IndyCar's Milestone Winners

Austin Cindric will forever be the man who fell just shy of making history. 

Cindric might have won the Daytona 500, a historic achievement in its own right, especially when it is your first career NASCAR Cup Series victory and comes in your eighth career start. But nobody asks who was the 199th winner in NASCAR Cup Series history, and that is what Cindric will forever be. 

A race winner is a race winner, but whoever becomes the 200th Cup Series winner will get that glory forever. It will be little more than a trivia fact but a trivia fact nonetheless, one that will be shared with generations for years to come. And if you don't think it is a big deal, the 100th winner in Cup Series history was Mario Andretti. Anyone going to poo-poo that? Didn't think so. 

Cindric was a little premature to make history, but he is in the record book as a race winner nonetheless. With NASCAR approaching 200 winners, it got me thinking about IndyCar's record book. IndyCar's complex, century-plus history often goes unexplored. We know A.J. Foyt's record for most victories and Mario Andretti's record for most pole positions with Will Power closing in on that mark, but we don't know or appreciate the intricacies of the history book. 

For example, did you know the first IndyCar race of record was held on June 12, 1909, and Howard Covey won driving a Cadillac? Probably not. IndyCar talks about its past, but it never goes back to the very beginning, before the Indianapolis 500, Ray Harroun and the Marmon Wasp. Did you know that race Covey won was one of three races held on June 12, 1909 that are recognized as the first three races in IndyCar history? If you think doubleheaders are a problem in the 21st century, wait until you find out about IndyCar's inaugural season. 

Three races a day, Friday-Saturday doubleheaders, doubleheaders on Thursdays with another race the following Saturday, four races over a three-day stretch from Monday through Wednesday, and the season ended with a point-to-point race that begin in Los Angeles and ended in Phoenix. Oh, and there were only three oval races, all held at the same track. 

But I am not here to go season-by-season, looking at how each calendar was different. I am more focused on where IndyCar is, how many winners there have been, and who have won the key milestone races?

The 2022 IndyCar season began with a first-time winner, Scott McLaughlin. And while NASCAR is one winner away from a milestone, IndyCar is closing in on one as well. McLaughlin became the 297th different winner in IndyCar history. 

You know about Covey being the first recognized IndyCar race winner, but who are some of the other famed milestone winners?

Joe Dawson, most remembered for winning the 1912 Indianapolis 500, was IndyCar's 25th different winner. Dawson's first victory came in the 33rd race in IndyCar's history, coincidentally, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the Cobe Trophy Race, a 200-mile event that featured 14 cars, held on Independence Day in 1910. It was the fifth of eventually nine races held at IMS that season, which consisted of 19 races total. 

The 50th winner came nearly two years and three months later in the penultimate round of the 1912 season, IndyCar's 80th race. Mortimer Roberts won the Pabst Blue Ribbon Trophy Race, a 28-lap race around a 7.88-mile course. This was also a time where races were held simultaneously on the same course. At the same time, the Wisconsin Challenge Trophy Race was taking place, a 22-lap race for cars with 161-230 cubic inch engines. The Pabst Blue Ribbon Trophy Race was for cars with 231-300 cubic inch engines. 

After having 50 winners in less than three years, IndyCar would not reach its 75th winner until the opening race of the 1920 season. Jimmy Murphy won the 250-mile race held on the 1.25-mile Los Angeles Motor Speedway in Beverly Hills, IndyCar's 207th race. Murphy would go on to become the first American to win a grand prix the following year in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans and with that same Duesenberg won the Indianapolis 500 the year after that. 

It would be 11 years, three months, and two days until IndyCar reached its 100th winner. But, it was a notable winner. In the Indianapolis 500, Louis Schneider won after leading the final 39 laps and won by 43.19 seconds over Fred Frame, the second closest Indianapolis 500 finish at the time. It was IndyCar's 375th race.

With a limited number of races over the 1930s due to the Great Depression and then no races from the end of 1941 until the 1946 Indianapolis 500 due to World War II, the milestones did not come at the same rate as IndyCar's early years. 

IndyCar's 125th winner did not happen until August 15, 1948. Over two years before famously becoming the winner of the inaugural Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Johnny Mantz took his one and only IndyCar victory in his fourth career start driving for J.C. Agajanian at Milwaukee, and it came with a last lap pass on Emil Andres. It was also the first victory for car #98 in IndyCar history in IndyCar's 410th race. 

Just over six years later, Keith Andrews became IndyCar's 150th winner. Where? The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and that wasn't the only IndyCar race that day. On September 6, 1954, Pikes Peak and the Ted Horn Memorial from the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds were both held. Sam Hanks won on the oval. Pikes Peak is listed as the 491st race in IndyCar history.

The 1965 season includes arguably IndyCar's greatest string of first-time winners. There were six that season. Jim McElreath was the first, winning the second race of the season at Trenton. McElreath was IndyCar's 172nd winner. Al Unser scored his first career victory on Independence Day in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, making him the 173rd winner. Three weeks later, Mario Andretti picked up his first career victory in the Hoosier Grand Prix, a 150-mile race on the Indianapolis Raceway Park road course. Andretti was the 174th winner.

Who was 175? 

Seven days after Andretti's first trip to victory lane, Johnny Rutherford won the Atlanta Championship 250 with Andretti coming in second. It was IndyCar's 629th race. The other first-time winners that season would include Joe Leonard at Milwaukee and Gordon Johncock, also at Milwaukee. They raced eight days a part at opposite ends of the Wisconsin State Fair. 

The six first-time winners in the 1965 season account for 154 victories, ten Indianapolis 500 victories and 11 championships. Can any other group top that? Doubt it. 

As stated above, IndyCar's history is complex, and that is a nice way to say messy at times. IndyCar's 200th winner falls right in the middle of the slop. After the emergence of CART in 1979 and split from USAC, the two series ran simultaneously for a handful of years. After nearly a decade of being solely paved circuits, USAC brought dirt tracks back to its Gold Crown Championship as CART took control of the American open-wheel landscape. Those USAC Gold Crown races are recognized in the IndyCar record book. One of those USAC Gold Crown races saw IndyCar's 200th winner etch his name in the history book. 

On August 30, 1981, Rich Vogler won the Ted Horn 100 at DuQuoin. The starting grid was set via two 15-lap qualifying races. Other entries in the race were Tom Bigelow, George Snider, Jack Hewitt, Joe Saldana, Ken Schrader, Larry Rice, Sheldon Kinser, Jim McElreath and Gary Bettenhausen. It was the 896th race in IndyCar history. 

If you thought we were out of the woods when it comes to splits and historic winners, guess again! 

Buzz Calkins wasn't only the winner of the inaugural Indy Racing League race at Walt Disney World Speedway. Calkins was the 225th race winner in IndyCar history. Just over four years later, Max Papis became the 250th winner with his victory in the 2000 CART season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway. We weren't even out of the split when the 275th winner occurred. It was Nelson Philippe at the 2006 Surfers Paradise Champ Car round, the 1,446th race in the record books. 

Now, we are at 297 winners thanks to Scott McLaughlin's triumph in the 1,713rd IndyCar race. If IndyCar repeats 2021's pace, we will hit 300 before we get to this summer. It could be longer than that. IndyCar only had three new winners from the start of the 2016 season through the 2020 season. There are plenty of winless drivers in IndyCar currently. A few we expect to win and expect to do it this year. We are going to hit 300 before we know it, but not necessarily this year. Patience. It will happen. 

The IndyCar record book has vastly gone unexplored, but I think over the course of 2022 we should uncover some parts that have gone unnoticed. 

Musings From the Weekend: Why Can't Fans Let It Go?

MotoGP opened its season with a first-time winner, just like IndyCar, but it was Enea Bastianini's night in Qatar and it was Gresini Racing's first MotoGP victory since the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril with Toni Elías. Speaking of IndyCar, the mob went after Will Buxton. The FIA World Endurance Championship and Europe Le Mans Series are losing G-Drive Racing and Romain Rusinov, and I don't think we are going to shed a tear. Haas has dropped Nikita Mazepin, and we could be getting an American driver in that vacant seat. Speaking of Formula One, testing is upon us, but there is something else we need to talk about. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.

Why Can't Fans Let It Go?

This Formula One offseason has been unlike any I have experienced before. After a season finale never seen before, that shouldn't have been a surprise.

I am used to silly season, drivers changing teams, cars being unveiled, testing, junior drivers announced, sponsors being revealed and other personnel changes taking place during the winter months. I am used to people reflecting over the season before and what will happen in the new year.

I was not ready for the obsession over the 2021 season finale, and not at the level we saw this winter. 

After the controversial finish to the season, we were bound to hear about it. Race director Michael Masi's decision at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to not follow restart protocols but restart the race anyway with one lap remaining was going to be discussed and dissected. We were bound to see changes from the FIA. There was even a protest Mercedes filed and then an appeal of the initial stewards' ruling, at one point leaving the finish to the season and the World Drivers' Championship in limbo. 

Mercedes eventually dropped the appeal. Max Verstappen kept his victory and world championship. The result might have been finalized, but emotions have not necessarily settled. People were always going to be outraged with the outcome, how race control handled the finish and the inconsistencies from race control, but the level of vitriol over nearly three months is exhausting. 

On a daily basis, there are individuals treating the finish to the 2021 Formula One season as the greatest injustice in human history, and that is saying a lot considering what has been happening in the world in the last two weeks let alone the last three months. 

From claims of manipulation, demands for the FIA investigation to be released and the Abu Dhabi results to be change, standing with Lewis Hamilton, and so on, people haven't moved on. 

But it is time to let it go!

Race control got it wrong. It haphazardly restarted the race, ignoring the rules, and Lewis Hamilton lost the championship. Hamilton got the raw end of the deal, and he has all the right in the world to be upset, but Hamilton has moved on. Hamilton isn't stomping his feet around shouting for justices. He hasn't chained himself to the lamppost outside the FIA office in Paris and gone on a hunger strike until the results are changed. He is looking to the future, the 2022 season, and the next chance at the championship. 

You cannot be more upset than the aggrieved party. Hamilton and Mercedes are the aggrieved parties. The fans are just fans on the side. I understand if you didn't like how Abu Dhabi ended. I didn't like how Abu Dhabi ended and how race control said one thing and then did another, but this isn't the greatest crime against humanity. 

Hamilton is one of countless sports people to have lost because of a poor officiating call. He wasn't the first and he will definitely not be the last. It is a glaring blemish the type we have never seen in Formula One, but this error can just be an error. Do thinks need to change in race control? Absolutely? Does there need to be blood? That is a drastic claim. 

This wasn't some great race manipulation from race control. The decision wasn't made because it was Lewis Hamilton in the lead. There wasn't some great charge to prevent Hamilton from winning the championship. Michael Masi made another questionable call. He had done it all season. It just happened to be the last race of the season, the last lap of the season to be specific, and the championship swung from one party to another because of it. 

In another time, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix wouldn't have been restarted and Max Verstappen would have been the winner after the count back due to the red flag. In another time, the Belgian Grand Prix would have never taken place, Verstappen wouldn't have received 12.5 points for completing two laps behind the safety car and we wouldn't be starting 2022 with a completely revised set of regulations for handling races that do not reach the scheduled distance. In another time, we would not have had seven red flags in a season. In another time, there would have been no sprint qualifying, allowing an extra three points to be awarded at three races. 

We have to stop the blinded tribalism behind a Formula One driver or team. You can root for a driver. You can have a favorite. You can experience a great wave of exhilaration watching that driver win and you can experience a crushing pain when that driver loses. There is nothing wrong being a fan, but let's be reasonable. If your favorite driver loses a race, you cannot be more upset than that driver. If that driver moves on and does it with humility, follow that example. 

It is the temperature of the room at the moment, the 21st century, social media era we live in. It is not enough to be a fan, but a zealot constantly fighting for that driver and never admitting they did something wrong. Most of the drivers have these folks. It is not just Hamilton and Verstappen. Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo, Mick Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, they all have these people. 

I don't get it. I don't understand the slavish devotion. It is beyond fandom. It is making every post about said driver, treating every photograph as some type of iconography and incorporating the driver into every part of their life. It is ok to have another interest and it is ok to admit the driver had a bad day. I wonder if these people actually like Formula One, as in like the motorsports series, or they have found an individual to identify with and this driver fills in a piece of identity this person could not fill on their own.  

I love motorsports. It is one of the few places I have felt comfortable being myself. But I do not understand this new generation of fan. It isn't just the Hamilton fans who cannot let Abu Dhabi go or the Verstappen fans who think he is more infallible than Jesus Christ, but it is also the people who made death threat toward Nicholas Latifi and Masi. 

There should be some level of common sense to observe a race and be able to healthily digest it. A viewer should be able to watch a race and see it is a race. The participants are no different from those watching it. They are human beings. They make mistakes. Some mistakes are indefensible, but we should realize none of these mistakes matter in the grand scheme of the world. And none of these mistakes means someone should die!

Latifi got into the barrier. It set off the dominoes that eventually saw Hamilton lose the title. Big whoop. Latifi doesn't deserve threats over it. Masi said the race wasn't going to be restarted and then decided to only remove the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen and immediately restart the race when the rules says that wasn't the correct protocol. Masi should be fired, but he shouldn't be chastised for the rest of his life and worry about some deranged moron harming him or his family.

We need to be better and maintain a level perspective as the 2022 Formula One season approaches. There are two new men in race control. There will be a difficult calls to make. Some we will agree with. Others we will not. Hopefully, no decisions are bafflingly incorrect. But we cannot treat this as life or death. 

We must be able to let go of the questionable decisions, and we must let go of our irrational fandom toward one individual. It is healthy for everyone and will lead to a better environment for everyone watching.  

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Enea Bastianini, but did you know...

Celestino Vietti won the Moto2 race from Qatar, his first Moto2 victory and his first victory since France 2020 in Moto3. Andrea Migno won the Moto3 race, his first victory since Mugello 2017. 

Eli Tomac won the Supercross race from Daytona, a record sixth Daytona victory, and Tomac's fourth victory of the season.

Shane van Gisbergen and Chaz Mostert split the Supercars races from Sydney Motorsports Park.

Alex Bowman won the NASCAR Cup race from Las Vegas. Ty Gibbs won the Grand National Series race. Chandler Smith won the Truck race.

Coming Up This Weekend

NASCAR is in Phoenix.

Supercross is in Detroit.

The Daytona 200 will be held for anyone who cares. 

2022 MotoGP Season Preview

Last MotoGP season saw four of six manufactures win a race, a pair of new winners and a first-time champion for a second consecutive season. Moving into 2022, the championship feels wider open than the year before. 

Each manufacture can make a case to win races, which hasn't been the case for a long time in the world championship. There has been plenty of rider movement and there are a few new teams on the grid. Valentino Rossi is no longer a rider, but he will field a pair of Ducatis. Ducati is up to eight bikes on the grid. Yamaha has a new customer team. Aprilia is running its own program after Gresini Racing operated the program for seven seasons. 

This will be the 74th world championship season, and it is set to be the longest yet, with 21 rounds on the initial calendar.

Schedule

After two years of European-heavy calendars, MotoGP is looking to visits some more familiar international destinations in 2022, but also make a few trips to new tracks. 

Qatar remains the season opener with a night full of racing on March 6. Two weeks later, the series makes its first stop in the Asia-Pacific region for an inaugural trip to the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia. Mandalika host the 2021 World Superbike finale. This is the first time Indonesia has hosted the world championship since 1996 and 1997 at the Sentul International Circuit. 

Argentina is set to make its MotoGP return on April 3, paired with a trip to the United States and Austin on April 10. Portugal opens the 12-race European portion of the season on April 24 with the Spanish Grand Prix from Jerez the following weekend on May 1. 

The French Grand Prix is May 15 before the Mugello-Barcelona back-to-back on May 29 and June 5. The German Grand Prix and the Dutch TT will close out June with a back-to-back on June 19 and June 26 respectively. 

The last round before the summer break will the long-awaited Finnish Grand Prix from the Kymi Ring on July 10. Finland was supposed to rejoin the MotoGP calendar in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. It was also initially on the 2021 calendar before restrictions kept the series from visiting. This will be the first Finnish Grand Prix since 1982. The Tampere Circuit hosted the world championship for 21 years prior to the 40 years absence. 

MotoGP will return to action on August 7 at Silverstone with the Red Bull Ring only hosting one race this year, the Austrian Grand Prix on August 21. Misano and Aragón close out the European-portion and close out summer with races on September 4 and September 18. 

The Asia-Pacific swing has been split into a pair of back-to-backs. Japan and Thailand are paired for September 25 and October 2, concluding a three-week stretch of races that starts in Aragón. After a week off, Australia and Malaysia will take place on October 16 and October 23. Valencia remains the season finale, scheduled for November 6. 

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo: #20 Yamaha YZR-M1
What did he do in 2021: World Riders' Champion with five victories, ten podium finishes, 13 top five finishes, 278 points and scoring points in 17 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Both Yamaha riders were at the top of the Mandalika test in the middle of February. Yamaha was not as strong at the Sepang test the week before, but Quartararo was competitive. The Frenchman will continue to be at the front. I am not sure he will be able to match his 2021 form. He was rather impeccable last year, and the lack of one strong opponent helped him claim the championship. That could change this year and the competition could come from within his own team. Quartararo should still win multiple times and defend his championship deep into the season. 

Franco Morbidelli: #21 Yamaha YZR-M1
What did he do in 2021: 17th in the MotoGP championship with 47 points with one podium finish and another top five finishes. Missed five races due to a knee injury. Started the season with Petronas Yamaha SRT and made eight starts. Joined Monster Energy Yamaha for the final five races once recovered from his injury to replace Maverick Viñales. 

What to expect in 2022: Morbidelli was the eye-opener of the Mandalika test, ending up fourth while Quartararo was second. Injuries derailed Morbidelli's 2021 season after he was second in the championship on the customer Yamaha in 2020 while Quartararo was his teammate and down in eighth. A fully fit Morbidelli can compete for the championship. If he stays healthy, a title push is possible, and he should take points off Quartararo. However, the big change from 2020 is Quartararo has matured as a rider. It will not be easy for Morbidelli to replicate what we saw two seasons ago.

Ducati Lenovo Team

Jack Miller: #43 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: Fourth in the MotoGP championship with two victories, five podium finishes, eight top five finishes, 181 points and points scored in 16 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Miller was a little average during testing, ending up in the middle of the pack in Sepang and Mandalika. He won twice last year, including in the dry, but he wasn't regularly controlling the field and a tier one rider. He is good, but I think his teammate is better and there are a few riders ready for a big season that could knock Miller down the championship order unless Miller finds a new level this season.

Francesco Bagnaia: #63 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: Second in the MotoGP championship with four victories, nine podium finishes, 11 top five finishes, six pole positions, 252 points and points scored in 16 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: With a strong finish to the 2021 season, Bagnaia is primed for a championship fight in 2022, and testing suggests he will be there. If it wasn't for an accident in the second Misano race, Bagnaia could have kept the championship alive longer in 2022, maybe even forced it to the wire, and he would have likely closed the season with six consecutive podium finishes. Nobody had more than three consecutive podium finishes last year. If he is consistent in the first portion of the season, even if he isn't winning races, it will be difficult for anyone to beat him. 

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Joan Mir: #36 Suzuki GSX-RR

What did he do in 2021: Third in the MotoGP championship with four podium finishes, nine top five finishes, 208 points and points scored in 16 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: It is hard to say third in the championship defense was a disappointment, but Mir wasn't a threat last year. He scored points, but he wasn't the man anyone was chasing. I don't see Mir getting back to his 2021 heights. He should be a regular in the points, but not be a regular on the podium finisher.  

Álex Rins: #42 Suzuki GSX-RR
What did he do in 2021: 13th in the MotoGP championship with one podium finish, three top five finishes, 99 points and points scored in 12 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: If Rins stays on the bike, the pace is there to win multiple races, and possibly win the championship. A second accident filled season cannot be upon us. Rins should be much better than 13th and he should get a few victories. 

Pramac Racing

Johann Zarco: #5 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: Fifth in the MotoGP championship with four runner-up finishes, eight top five finishes, 173 points and points scored in 14 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: It was a strange season in 2021 for Zarco. Four runner-up finishes in the first seven races, and he didn't finish on the podium after that. I don't expect Zarco to live on the back of an exceptional but nonetheless fruitless start to a season this year. Top ten in the championship with a podium or two? That is reasonable.

Jorge Martín: #89 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: Ninth in the MotoGP championship with a victory in the Styrian Grand Prix, four podium finishes, five top five finishes, four pole positions, 111 points scored and points scored in 10 of 14 starts. Missed four races after suffering a fractured foot and hand in practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix.

What to expect in 2022: Martín was the surprise of the season last year. Pole position and podium early and he came back from injury, won two more pole positions and a race. It was good enough for ninth in the championship. He did have four retirements last year. I think he and Zarco will be in their own little fight for best of the Pramac duo.

Repsol Honda Team

Pol Espargaró: #44 Honda RC213V

What did he do in 2021: 12th in the MotoGP championship with one podium finish, two top five finishes, 100 points and points scored in 13 of 17 starts. Missed the Valencian Community Grand Prix after a practice accident. 

What to expect in 2022: Espargaró topped the Mandalika test, and after a rather forgettable 2021 season where Marc Márquez still beat Espargaró despite missing four races, Espargaró needs to be competitive in 2022. One podium finish isn't going to be enough, but the Honda still appears to be a difficult bike to master. He should have a day where it clicks. How many of those days will he have? It might just be one or two, but he needs to be at least in the top ten of the championship. A race victory is paramount. 

Marc Márquez: #93 Honda RC213V
What did he do in 2021: Seventh in the MotoGP championship with three victories, four podium finishes, five top five finishes, 142 points and points scored in ten of 14 starts. Missed the first two races as he was still recovering from his forearm injury suffered in 2020. Missed the final two races after a training accident. 

What to expect in 2022: Based on points per start, Márquez was on pace for fourth in the championship last year. His season ended right when he was hitting on all cylinders, and then another set injuries set him back during the offseason. He has been recovering from double vision and it has been described as a more difficult comeback than from the arm injury ahead of the 2021 season. Expectations? There are none. We aren't sure what Marc Márquez we are getting and what shape he is in. If he is fully confident and fully healthy, we know how magically he can be. If we get a Márquez that is hesitant and only about 70% fit, well then we could be looking at a repeat of 2021. 

But this is one of the greatest we have ever seen and if he could win three races last year and throw another one away we have to at least chalk him down for one victory in 2022, especially when there will be 21 bites at the apple

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Brad Binder: #33 KTM RC16
What did he do in 2021: Sixth in the MotoGP championship with one victory in the Austrian Grand Prix, five top five finishes, 151 points and points scored in 17 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: KTM was good a Mandalika but out to lunch in Sepang. Binder got his championship position through consistency. But in each of his two MotoGP seasons he has one great race, and the rest are pedestrian. I don't see much of a change, and Binder will be somewhere between seventh and 13th in the championship. 

Miguel Oliveira: #88 KTM RC16

What did he do in 2021: 14th in the MotoGP championship with one victory in the Catalan Grand Prix, three podium finishes, four top five finishes, 94 points and points scored in ten of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: After being a revelation in 2020, Oliveira came back to Earth in 2021. His four top five finishes were in four consecutive races from Mugello to Assen last year. He was outside the top ten for the rest of those races. I don't think Oliveira will have a four-race period such as that this year, but he should have a handful of top ten results. 

LCR Honda Idemitsu/Castol

Takaaki Nakagami: #30 Honda RC213V
What did he do in 2021: 15th in the MotoGP championship with two top five finishes, 76 points and points scored in 13 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Not much different than last year. Nakagami was 13th at both Sepang and Mandalika. There could be two or three races where it clicks for him and he is competing for a top five result.

Álex Márquez: #73 Honda RC213V
What did he do in 2021: 16th in the MotoGP championship with one top five finish, 70 points and points scored in 12 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Similar to his teammate. Márquez will be competing for the low-scoring points position but could have a race or two where he is punchy. 

Gresini Racing MotoGP

Enea Bastianini: #23 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: 11th in the MotoGP championship with two podium finishes, 102 points and points scored in 14 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Results picked up at the end of 2021, and while Bastianini topped the Sepang test with a record time, he was toward the bottom at Mandalika. I expect an up and down season, some races where he is competitive and others where he is fighting just to be in the points.

Fabio Di Giannantonio: #49 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: Seventh in the Moto2 championship with one victory, four podium finishes, six top five finishes, 161 points and points scored in 15 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Di Giannantonio had one victory in Moto2 over three seasons and he scored eight podium finishes in 52 starts. He will be fighting for a handful of points finishes this season in MotoGP. 

Tech3 KTM Factory Racing

Raúl Fernández: #25 KTM RC16
What did he do in 2021: Second in the Moto2 championship with eight victories, 12 podium finishes, 14 top five finishes, 307 points and points scored in 15 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: None of the KTMs were particularly strong in testing, and while Fernández was stunning in Moto2, I am not sure talent alone will lift this bike into more than a top 15 championship finish. Last year, Tech3 scored 76 points. That could be where this team is at the end of 2022.

Remy Gardner: #87 KTM RC16
What did he do in 2021: Moto2 champion with five victories, 12 podium finishes, 14 top five finishes, 311 points and points scored in 17 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: A few points finishes, but a strong intra-team battle with Fernández and maybe one flare up that gets everyone's attention.

Mooney VR46 Racing Team

Luca Marini: #10 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: 19th in the MotoGP championship with one top five finish, 41 points and points scored in 11 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Riding for his half-brother Valentino Rossi's new team, Marini was respectable in testing, 11th in Sepang and 12th in Mandalika. He was in the points more times than not. If he keeps that up, combined with an increase in top ten finishes, Marini should move up in the championship. 

Marco Bezzecchi: #72 Ducati Desmosedici
What did he do in 2021: Third in the Moto2 championship with one victory, seven podium finishes, 12 top five finishes, 214 points and points scored in 15 of 18 races.

What to expect in 2022: Bezzecchi ran comparably to Marini in testing. If Marini moves up in the championship, Bezzecchi taking where Marini was last year would be a respectable first season at the top level. 

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

Andrea Dovizioso: #04 Yamaha YZR-M1
What did he do in 2021: Returned for the final five races of the 2021 season at Petronas Yamaha SRT after Franco Morbidelli moved to the factory team. Scored points in the final four races with finishes of 13th, 13th, 14th and 12th, amassing 12 points and getting him 24th in the championship.

What to expect in 2022: The new customer Yamaha team was massively behind the factory operation. Dovizioso had a foot out the door of MotoGP. Trying to be optimistic, I think WithU Yamaha could have a slow start, but be more competitive at the end of the season and have results to cheer, with Dovizioso leading the way.

Darryn Binder: #40 Yamaha YZR-M1
What did he do in 2021: Seventh in the Moto3 championship with two podium finishes, five top five finishes, 136 points and points scored in 13 of 18 races with one disqualification after taking out Dennis Foggia on the final lap of the Algarve Grand Prix. 

What to expect in 2022: Binder is making the jump from Moto3, similar to what Jack Miller did seven years ago. Miller struggled to get points and really took three years to develop. I expect Binder to be at the back and make mistakes but have a few days to be proud of as he builds for the future.

Aprilia Racing

Maverick Viñales: #12 Aprilia RS-GP
What did he do in 2021: Tenth in the MotoGP championship after one victory and two podium finishes in the first ten races with Yamaha. Fired ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix for reckless behavior on the motorcycle that put himself and other riders at risk. Missed two races before joining Aprilia ahead of the Aragón. Started five of the final six races with two points finishes for Aprilia, both at Misano, 13th in the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix and eighth in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Finished the season with 106 points.

What to expect in 2022: Aprilia could be the toughest nut to crack on the MotoGP grid. Both bikes were good in both tests. Viñales was fifth in Sepang and seventh in Mandalika. My concern is we haven't seen Aprilia put a full season together yet to believe it can be a player at the top in each race. But, last year was the manufacture's best season. There will be a few races where Aprilia is astonishing, but I still think there will be those weekends where they are in the middle of the field and not a contender. Viñales could win a race and find himself in the top ten of the championship. 

Aleix Espargaró: #41 Aprilia RS-GP
What did he do in 2021: Eighth in the MotoGP championship with one podium finish, two top five finishes, 120 points and points scored in 13 of 18 races. 

What to expect in 2022: Espargaró was better than Viñales in testing, second in Sepang and third in Mandalika. Espargaró has always been a consistent rider, and last year he got everything out of the bike and then some. He should be able to win a race as well. If Viñales is in his right mind, it will be difficult for Espargaró to top the team, however, both should be in the top ten of the championship. If this pace does translate over, one of these riders could push for a top five championship finish. 

The first practice of the MotoGP season will be held at 5:40 a.m. ET on Friday March 4 from the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. Second practice will be later that day at 10:00 a.m.  Third practice will take place at 5:15 a.m. on Saturday March 5. The 30-minute pre-qualifying practice will be at 9:20 a.m. with qualifying following at 10:00 a.m. 

There will be a warm-up session at 5:40 a.m. ET on Sunday March 6 before the Qatar Grand Prix is held at 10:00 a.m. 

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.