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.
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)
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.
