Best of the Month: February 2022

February is over and now we are into March. Surprisingly, we are already into many championships. NASCAR has started, the World Rally Championship is two rounds in, the 24 Hours of Daytona was a month ago, even IndyCar's season opener is behind us. We will be getting to MotoGP, Formula One and the FIA World Endurance Championship shortly, but there was plenty to celebrate from the shortest month of the year.

Quarter-Miles

February began with NASCAR's Clash exhibition race run at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a temporary quarter-mile oval.

A few things might need to be ironed out, but the event was a success. The race was good. The crowd was fantastic. I was fortunate to attend, and the atmosphere was riveting. I haven't been fortunate to attend a Bristol race, but there haven't been many racetracks where I have felt the crowd's reaction. Fittingly for a football stadium, it felt like a football game. The setting of the Coliseum I am sure also helped. 

For an exhibition, it is what NASCAR needed. The heat races and last chance qualifiers provided the necessary tease, and the main race was enthralling. On a quarter-mile, it is sensory overload. You cannot hear any announcer over the public address system. There is always a car directly in front of you. The car might only be going 70 mph, but you miss stuff. I was seated on the exit of, I guess what we would call turn four, even though there were really only two turns, and I missed Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. spinning right in front of me. I was looking across the track at the leaders. The cars aren't going fast enough for the skid to draw attention through the roar on track. 

NASCAR has an option for the next two years running the Clash at the Coliseum. The event did come in over budget in terms of track construction, but NASCAR has something when it comes to this quarter-mile format. NASCAR's biggest issue is being NASCAR and running things into the ground. It needs someone to save the sanctioning body from itself. There shouldn't be four or five quarter-mile races a year, but I think there is room for the two exhibition races or one of the two exhibition races to be on a quarter-mile or shorter short track each year. 

There are more options than you think. Texas Motor Speedway should have already announced the All-Star Race will be run on its quarter-mile oval typically used for Legend car races. It might not be the Coliseum, but it would be 100 times better than an All-Star race on the 1.5-mile oval. 

Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta and Las Vegas all have quarter-mile ovals on the front straightaway. Las Vegas even has the 3/8-mile bullring on its property. Kentucky Speedway was abandoned but Kentucky has a quarter-mile on its front straightaway. That could be the track's saving grace. 

After seeing a few concrete barriers cracked during the Clash, I am skeptical of taking a NASCAR Cup car to an existing quarter-mile such as Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin or Anderson Speedway in Indiana. I am concerned the infrastructure will not hold. But we know the SAFER Barriers at Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta and Vegas can handle a Cup car. We also know with no barriers on the outside of those tracks there is a reduced chance of damage. 

I think NASCAR can have a happy medium with its quarter-miles. I would love to see the Clash and All-Star race rotate or the Clash be at a stadium and the All-Star bounce between the quarter-miles at existing NASCAR facilities. The key thing is for NASCAR to remember the importance of moderation, keeping these events limited to at most twice, maybe three times a year. The best thing NASCAR can do is not go overboard... which is painstaking for NASCAR.

Austin Cindric Gets It

The big winner of February was Austin Cindric, winning the Daytona 500 in his eighth career NASCAR Cup start and his second Daytona 500 start. 

I want to give some appreciation to Cindric because I think Cindric gets it. Cindric loves motorsports. His upbringing nurtured that. With his father Tim working mostly for Team Penske during Austin's life, specifically on the IndyCar program but also overseeing the NASCAR and sports car programs, and with Austin's mom Megan being the daughter of Jim Trueman, IndyCar car owner famously of Bobby Rahal's 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, Austin saw it all growing up and had an openness to everything. He was never shoehorned down one path. 

Cindric started in single-seaters, but his height prevent him from truly pursuing the Road to Indy and path to IndyCar. He went to sports cars, was able to run the Bathurst 12 Hour twice before turning 18 years old, including being paired with German touring car legend Bernd Schneider and Mercedes-AMG GT3 specialist Maro Engel. Cindric competed in Pirelli World Challenge before ending up in NASCAR.

To a certain extent, every race car driver enjoys racing. Cindric has a passion for it. This isn't something he just happens to be good at and does. He has a deep interest in the history. We see it in the little thing. His helmet is inspired by Greg Moore's design. Cindric loves the Indianapolis 500, not like, love. He has a dedicated viewing point at the track. Unfortunately, his day job is going to prevent him from enjoying that race this year. Perhaps he will be able to hang around for the start, but he has a race later that night in Charlotte that he cannot afford to miss.

Cindric has gotten a lot of flak because he is the son of a team president. Many see him as benefitting from circumstance, and he did, but when you see the other drivers who he races again in the NASCAR Cup Series, he is really no different. Cindric beat Ryan Blaney, the son of a former Cup driver at Daytona. 

Chase Elliott is the son of a past Cup champion. 

Austin and Ty Dillon are both sons of a former driver and grandsons of a current team owner. 

Harrison Burton's father won nearly two-dozen Cup races. 

Corey LaJoie and Todd Gilliland both had fathers compete in NASCAR with success mostly in the lower divisions. 

Cody Ware drives for his father. 

Cole Custer's father is also a NASCAR team president. 

Justin Haley's uncle Todd Braun owns his charter, took it from Spire Motorsports to Kaulig Racing, and Braun owned a race-winning team in NASCAR's second division.

Even Brad Keselowski's father owned a team in the Truck series. Throw David Ragan in there, whose father competed in the Cup Series. 

Thirteen drivers out of the 40 that started this year's Daytona 500 had a family member significantly involved in NASCAR. That is over a quarter of the field. Cindric isn't an anomaly. What makes him different? I think the Penske tie is it. People can forgive or at least justify why certain drivers can benefit from nepotism and why others cannot. In Cindric's case, he is viewed negatively, but what people miss is how much Cindric is just like them, a motorsports fan and but also a respectful driver with immense talent. 

Cindric would probably provide the best bench racing conversation of the current NASCAR Cup Series field. I hope people come to see that in 2022. 

March Preview

This is our Sebring/FIA World Endurance Championship preview. 

This will be the first Super Sebring weekend since 2019 after the last two years were cancelled due to the global pandemic. WEC will be first to race on Friday March 18 with the 1000 Miles of Sebring scheduled for a noon start and will either be 1000 miles or eight hours, whichever is reached first. The 12 Hours of Sebring is the next day, Saturday 19 at 10:10 a.m. ET.

For WEC, this is the second year of the Hypercar class, and while Toyota was expecting some manufacture competition, it will be delayed. The Peugeot program will not make its debut until the Monza race in July at the earliest. Toyota will still take on the Alpine A480, a grandfathered Rebellion LMP1 car, and the privateer American Glickenhaus, which will have one full-time entry.

Toyota still has Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López in the #7 GR010 Hybrid. Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley remain in the #8 Toyota, as Ryō Hirakawa joins the team replacing the retired Kazuki Nakajima. 

LMP2 is full to the brim with quality entries, 15 cars in total. Team Penske is entered as preparation for the Porsche LMDh program coming in 2023. Penske is basically a professional team but a pro-am lineup on a technicality, as Emmanuel Collard has been downgraded to silver due to his age and will be alongside Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr. 

United Autosports is back with two stacked entries with Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson, Will Owen, Oliver Jarvis, and Paul di Resta spread across its two entries. Sébastien Bourdais and Nico Müller will be sharing a car for Vector Sport. Prema has expanded to LMP2, and it will field a car with Robert Kubica and Louis Delétraz as two of its drivers. 

Daniil Kvyat is scheduled to drive for G-Drive Racing. António Félix da Costa will continue with Jota and Will Stevens will be one of his co-drivers. Robin Frijns and René Rast are paired at Team WRT. Esteban Gutiérrez returns to real world racing with Inter Europol Competition with Alex Brundle as a co-driver. Sébastien Ogier will drive for the Richard Mille Racing Team! 

It is not the top class, but LMP2 is the one to be most excited about. 

Corvette is finally running a full-time GTE-Pro entry. Tommy Milner, Alexander Sims and Nick Tandy will share the #64 Corvette to take on the tag teams of AF Corse with Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado as defending champions while Miguel Molina has Antonio Fuoco as his new co-driver. Porsche has Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz together again with Michael Christensen returning to the full-time role alongside Kévin Estre. 

GTE-Am has its own share of familiar names: Toni Vilander and Nick Cassidy (AF Corse), Ben Keating and Marco Sørensen (TF Sport), Sebastian Priaulx and Harry Tincknell (Dempsey-Proton Racing), Nicki Thiim (Northwest AMR). 

As for the 12 Hours of Sebring, Meyer Shank Racing won the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, and the team has shuffled its lineup. With Hélio Castroneves pre-occupied in Texas for an IndyCar race, Stoffel Vandoorne will join Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Acura. 

JDC-Miller Motorsports won at Sebring last year. Tristan Vautier and Loïc Duval return and will have Richard Westbrook new to the line-up.

Ryan Hunter-Reay returns to the 12 Hours of Sebring but with Chip Ganassi Racing in the #01 Cadillac alongside Sébastien Bourdais, who won last year with JDC-Miller, and Renger van der Zande. The #48 Action Express Racing will have an exhausted lineup at the end of this race. Kobayashi, López and Rockenfeller are both doing double duty. 

Ricky Taylor will be the most rested Wayne Taylor Racing driver, as Albuquerque and Stevens are both running the day before. Pipo Derani is going for his fourth 12 Hours of Sebring victory in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. Tristan Nunez and Mike Conway are each going for their first Sebring victory alongside Derani. 

In other classes, DragonSpeed will have Juan Pablo Montoya and his son Sebastián paired with Henrik Hedman. Pfaff Motorsports looks to sweep the 36 Hours of Florida with Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Felipe Nasr.

Five different teams have won the last five 12 Hours of Sebring. Cadillac has won three of the last five years, but all of those victories have been in odd-numbered years.

Other events in March:

MotoGP season opens at Qatar this upcoming Sunday and then visits Indonesia later this month.

Formula One opens with two rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in successive weekends.

IndyCar has one race: Texas. 

NASCAR returns to Austin at the end of the month, and hopefully the rain does not return.

Musings From the Weekend: Something Important

Scott McLaughlin opened the IndyCar season with a stunning victory, and that wasn't the only incredible result of the weekend in St. Petersburg. There were multiple comeback winners, one from years away, another from an accident the day before. The Supercross winner didn't win at all but is still the winner. The World Rally Championship was back in Swedish snow for the first time in two years. NASCAR was at Fontana for the first time in two years. Formula One was in Barcelona for the first test that we cannot call a test because of money. However, the biggest Formula One news last week was not from the racetrack, and it relates to the biggest event in current affairs. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.

Something Important

I was going to write about something meaningless, but it was tone deaf considering current world affairs. 

Last week, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been on everyone's mind from every walk of life. The sports world has not been sealed off from the conflict. 

Around Europe, soccer stadiums were full of displays of support for Ukraine. There were moving moments of solidarity, most notably in the Premier League at the Everton-Manchester City, where Ukrainians Vitali Mykolenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko play for the respective clubs and shared an emotional pre-game hug before an incredible ovation when the teams walked out for the start of the match at Goodison Park. 

In Portugal, Roman Yaremechuk was subbed on for Benfica during the team's 3-0 victory over Vitória de Guimarães. Yaremechuk received the captain's armband and a rousing wave of applause from the supporters, bringing him to tears. 

Motorsports responded to the conflict as well, and perhaps more stringent than we have seen on a global conflict in a longtime. 

Sebastian Vettel stepped up and said he would not race in the Russian Grand Prix. Current World Drivers' Champion Max Verstappen shared Vettel's sentiment. Colton Herta was one of the first IndyCar drivers to express support for Ukraine.

Formula One suspended the Russian Grand Prix on Thursday due to the invasion. The UEFA Champions League Final has been moved from St. Petersburg, Russia to Paris. Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic are paired with Russia in a FIFA World Cup qualifying bracket, and all three countries have said they will not play Russia. England has come out and said it will not play Russia in international soccer. 

We are seeing the world respond to an unjust act of aggression. The responses are still evolving, and it is a delicate situation. 

Haas F1 has significant Russian backing, and a Russian driver. Sanctions could hinder this team. While Formula One has suspended the grand prix, it is unclear if the race is completely off the schedule. If Russia withdraws troops from Ukraine, will the race be back on the calendar? There is still much we do not know. After being encouraged over the last few days to decisions made, future choices could leave us disappointed. 

Seeing how people of the world have responded has lifted my spirit. It is comforting that peace and the greater good of humanity will standout and speak up. Ukraine is a victim of a war brought upon by a foreign dictator that has no regard for the freedom of others. Millions of people are in great danger and fleeing their homes, seeking refuge in other surrounding nations while missile strikes take place all over the country, including major Ukrainian cities. 

The world is a complicated place, and while we are seeing a global rejection of Russia's action, resulting in sanctions from many walks of life, including the sporting world, we must remember the countless other disenfranchised people of the world. While Formula One might be removing the Russian Grand Prix from the calendar, the replacement round could be the Turkish Grand Prix, a country run by an authoritarian regime. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been under immense scrutiny as Saudi Arabia's human rights record clashes with Formula One's "We Race As One" campaign. 

How bad is too bad for a sporting body? 

No sports organization is committing to a minimum human rights record for host countries and participants. When billions of dollars are out there, these groups, whether it be the FIA, FIFA, UEFA or the International Olympic Committee, will use economics to judge some of its decisions. There are some lines that will not be crossed, but there are plenty that will even if the majority of people know it is the wrong thing to do. 

My hope is we try to do better every single day. After seeing the world's response last week, especially the sporting world's response, I hope we take into consideration more than money when choices are made for host events and sponsorship. 

Seeing the likes of Vettel stand up and say he would not race, and knowing Lewis Hamilton's civil rights record, I am encouraged the future of motorsports will not ignore the injustices in the world. They will not neglect the less fortunate, and inequality will be taken into consideration over where races are held or who sponsors events. 

We must not remain silent when atrocities take place. We must stand with those seeking improved human rights around the globe and not be afraid to stand up to oppressors, no matter what.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Scott McLaughlin, but did you know...

Matthew Brabham won the Indy Lights race from St. Petersburg in his first Indy Lights start since 2015. Josh Green and Nolan Siegel split the Indy Pro 2000 races. Jace Denmark and Myles Rowe split the U.S. F2000 races. 

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Fontana. Cole Custer won the Grand National Series race. 

Kalle Rovanperä won Rally Sweden.

Eli Tomac won the Supercross Triple Crown race from Arlington with finishes of third, second and second in the three races. Cooper Webb won the first race and Jason Anderson won the final two races.

Coming Up This Weekend

MotoGP season opener from Qatar.

Supercars opens at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Daytona Bike Week begins with Supercross.

NASCAR will be in Las Vegas.

First Impressions: St. Petersburg 2022

1. Another IndyCar season and another unexpected start, as Scott McLaughlin picked up his first career victory from his first career pole position. McLaughlin had a good 2021 season. There were some rough patches, but he had plenty of good runs to show he could handle the car. There were some tracks more difficult than others, but it was clear McLaughlin fit in IndyCar. 

Were there any signs he was going to win the opening race of 2022? Nothing that suggested it was imminent, but it clicked for McLaughlin this weekend. He was quick in every session and he held the lead from the start. With a softer Firestone alternate compound, there was a strong belief a three-stop strategy would be more effective than a two-stopper, as we have seen at St. Petersburg at the 100-lap length. McLaughlin, however, stuck to the two-stop strategy and began the race on the less advantageous alternate compound. McLaughlin was flawless. He built a big lead and maintained it. He was losing some time, but it looked like McLaughlin would stay at the front. 

Then a caution came out when David Malukas hit the wall after 25 laps. Just over half the field had stopped. It looked like McLaughlin could have been in trouble, but this couldn't have happened at a better time for McLaughlin. The caution got him in the window for the two-stop strategy and it took the teeth out of the three-stoppers as they were about halfway through their stints. 

There were no other cautions throughout the race and with the three-stoppers losing about eight laps of race pace, McLaughlin ended up cycling back to the lead and holding it with a good margin, but Álex Palou put up quite the fight. With the defending champion breathing down his neck, McLaughlin did not slip up, though we shouldn't be surprised. He is already a three-time Supercars champion. Pressure isn't new to him. He has been through it all. He now faces it in IndyCar. 

After Palou took a first career victory unexpectedly, McLaughlin's title aspirations must be taken seriously.

2. Palou had a great start to his title defense, especially since he started the race slow. I don't mean slow in a bad way. I mean he started in the top ten, held his position, gained some ground late in the run, but really got into contention after jumping forward on his first pit stop under caution. Once there, Palou stayed glued to McLaughlin. 

Palou did benefit from Jimmie Johnson holding up McLaughlin with about 12 laps to go. We will cover the blue flag rules shortly, but Palou was up for the challenge presented to him. He kept McLaughlin honest and while McLaughlin also caught Devlin DeFrancesco in the closing laps, I would argue DeFrancesco helped McLaughlin as Palou was stuck in the dirty air of two cars. 

Either way, Palou isn't going anywhere in 2022. 

3. Will Power rounded out the podium. It was a good day for Power and he needed that to start the season. He started on the primary tire, which was starting to benefit him late in the first stint. His second stint on the alternate tire was a little rough, but Power didn't lose much ground and was able to get third place at the end of the race. This is the start he needed to a season.

4. Colton Herta could have had a better result than fourth. The team wasn't sure it got the car full of fuel on the first pit stop. That is a big problem on a two-stop strategy. It is worse that the pit stop was under caution and he lost two spots. Because the car wasn't full after the first stop, he needed to stop a lap early for the second stop and conserve fuel. Herta was close to Power but ended up 13 seconds behind the Australian. Poor pit stops cost Herta at Mid-Ohio last year. Today, he was able to get a top five result, but it could have been more.

5. Solid Andretti Autosport debut for Romain Grosjean in fifth. Grosjean didn't put a wheel wrong. He avoided contact with Will Power at the start, which I think Power was perfectly fine on and didn't do anything wrong, and Grosjean was bumped on pit lane after the first stop when Marcus Ericsson had an unsafe release ahead of Graham Rahal. There were signs of trouble, but Grosjean made it through clean, and picked up his best street course finish in IndyCar to boot.

6. Rinus VeeKay nearly threw this race away on the opening stint. VeeKay lost significant time on the alternate tire and stopped earlier than planned. It looked like he was going to finish outside the top fifteen, but the Malukas caution saved him. VeeKay had only stopped about ten laps before that caution. It allowed him to stretch his second stint and turn it into a two-stop race. He had to save fuel late but hung on to get sixth. Considering how 2021 ended, this is what VeeKay needed.

7. Graham Rahal was smart and finished seventh. Nothing too flashy. It is a good start to the season. 

8. Scott Dixon nearly pulled off the three-stop strategy. Dixon created some gaps while leading and it allowed him to get out six positions and seven seconds ahead of Patricio O'Ward, who was also on a three-stop strategy and been near O'Ward during the middle of the race. The only problem is after Dixon's final stop is he came out just behind Herta, Grosjean and Rahal, and Herta was already saving fuel. 

If Dixon could have gone one more lap before that stop I think he gets out ahead of Herta, Dixon would have had clear track between him and VeeKay, he would have passed VeeKay easily and then had the top three to chase. He was about 12.4 seconds behind McLaughlin when he came out. If he had come out ten seconds back and in fifth, I am not saying he would have caught the leaders, but he would finished at least fourth. It is surprising Dixon didn't make up any spots despite having less fuel and fresher tires for the closing laps. 

9. Marcus Ericsson deserved that penalty. It wasn't the most dangerous move in IndyCar history, but IndyCar has been consistent calling a penalty if you bump a car exiting your pit box. It was equal contact to what Alexander Rossi had with Takuma Sato in the 2020 Indianapolis 500. It had to be called. But Ericsson was able to fight back and get to ninth on a two-stop strategy. Good for him. 

10. Takuma Sato stole tenth place late from Christian Lundgaard. Sato didn't do much all race, but he was smart, and he got a top ten finish. It was the kind of result we saw a half-dozen times in 2021. It is the kind of result Dale Coyne Racing drivers are known for. This is a good pairing. 

11. Lundgaard was doing well today, and really should have been in the top ten. He was the top rookie. That was expected. He improved on 12th in his IndyCar debut last year at the IMS road course. One position at a time and a tenth at Texas would be a wonderful result for him. 

12. Patricio O'Ward was stuck behind more cars after his second pit stop. O'Ward did a good job stick with Dixon for the first half of the race, but O'Ward just didn't have it. Once in traffic, he wasn't going to be as much of a threat like Dixon. I do wish we had a caution-free race to see how Dixon and O'Ward going flat out would have done against McLaughlin, Palou, Power and Herta on a conservative pace.

13. Jack Harvey made an unscheduled pit stop under the first caution despite being on the three-stop strategy, and that stop came after everyone else had stopped. It knocked Harvey down the order. I think 13th is a good recovery. 

14. Hélio Castroneves was 14th directly ahead of Simon Pagenaud. Both were on the three-stop strategy. Castroneves wasn't really mentioned at all. Pagenaud looked good but couldn't get in clear air and lost spots on his later pit stops. Instead of being in the top ten, Pagenaud was 15th.

15. Let's go through the rest of the field: Josef Newgarden, Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood were all on the three-stop strategy and weren't ever in the best spot after each pit cycle. Stuck in traffic, they lost ground and fell from possible top ten finishes. Kirkwood did look good early. Callum Ilott was on a similar strategy to VeeKay. They had stopped around the same lap for the first stop. Ilott did not stretch his fuel and switched to a three-stopper mid-race. VeeKay ended up sixth and Ilott was 19th. I am not saying Ilott would have been in the top ten, but it could have been better. 

16. Alexander Rossi was a two-stopper, but he was stuck around seventh. Instead of stopping and coming out around 18th, Rossi stayed out. The hope was to run a few more laps, shorter the windows late in the race, and then have more fuel to burn late. The only problem is Rossi decided to make his second stop close to lap 65 when the pit window opened. He probably could have gone another five or ten laps. 

Rossi's first stop only came a few laps before the second stops for Dixon, O'Ward and company. If he had gone to lap 72 or lap 75, I think he gets a better result. They stopped as early as possible hoping for another caution to come soon after his stop and vault him into the top ten. That was the wrong strategy to play and it left him 20th. 

17. If you thought Rossi's day was bad, Conor Daly was 21st and not mentioned once. 

18. Let's cover the blue flag rules: How about this? If you are 22nd and first-place is behind you, push-to-pass is disabled. It is pretty damn simple. If you are 22nd, you are racing 21st and 23rd. If 21st is six seconds ahead of you and 23rd is ten seconds behind you, there is no reason to hold up first and second and third. 

It boils down to this: Is the lead lap a right or a privilege? I see it as a privilege. You aren't guaranteed the lead lap. If you aren't quick enough, you go a lap down.

Devlin DeFrancesco and Jimmie Johnson both made this a closer race than it should have been, and for no reason. Neither driver was battling for a position. If each car has to let the leaders go then the car ahead of them will also have to let the leaders pass. This is simple and let's not act like the race is somehow worse if DeFrancesco cannot finish on the lead lap in 22nd. Nobody is watching hoping that 22nd finishes on the lead lap unless they have a prop bet. 

This isn't hard to police. Formula One does it. Almost every other single-seater series in the world can figure it out. IndyCar can do better.

19. Tatiana Calderón was three laps down in 24th and Dalton Kellett had a gearbox issue that required repairs. Kellett drove well prior to the issue, holding his own in the middle of the field. 

There was a strange moment when Kellett returned to the race only to miss turn 12 and nearly caused a caution on lap 74. This likely forced O'Ward in earlier for his final pit stop than anticipated. I understand he is still in the race, hypothetically could still make up spots and the team could still gather data, but it was an odd choice to put Kellett back on track when he was already over ten laps down at that point.  

Calderón did as expected. She should be in Indy Lights to develop, not an IndyCar. 

20. David Malukas got into the marbles and hit the barrier exiting turn four. Malukas wasn't doing great prior to the accident. I think he was struggling with the tires. He had already made a pit stop. It was a mistake from a young driver. He will be fine. 

21. Fewest number of cautions in a St. Petersburg race at one. Fastest St. Petersburg race at 96.552 mph. I am pretty sure this was the closest St. Petersburg finish with only 0.5095 seconds between McLaughlin and Palou. I am not one for hyperbole. Too many call what they have just seen the "best ever" regardless of what it is in life. Concert, television show, sporting event, etc. 

But after seeing every St. Petersburg race prior to this one I am pretty sure this was the best St. Petersburg race I have ever seen. The 2018 race was good. The 2020 season finale was strong, but for the most part, St. Petersburg races have been pedestrian and there haven't been any horrible races here, but this was different.

It was a street race. There were a few moments that were calmer and processional. However, there was plenty that held your attention over the entire 100 laps. IndyCar got a great start to the season. See you in three weeks at Texas Motor Speedway.

Morning Warm-Up: St. Petersburg 2022

Scott McLaughlin begins his third IndyCar season with his first career pole position. The New Zealander took the top spot with a time of 59.4821 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is McLaughlin's first career pole position. His previous best start in IndyCar was fifth in last year's Grand Prix of Indianapolis. His previous best starting position on a street course was 13th at Long Beach, the most recent IndyCar race. He had not started in the top ten in his previous 11 starts. McLaughlin joins Scott Dixon as the only New Zealanders to win a pole position in IndyCar. This is only the second time McLaughlin has been the top Penske qualifier in his IndyCar career. The other time was last year's Indianapolis 500 when he started 17th. McLaughlin makes his 18th start this weekend. Four drivers have had their first career victory in their 18th start: Peter DePaolo, Rodger Ward, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay. 

Will Power missed out on pole position by 0.1237 seconds, but Power makes it an all-Penske front row. This is the first time Penske has swept a front row since the second Iowa race in 2020, 24 races ago. Since missing the 2016 St. Petersburg race due to an inner ear problem, Power has only one top five finish in his last five St. Petersburg starts with an average finish of 12.8. In his first eight St. Petersburg starts, he had two victories, four podium finishes, seven top ten finishes and an average finish of 5.375.

Colton Herta starts on the second row. Herta is attempting to become the first driver to win the season opener after winning the season finale in the previous season since Will Power did it over 2013 and 2014. Power won the final two races in 2013, as Herta did in 2020, and Power went on to win the championship in 2014. The only time third starting position has won at St. Petersburg was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015. It was Montoya's second consecutive St. Petersburg victory. Herta won last year at St. Petersburg.

After starting outside the top twenty in the final four races of 2021 and in five of the final six races, Rinus VeeKay qualified fourth for the 2022 season opener. VeeKay's ninth-place finish last year at St. Petersburg matched Ed Carpenter Racing's best result at the track. Luca Filippi was ninth in the 2015 St. Petersburg race driving for then CFH Racing, as the team had merged with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.

Romain Grosjean makes his Andretti Autosport debut from fifth on the grid. Grosjean is the first driver other than Ryan Hunter-Reay to drive car #28 since reunification in 2008. The last driver that wasn't Hunter-Reay to drive car #28 in any IndyCar race was Mario Domínguez in the 2007 Champ Car finale in Mexico City. Domínguez drove for Pacific Coast Motorsports and finished eighth.

Another driver make a team debut is Simon Pagenaud, and Pagenaud makes it an all-French row three. The Meyer Shank Racing driver is making his first start in a Honda-powered car since the 2014 season finale at Fontana. In Pagenaud's three full seasons driving Honda-powered cars, he finished fifth, third and fifth in the championship.

Scott Dixon leads an all-Ganassi row four. Dixon is making his 352nd IndyCar start this weekend. A victory would put him level for second all-time with Mario Andretti on 52 victories. Andretti's 52nd victory was in his 377th start. Dixon has made 13 starts since his 51st victory. Andretti made 78 starts between his 51st and 52nd victories. Dixon has won from seventh three times in his career: Texas 2015, Texas 2018, and the 2020 Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Marcus Ericsson ended up eighth in qualifying, his best starting position at St. Petersburg. Ericsson's previous best was 15th in 2020. He has finished seventh in the last two St. Petersburg races. Prior to his accident at Long Beach, Ericsson had eight consecutive top ten finishes.

The top two in the championship last year share row five, but inverse of how they finished in the standings. Josef Newgarden will roll off from ninth position. Newgarden has three consecutive podium finishes at St. Petersburg. The only time Newgarden has had four consecutive podium finishes at a track is from 2015 to 2018 at Barber Motorsports Park. He also has three consecutive podium finishes at Texas Motor Speedway.

Álex Palou starts tenth in car #10. It is the second consecutive year Palou has started tenth at St. Petersburg. He did start tenth in last year's season finale at Long Beach and finished fourth. Palou is looking to become the first defending champion to win a season opener since Dario Franchitti won at St. Petersburg in the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in 2011.

Graham Rahal begins the 2022 season from 11th starting position. Rahal's average finish at St. Peterburg is 11.2307 with only four top ten finishes in 13 starts. This will be the tenth time Rahal has started 11th in his career. He has never finished worse than 11th when starting 11th. He went from 11th to fifth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis last year.

Kyle Kirkwood made it out of row one on his IndyCar debut, and the Floridan will start 12th. Kirkwood is from Jupiter, Florida. No Florida-born driver has ever won an IndyCar race. The last time a driver won from 12th was Tony Kanaan in the 2013 Indianapolis 500. The only time a driver has won from 12th on a street course was Will Power at Long Beach in 2012, which came after Power served a ten-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.

Alexander Rossi was 0.0783 seconds short of making it out of group one and Rossi will start 13th. Rossi had consecutive top ten finishes only once in 2021 when he was seventh at Road America and fifth at Mid-Ohio. At no point in 2021 did Rossi have consecutive finishes outside the top ten. He ended last year with a sixth-place finish at Long Beach. He has not had consecutive top five finishes since he had four consecutive podium finishes between the Mid-Ohio doubleheader and Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2020.

Dalton Kellett will be making his 25th start this weekend and he will do it from a career-best 14h starting position. Kellett missed out on advancing by 0.0565 seconds. It is the first time he has qualified in the top fifteen. His previous best starting position was 19th at Nashville last year. Kellett is the 15th Canadian to reach the 25th start milestone in IndyCar.

Christian Lundgaard makes his second career IndyCar start from 15th on the grid. Lundgaard became the first Danish driver to lead in IndyCar when he led two laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last August. No Danish driver has ever finished in the top five of an IndyCar race.

Patricio O'Ward brushed the wall in qualifying and could not advance from round one. O'Ward will take 16th on the grid. He enters 2022 coming off his worst IndyCar finish in 27th at Long Beach. Long Beach was the first retirement in O'Ward's IndyCar career, coming in his 38th career start. O'Ward did win from 16th at Belle Isle last year.

Hélio Castroneves returns to St. Petersburg for the first time since 2017, and the three-time St. Petersburg winner starts 17th. Castroneves has six consecutive top ten finishes at St. Petersburg, every start he has made in the DW12-era. Three of those finishes are podium results, five are top five finishes and his worst result is sixth. 

Devlin DeFrancesco joins Castroneves on row nine. DeFrancesco will become the first Canadian driver born in the 21st century to make an IndyCar start. Along with David Malukas, they come the fourth and fifth drivers overall born in the 21st century to start an IndyCar race.

Callum Ilott wound up 19th in his first St. Petersburg experience. This will be Juncos Hollinger Racing's second St. Petersburg appearance. The team was 22nd out of 24 cars in 2018 with Austrian René Binder driving.

Conor Daly will start 20th for the third time in five St. Petersburg appearances. Daly has not had a top ten finish in his last 13 street course starts. Daly's last top ten finish on a street course was sixth in the second Belle Isle race in 2016.

Felix Rosenqvist ended up 21st in qualifying, only the fourth time Rosenqvist has started outside the top twenty in 46 IndyCar appearances. After finishing fourth on his IndyCar debut in the 2019 season opener at St. Petersburg, Rosenqvist has finished 20th and 21st in the last two season openers.

Takuma Sato will have his worst St. Petersburg starting position in 22nd. This is Sato's 22nd consecutive race starting outside the top ten. Sato will be driving for his fifth IndyCar team, as he has moved to Dale Coyne Racing. Sato has won with three of his previous four teams. The only team he didn't win with was KV Racing.

Jack Harvey had an accident in the second practice session, but the team was able to repair the car in time for qualifying. Unfortunately, Harvey could only end up 23rd, his worst St. Petersburg starting position. Harvey could become the first Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver to score a first career victory with the team since Buddy Rice won the Indianapolis 500 in 2004.

David Malukas lost his fastest two laps in the first round of qualifying for interference, dropping him to 24th on the grid. Malukas is one of seven drivers entered in this race that have won at St. Petersburg in Indy Lights. Only Josef Newgarden has won in Indy Lights and IndyCar at St. Petersburg.

Tatiana Calderón will make her IndyCar debut from 25th. Calderón will become the seventh Colombian driver to start an IndyCar race after Roberto Guerrero, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastián Saavedra, Carlos Muñoz, Carlos Huertas and Gabby Chaves.

Jimmie Johnson rounds out the grid in 26th position. Johnson has finished in the top twenty in his last four starts after having only one top twenty finish in his first eight IndyCar starts. Despite Johnson's record last year, this will be the first time he has started dead last in his IndyCar career.

NBC's coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg begins at noon with green flag scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 100 laps.

Let's Look at the League: February 2022

With another new IndyCar season brings back the head-to-head league format I have been following for the previous three seasons. 

We know how the points system works and how the championship is decided, but this looks at IndyCar as if it were a sports league. Each race sees the teams paired head-to-head and whichever driver finishes better gets a victory. At the end of the regular season, there is a playoff to determine the champion while the worst teams from the first league are relegated and the best teams from the second league are promoted. 

The increased car count has forced an alteration to the structure, but this is a good thing. 

Where were we? 

Josef Newgarden won his third consecutive championship in the #2 Team Penske entry after defeating Patricio O'Ward and the #5 Arrow McLaren SP entry in the final. The #9 Ganassi and #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entries were each in the semifinal. The #12 and #22 Penske entries were each quarterfinalists, as were the #51 Dale Coyne Racing entry and the #15 RLLR entry. 

Andretti Autosport's #26, #27 and #28 entries all missed the playoffs but remain in league one. Álex Palou might have won the IndyCar championship, but he couldn't get the #10 Ganassi entry into the playoffs, finishing sixth in conference, but avoiding relegation. The #18 Coyne entry also remains in league one.

The #21 Ed Carpenter Racing and the #7 AMSP entry were relegated. Promoted directly from league two were the #8 Ganassi entry and the #60 Meyer Shank Racing entry. The final spot in league one was decided via a promotion playoff, and the #3 Penske entry won it over the #29 Andretti entry. 

There is one problem. The #22 Penske entry is no longer running, as Penske downsizes to three cars. Simon Pagenaud will remain in league one, as Pagenaud takes over the #60 MSR entry, but how should we fill that final spot?

I thought about keeping a team up, but instead I decided to put the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry into league one. Why? Because Jack Harvey will be driving that car and he earned the #60 MSR entry its promotion. So no offense to Devlin DeFrancesco, Rinus VeeKay or Felix Rosenqvist, but Harvey deserved this. 

How does league one look? Each conference is set via entrants' points from last season. 

Conference One:

#10 Ganassi

#9 Ganassi

#26 Andretti

#12 Penske

#27 Andretti

#51 DCR

#3 Penske

#45 RLLR

Conference Two:

#2 Penske

#5 AMSP

#8 Ganassi

#15 RLLR

#30 RLLR

#60 MSR

#28 Andretti

#18 DCR

As for league two, we have a little problem. IndyCar will have 26 full-time teams this season. If 16 are in league one, that means there are ten left. Last year, league two had eight teams, as it has had since the inception of this hypothetical. With ten teams, it doesn't quite fit into the 14-week schedule. With 17 total races, it is possible to make league two a complete round robin, and that is what will be done. 

League two will be 18 weeks, with all 17 races and Indianapolis 500 qualifying determining who will earn promotion. The top three from league two will earn automatic promotion. The bottom entry from each conference in league one will be automatically relegated. To keep it interesting, sixth and seventh from each conference will move to a relegation playoff in an interconference format. Sixth from conference one will face seventh from conference two and vice versa. The entry to lose twice in the playoff will be relegated. 

League Two: 

#21 ECR

#20 ECR

#14 Foyt

#29 Andretti

#7 AMSP

#48 Ganassi

#06 MSR

#4 Foyt

#77 JHR

#11 Foyt

Schedule

League One:

Week 1 (ST. PETERSBURG):

#10 CGR vs. #45 RLLR

#9 CGR vs. #3 Penske

#26 Andretti vs. #51 DCR

#12 Penske vs. #27 Andretti

 

#2 Penske vs. #18 DCR

#5 AMSP vs. #28 Andretti

#8 CGR vs. #60 MSR

#15 RLLR vs. #30 RLLR

 

Week 2 (TEXAS):

#10 CGR vs. #3 Penske

#9 CGR vs. #45 RLLR

#26 Andretti vs. #27 Andretti

#12 Penske vs. #51 DCR

 

#2 Penske vs. #28 Andretti

#5 AMSP vs. #18 DCR

#8 CGR vs. #30 RLLR

#15 RLLR vs. #60 MSR

 

Week 3 (LONG BEACH):

#10 CGR vs. #51 DCR

#9 CGR vs. #12 Penske
#26 Andretti vs. #45 RLLR

#27 Andretti vs. #3 Penske

 

#2 Penske vs. #60 MSR

#5 AMSP vs. #15 RLLR

#8 CGR vs. #18 DCR

#30 RLLR vs. #28 Andretti

 

Week 4 (BARBER):

#10 CGR vs. #27 Andretti

#9 CGR vs. #51 DCR

#26 Andretti vs. #3 Penske

#12 Penske vs. #45 RLLR

 

#2 Penske vs. #30 RLLR

#5 AMSP vs. #60 MSR

#8 CGR vs. #28 Andretti

#15 RLLR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 5 (GPOI):

#10 CGR vs. #12 Penske

#9 CGR vs. #26 Andretti

#27 Andretti vs. #45 RLLR

#51 DCR vs. #3 Penske

 

#2 Penske vs. #15 RLLR

#5 AMSP vs. #8 CGR

#30 RLLR vs. #18 DCR

#60 MSR vs. #28 Andretti

 

Week 6 (INDIANAPOLIS 500):

#10 CGR vs. #26 Andretti

#9 CGR vs. #27 Andretti

#12 Penske vs. #3 Penske

#51 DCR vs. #45 RLLR

 

#2 Penske vs. #8 CGR

#5 AMSP vs. #30 RLLR

#15 RLLR vs. #28 Andretti

#60 MSR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 7 (BELLE ISLE):

#10 CGR vs. #9 CGR

#26 Andretti vs. #12 Penske

#27 Andretti vs. #51 DCR

#3 Penske vs. #45 RLLR

 

#2 Penske vs. #5 AMSP

#8 CGR vs. #15 RLLR

#30 RLLR vs. #60 MSR

#28 Andretti vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 8 (ROAD AMERICA):

#10 CGR vs. #45 RLLR

#9 CGR vs. #3 Penske

#26 Andretti vs. #51 DCR

#12 Penske vs. #27 Andretti

 

#2 Penske vs. #18 DCR

#5 AMSP vs. #28 Andretti

#8 CGR vs. #60 MSR

#15 RLLR vs. #30 RLLR

 

Week 9 (MID-OHIO):

#10 CGR vs. #3 Penske

#9 CGR vs. #45 RLLR

#26 Andretti vs. #27 Andretti

#12 Penske vs. #51 DCR

 

#2 Penske vs. #28 Andretti

#5 AMSP vs. #18 DCR

#8 CGR vs. #30 RLLR

#15 RLLR vs. #60 MSR

 

Week 10 (TORONTO):

#10 CGR vs. #51 DCR

#9 CGR vs. #12 Penske
#26 Andretti vs. #45 RLLR

#27 Andretti vs. #3 Penske

 

#2 Penske vs. #60 MSR

#5 AMSP vs. #15 RLLR

#8 CGR vs. #18 DCR

#30 RLLR vs. #28 Andretti

 

Week 11 (IOWA):

#10 CGR vs. #27 Andretti

#9 CGR vs. #51 DCR

#26 Andretti vs. #3 Penske

#12 Penske vs. #45 RLLR

 

#2 Penske vs. #30 RLLR

#5 AMSP vs. #60 MSR

#8 CGR vs. #28 Andretti

#15 RLLR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 12 (IOWA):

#10 CGR vs. #12 Penske

#9 CGR vs. #26 Andretti

#27 Andretti vs. #45 RLLR

#51 DCR vs. #3 Penske

 

#2 Penske vs. #15 RLLR

#5 AMSP vs. #8 CGR

#30 RLLR vs. #18 DCR

#60 MSR vs. #28 Andretti

 

Week 13 (IMS ROAD COURSE):

#10 CGR vs. #26 Andretti

#9 CGR vs. #27 Andretti

#12 Penske vs. #3 Penske

#51 DCR vs. #45 RLLR

 

#2 Penske vs. #8 CGR

#5 AMSP vs. #30 RLLR

#15 RLLR vs. #28 Andretti

#60 MSR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 14 (NASHVILLE):

#10 CGR vs. #9 CGR

#26 Andretti vs. #12 Penske

#27 Andretti vs. #51 DCR

#3 Penske vs. #45 RLLR

 

#2 Penske vs. #5 AMSP

#8 CGR vs. #15 RLLR

#30 RLLR vs. #60 MSR

#28 Andretti vs. #18 DCR

League Two

Week 1:

#21 ECR vs. #11 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #77 JHR

#14 Foyt vs. #4 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #06 MSR

#7 AMSP vs. #48 CGR

 

Week 2:

#21 ECR vs. #77 JHR

#20 ECR vs. #11 Foyt

#14 Foyt vs. #06 MSR

#29 Andretti vs. #7 AMSP

#48 CGR vs. #4 Foyt

 

Week 3:

#21 ECR vs. #4 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #06 MSR

#14 Foyt vs #11 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #48 CGR

#7 AMSP vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 4:

#21 ECR vs. #06 MSR

#20 ECR vs. #4 Foyt

#14 Foyt vs. #7 AMSP

#29 Andretti vs. #11 Foyt

#48 CGR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 5:

#21 ECR vs. #48 CGR

#20 ECR vs. #29 Andretti

#14 Foyt vs. #77 JHR

#7 AMSP vs. #11 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #4 Foyt

 

*Week 6* (Indianapolis 500 Qualifying):

#21 ECR vs. #7 AMSP

#20 ECR vs. #14 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #4 Foyt

#48 CGR vs. #11 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 7:

#21 ECR vs. #29 Andretti

#20 ECR vs. #7 AMSP

#14 Foyt vs. #48 CGR

#06 MSR vs. #11 Foyt

#4 Foyt vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 8:

#21 ECR vs. #14 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #48 CGR

#29 Andretti vs. #77 JHR

#7 AMSP vs. #06 MSR

#4 Foyt vs. #11 Foyt

 

Week 9:

#21 ECR vs. #20 ECR

#14 Foyt vs. #29 Andretti

#7 AMSP vs. #4 Foyt

#48 CGR vs. # 06 MSR

#77 JHR vs. #11 Foyt

 

Week 10:

#21 ECR vs. #11 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #77 JHR

#14 Foyt vs. #4 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #06 MSR

#7 AMSP vs. #48 CGR

 

Week 11:

#21 ECR vs. #77 JHR

#20 ECR vs. #11 Foyt

#14 Foyt vs. #06 MSR

#29 Andretti vs. #7 AMSP

#48 CGR vs. #4 Foyt

Week 12:

#21 ECR vs. #4 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #06 MSR

#14 Foyt vs #11 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #48 CGR

#7 AMSP vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 13:

#21 ECR vs. #06 MSR

#20 ECR vs. #4 Foyt

#14 Foyt vs. #7 AMSP

#29 Andretti vs. #11 Foyt

#48 CGR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 14:

#21 ECR vs. #48 CGR

#20 ECR vs. #29 Andretti

#14 Foyt vs. #77 JHR

#7 AMSP vs. #11 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #4 Foyt

 

Week 15:

#21 ECR vs. #7 AMSP

#20 ECR vs. #14 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #4 Foyt

#48 CGR vs. #11 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 16:

#21 ECR vs. #29 Andretti

#20 ECR vs. #7 AMSP

#14 Foyt vs. #48 CGR

#06 MSR vs. #11 Foyt

#4 Foyt vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 17:

#21 ECR vs. #14 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #48 CGR

#29 Andretti vs. #77 JHR

#7 AMSP vs. #06 MSR

#4 Foyt vs. #11 Foyt

 

Week 18:

#21 ECR vs. #20 ECR

#14 Foyt vs. #29 Andretti

#7 AMSP vs. #4 Foyt

#48 CGR vs. # 06 MSR

#77 JHR vs. #11 Foyt

Notable Matchups (League One): 

Week one starts with Scott Dixon vs. Scott McLaughlin in an all-Kiwi affair. Will Power and Alexander Rossi face-off. Romain Grosjean's first race with Andretti is against Patricio O'Ward. Christian Lundgaard's IndyCar career begins with a matchup against his oldest teammate Graham Rahal. 

Colton Herta and Rossi meet in Texas, which could decide who has the early upper hand in the Andretti battle.

Josef Newgarden takes on his old teammate Simon Pagenaud at Long Beach, while Dixon faces Power. 

Álex Palou returns to Barber, the site of his first career victory, to face Rossi. 

Grand Prix of Indianapolis: Palou vs. Power. Dixon vs. Herta. Rossi vs. Jack Harvey. Newgarden vs. Rahal.

Indianapolis 500: Palou vs. Herta. Dixon vs. Rossi. Power vs. McLaughlin. 

We haven't mentioned Takuma Sato yet, but he faces Rossi at Belle Isle. We will also see Palou vs. Dixon, Newgarden vs. O'Ward and Ericsson vs. Rahal in the Motor City. 

Week eight at Road America repeats the week one matchups, as we begin the second half of the regular season.

It is important to note that Newgarden all face Lundgaard and Rahal at Iowa while Palou will take on Rossi and Power. 

At the July IMS road course weekend, Palou is matched with Herta, Dixon with Rossi, O'Ward with Lundgaard and Rahal with Grosjean. 

Nashville will be the final regular season round and it again has the Palou-Dixon matchup, Herta vs. Power, Rossi takes on Sato, Newgarden is against O'Ward, and we haven't mentioned David Malukas yet, but he will face Grosjean. 

Notable Matchups (League Two):

Kyle Kirkwood starts his season against teammate Dalton Kellett at St. Petersburg. Tatiana Calderón begins against Rinus VeeKay.

In week two, Jimmie Johnson's first IndyCar oval race will be against Kellett at Texas. Conor Daly is paired with the unknown driver of the #11 Foyt entry. VeeKay will face Callum Ilott. Kirkwood has Hélio Castroneves.

At Long Beach, Felix Rosenqvist has Ilott, Johnson takes on Devlin DeFrancesco and Daly has Castroneves. 

On the IMS road course, Kirkwood meets Ilott. 

Indianapolis 500 qualifying sees VeeKay vs. Rosenqvist, Daly vs. Kirkwood, an all-Canadian meeting of DeFrancesco and Kellett, Johnson against the unknown #11 Foyt driver and Castroneves vs. Ilott.

For the Indianapolis 500, VeeKay vs. DeFrancesco, Daly vs. Rosenqvist, Kirkwood vs. Johnson, Castroneves against the unknown #11 Foyt entry and Kellett faces Ilott. 

Rosenqvist is scheduled to meet Castroneves at Belle Isle. 

Road America is the final race before rematches begin and the first half of the regular season ends with VeeKay vs. Daly, Kirkwood vs. DeFrancesco and Johnson vs. Castroneves. 

Kirkwood heads to his favorite track, Mid-Ohio, to face Kellett. 

In Toronto, DeFrancesco will face Rosenqvist and Kellett has Johnson. 

At the Iowa doubleheader, Johnson has DeFrancesco and Ilott. Daly faces Castroneves and Kellett. Castroneves will have VeeKay in the second Iowa race. 

Coincidentally, the matchups in the first IMS road course race are repeated in the second IMS road course race in July. 

VeeKay has Rosenqvist in Nashville. 

At Gateway, Daly is paired with Rosenqvist, Kirkwood has Johnson and Castroneves faces the unknown #11 Foyt entry. 

VeeKay and Kirkwood meet in Portland, as do Daly and Johnson, Rosenqvist and Castroneves, and the all-Foyt matchup of Kellett and Calderón.

In the Laguna Seca season finale, VeeKay is against Daly, Kirkwood has DeFrancesco, Rosenqvist takes on Kellett, Johnson battles Castroneves and Ilott meets Calderón. 

Gateway and Portland will be the location of the relegation playoff, with the third relegated entry being decided in Oregon. Gateway, Portland and Laguna Seca will comprise the playoffs. 

Conference one has two Ganassi entries, two Penske entries and two Andretti entries. Good luck to Takuma Sato and Jack Harvey. 

Conference two has seven different teams represented. Because Grosjean takes over the #28 Andretti entry, he has some tough matchups early on, beginning the season against O'Ward and Newgarden. The first two weeks could be crucial in deciding who tops that conference and who makes it to the playoffs.

League Two is wide open, as there is no clear promotion favorite, and there are flaws in each entry. VeeKay started well but was poor in the second half of 2021. Daly has difficulty finishing in the top ten. Kirkwood is driving for Foyt. DeFrancesco is driving for Andretti, but his talent is questionable. Rosenqvist is inconsistent. Johnson's best finish on a road/street course was 17th. Castroneves is coming back after four years as a part-timer. Kellett seems unlikely to get promoted. Ilott is driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing and retired from two of three starts last year. Calderón is new to IndyCar, and we don't know who will be driving that car on the ovals. 

From Newgarden looking to remain undefeated and take his fourth league championship, Palou attempting to make the playoffs, someone having to break out of League Two, there is plenty to watch for this season. 

Track Walk: St. Petersburg 2022

The first round of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season takes place on the streets of St. Petersburg. For the first time since 2019, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg opens the IndyCar season after two delayed years due to the global pandemic. This is the second time St. Petersburg has taken place in February. The first was the inaugural version in 2003. This will be the 12th time St. Petersburg has opened an IndyCar season. In only three of those seasons did the St. Petersburg season opener winner go on to win the IndyCar championship. Winning the season opener has been a good omen recently. The last three champions all won the season opener. This IndyCar season will consist of 17 races and last 196 days until the Laguna Seca season finale on September 11.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday February 27 with green flag scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:40 p.m. ET (45 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 9:00 a.m. ET (45 minutes)
Qualifying: 12:30 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 8:45 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 12:30 p.m. ET (100 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Test, Test, Test

With an earlier start to the season, IndyCar had less testing than we are accustomed to this winter, and the only time we had majority of the teams together on track was at Sebring on February 14 and February 15. 

Over the two days, only four drivers ran both sessions, all four are rookies while the rest of the field only ran one of the two days. 

On February 14, Colton Herta led the way at 51.851 seconds with rookie David Malukas 0.007 seconds off in second for Dale Coyne Racing while Romain Grosjean made it two Andretti Autosport cars in the top three at 52.021 seconds. 

Josef Newgarden was the top Chevrolet driver at 52.059 seconds with Will Power rounding out the top five at 52.211 seconds. Only 0.086 seconds covered Power, Graham Rahal, Felix Rosenqivst and Alexander Rossi. Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top ten at 52.329 seconds.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Jack Harvey and Christian Lundgaard ran near identical laps with Harvey at 52.362 second and Lundgaard at 52.373 seconds. Kyle Kirkwood was just ahead of fellow rookie Devlin DeFrancesco. Patricio O'Ward was a surprising 14th, but only 0.573 seconds off Herta's top time. 

Callum Ilott ran at 52.481-second lap with Tatiana Calderón at a 52.54, and Kevin Magnussen completed the test driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Magnussen was slowest at 52.839 seconds. 

On day two, Meyer Shank Racing went 1-2 with Simon Pagenaud leading Hélio Castroneves. Pagenaud's top lap was 52.113 seconds and Castroneves was at 52.194 seconds. Marcus Ericsson was third, 0.097 seconds off Pagneaud. Rinus VeeKay was fourth at 52.269 seconds. Kirkwood made up a little time from day one, up to a 52.338-second lap. 

Conor Daly was sixth at 52.414 seconds, only 0.008 seconds ahead of Scott Dixon. Ilott was ninth quickest, but his top time dropped to a 52.529. Malukas fell to tenth on the day with his best lap being 52.723 seconds, but Malukas was directly ahead of his Coyne teammate Takuma Sato, 0.079 seconds quicker than the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. 

Jimmie Johnson's best lap was 52.947 seconds, ahead of Dalton Kellett at 53.025 seconds and Calderón's 53.047. 

Grid Shuffle

There has been a lot of movement this IndyCar offseason, and of the 26 drivers entered this weekend, eight seats have seen a driver change. 

Dale Coyne Racing did a complete shift change. Ed Jones and Romain Grosjean are gone, David Malukas takes over the #18 Honda and Takuma Sato will fill the #51 Honda, still run in partnership with Rick Ware Racing.

Grosjean left Coyne to join Andretti Autosport and run the #28 Honda. Devlin DeFrancesco moves up from Indy Lights to takeover Andretti's #29 Honda. Grosjean and DeFrancesco replace Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe respectively, two drivers that do not have full-time rides in 2022.

Kyle Kirkwood takes his Indy Lights championship scholarship money to A.J. Foyt Racing and occupies the #14 Chevrolet, replacing Sébastien Bourdais, who has moved to Chip Ganassi Racing's sports car program. Foyt has also expanded to three cars with Tatiana Calderón in the #11 Chevrolet for road and street courses with an unannounced driver to contest the oval races in that entry. 

From one Frenchman to another, Simon Pagenaud leaves Team Penske to fill in the #60 Honda at Meyer Shank Racing. While Pagenaud is new, Hélio Castroneves returns with MSR, but Castroneves will be full-time in the #06 Honda after only running six races last year. 

Jack Harvey leaves Meyer Shank Racing to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the #45 Honda while RLLR will also field Christian Lundgaard full-time in the #30 Honda, as RLLR expands to three cars.

With 26 cars entered for this weekend's race, it will match the largest field in St. Petersburg history. The 2008 race had 26 cars, as did the 2012 race, the first race of the DW12-era.

The Men on Top

It is a new season, but we must remember what happened the last time IndyCar was on track, and there were a few notable faces that ended 2021 on top. 

Colton Herta ended 2021 with two consecutive victories. He dominated Laguna Seca from second on the grid and went from 14th to first at Long Beach. It was the first time Herta had won consecutive races in his IndyCar career, and Herta returns to the location of his first victory of the 2021 season. Last year, Herta led 97 of 100 laps from pole position on his way to victory at St. Petersburg, Andretti Autosport's third victory in the event.

While Herta was winning races, Álex Palou claimed the championship, and his season should not be overlooked. Palou also won three races. His eight podium finishes were the most in IndyCar last season. He ended the season with three consecutive top five results, and he had six top five finishes in the final nine events. Palou was never lower than third in the championship in 2021 and he led the championship after 11 of 17 races.

A two-time St. Petersburg winner, Josef Newgarden looks to start the season with his third gulf coast triumph. Newgarden had seven consecutive top ten finishes to close out the 2021 season and if it wasn't for a faulty gearbox late at Road America, he very well could have ten consecutive top ten finishes, but nine out of ten isn't bad. Newgarden has been in the top five of the championship for six consecutive seasons. 

Patricio O'Ward was one of the main title contender last year, and if it wasn't for everything going wrong at Long Beach, he would have been second in the final championship standings instead of third. O'Ward was still the first driver to win multiple races last year. His nine top five finishes were tied with Scott Dixon for second most, only behind Palou. O'Ward did lead the championship after two races in 2021 and he was in the top five after 16 of 17 races.

It would not be a proper IndyCar season without mentioning Scott Dixon being one of the drivers on top. Last year might have been a down year for Dixon, finishing fourth in the championship with only one victory, but he was never outside the top five of the championship. Dixon led 401 laps, the most in IndyCar. It was the fifth consecutive season Dixon had at least five podium finishes. 

There are many drivers capable of winning in IndyCar, but these five drivers are who the field must get through.

Starting the Season With a First

Last year, Álex Palou opened the season with a first-time winner. That set the tone for the first half of the 2021 season. There were four first-time winners in the first seven races. The 2022 begins with a handful of hopefuls for a first IndyCar victory. 

Romain Grosjean came close last year with two runner-up finishes, both of which came on the IMS road course. Grosjean is following a similar path to Palou, as this will be Grosjean's sophomore season and he has joined a new team, Andretti Autosport. The problem for Grosjean is his street course results were poor in 2021. His best finish was at St. Petersburg was 13th, but he finished 20th or worse in the other four street course events. 

Jack Harvey will be entering his third full season, and fourth as an IndyCar regular. After five years in the Meyer Shank Racing fold, Harvey moves to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and with his 50th start occurring at St. Petersburg, he has reached an inflection point for his career. Only 28 drivers have had their first career victory come in their 50th start or later. Harvey was fourth at St. Petersburg last year, his first top five finish on a street course in IndyCar.

While Harvey is hitting 50 starts, Conor Daly has already eclipsed 80 starts and has yet to win a race in his IndyCar career. Seven drivers have taken more than 80 starts to get a first career victory. The one thing Daly has against him is he hasn't had a top ten finish in his last 21 starts. He hasn't had a top five finish in his last 43 starts, and his only top five finish on a street course was the first Belle Isle race in 2016 when he finished second. Daly's only top 15 finish at St. Petersburg was 13th in 2016. 

Scott McLaughlin will start his sophomore season and McLaughlin is set to make his third St. Petersburg start. He was 22nd on debut at St. Petersburg in 2020 but finished 11th here in 2021. He ended the season with an 11th at Long Beach. McLaughlin could become the sixth different Penske driver to win at St. Petersburg and a Team Penske victory would be the team's tenth in St. Petersburg.

The one thing against these first-time hopefuls is only twice has a driver scored their first career victory at St. Petersburg: Graham Rahal in 2008 and James Hinchcliffe in 2013.

And The Rookies

While there are a few veterans looking for a first career victory, there are a few drivers hoping to start a career on a spectacular note. Victory is unlikely, but six drivers make up the rookie class of 2022 as they all hope to start highly successful careers. 

Four drivers will be making debut, leading with the top two from Indy Lights, Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas. Kirkwood won all three Road to Indy championships in successive seasons. He also had two victories, three runner-up finishes and a fifth in six Road to Indy starts at St. Petersburg. He will be driving for A.J. Foyt Racing, which finished in the top five the last two years in this race with Sébastien Bourdais. 

Malukas spilt the St. Petersburg Indy Lights weekend with Kirkwood last year. Thirteen points separated the two drivers in the championship, though Kirkwood clinched the title a race early. Kirkwood did hold the edge with a record-tying ten victories in a season to Malukas' seven. Dale Coyne Racing has two St. Petersburg victories, both at the hands of Sébastien Bourdais. 

Devlin DeFrancesco is the third Indy Lights participate to move up to IndyCar this year. DeFrancesco was sixth in the championship with his best finish being third in both Barber Motorsports Park races. The Andretti Autosport driver has made four St. Petersburg starts. He was seventh and sixth in Indy Pro 2000 in 2020 and he was 12th and fifth in Indy Lights last year. 

Tatiana Calderón joins IndyCar after spending the last two seasons split between LMP2 sports car competition and Super Formula in Japan. Calderón has competed at St. Petersburg twice before, both times in Star Mazda. Neither result was anything to brag about, 19th in 2010, and 18th in 2011 after being caught in an opening lap accident from sixth on the grid. Calderón will become the 12th woman to start an IndyCar race.

Callum Ilott and Christian Lundgaard are back after making their IndyCar debuts in 2021. This will be Ilott's fourth start after running the final three races last year. He is looking to improve on his best finish, which was 22nd, and he did retire from two of the three races. Lundgaard made a notable first impression in the August IMS road course race, qualifying fourth and leading during the first pit cycle, before finishing 12th as he adjusted to the different tire compounds. 

The last seven IndyCar Rookies of the Year have represented seven different countries. Three of the last four IndyCar Rookies of the Year did not compete in Indy Lights the season before and came from another championship. 

Road to Indy

Opening alongside IndyCar are all three Road to Indy series. 

Indy Lights has 14 cars entered for the season opener. 

Linus Lundqvist was third in the championship last year with three victories and he is the top returning driver from 2021. Lundqvist leads the HMD Motorsports lineup. Danial Frost moves over from Andretti Autosport and will be his teammate while Christian Bogle joins after driving for Carlin. 

Andretti Autosport will continue with a four-car team, but it is a complete shift change from last year. Christian Rasmussen moves up after winning the Indy Pro 2000 championship along with Hunter McElrea, who was third in the championship. Sting Ray Robb moves over from Juncos Racing and after finishing eighth in the Indy Lights championship. Matthew Brabham returns to Indy Lights for the first time since 2015.

Benjamin Pedersen and Manuel Sulaimán will pair at Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports. Pedersen was fourth in the Indy Lights championship last year. Sulaimán won in Indy Pro 2000 at Road America before joining Indy Lights for the final three rounds in 2021. 

Ernie Francis, Jr. joins Indy Lights with the Force Indy organization. Francis, Jr. has spent the last eight years primarily in the Trans-Am Series, but 2021 was a breakout year having competed in the Superstar Racing Experience and finishing second in that championship, and he also ran Formula Regional Americas, winning three races and ending up third for that title. 

TJ Speed Motorsports will field James Roe, Jr. and Kyffin Simpson. Both drivers were in Indy Pro 2000 in 2021, and Roe, Jr. won last year's season finale at Mid-Ohio. Jacob Abel moves up from Indy Pro 2000 with his family's team and Antonio Serravalle will be his teammate at St. Petersburg. 

The Indy Lights race will be held at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday February 27. 

Indy Pro 2000 shows up to St. Petersburg with 16 cars with the 2021 U.S. F2000 champion Kiko Porto leading the way. Porto moves up with DEForce Racing with Nolan Siegel, who was eighth in U.S. F2000 last year.

Porto will have to take on Braden Eves, who was second in Indy Pro 2000 last year with three victories. Eves moves to Jay Howard Driver Development, where his teammates will be Wyatt Brichacek and Salvador de Alba. 

Reece Gold was fifth in the championship last year and he is back with Juncos Hollinger Racing. Enaam Ahmed is back as Gold's teammate. Exclusive Autosport will run three cars for Louis Foster, Christian Brooks and Matthew Round-Garrido. Brooks was sixth in U.S. F2000 last year with Exclusive. 

Yuven Sundaramoorthy and Josh Green each won races in U.S. F2000 and they move up to Pabst Racing and Turn 3 Motorsport respectively. Jordan Missig and Colin Kaminsky will be Sundaramoorthy's teammates while Jonathan Browne will drive with Green at Turn 3. 

Rounding out the entry list is Jack William Miller with Miller Vinatieri Motorsport.

The first Indy Pro 2000 race all be at 11:40 a.m. ET on Friday February 25 with the second race at 8:00 a.m. ET on Saturday February 26.

Nineteen cars are entered for the U.S. F2000 season opening round. 

DEForce Racing will look to defend its championship with Thomas Nepveu, who won at Road America last year, Dylan Christie and Bijoy Garg. Cape Motorsports has not won the championship the last two years after nearly a decade of dominance. Cape will field four American drivers, including last year's championship runner-up Michael d'Orlando, Jackson Lee, Jagger Jones, grandson of Parnelli Jones, and Nicky Hays. 

Jay Howard Driver Development will field Frederik Lund, Yeoroo Lee and Jorge Garciarce. Exclusive Autosport has entered a pair of New Zealanders, Jacob Douglas and Billy Frazer, who is back for his second season. Trey Burke returns for his second season for Joe Dooling Autosports.

Jace Denmark and Myles Rowe will drive for Pabst Racing. Turn 3 Motorsport will run two cars for Chrisian Weir and Spike Kohlbecker. Simon Sikes will drive for Legacy Autosport. Viktor Andersson is entered with Velocity Racing Development. 

U.S. F2000 will race at 12:40 p.m. ET on Friday February 25 and at 10:45 a.m. ET on Sunday February 27.

Fast Facts

This will be the seventh IndyCar race to take place on February 27 and the first since Ralph DePalma won at the 1.25-mile Los Angeles Motor Speedway board oval in 1921. 

This will be the first IndyCar race to take place in February since February 29, 2004 when Sam Hornish, Jr. won at Homestead. It was Hornish's Team Penske debut. 

The season opener winner has gone on to win the championship in the last three seasons. However, since 1946, the winner of the season opener has never won the championship in four consecutive seasons. 

Since reunification, 13 of 14 champions have finished in the top ten of the first race of the season. Eight of those 13 drivers were on the podium in the opening race and ten of 13 finished in the top five.

Chip Ganassi Racing has won the season opener the last two years. Ganassi has won the season opener nine times, including three consecutive years from 2006 to 2008.

Ganassi has only one St. Petersburg victory, 2010 with Dario Franchitti.

Of the ten teams on the grid, only Arrow McLaren SP, Ed Carpenter Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing have never won an IndyCar season opener. 

This will be the first IndyCar race Ryan Hunter-Reay has missed since Nashville on July 15, 2007. Hunter-Reay had started 239 consecutive races, the fourth longest streak in IndyCar history.

Last year's St. Petersburg race was the fastest in event history with an average speed of 96.552 mph. 

The average starting position for a St. Petersburg winner is 5.555 with a median of fourth.

Last year, Colton Herta became the third driver to win from pole position at St. Petersburg joining Hélio Castroneves in 2007 and Will Power in 2010. 

Herta could become the fourth consecutive driver to win consecutive St. Petersburg races joining Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015-16, Sébastien Bourdais 2017-18 and Josef Newgarden 2019-20.

Five times has the St. Petersburg started outside the top five, including in three of the last five St. Petersburg races. 

The average number of lead changes in a St. Petersburg race is 6.3889 with a median of seven. 

Every St. Petersburg has had at least two lead changes. Seven of the last ten St. Petersburg races have had more than five lead changes.

The average number of cautions at St. Petersburg is 4.27778 with a median of five. The average number of caution laps is 18.667 with a median of 18. 

Every St. Petersburg race has had at least two cautions.

Predictions

Alexander Rossi ends his winless drought immediately, and Rossi leads three Andretti Autosport cars in the top ten. Our defending champion Álex Palou is eighth and not the top Ganassi finisher. At least one rookie makes it to the second round of qualifying, but none finish in the top ten. Simon Pagenaud is ahead of Jack Harvey. Ed Carpenter Racing will have at least one car finish in the top fifteen. There will be at least three cautions for incidents in three different corners. Jimmie Johnson will not spin, nor stall on course. At least five drivers will lead a lap. Sleeper: Felix Rosenqvist.