power got his 67th pole, tying Mario Andretti for the most in IndyCar history.

Felix Rosenqvist spun during qualifying on Friday and had to start last - from 26th.
Using the high line, he passed 11 cars in the first lap, then passed two more on lap 2!

Callum Ilott moved from 22nd up to 13th, but then hit one of his pit crew during the first
set of pit stops.  The crew member didn't appear injured, but Ilott got a 30-second penalty
which ruined his race.

Electrical problems knocked Rinus VeeKay out of the race on lap 79.

By lap 63, Pato O'Ward had worked his way up from 7th up to 3rd.  After a restart on
lap 157, O'Ward got by Will Power on the outside for the lead.  However, by the next
round of stops, O'Ward was in 3rd, behind Power and Scott McLaughlin.

Alex Rossi pit from 7th on lap 123.  His car ran out of fuel and it took his crew a long
time to get his engine started. This sent him to the back.

The race ran caution free until lap 145 when Jack Harvey scraped the wall.

On the restart, O'Ward passed Power on the outside for the lead.  
Soon, Newgarden took the lead and McLaughlin passed O'Ward for 2nd.
David Malukas began moving up from 9th.  By lap 197, he was in 3rd.

With the possibility of rain, the teams began to strategize.

The rain finally came, but not before Newgarden fell to 2nd during a pit stop.

The 2nd and last caution came out on lap 214 due to the rain.  
The leaders were:

1. Scott McLaughlin (Penske)
2. Josef Newgarden (Penske)
3. Pato O'Ward (McLaren)
4. Will Power (Penske)
5. David Malukas (Coyne)
6. Takuma Sato (Coyne)
It took two hours to dry the track and restart the
race - lap 224.

On the restart, Newgarden passed McLaughlin
for the lead.

Malukas and Power duked it out for 4th place.

The rookie finally took the position, with team-
mate Sato right behind him.

On lap  244, Malukas got by O'Ward for 3rd.

The 20 y/o Malukas then began chasing
McLaughlin and was able to pass him on the
last lap for an exciting finish!
Newgarden's No. 2 Chevy Penske
David Malukas, Winner Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin
LAPS LED THIS SEASON
Team Penske
Chip Ganassi Racing
Andretti Motorsport
Arrow McLaren SP
The rest
52.6%
19.2%
10.8%
9.7%
7.8%
Points Leader - Will Power - 523 pts
The weather was nice in Portland for race day.  All three Penske cars qualified at the front, with
Scott McLaughlin on pole. Josef Newgarden had to start the race from 8th after qualifying 2nd
due to a penalty for an unapproved engine swap at the last race.

IndyCar moved the Race Start Acceleration Zone back to Turn 12 in an attempt to prevent collisions
entering Portland’s treacherous first turn.  It may have helped, as all the cars made it through
unscathed.  Romain Grosjean went off into the grass further along on the first lap, but returned
to the track without causing a caution.

The race would end up running caution free until Lap 88, when Jimmie Johnson was shoved into
the wall by Rinus VeeKay during a pass.  VeeKay received a Drive-Through penalty.
Turns 1 & 2
Conor Daly's car caught on fire in the pits.  It
ended up melting his clutch, which put him out
of the race on lap 66.

Rookie Christian Lundgaard was having a great
race, running in the top 5 all the way until Lap 78
when he lost about 6 positions after a pit stop.  
As he worked his way forward, he went off track
while trying to pass Alex Rossi.  He hit a sign,
damaging his front wing, and had to pit; dropping
him to last place on the lead lap.   (Dalton
Kellett  and Johnson went a lap down about the
middle of the race.  Simon Pagenaud was
down 10 laps, but that was due to gearbox
trouble.)

McLaughlin  led the whole race with teammate
Will Power just behind him.  They finished
one-two.

Pato O’Ward had been running in 3rd, but after
the restart for the Johnson caution, O’Ward
made a desperate attempt to pass Power, and
ran into him.  While Power was able to recover,
Scott Dixon used the opportunity to get past
O’Ward and take 3rd.  Dixon had started in 16th,
but had methodically worked his way up
throughout the race, and was the biggest mover
of the day.  

Graham Rahal, Colton Herta, Rossi and
Newgarden rounded out the top 8.

Alex Palou and O’Ward dropped out of
contention for the championship, leaving five
drivers with a mathematical chance heading into
the last race of the season.
Scott McLaughlin Won
2022 IndyCar Champion - Will Power - 560 pts
Coming into the last round of the 2022 championship, Josef Newgarden & Scott Dixon each trailed
Will Power by 20 points.  Newgarden's hopes for the championship took a big hit on Saturday when
he crashed during the first round of qualifying and had to start the race from 25th.  Dixon also didn't
make it out of the first round and started in 13th.  Meanwhile, Power captured his 68th pole AND the
record for the most IndyCar Pole Positions in history, moving past Mario Andretti.

2021 IndyCar Champion Alex Palou took the lead away from Power on lap 24 and maintained it until
the end, winning his first race of the year.

Newgarden passed five cars on the first lap and by lap 32, had moved up to 7th.  His charge continued
and he passed Power for 2nd place at the midway point.  He and Power then hung on to finish 2nd and
3rd.  Newgarden was definitely the charger of the day!

Dixon finished behind the eleven other cars on the lead lap.
Alex Palou Race Winner
Team Penske won 9 of 17 races this year - Newgarden winning 5 and McLaughlin 3 -
but it was Power, with his lone win at Detroit, who captured the 2022 IndyCar title.
With 9 podiums and no DNF's, Power's consistancy won him his 2nd championship.