Musing From the Weekend: Take the Win Away

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Josh Herrin won the 81st Daytona 200 by 0.070 seconds over Josh Hayes. Herrin's victory was 13 years after his first Daytona 200 victory. However, this race ended up being 217.62 miles due to a late red flag and a provision in the rulebook stating any the race shall not be less than ten laps after a restart. There is a lot of college basketball going on. IndyCar and Formula One are already on break. Mercedes is having communication issues. The NASCAR race from Austin will be more of an all-star race than NASCAR's all-star race. Alexander Rossi and Patricio O'Ward will be in Austin, but not doing anything on a racetrack. Supercars returned to competition, and there were already complaints. The FIA World Endurance Championship had its prolouge test at Sebring over the weekend, but it was some IMSA news that was on my mind.

Take the Win Away

IMSA's paddock was rocked in the buildup to the 12 Hours of Sebring when it was announced last week that Meyer Shank Racing had manipulated the tire pressure data at the 24 Hours of Daytona. 

MSR's punishment for such an infraction? 

The team and its drivers lost 200 of the 350 points it earned for the race victory. It also lost all points in the Endurance Cup championship, lost all the prize money for winning the 24 Hours of Daytona and was handed an additional $50,000 fine. Race engineer Ryan McCarthy was also placed on indefinite suspension and stripped of his IMSA credential. MSR fired McCarthy after IMSA's penalties were announced. 

However, while MSR lost quite a bit, it will get to keep the race victory, remaining in the record as the winners of the 2023 edition of the famed endurance race, and the drivers keep their Rolex watches. 

This penalty wasn't close to enough, and Meyer Shank Racing should not remain the winners of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. 

The penalty is appalling. The team loses 200 points earned in the race, but keeps all 35 points for pole position, because there is no way manipulated tire pressures could play a role in the #60 Acura setting the fastest lap in qualifying. Even if you look at the 200-point penalty as covering the entire total Meyer Shank Racing scored for Daytona and 35 of those points being losing pole position, that means only 165 point deducted are from the race finish, meaning MSR still scored points that would fall between 12th and 13th in the IMSA points structure. 

MSR should have nothing to show for this year's Daytona race. It should be on zero, in a deep pit when it comes to the championship, and it shouldn't have the race victory either.

This was not a small infraction, being underweight by a tenth of a pound or a rear wing endplate being 1/64th of an inch too thin or a driver falling a second shy of the minimum drive time or going over the maximum drive time by a second. This required deliberate circumvention of the rules. A team employee knew it was breaking the rules when developing "intentional software offsets" to get away with violating the sporting regulations. This wasn't an accident. This wasn't a minor transgression or slight miscalculation. This was a complete lack of respect to sportsmanship and fairness in competition. Believing it was one employee acting out of turn is naïve at best.

There is an aversion in American motorsports to change the results once the checkered flag is wave. The belief is the fans deserve to leave a track knowing who won the race. Once the winner is declared over the loudspeaker, that is it. That is the winner. Everyone saw it. Everyone can go home happy. For decades the practice has been if said winner has been found to do something wrong afterward... well, that can be handled with a points penalty, fine and/or suspension (usually just to a crew member, never the driver or entire team) afterward. But the win stands and what everyone saw and all the photos that were taken will remain accurate to what the record book says for years to come. 

That mindset has to go in all forms of American motorsports. 

If the belief is retroactively changing the results only makes a bad situation worse, well I have news for you, doing nothing is rock-bottom. MSR isn't pleased about all those points its lost or the money it had to return, but it will still promote the team as a three-time 24 Hours of Daytona winner. It will be on the side of it hauler, on merchandise and used in team press releases from now until the team closes shop. It isn't quite a lose-lose. There is definitely a loss, but the win stands, both literally and metaphorically.

The trained eyes and future readers will see the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona results and either know it isn't kosher or will find out that the winners broke the rule and, frankly, got away with it even if there was a punishment. Is that any worse than taking the victory away from the #60 Acura and giving it to the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura? The counterargument is it would be a hollow victory for Wayne Taylor Racing, therefore the result should remain unchanged. Well, it was a hollow victory the moment Meyer Shank Racing broke the rules to win the race. We are never going to have a 100% satisfying result from this year's 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, but we can at least have one that everyone can stomach. 

Wayne Taylor and its drivers would not get a victory lane celebration, and nothing would be fulfilling, but there is no way Jim Meyer and Mike Shank are feeling any joy with this victory. This isn't a victory Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud are going to be bragging about for years to come. There really is no winner in this case, but at the same time, IMSA isn't going to strip this result and have no winner for this year's race. 

The best of these unideal situations is to have a winner who at least followed the rules. Meyer Shank Racing should not keep the victory. It should not be kept in the record book for decades to come, and the Rolex watches should be returned. That should be the custom moving forward. 

Viewers are not going to be turned off from motorsports if a team is found to have broken the rules and had a victory taken away. It actually shows great accountability. It will feel like a waste to some in attendance if the results are amended, but most functional adults will understand it and appreciate it more than allowing a team get away with an infraction. 

For decades, teams have known the punishment is worth the crime in the long run. No series is going to hand down anything too catastrophic to harm a team, because that could mean a shrinking grid, crew members losing jobs and sponsors being soured on the series and never returning, but if a series isn't going to do the bare minimum of taking a victory away, teams will still feel compelled to cross the line knowing they will always remain the winners in the annals of history. 

No team should feel that comfortable to break the rules. IMSA had a chance to send a message. It blew it. Next time it must do better. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Josh Herrin, but did you know...

William Byron won the NASCAR Cup race from Phoenix, his second consecutive victory. Sammy Smith won the Grand National Series race, his first career victory.

Cam Waters and Shane van Gisbergen split the Supercars races from Newcastle. Van Gisbergen was first on the road in the first race, but was disqualified after Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United filed a complaint over Triple Eight Race Engineering using dry ice in a specific banned location.

Ken Roczen won the Supercross race from Indianapolis, his first victory since the 2022 season opener at Anaheim and Suzuki's first victory since the Meadowlands in 2016, 112 races ago.

Coming Up This Weekend

Super Sebring... the 1,000-mile FIA World Endurance Championship race on Friday and the 12-Hour IMSA race on Saturday.

The third Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

NASCAR will be in Atlanta. 

World Rally Championship moves to Mexico.

Supercross motors into Detroit.

Early March Catch-Up: New Rules, Experimentation and an End

It has been a busy last few weeks. 

Between the NASCAR season starting, Formula One and IndyCar each starting, plenty of previews and then the opening weekends themselves, there hasn't been much time to look at some of the little things that are going on around these series, IndyCar in particular. 

With the first race behind us, and a month until the next one, there is some time to catch-up on what has happened away from the racetrack and ponder what certain changes will mean for the future.

IndyCar Rule Changes

Prior to the St. Petersburg weekend, IndyCar announced a handful of rule changes. Most of them, if not all of them, make sense on paper and contribute positively for the competitors. 

The big one we saw at St. Petersburg in qualifying. The first red flag in each qualifying round will result in the clock stopping. This is to maximize the opportunities for teams to set a representative lap and not have teams caught out when on a flyer or getting up to speed. If there are any additional red flags in a round, the clock will continue to run. 

This was a fair change. Occasionally, there would be a qualifying session where an early red flag would come out, very few teams had set a true flyer, five minutes would be lost, the teams would then be scrambling to get a lap in, another red flag would happen in the scramble, and that would effectively end the session, and the likes of Ben Hanley or Dalton Kellett would advance to the second round and start no worse than 12th despite never being faster than 21st in any of the practice sessions leading up to qualifying.

Pausing the clock once should buy the teams enough time. Will that occasional absurd qualifying round happen where someone backs into the second round? Probably, but it will be more of an exception than in the past. 

Also changed in qualifying is the clock no longer starts when race control declares the cars may leave pit lane and begin out laps. The clock will start when the first car crosses the alternate start/finish line to begin the first qualifying lap of that round. 

I have always thought it was odd that the clock would start but for the first 90 seconds it would just be cars getting up to speed. It does kind of make sense, but also steals a lap or maybe even two depending on the circuit from the drivers. This should again allow for qualifying results to more accurately depict who is fast and who is not. 

IndyCar deserves credit on this one. 

Alternates at Gateway

Along with the announced changes to qualifying (as well as some technical adjustments that give the teams more downforce options at the superspeedways), IndyCar announced that the series would experiment with an alternate tire compound at Gateway.

Like it does with road and street courses, Gateway will require the teams to run at least one set of the primary tire compound and alternate tire compound during the race. 

I love this decision, and I am fascinated in how it turns out. 

We saw in St. Petersburg the alternate tires last about 15 laps less than the primary tires. That isn't a bad thing, and at a place like Gateway, it could significantly shift the strategy of that race. 

As the surface has aged, Gateway has become a more lively event than its first few years on the calendar. Last year had 520 passes, the most in a Gateway race since it returned to the calendar in 2017. It is still a tough place to pass at, and introducing an alternate tire compound could force the teams to adopt wildly different strategies. 

Looking at it in percentages, if the alternate tires are only in their sweet spot for 40% less than the primary tire, the teams are going to have change how they run Gateway. Theoretically, it should erase fuel saving because if the alternate tires can only go about 35-40 laps and the fuel stint is about 60-70 laps. If a driver is running two seconds off the pace over 25-30 laps at Gateway, he will be nearly three laps down by the time he gets to the end of the tank. That strategy isn't going to work. It should also be noted that Gateway will be a day race in 2023. If it is brutally hot, the tire fall off could be substantially greater, meaning the alternate stint could be worse.

And that's a good thing! We aren't sure how the alternate tire will perform, but it should not last as long as the primary tire. If everyone has to run one short stint, between 20 and 30 laps shorter than a full stint, Gateway will be mixed up. Some teams are going to suffer that alternate stint immediately at the start of the race and look to be out of it only to come back as other teams have to take on the alternate tires. There could be teams that save the alternate tires for the end of the race and then be praying to have enough for the final laps. 

The only other qualm on Gateway and the alternate tire compound is what happens if it rains?

For road and street courses, if it rains during the race and at least three teams put on wet tires, the requirement to run both the primary and alternate tire compound is waved. For ovals, there is no wet tire compound. Rain can end the race prior to a team putting on the alternate tire compound. 

What happens then? It isn't inconceivable. It rained last year at Gateway, and for a moment it looked like the race have ended in that moment. If we get to lap 180 at Gateway and a rainstorm moves in that will last 15 hours and the leader has yet to use the alternate tire, what is the call? Is a rainstorm going to be a get-out-of-jail-free card? That's not going to be fair to the rest of the teams and not in the spirit of the rules. Weather shouldn't get a team a pass. 

Then what? In the rulebook, rule 15.4.2.3.1.4 states any car that fails to comply with using each compound in the race will be a one-lap penalty. Nowhere under article 15.4.2.3, which covers Gateway race tire rules, does it mention rain, what happens if the races is shortened and if that prevents a team from using the alternate compound. Based on the current interpretation of the rulebook, if rain ends the race and a team hasn't used the alternate tire that team should receive a one-lap penalty. There are no provisions for rain. If a team hasn't used the alternate tire compound, not matter what, it should get a penalty.

If it comes to that it will be one controversial conclusion to the final oval race of the IndyCar season. There is still six months until that race. IndyCar will probably look over those rules and set the final regulations as Gateway approaches, but the series cannot ignore this and must address it accordingly. 

Indianapolis 500 Entries

One IndyCar race down, and all eyes are on the Indianapolis 500. Not really, but before one IndyCar race was run in 2023, 32 Indianapolis 500 entries were accounted for. 

Along with the 27 cars that ran in St. Petersburg, the 15 Hondas and 12 Chevrolets, there will be Marco Andretti in a fifth Andretti Autosport car, Tony Kanaan making his final IndyCar start in a fourth McLaren entry, Stefan Wilson as a one-off for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Ed Carpenter back as an oval-only driver for his own team, and the most recent addition to the entry list was Katherine Legge in a fourth Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry. 

With 17 Hondas and 15 Chevrolets accounted for, we are one away from a full field, and it gets tougher to see where that final entry will come from. 

In all likelihood, Chevrolet will field one more car, but where? Team Penske has said it is not expanding, as has A.J. Foyt Racing. McLaren is maxed out. Ed Carpenter Racing has said it is maxed out. It is unlikely Juncos Hollinger Racing will go to three cars. That leaves Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which has run two cars four of the last five years at Indianapolis. 

D&R very well could do it again in 2023, though its regular driver Sage Karam said he would not return with D&R if he were to do Indianapolis this year, and its other driver from 2022, Santino Ferrucci, is full-time with Foyt.

As for Honda teams, they are nearly all fully subscribed as well. Andretti isn't going to run a sixth car. RLLR isn't going to leap up to five when it just committed to four for the first time. Chip Ganassi Racing is highly unlikely to run a fifth car. Meyer Shank Racing does not do anything knee-jerk, and it will not add a third car this late in the game. That leaves Dale Coyne Racing, which has run three cars at Indianapolis previous. 

Coyne had been looking to get 2022 Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist on the IndyCar grid. Lundqvist has his scholarship money for the championship, but it is greatly reduced compared to past Indy Lights champions. It would be the start to an Indianapolis 500 entry, but that would likely be the only race Lundqvist would get this season. 

At most, if D&R runs two and Coyne materializes a third, we could see 34 cars and one car going home. Two car or more going home just isn't going to happen. It is most likely we will only see 33 entries.

Fontana's End

For two and a half years we had been preparing for the final race around the two-mile oval in Fontana, California after plans were announced to convert the track into a short track back in September 2020. The final race finally came last month with NASCAR's weekend. 

As for the short track project, the timeline is very much undetermined. When the Clash was being held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at the start of February, NASCAR confirmed Fontana would not host a race in 2024 due to the reconstruction, and 2025 sounded unlikely. 

If 2025 is unlikely, but has a slim hope, that means the track isn't going to be ready for February 2025, but at best be ready for October or November 2025. However, I have a hard time envisioning NASCAR giving Fontana a playoff race as its return to the calendar as a short track if it is uncertain the track will be ready in time for such a date. At best, 2026 is when Fontana is back on the calendar.

There is also a world where Fontana does not return. NASCAR sold over 80% of the property to developers, leaving only 89 acres for the short track project. 

Fontana represented the last superspeedway. Opened in 1997, it was the last two-mile oval constructed in the United States during the racetrack boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2002, new racetracks, especially paved ovals, have not be sprouting around the country. Outside of Iowa Speedway, opened in 2006, there hasn't been a paved oval opened with any national prominence in nearly 20 years. It is unlikely we are going to see any built anytime soon, especially those the size of Fontana. 

Bulldozing Fontana is bulldozing a one-of-a-kind track. It is losing a circuit with its own personality. For a series like NASCAR that wants different venues and different track characteristics, Fontana is exactly what it should want on its schedule, but now it is disappearing for a proposed short track that is sounding more like a myth than reality. 

It is hard to knock NASCAR when it made over a half-billion dollars on the sale. If any of us were sitting on a half-billion worth of property, we would definitely take the money and run, but in NASCAR's hopes of getting its cake and eating it too it could fall short. NASCAR is hoping to construct another short track and increase the number of short tracks on the its schedule, but if the Fontana rebuild becomes too bogged down and abandoned, it will be a colossal failure. 

There was likely never a world where Fontana could remain untouched as a two-mile oval, but for the last three seasons NASCAR could have easily added a short track race or two and let Fontana be. NASCAR has owned Iowa Speedway for nearly a decade. It hosted multiple races for NASCAR's lower divisions from 2007 through 2019. It is more than ready to host a Cup race, and could have been on the schedule at any point over the previous three seasons without Fontana ever having to be carved up. 

If NASCAR is willing to return to North Wilkesboro, a track that was abandoned and decrepit for nearly 25 years and still has dated facilities, Iowa is more than qualified to host a race tomorrow, and Iowa could do it for a fraction of the cost. It wouldn't require any refurbishment that is for sure. 

Business decisions aside, Fontana was built as a speed palace meant to dazzle us, and as the surface aged, it became a gritty track, showcasing the best of car control especially as drivers fanned out four and five wide into a corner. That racing cannot be found anywhere else. It will never be recreated either. A true loss.

Musings From the Weekend: And Now We Wait

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Chase Elliott broke his leg on a snowboard. Many pit crew members were delayed getting to Las Vegas, and went right from the airport to the racetrack for the Truck race. More history was made in Daytona. A lengthy wait ended. Esteban Ocon had about every penalty imaginable in Bahrain. McLaren needed a lot of air to complete this race. Indy Lights made a mess of its season opener, and then IndyCar doubled down and made a bigger mess, and the IndyCar season opener is on my mind. 

And Now We Wait

IndyCar was back on track this weekend in St. Petersburg. After 174 days without a race, 27 drivers took to the waterfront streets for a 180-mile race and after two hours, five minutes and 30 seconds, Marcus Ericsson won the 20th Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and Ericsson begins the 2023 season as the championship leader. 

And now we wait. After 174 days of waiting for race one, we will wait 27 days until race number two. In 201 days, IndyCar will have raced once. In that same 201-day time frame, the NASCAR Cup Series will have raced 14 times, Formula One will have run nine races, MotoGP will have completed seven grand prix, the World Rally Championship will have run six rallies, hell, even IMSA will have run three races in that timeframe!

This is old news, but each year it cannot be ignored. IndyCar inevitably stumbles into a month break. 

For the better part of the last decade, this month break has been inescapable. It was once late in the season, as the 2013 season had a month between Baltimore on Labor Day weekend and the Houston doubleheader the first weekend in October after no race could be organized in the middle of September. A round in Mugello, Italy was floated as an option but it never even made a draft of the schedule.

After a few rather condensed schedules, the 2016 season saw St. Petersburg move earlier into March and it created three weeks between it and Phoenix. That gap between round one and round two grew by a week the following season, as Phoenix moved to late April while Long Beach remained mid-April. There was also a three-week break between Mid-Ohio and Pocono at the start of August that year. That month gap between races one and two remained in 2018, even as Phoenix moved back to the second round of the season. There was still a three-week break between Mid-Ohio and Pocono. 

IndyCar got a break in 2019 when Austin joined the schedule at the end of March, but that month break shifted deeper into spring, between Long Beach in April and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. There were still three weeks between Mid-Ohio and Pocono as well. 

Throw out 2020 due to the pandemic and let's be thankful we had any IndyCar races at all. In 2021, even after a delayed start due to pandemic concerns, there was over a month between Mid-Ohio on July 4th and Nashville on August 8, mostly because the Toronto round was cancelled due to travel restrictions, but a year after IndyCar organizing races on the fly, the series decided not to fill an open window in its schedule, even though the television time had already been set aside. Last season, when St. Petersburg returned to the opening round and was held on February 27, but Texas was three weeks later and then there were another three weeks until Long Beach after that. 

This hasn't been a new problem, and everyone knows it must be resolved. 

A month break doesn't have to be the end of the world. Formula One schedules a month off every summer and that hasn't stopped it from growing globally, and most notbaly in IndyCar's backyard, the United States. But it is a bad thing to have a month off after the first race of the season. It is quite baffling that IndyCar would allow itself to immediately step out of the spotlight after it was in hibernation for nearly six months. 

Drivers are even voicing displeasure with the long offseason. They cannot be much happier to have a month off after one race.

IndyCar does have itself confined to a column of North America. The furthest race to the East is Toronto and 12 of 17 races are East of the Mississippi. Three of 16 race weekends are at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

If this is supposed to be a serious national series, it must find a way to have at least one race on the East Coast. It should probably figure out a way to have at least two. There are over 350 million people in the United States. The audience is there. Baltimore drew around 70,000 people on race day. We are nearly a decade removed from the last Baltimore race, but all those people in the Mid-Atlantic region didn't die in the last ten years. Many are still there, and there are many more the series could attract for the first time. 

Between Loudon, Watkins Glen, Pocono, Dover, Richmond, Virginia International Raceway, Charlotte, Darlington, Atlanta, Road Atlanta, Homestead and now North Wilkesboro, there are a dozen tracks on the Eastern Seaboard hosting major series. They aren't all suited for IndyCar, but there are at least two IndyCar could make work. Three were on an IndyCar schedule at some point in the last six years. 

The series has confined itself to the Midwest, but it must expand beyond that section of the country. Everyone involved knows it, but IndyCar cannot keep putting itself in a corner. When the problem has existed for the better part of a decade, IndyCar has been choosing to live with it rather than fix it. It cannot be ignored any longer. 

Laguna Seca is beloved but it doesn't draw a crowd worthy of a season finale. Move it to two weeks after St. Petersburg and then flip Portland and Gateway so the season ends Labor Day weekend, before the start of the NFL season, on an oval. That would be step one toward fixing the problem, eradicating the one-month gap without having to do much heavy lifting. It would be a start. Once that is addressed, we can get into schedule expansion and decreasing the offseason by at least a month. 

Many series are taking chances. NASCAR has added a dirt race, runs a race in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, is constructing a street course in Chicago and is reviving North Wilkesboro after it was abandoned for nearly a quarter century. Formula One is running its most races ever in a season and there are now three races in the United States, which will include a race on the Las Vegas Strip. The bare minimum IndyCar can do is fill the gaps that already exist to create a basic rhythm for its calendar. 

That shouldn't even be considered taking a chance. It is basic common sense. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Marcus Ericsson, but did you know...

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ralph Boschung and Théo Pourchaire split the Formula Two races from Bahrain. It was Boschung's first victory in 96 starts after competing in seven Formula Two seasons. Pepe Martí and Gabriel Bortoleto split the Formula Three races.

Danial Frost won the Indy Lights race from St. Petersburg. Christian Brooks and Myles Rowe split the USF Pro 2000 races. Lochie Hughes and Nikita Johnson split the U.S. F2000 races.

James Daskalos and Memo Gidley split the GT America races from St. Petersburg. Ross Chouest and Jason Bell split the races in the GT4 class.

William Byron won the NASCAR Cup race from Las Vegas. Austin Hill won the Grand National Series race, his second victory in three races this season. Kyle Busch won the Truck race, his 63rd Truck victory.

Álvaro Bautista (race one and race two) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (SuperPole) split the World Superbike races from Mandalika. Can Öncü and Federico Caricasulo split the World Supersport races.

Eli Tomac won the Supercross race from Daytona, his fifth victory of the season, his seventh Daytona victory and his 49th career victory, breaking a tie with Ricky Carmichael for third all-time.

Coming Up This Weekend

NASCAR moves down to Phoenix.

There will be the Daytona 200.

Supercars opens its season with a return to Newcastle. 

Supercross moves north to Indianapolis.

First Impressions: St. Petersburg 2023

1. Marcus Ericsson steals another one! In a race where Scott McLaughlin and Romain Grosjean collided while battling for the top spot during a pit cycle, every Andretti Autosport car had an accident, two of which got airborne, and Patricio O'Ward suffered an over-boost issue exiting the final corner with four laps to go, Ericsson capitalized and took the victory. 

Ericsson looked good all weekend, but never looked like the car to beat. In all four of his victories, Ericsson has never been the best car. In his Ericsson's four career victories, he has led five laps, 37 laps, 13 laps and four laps. 

Fortune is Ericsson's best friend, but he puts himself in these positions to take advantage when Will Power cannot restart, a million cautions happen at Nashville, Scott Dixon speeds entering the pit lane at the Indianapolis and now today. 

Ericsson was probably going to finish in the top ten today, maybe the top five, but he never looked like a podium contender until the very end when McLaughlin and Grosjean were in the tires. 

Last year, Ericsson had a good start, but fell back in the second half of the season. He couldn't match the results of Will Power to push for the championship. He also had double points from the Indianapolis 500. There are no double points this season. Ericsson will need to be at another level this season. He is starting on the right foot.

2. Misfortune giveth and misfortune taketh away. Misfortune was set to give Patricio O'Ward victory in St. Petersburg, but exiting the final corner on lap 96, over-boost in the engine tripped up O'Ward and dropped him to second. Momentum was gone and Ericsson swept through and into victory lane. 

O'Ward is beating himself up, but it was out of his control what happened in the engine, and he did plenty right to win this race. 

For starters, O'Ward conserved his alternate tires in the opening stint. It cost him some time early, but it made up some positions through the first pit cycle. It kept O'Ward in the top five for most of this race, and as the final pit stop approached, he was able to stop and come out ahead of Scott Dixon and Álex Palou, though the Ganassi drivers had made their final pit stops prior to O'Ward. 

Once Scott McLaughlin cleaned himself and Romain Grosjean out of the way, O'Ward was the man in third to inherit the lead. Somebody was going to get lucky today. Unfortunately, O'Ward ended up on the wrong side of luck just when it looked like he was going to skate through. 

3. Scott Dixon has a habit of winning these races. It wasn't a victory but it was damn close to it.

Dixon nearly got the lead in the first pit cycle when Conor Daly spun. Instead, Dixon was moved to fourth due to not reaching the blend line in time. Still, Dixon kept himself at the front. The only difference is Ericsson got himself in the right position before the McLaughlin-Grosjean incident happened. 

Third is a good start to the season. Dixon had a slow start last year, and he has been known for slow starts. Giving him third off the crack of the bat could be costly to his competitors. 

4. This finish was about four spots better than Alexander Rossi deserved today. Rossi did well in his Arrow McLaren debut, worthy of a top ten, and keeping his nose clean got him fourth. It was mostly a good weekend for the McLaren team. Rossi is new to the group. He wasn't that far off his teammates. All three McLaren drivers made the second round of qualifying. Rossi doesn't have a great record at St. Petersburg, but he got something good out of this one. It is a good start for his McLaren stint.

5. Bravo Callum Ilott! From 22nd to fifth. Ilott avoided all the chaos. When the dust cleared, Ilott was able to make up ground and mix it up with the big boys. He isn't going to be with Juncos Hollinger Racing for long. He was wonderful last year. Smart moves earned him his first career top five finish and JHR's first top five finish. 

If Ganassi is looking for a driver for its fourth car or if Penske is looking to expand back to four or if Andretti Autosport wants to strengthen its lineup or if McLaren just wants to be menace on the driver market again, Ilott is probably at the top of the pile.  

6. Graham Rahal went from 20th to sixth. That sounds about right. Rahal does nothing great in qualifying, drives smart over the entire race and ends up solidly in the top ten. This is backbone of Rahal's career. He will probably do this five more times this season. If this team can find any qualifying pace, not only will Rahal be on the podium, but he will likely be on the top step. 

7. Will Power recovered from a penalty for bumping Colton Herta in the turn eight tires to finish seventh. I would have been fine with the decision going either way. Power is overtaken and going into turn eight he lunges up the inside with contact putting Herta into the tires. 

It wasn't that dissimilar to the Scott Dixon-Felix Rosenqvist contact on the opening lap. The difference is Power was entering a 90º corner and he wasn't really side-by-side with Herta. Power clipped Herta once and then got Herta again mid-corner, the second hit ending Herta's race. I can see how that is a penalty. If nothing was called, I could have lived with either. 

Ultimately, Power pulled out a seventh-place finish, a fair result.

8. Álex Palou had a moment coming to the final restart. Palou went wide in the final corner and basically gave up four spots right then and there. He was restarting fourth and couldn't recover. Palou was in the top ten for this entire race, but he never really asserted himself, which isn't a bad thing. It is a good start to the season but it could have been better.

9. Christian Lundgaard is the "did nothing and finished ninth" driver today. Lundgaard really didn't do much. He started 11th and every time you looked up, Lundgaard was somewhere between ninth and 12th. Considering the days other drivers had, this is not a bad start to the season for the Dane. A double top ten day for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is a great finish considering where this weekend started. 

10. David Malukas avoided the mess and finished tenth. Malukas showed great pace on street courses last season. The finishes didn't always match that. It wasn't the best weekend from Malukas, but he persevered and pulled out a top ten. 

11. Marcus Armstrong had a good race and then had a tire cut down during the race. It took Armstrong out of the fight for more, but he still pulled out an 11th-place result. That is what you want as a rookie on debut. He qualified 13th, and he finished 11th. Nothing revolutionary, but a good start.

12. Agustín Canapino ended up 12th on debut in what is basically his third open-wheel race ever and more than a decade after running one round in South American Formula Three. We are going to learn a lot about Canapino this season, but through one race weekend and testing, he found more comfort in an IndyCar than some drivers who have spent eight years in single-seater racing ever reach. Canapino probably was gifted six to eight spots today just through attrition. He wasn't the cause of any of it though. That is a big win in race one for the Argentine.

13. Now we come to Scott McLaughlin. In the first pit cycle, McLaughlin leaped ahead of Romain Grosjean on his out lap with the New Zealander getting to the inside of turn four and preventing Grosjean from getting the position. About 35 laps later, the two drivers were in the identical situation. This time Grosjean didn't back out, but McLaughlin didn't have control of his car either. McLaughlin slid into the Frenchman entering the corner sending both into the tires. 

McLaughlin or Grosjean should have won this race. They led a combined 68 of 100 laps. Grosjean lost the lead after the first round of pit stops because he likely went a lap or two too long on the alternate compound. Grosjean opened a healthy gap early in the race but at the end of the stint he was coughing up time. He stayed in touching distance of the lead the entire time after losing the top spot, and he really looked better than McLaughlin in the middle section of the race. 

Whoever made it through turn four first would have won the race. Neither did and neither won. 

It was two drivers unwilling to give. I don't think McLaughlin did anything all that reckless. I don't think it was a dangerous move. He just got it a little wrong under braking. Grosjean had the right line. It is shame because both drivers deserved to win. Grosjean had his first career victory ripped from his hands. 

14. I am going to start picking off teams. Ed Carpenter Racing looked bad all weekend. Rinus VeeKay had some bursts of speed, but still qualified 24th and then ran wide in turn four on a restart, parked it in the tires and was clipped by Jack Harvey and Kyle Kirkwood. That was race over after 41 laps. 

Conor Daly has been one of the slowest since testing. He didn't look competitive this weekend. Contact with Kirkwood may have spun him, but he didn't lose much with that spin. Daly still finished 14th because of the number of accidents but that is way too generous for the weekend he had. 

I will tackle Harvey here as well. He was around the top ten for a good portion of this race. He was in the wrong place when VeeKay got into the tires. Harvey had nowhere to go and then Kirkwood had nowhere to go once those two were together. Harvey was shaken up after the accident. He appeared to be favoring his left arm and went to hospital. Let's hope we only hear good news as the night goes on.

15. Where to begin with Andretti Autosport? 

We covered Grosjean, but he was going to paper over a very flawed day for Andretti Autosport. 

Kyle Kirkwood is 15th in the record book for this 2023 season opener, but the strategy to start on alternate tires for him and Colton Herta cost both drivers. Kirkwood fell to 14th before his first pit stop. Herta went from second to eighth once that cycle finished. Neither driver did a good job conserving those tires early on, unlike O'Ward. O'Ward gained positions and those two lost out significantly. 

If Andretti Autosport was going to let those two run hard on those tires, it should have committed to a three-stop strategy, not let those guys run hard for 20 laps, realize they were screwed and then crossed their finishers that they could run eight more laps and not lose any ground. With the way this race went, a three-stop strategy may have worked out. 

Once Kirkwood lost those positions, his day was screwed. He clipped Daly, nothing serious, but then had nowhere to go when VeeKay and Harvey collided, leading Kirkwood to climb over Harvey's parked vehicle. Somehow, Kirkwood's car was still good enough to drive and complete 97 laps in this race, but the one thing Kirkwood cannot afford to do this season is get into accidents. He had two this weekend. 

We saw Kirkwood's best in him qualifying in the Firestone Fast Six, but he must eradicate his worst quality if he hopes to be with Andretti Autosport long-term. 

As for Herta, we have seen him struggle on alternate tires at the end of stints before. I don't know why Andretti Autosport would think that strategy is the right call for this driver. If you are going to start Herta on alternate tires then the strategy must be to get him off those tires immediately. If the team doesn't want to do that then it must start on the primary tire. 

The poor strategy knocked Herta down the order and put him in position to be drilled into the barrier when Will Power was desperate not to lose a position. Herta could have been in the top five at that point and away from that mess. Instead, his season opener ends in a retirement and trying to fight from behind in the championship. Andretti Autosport must do better. Some of these are self-inflicted mistakes. 

16. Let's cover the accident at the start in as close to chronological order as possible. 

Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist are side-by-side through turn three: Racing incident. Neither driver didn't anything dangerous. They were side-by-side, there was slight contact, Rosenqvist ended up brushing the wall, puncturing a tire and bending suspension. It effectively ended Rosenqvist's day and I wish he could have gotten to run the entire race.

The field stacks up and Santino Ferrucci runs into the back of Hélio Castroneves: It is a chain reaction. It doesn't look good when a driver runs into the back of another. It especially doesn't look good when the driver running over another is Ferrucci, who wasn't full-time last year and he is driving for A.J. Foyt Racing. 

Devlin DeFrancesco gets hit from behind off of Jack Harvey's front wing and pinballs into Castroneves: DeFrancesco had nowhere to go, and is a victim of the circumstances. Harvey couldn't see the Castroneves incident. DeFrancesco gets the worst of that, but it would somehow get worse from there.

Sting Ray Robb swerves to the right to avoid the accident, but moves into the path of a speedy Simon Pagenaud: Again, a chain reaction, neither driver had anywhere to go. Robb's damage was minimal and he was able to continue, but Robb spent the entire race multiple laps down. Pagenaud was done. Not a way Pagenaud hoped his 200th start would go. 

Benjamin Pedersen comes flying in and slams into the side of DeFrancesco, launching the Canadian into the air: I don't know what Pedersen was doing here. It was a chain reaction, but he was so far back that he shouldn't have been carrying that much speed into the scene of the accident. This is Pedersen's first IndyCar race. He didn't do wonders to earn the trust of his competitors today in only about three corners of racing. 

It is incredible DeFrancesco was not seriously hurt in that accident. It is a testament to the safety of this Dallara chassis. I don't want to see it tested that way again. 

17. We haven't mentioned one driver... Josef Newgarden.

This was not a great weekend for Josef Newgarden. He never looked great. Practice pace wasn't there. He couldn't make it out of the first round of qualifying. Newgarden looked a little better in the race, but he was only in the top ten late because of attrition and the McLaughlin-Grosjean accident put him in the top five. However, like Palou, Newgarden ran wide in the final corner coming to the restart after the McLaughlin-Grosjean accident and Newgarden gave away a handful of positions. 

Then Newgarden lost the engine five laps from the finish. Seventeenth is a harsh final result. Eighth would have been suitable for his weekend. For the second year in a row, Newgarden starts the season behind the eight-ball. He won two of the first three races last season, but Newgarden probably doesn't want to keep leaning on that being the way he starts a season in hopes of earning a third championship.

18. This wasn't the greatest race IndyCar has ever had. There were some good sections. I wish we had got to see McLaughlin and Grosjean race to the finish. The marbles were notable in this race. I don't know if Roger Penske cut back on the sweepers to get more money in the promotional budget, but I don't think the track was swept once and there were multiple chances to do so, including before the final restart with just under 25 laps to go. 

Between the marbles, the alternate tires wearing quickly, and the new surface between turns three and seven, the cars were more on edge than we have seen in previous years at St. Petersburg. 

I was happy that Firestone brought an alternate tire where a team got a strong 20 laps but then the final ten to 15 laps would be daunting. That is what the alternate tire compound should be. It should feel like a driver is flying early in the stint and then about halfway through have the driver go "oh no" because they are going to be skating and still have to go quite a distance to reach the end of the fuel window. 

That is the balance we should want. The alternate is strong at the start, but at the end it is significantly inferior to the primary compound. The field came together at the end of that first stint. It was fantastic to watch and it swung the race. 

19. Kudos to St. Petersburg because the crowd looked stellar. The grandstands on the inside of the pit lane were apparently larger this year. The grandstand at the outside of turn ten looked bigger as well. People were lined up all along the fence, especially on the outside of the straightaway leading to turn ten. Boats are out in force in the marina with spectators hanging out. This is a great race for early March. This is a great place to start the season at.

This was the 20th Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and we know it will be on the schedule the next two seasons. Most street races are lucky to go beyond three to five years. St. Petersburg is now firmly in the conversation with Long Beach and Toronto. It is an exceptional event. The race is usually respectable. Today wasn't that bad. It at least wasn't predictable. I look forward to next year. 

20. Until next year, we will wait for the next race in 2023, and it almost feels like it is a year away. It is only a month until the Texas race, but nobody wants to wait that long. 

Morning Warm-Up: St. Petersburg 2023

Romain Grosjean begins the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season from pole position for the Firestone Grand prix of St. Petersburg. Grosjean took pole position with a lap of 59.5532 seconds, 0.4155 seconds faster than Colton Herta, who rounds out an all-Andretti Autosport front row. This is Grosjean's second career pole position. In the previous two seasons, the opening race has seen a first time winner. This will be the Frenchman's 31st career start. Only two drivers had their first career victory come in the 31st start of a career. They are Tony Kanaan and Airton Daré. Grosjean did not have a top five finish in the final nine races of 2022. Prior to the 2022 season, he had never gone more than three races without a top five finish. He was fifth last year at St. Petersburg. 

Colton Herta will start second. It is the first time Andretti Autosport has swept the front row since Laguna Seca 2021. Herta won that race. This is the four consecutive St. Petersburg race Herta has started in the top three. He has three top ten finishes in four St. Petersburg starts with his worst finish being 11th. Herta has finished outside the top five in the last three races. He has not gone four consecutive races without a top five finish since his rookie season when he went 13 races without a top five result.

Patricio O'Ward qualified third, 0.4631 seconds off pole position. This is the eighth consecutive race O'Ward has started in the top ten. Six of those are top five starting positions. He has four top five results and five top ten results in his last seven races. O'Ward was the top Arrow McLaren finisher in 11 of 17 races last season. St. Petersburg has never been won from the third starting position. 

Marcus Ericsson starts fourth, his best St. Petersburg starting position. Ericsson was 0.8903 seconds off Grosjean. This is the fifth time in the last 18 races Ericsson has started in the top five. He had two top five starts in the first 46 starts of his career. Ericsson has not finished in the top five in his last seven starts. Ericsson had five top five finishes in the ten races prior to this slump. 

Kyle Kirkwood will start fifth after what was his first Firestone Fast Six appearance of his career. However, an accident in the first corner of his fast lap erased any chance at pole position. Kirkwood has not finished in the top ten in his last 14 starts. His only career top ten finish was tenth at Long Beach last April.

Scott McLaughlin also caused a red flag in the final round of qualifying, negating his fastest laps, and leaving him sixth on the grid. McLaughlin has finished in the top ten in his last six starts and in nine of his previous ten starts. During that stretch McLaughlin has two victories, five podium finishes and six top five results. In his previous 24 starts, he had one victory, three podium finishes and four top five results. 

Álex Palou missed out on the Fast Six by 0.0095 seconds and he will start seventh. Palou is coming off winning the Laguna Seca season finale in 2022. He won that race from 11th starting position. Palou has never won consecutive races in his IndyCar career. He has finished on the podium after two of his first three victories in his IndyCar career. 

Felix Rosenqvist qualified eighth, and this will be the second consecutive race he has started eighth. Rosenqvist started eighth in three races last season, and he finished in the top five in each of those three events. He ended last season with ten top ten finishes in the final 13 races. Rosenqvist had seven top ten finishes in his previous 32 starts. His average finish in season openers is 15.5 and his average finish at St. Petersburg is 12.75.

Scott Dixon is ninth in car #9, as Dixon was 0.0324 seconds off the Fast Six. Dixon has six consecutive top ten finishes at St. Petersburg, but Dixon is still looking for his first victory at the track. Dixon has never won the season opener when it has been at a road or street circuit. All three of his season opening victories were on ovals. In all three of those seasons Dixon went on to win the championship. 

Will Power will start tenth. This is only the third time Power has qualified outside the top five in 16 St. Petersburg appearances. It is only the fourth time Power has qualified off the front row at St. Petersburg. He has finished on the podium in seven of 17 season openers. However, he has never finished fourth or fifth in a season opener in his career.  

Christian Lundgaard ended up 11th in qualifying, the only non-Penske, Ganassi or Andretti entry to make it to the second round. Lundgaard made it out of the first round of qualifying five times last season. The Dane was the 2022 IndyCar Rookie of the Year. The last three Rookies of the Year won a race in their sophomore season. 

Alexander Rossi makes his Arrow McLaren debut from 12th starting position. Rossi has finished outside the top ten in five of seven St. Petersburg starts, and Rossi has an average finish of 13.285 in this event. He has finished 20th or worse the last three seasons at St. Petersburg. The only time Rossi has won from a starting position worse than third was 11th in the 100th Indianapolis 500, his first career victory. 

Marcus Armstrong makes his IndyCar debut from 13th position. Armstrong fell 0.1140 seconds short of advancing to round two on debut. Armstrong will become the eighth New Zealander to start an IndyCar race. This will be the first IndyCar race with three New Zealand drivers competing. The last time an IndyCar race was won from 13th position was Texas 2016, which Graham Rahal won. 

Josef Newgarden starts 14th after coming 0.0394 seconds shy of advancing from round one. Newgarden had made it out of round one in the previous four St. Petersburg races. He has failed to finish in the top fifteen in the last two season openers and in four of 11 season openers in his career. Newgarden's average finish in the season opener is 12.272.

Hélio Castroneves will roll off from 15th position. Castroneves started in the top ten in each of his first 11 St. Petersburg starts, but this will be the third consecutive time he starts outside the top ten in this race. Castroneves has not finished in the top five on a street course since he was second in the 2016 Toronto race. 

David Malukas wound up 16th on the grid. Malukas had started in top ten in three consecutive street course races and he had made it out of the first round of qualifying in six consecutive road/street course events. His average finish on street courses last year was 18th. His average starting position on street courses last year was 12.2.

Santino Ferrucci will start 17th, his best starting position for a St. Petersburg race. Ferrucci has six top ten finishes in his last eight starts. Ferrucci has finished ninth and 23rd in his two St. Petersburg starts. A.J. Foyt Racing has had at least one top ten finisher in six of the last ten St. Petersburg races.

Devlin DeFrancesco starts 18th for the second consecutive year at St. Petersburg. Last year, DeFrancesco ended up 22nd in the final result and completed all 100 laps. DeFrancesco ended 2022 with three top fifteen finishes in the final six races after he had zero top fifteen finishes in the first 11 races of the season. 

Jack Harvey leads an all-Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing row ten. Harvey has finished in the top ten at St. Petersburg in each of the last two odd-numbered years. Harvey had only one top ten finish in 2023 and he has not finished in the top five in his last 18 starts. 

Graham Rahal rounds out the top twenty. This is the 18th time in the last 20 races Rahal has started outside the top ten. His only top five finish in a season opener was his runner-up result at St. Petersburg in 2018. Rahal has only five top ten finishes in 15 St. Petersburg starts, three of which were his first three starts in this race from 2008 to 2010. 

Agustín Canapino starts his IndyCar career from the 21st position, and ahead of his teammate as Canapino leads an all-Juncos Hollinger Racing row 11. Canapino will become the ninth Argentine driver to start an IndyCar race. The best finish for an Argentine driver was sixth at the hands of Gastón Mazzacane in the 2004 Toronto race. 

Callum Ilott will start from 22nd position for the fourth time in his career, but this will be his first time starting 22nd on a road or street course. Ilott started 22nd in both Iowa races last year and at Gateway as well. The worst starting position for a St. Petersburg winner is 21st. Ilott's best finish on a street course last season was 14th at Toronto. Ilott's average street course finish was 18th. 

Sting Ray Robb starts 23rd for his IndyCar debut. Robb has made 11 starts at St. Petersburg in Road to Indy competition. Robb won at the track in Indy Pro 2000 in 2020. Along with that victory he had seven top five finishes in those 11 starts.

Rinus VeeKay starts 24th, his worst starting position since he started 24th in the final two races of the 2021 season. VeeKay had started in the top ten in all three of his previous St. Petersburg appearances. He has finished sixth in the season opener the last two years. No IndyCar race has ever been won from the 24th starting position.

Simon Pagenaud brought out a red flag in qualifying, which relegated Pagenaud to 25th on the grid. This will be Pagenaud's 200th start. No driver has won in their 200th IndyCar start. All century mark race winners have come in a driver's 100th start, which include A.J. Foyt, Roger McCluskey, Mario Andretti, Mike Mosley and Patrick Carpentier. The best finish for a driver in his 200th start is second. It has happened three times, first with Gordon Johncock at Atlanta in 1979, then with Al Unser, Jr. at Michigan in 1995 and Paul Tracy was second at Portland in 2003. 

Conor Daly will start 26th position, his worst starting position on a road/street course in his career. Daly has started 26th or worse three times in the Indianapolis 500. His best starting position at St. Petersburg is 14th and this will be the fifth time he has started outside the top fifteen in this race. Daly has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive starts. Daly has never had four consecutive results outside the top twenty in his IndyCar career. 

Benjamin Pedersen begins his IndyCar career from 27th on the grid, the only car on row 14. Only once has an IndyCar race been won from the 27th starting position. That was Fred Frame in the 1932 Indianapolis 500. Pedersen was second in last year's Indy Lights race at St. Petersburg.

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

Let's Look at the League - 2023 Season

For the fifth consecutive year, we are bringing back the IndyCar head-to-head league format.

Imagine if IndyCar was treated as a sports league where each week teams compete head-to-head against one another. Each victory counts in the league standings with the top records leading to a playoff berth and the worst teams having to fight for their safety in the top division while a lower division promotes the best second-tier teams for the following year. 

That is what we have here. With an expanding IndyCar grid, setting up this year's league format was the toughest by far. 

Where were we?

Last season was the first time Josef Newgarden and the #2 Penske entry did not win the league championship. Newgarden lost in the semifinals to Scott McLaughlin. We did get a fourth consecutive Penske championship though. 

Will Power defeated Scott McLaughlin in the final and did "The Double," taking the real championship and the league championship.

Marcus Ericsson was the other semifinalist while Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean were the other playoff drivers. Álex Palou and Simon Pagenaud both missed out on the playoffs, fifth in their respective conferences. Patricio O'Ward and David Malukas each won the first round of the relegation playoff to remain safe for another season. Colton Herta defeated Jack Harvey in the relegation final to remain in the top league while the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry was dropped to the second division. 

Along with Harvey, also relegated was Christian Lundgaard in the #30 RLLR entry and Takuma Sato in the #51 Dale Coyne Racing entry. 

Who was promoted? The #7 Arrow McLaren SP entry with Felix Rosenqvist, the #48 Chip Ganassi Racing entry with Jimmie Johnson and the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing entry with Rinus VeeKay.

How do things look for 2023 then?

Conference One

#12 Penske

#3 Penske

#10 Ganassi

#7 AMSP

#27 Andretti

#21 ECR

#28 Andretti

#11 Ganassi

Conference Two

#2 Penske

#9 Ganassi

#8 Ganassi

#5 AMSP

#26 Andretti

#15 RLLR

#60 MSR

#18 DCR

The only note is the #48 Ganassi entry switched numbers, but the rest of the entries are unchanged.

What about the schedule? 

Schedule

League One:

Week 1 (ST. PETERSBURG):

#12 Penske vs. #11 Ganassi

#3 Penske vs. #28 Andretti

#10 Ganassi vs. #21 ECR

#7 McLaren vs. #27 Andretti

#2 Penske vs. #18 DCR

#9 Ganassi vs. #60 MSR

#8 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR

#5 McLaren vs. #26 Andretti

 

Week 2 (TEXAS):

#12 Penske vs. #28 Andretti

#3 Penske vs. #11 Ganassi

#10 Ganassi vs. #27 Andretti

#7 McLaren vs. #21 ECR

#2 Penske vs. #60 MSR

#9 Ganassi vs. #18 DCR

#8 Ganassi vs. #26 Andretti

#5 McLaren vs. #15 RLLR

 

Week 3 (LONG BEACH):

#12 Penske vs. #21 ECR

#3 Penske vs. #27 Andretti

#10 Ganassi vs. #11 Ganassi

#7 McLaren vs. #28 Andretti

#2 Penske vs. #15 RLLR

#9 Ganassi vs. #26 Andretti

#8 Ganassi vs. #18 DCR

#5 McLaren vs. #60 MSR

 

Week 4 (BARBER):

#12 Penske vs. #27 Andretti

#3 Penske vs. #21 ECR

#10 Ganassi vs. #28 Andretti

#7 McLaren vs. #11 Ganassi

#2 Penske vs. #26 Andretti

#9 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR

#8 Ganassi vs. #60 MSR

#5 McLaren vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 5 (GPOI):

#12 Penske vs. #7 McLaren

#3 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi

#27 Andretti vs. #11 Ganassi

#28 Andretti vs. #21 ECR

#2 Penske vs. #5 McLaren

#9 Ganassi vs. #8 Ganassi

#26 Andretti vs. #18 DCR

#15 RLLR vs. #60 MSR

Week 6 (INDIANAPOLIS 500):

#12 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi

#3 Penske vs. #7 McLaren

#27 Andretti vs. #28 Andretti

#21 ECR vs. #11 Ganassi

#2 Penske vs. #8 Ganassi

#9 Ganassi vs. #5 McLaren

#26 Andretti vs. #60 MSR

#15 RLLR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 7 (DETROIT):

#12 Penske vs. #3 Penske

#10 Ganassi vs. #7 McLaren

#27 Andretti vs. #21 ECR

#28 Andretti vs. #11 Ganassi

#2 Penske vs. #9 Ganassi

#8 Ganassi vs. #5 McLaren

#26 Andretti vs. #15 RLLR

#60 MSR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 8 (ROAD AMERICA):

#12 Penske vs. #11 Ganassi

#3 Penske vs. #28 Andretti

#10 Ganassi vs. #21 ECR

#7 McLaren vs. #27 Andretti

#2 Penske vs. #18 DCR

#9 Ganassi vs. #60 MSR

#8 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR

#5 McLaren vs. #26 Andretti

 

Week 9 (MID-OHIO):

#12 Penske vs. #28 Andretti

#3 Penske vs. #11 Ganassi

#10 Ganassi vs. #27 Andretti

#7 McLaren vs. #21 ECR

#2 Penske vs. #60 MSR

#9 Ganassi vs. #18 DCR

#8 Ganassi vs. #26 Andretti

#5 McLaren vs. #15 RLLR

 

Week 10 (TORONTO):

#12 Penske vs. #21 ECR

#3 Penske vs. #27 Andretti

#10 Ganassi vs. #11 Ganassi

#7 McLaren vs. #28 Andretti

#2 Penske vs. #15 RLLR

#9 Ganassi vs. #26 Andretti

#8 Ganassi vs. #18 DCR

#5 McLaren vs. #60 MSR

 

Week 11 (IOWA):

#12 Penske vs. #27 Andretti

#3 Penske vs. #21 ECR

#10 Ganassi vs. #28 Andretti

#7 McLaren vs. #11 Ganassi

#2 Penske vs. #26 Andretti

#9 Ganassi vs. #15 RLLR

#8 Ganassi vs. #60 MSR

#5 McLaren vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 12 (IOWA):

#12 Penske vs. #7 McLaren

#3 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi

#27 Andretti vs. #11 Ganassi

#28 Andretti vs. #21 ECR

#2 Penske vs. #5 McLaren

#9 Ganassi vs. #8 Ganassi

#26 Andretti vs. #18 DCR

#15 RLLR vs. #60 MSR

 

Week 13 (NASHVILLE):

#12 Penske vs. #10 Ganassi

#3 Penske vs. #7 McLaren

#27 Andretti vs. #28 Andretti

#21 ECR vs. #11 Ganassi

#2 Penske vs. #8 Ganassi

#9 Ganassi vs. #5 McLaren

#26 Andretti vs. #60 MSR

#15 RLLR vs. #18 DCR

 

Week 14 (IMS ROAD COURSE):

#12 Penske vs. #3 Penske

#10 Ganassi vs. #7 McLaren

#27 Andretti vs. #21 ECR

#28 Andretti vs. #11 Ganassi

#2 Penske vs. #9 Ganassi

#8 Ganassi vs. #5 McLaren

#26 Andretti vs. #15 RLLR

#60 MSR vs. #18 DCR

The playoff format remains the same. Top four from each conference advance while the bottom team in each conference will be relegated. Before speaking about any type of promotion/relegation playoff, we need to discuss the difficulty of setting up League Two this year. 

League Two

IndyCar expansion caused a problem. With 27 full-time entries, it meant 11 cars were left for League Two. It is not easy to split 11 teams into two conferences. Three divisions was considered. You could do either, but it didn't quite pan out.

I don't like to do this, but this will be one 11-team table, double round-robin format. To make this happen, it will require every oval qualifying session to be counted as a head-to-head matchup. What happens if oval qualifying is cancelled? Entrants' points will decide the matchup. I don't like it. I wish there was a 12th team and then it could be split into either two groups of six or three groups of four. Maybe next year it will be easier. 

Who are the participants?

League Two

#6 McLaren

#30 RLLR

#20 ECR

#06 MSR

#51 DCR

#45 RLLR

#77 JHR

#29 Andretti

#14 Foyt

#55 Foyt

#78 JHR

What is the schedule?

Schedule

League Two:

Week 1 (ST. PETERSBURG):

#30 RLLR vs. #78 JHR

#20 ECR vs. #55 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #14 Foyt

#51 DCR vs. #29 Andretti

#45 RLLR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 2 (TEXAS QUALIFYING):

#6 McLaren vs. #78 JHR

#30 RLLR vs. #55 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #14 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #29 Andretti

#51 DCR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 3 (TEXAS):

#6 McLaren vs. #55 Foyt

#30 RLLR vs. #14 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #29 Andretti

#06 MSR vs. #77 JHR

#51 DCR vs. #45 RLLR

 

Week 4 (LONG BEACH):

#6 McLaren vs. #14 Foyt

#30 RLLR vs. #29 Andretti

#20 ECR vs. #77 JHR

#06 MSR vs. #45 RLLR

#55 Foyt vs. #78 JHR

 

Week 5 (BARBER):

#6 McLaren vs. #29 Andretti

#30 RLLR vs. #77 JHR

#20 ECR vs. #45 RLLR

#06 MSR vs. #51 DCR

#14 Foyt vs. #78 JHR

Week 6 (GPOI):

#6 McLaren vs. #77 JHR

#30 RLLR vs. #45 RLLR

#20 ECR vs. #51 DCR

#29 Andretti vs. #78 JHR

#14 Foyt vs. #55 Foyt

 

Week 7 (INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING):

#6 McLaren vs. #45 RLLR

#30 RLLR vs. #51 DCR

#20 ECR vs. #06 MSR

#77 JHR vs. #78 JHR

#29 Andretti vs. #55 Foyt

 

Week 8 (INDIANAPOLIS 500):

#6 McLaren vs. #51 DCR

#30 RLLR vs. #06 MSR

#45 RLLR vs. #78 JHR

#77 JHR vs. #55 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #14 Foyt

Week 9 (DETROIT):

#6 McLaren vs. #06 MSR

#30 RLLR vs. #20 ECR

#51 DCR vs. #78 JHR

#45 RLLR vs. #55 Foyt

#77 JHR vs. #14 Foyt

 

Week 10 (ROAD AMERICA):

#6 McLaren vs. #20 ECR

#06 MSR vs. #78 JHR

#51 DCR vs. #55 Foyt

#45 RLLR vs. #14 Foyt

#77 JHR vs. #29 Andretti

 

Week 11 (MID-OHIO):

#6 McLaren vs. #30 RLLR

#20 ECR vs. #78 JHR

#06 MSR vs #55 Foyt

#51 DCR vs. #14 Foyt

#45 RLLR vs. #29 Andretti

 

Week 12 (TORONTO):

#30 RLLR vs. #78 JHR

#20 ECR vs. #55 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #14 Foyt

#51 DCR vs. #29 Andretti

#45 RLLR vs. #77 JHR

 

Week 13 (IOWA I QUALIFYING):

#6 McLaren vs. #78 JHR

#30 RLLR vs. #55 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #14 Foyt

#06 MSR vs. #29 Andretti

#51 DCR vs. #77 JHR

Week 14 (IOWA II QUALIFYING):

#6 McLaren vs. #55 Foyt

#30 RLLR vs. #14 Foyt

#20 ECR vs. #29 Andretti

#06 MSR vs. #77 JHR

#51 DCR vs. #45 RLLR

Week 15 (IOWA I):

#6 McLaren vs. #14 Foyt

#30 RLLR vs. #29 Andretti

#20 ECR vs. #77 JHR

#06 MSR vs. #45 RLLR

#55 Foyt vs. #78 JHR

Week 16 (IOWA II):

#6 McLaren vs. #29 Andretti

#30 RLLR vs. #77 JHR

#20 ECR vs. #45 RLLR

#06 MSR vs. #51 DCR

#14 Foyt vs. #78 JHR

Week 17 (NASHVILLE):

#6 McLaren vs. #77 JHR

#30 RLLR vs. #45 RLLR

#20 ECR vs. #51 DCR

#29 Andretti vs. #78 JHR

#14 Foyt vs. #55 Foyt

 

Week 18 (IMS ROAD COURSE):

#6 McLaren vs. #45 RLLR

#30 RLLR vs. #51 DCR

#20 ECR vs. #06 MSR

#77 JHR vs. #78 JHR

#29 Andretti vs. #55 Foyt

 

Week 19 (GATEWAY QUALIFYING):

#6 McLaren vs. #51 DCR

#30 RLLR vs. #06 MSR

#45 RLLR vs. #78 JHR

#77 JHR vs. #55 Foyt

#29 Andretti vs. #14 Foyt

Week 20 (GATEWAY):

#6 McLaren vs. #06 MSR

#30 RLLR vs. #20 ECR

#51 DCR vs. #78 JHR

#45 RLLR vs. #55 Foyt

#77 JHR vs. #14 Foyt

Week 21 (PORTLAND):

#6 McLaren vs. #20 ECR

#06 MSR vs. #78 JHR

#51 DCR vs. #55 Foyt

#45 RLLR vs. #14 Foyt

#77 JHR vs. #29 Andretti

Week 22 (LAGUNA SECA):

#6 McLaren vs. #30 RLLR

#20 ECR vs. #78 JHR

#06 MSR vs #55 Foyt

#51 DCR vs. #14 Foyt

#45 RLLR vs. #29 Andretti

Since League Two is using nearly every possible session, the top three will be promoted to League One in 2024. 

As for the final relegation spot from League One, the relegation playoff will return. Fifth in each conference will be safe. Sixth and seventh from each conference will face one another in the relegation playoff semifinals. The winners will maintain a spot in League One. The losers will face off with the winner staying up and the loser going down.

Does Newgarden get back on top? Will a Penske driver win a fifth league title? Can someone else pull off a stunner? Could a front-runner be relegated? We will revisit this over the course of the season. 

Previous league results:

2019 

2020

2021

2022

Track Walk: St. Petersburg 2023

The first round of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the 20th Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It is the 13th time St. Petersburg has opened an IndyCar season. Only three times has the St. Petersburg winner gone on to win the championship, most recently in 2014 with Will Power, who is the defending IndyCar champion. Team Penske has won 11 of 19 St. Petersburg races including three of the last four and six of the last nine. The last two St. Petersburg races have been the fastest St. Petersburg races, each exceeding 96.5 mph. Last year's race took place at an average speed of 96.899 mph.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday March 5 with green flag scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:00 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 2:15 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 9:00 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 12:30 p.m. ET (100 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Out of the Desert

At the start of the month, IndyCar completed its series test at The Thermal Club out in Palm Spring, California. An unknown track and one that hosts no other events in the 2023 IndyCar season, the results have no direct carry over to the season, but at the moment it is the only measuring stick ahead of the opening weekend of the season. 

The 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson topped the two-day test and led a Honda 1-2-3 in Palm Springs. Ericsson had the fastest lap at 98.4223 seconds, just 0.1459 seconds quicker than fellow Scandinavian Christian Lundgaard while Kyle Kirkwood, in his first series sanctioned session with Andretti Autosport, 0.3662 seconds behind Ericsson. 

The top Chevrolet was Callum Ilott in fourth. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver was 0.4181 seconds back while rookie Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, making it four Honda drivers in the top five, with Armstrong 0.4186 seconds off his teammate. 

Defending champion Will Power was sixth ahead of 2021 champion Álex Palou while Scott McLaughlin was the final driver within a half-second of Ericsson on top. Felix Rosenqvist was the top Arrow McLaren driver in ninth while Scott Dixon rounded out the top ten, making it three Ganassi drivers in the top ten. 

Simon Pagenaud was 11th in the test, just ahead of his good friend Josef Newgarden. Alexander Rossi took the lucky 13th position in his first outing with McLaren, directly ahead of his former Andretti teammates Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta. Herta was the fastest on day one of the test. Patricio O'Ward was 16th, the slowest of the McLaren drivers. 

David Malukas and Hélio Castroneves were 17th and 18th respectively, and they were the final two drivers within a second of the top time. Devlin DeFrancesco and Jack Harvey rounded out the top twenty. Agustín Canapino was 21st, ahead of Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay and fellow rookie Sting Ray Robb. Santino Ferrucci, Conor Daly and Benjamin Pedersen rounded out the 27-car field for the test. Pedersen was 1.7074 seconds slower than Ericsson. 

Besides Palm Springs, Sebring hosted two private test sessions a day apart for most teams. 

On February 14, Grosjean topped the nine-car session at Sebring with a fastest lap of 52.059 seconds, 0.030 seconds quicker than Kirkwood. Ilott was third at 52.137 seconds, directly ahead of Armstrong by 0.080 seconds with Devlin DeFrancesco rounding out the top five. Daly, Herta, VeeKay and Canapino rounded out that test with Canapino 0.671 seconds off Grosjean.

The next day saw McLaren go 1-2-3 in a seven-car session, which included two drivers completing an evaluation test. O'Ward was fastest at 51.882 seconds, 0.252 seconds ahead of Rossi with Rosenqvist 0.354 seconds back in third. Porsche Penske Motorsports driver Felipe Nasr was fourth in an evaluation test for Team Penske. Nasr was only 0.003 seconds slower than Rosenqvist and still 0.120 seconds faster than Ferrucci. Nick Cassidy was sixth in an evaluation test for Chip Ganassi Racing with a fastest lap of 52.518 seconds, 0.021 seconds quicker than Pedersen. 

Power's Defense

Will Power is attempting to become the first driver to successfully defend a title since Dario Franchitti's three-year title run from 2009 to 2011. In each of those seasons Power was championship runner-up to Franchitti. 

In 2023, Power is coming off his best season in terms of average finish at 5.9412 last season. He matched his single-season best nine podium finishes in 2022 and he also won five pole positions, the eighth time in his 18-season career he has won at least five pole positions in a season. His 335 laps led, the seventh time he has led at least 300 laps in a season. 

Power's 2022 championship was Team Penske's fifth title in nine seasons. In the previous four championship defenses, all four drivers finished in the top five of the championship the following season. Power dropped to third in 2015 after his 2014 title. Simon Pagenaud went from first in 2016 to second in 2017. Josef Newgarden won the title in 2017 but dropped to fifth in 2018. Newgarden then picked up his second title in 2019 and was second in 2020. 

In three of those four title defenses, the defending champion won fewer races in the following season. Power went from two to one, Pagenaud from five to two and Newgarden went from four in 2017 to three in 2018. The exception would be Newgarden from 2019 to 2020. The Tennessean won three times in 2019 but responded with four victories in 2020.

Outside of the Penske champions, every defending champion since reunification has finished inside the top ten of the championship in the following season and 11 of 14 champions have finished in the top five of the championship the following season. Power has finished in the championship top ten in 13 consecutive seasons and he has been in the championship top five in 12 of those seasons. Power's worst championship finish during that 13-year span was ninth. 

There has not been a winless defending champion since Scott Dixon in 2004. Power enters this season with a race victory in 16 consecutive seasons, currently the second longest streak in IndyCar history, only trailing Scott Dixon's active streak of 18 consecutive seasons. Power is currently tied with Mario Andretti and Hélio Castroneves for third most seasons with a victory, each having won in 16 seasons. Dixon leads all drivers with 20 seasons and A.J. Foyt is second with 18 seasons with a victory. Power starts this season on 94 podium finishes, six away from becoming the fifth driver in IndyCar history to reach 100 podium finishes in a career. 

Last year, Power completed all 2,268 laps. It was only the second time in his career he had been running at the finish of every race in a season. The other time was his 2014 championship season. The most recent Team Penske driver to successfully defend a championship was Gil de Ferran in 2000 and 2001. The only other time a Team Penske driver won consecutive championships was Rick Mears in 1981 and 1982. 

If Power were to win his third championship in 2023, he would tie Mears for most IndyCar championships for a Team Penske driver.

Changes of Scenery

There have been plenty of changes on the IndyCar grid this season. We already know about Kyle Kirkwood's move to Andretti Autosport. In Kirkwood's place, Santino Ferrucci returns to full-time IndyCar competition to drive the #14 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing. This will be Ferrucci's five different team in six IndyCar seasons. He drove for three different teams in 2022 alone. His last two starts have come for Chevrolet teams after his first 41 starts and his first two full seasons were driving for Honda teams. 

Not everything will be new for Ferrucci at A.J. Foyt Racing. He will reunite with Michael Cannon as his race engineer. Cannon and Ferrucci worked together at Dale Coyne Racing in the 2019 season before Cannon moved to Chip Ganassi Racing ahead of 2020. 

Alexander Rossi left Andretti Autosport to join Arrow McLaren, taking over the #7 Chevrolet as Felix Rosenqvist moves to the #6 McLaren Chevrolet with McLaren becoming a three-car outfit. Rosenqvist and Rossi were eighth and ninth in the championship respectively with the Swede 12 points ahead of the American. Rosenqvist gained 13 positions in the championship from 2021 to 2022 while Rossi has finished in the championship top ten in six consecutive seasons. This will be the first time Rossi has driven for a Chevrolet team in his IndyCar career. 

With Rossi joining McLaren, personnel will shift around as well. Craig Hampson will be Rossi's engineer while Brian Barnhart also moves to McLaren from Andretti and Barnhart will be Rossi's strategist. Chris Lawrence will become Rosenqvist's engineer while Billy Vincent will remain as Rosenqvist's strategist.

Another pair of drivers that have flipped seats are Jack Harvey and Christian Lundgaard. Harvey will move to the #30 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing while Lundgaard takes over the #45 HyVee Honda. Lundgaard was 14th in the championship last year, claiming Rookie of the Year in the process, but he was eight positions ahead of Harvey in the championship. Twenty-second in the championship was Harvey's worst championship result in a full season. 

Also changing within the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing camp are engineers. Eddie Jones will return to Graham Rahal's pit stand. Jones and Rahal won five races together from 2015 to 2017. Allen McDonald will become Harvey's engineer while Lundgaard will keep Ben Siegel on his car. 

Takuma Sato is stepping into a new role in his IndyCar career. Sato will drive the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at the five oval events this season, bringing an end to a full-time IndyCar career that dates back to the 2010 season. Last season, Sato drove for Dale Coyne Racing. Ganassi will be the sixth different team Sato has driven for in IndyCar competition and the third different team in the last three seasons. 

Sato isn't the only person moving from Coyne to Ganassi for 2023. Ross Bunnell will become Scott Dixon's race engineer after being David Malukas' engineer on the #18 Honda. Alex Athanasiadis will become Malukas' engineer for the 2023 season.

Class of 2023

There are four rookies entered for the 2023 season, including one that will be sharing the #11 Ganassi Honda with Sato. 

Marcus Armstrong will drive the #11 Honda in the 12 road/street course races this season. Armstrong moves to IndyCar after spending three consecutive seasons in Formula Two. He won four races in the Formula One development series. He was also second in the 2019 Formula Three championship. Armstrong could become the first Rookie of the Year for Chip Ganassi Racing since Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999. 

The other three rookies will be aiming to run the full season. 

Sting Ray Robb was second in the Indy Lights championship last year and won one race at Laguna Seca. This year Robb moves to Dale Coyne Racing in the #51 Honda, which Takuma Sato previously occupied. Robb is the first Idahoan to enter an IndyCar race since Davey Hamilton in 2011. Hamilton was ninth in his rookie season, the inaugural Indy Racing League season in 1996. Dale Coyne Racing's most recent Rookie of the Year winner was Alex Lloyd in 2010.

Benjamin Pedersen was fifth in Indy Lights last year. Pedersen also only won once in 2022, and now the Danish-American will take over the #55 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet from Dalton Kellett. Pedersen will be the fourth Rookie of the Year contender for A.J. Foyt Racing in the last six seasons. None of those previous three Foyt rookies finished better than 18th in the championship with Matheus Leist being the best of the newcomers. A.J. Foyt Racing has never produced a Rookie of the Year winner. 

Agustín Canapino joins IndyCar in the #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. Canapino comes to IndyCar after spending over a decade racing in Turismo Carretera and Súper TC2000 in his native Argentina. He is a four-time Turismo Carretera champion and a two-time Súper TC2000 champion. Canapino will be the first Argentine driver to contest for Rookie of the Year since Juan Fangio II ran the 1996 CART season for All American Racers. Canapino could become the ninth Argentine to start an IndyCar race.

The last eight IndyCar Rookies of the Year have represented eight different nationalities, including three of which that are represented in the 2023 rookie class, the United States, New Zealand and Denmark. The most recent South American Rookie of the Year was Gabby Chaves in 2015. If Pedersen were to take top rookie honors, it would be the first time a country had produced consecutive Rookies of the Year since Colombia won it in 2014 and 2015 with Carlos Muñoz and Chaves respectively. 

Only three of the Rookies of the Year in the DW12 era have finished in the top ten of the championship. Those drivers would be Simon Pagenaud in 2012 (fifth), Carlos Muñoz in 2014 (eighth) and Felix Rosenqvist in 2019 (sixth). The average championship finish for Rookies of the Year since 2012 is 12th. 

Only three rookies have won a race since 2012. Carlos Huertas won the first Houston race in 2014. Alexander Rossi did it in 2016 in the Indianapolis 500, and Colton Herta won twice as a rookie in 2019 at Austin and Laguna Seca. 

A Few Rule Changes

As with almost every new season, there have been a few tweaks to the rulebook and we will see them first hand this weekend.

IndyCar and Firestone will be experimenting with a new tire compound allocation for St. Petersburg and Long Beach. Each team will be receiving a second set of the alternate tire compound for available for the practice sessions in hopes of increasing participation in the two sessions. Teams will be allowed to the alternate compound in either session. A set of the alternate tire will still need to be returned prior to qualifying, but starting this season the teams will also have return a primary set of the tire compound as well.

At all street course events, Firestone's alternate tire will be the green sidewall tires made of sustainable guayule rubber. These tires debuted last year at the Nashville round. 

Qualifying will see a few timing changes. In 2023, timing for each qualifying session will not begin until the first car on track has crossed the alternate start/finish to begin a lap. In previous seasons, a session would begin once the cars were allow to leave pit lane and start their warm-up laps. This change was made in hopes of giving teams more time to create gaps on-track for their qualifying laps while also allowing teams at the further end of pit lane additional time to get their laps in. 

Time management for red flags in qualifying has also been adjusted. The clock will stop for the first red flag in each knockout round. Any additional red flags in a round will not see the clock stop. 

IndyCar has introduced a new rain vanes that will sit on the front suspension access panel in hopes of directing as much water as possible away from the aero screen after drivers had visibility complaints last season. A larger LED rain light will also be at the rear of the car this season. 

A new headrest has been developed to increase cushioning for a driver in the event of an accident, and teams will be allowed to use their short-oval barge boards on road and street courses this season.

Road to Indy

Along with the opening round of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, St. Petersburg opens the season for all three to Road to Indy series. 

Nineteen cars are entered for the Indy Lights season opener, the largest field in the series since 19 cars started the 2012 Freedom 100 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Andretti Autosport will field the top returning driver from the 2022 championship, Hunter McElrea, and the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 champion, Louis Foster. McElrea was fourth in the championship last year with two victories and seven podium finishes from 14 races. Foster took the Indy Pro 2000 championship with seven victories, 11 podium finishes and 13 top five finishes from 18 races. 

Along with McElrea and Foster, Jamie Chadwick and James Roe, Jr. will round out the four-car Andretti lineup. Chadwick won three consecutive W Series championships. Roe, Jr. was 12th in Indy Lights starting only 11 races with his best finish being seventh. 

HMD Motorsports will field nine cars this Indy Lights season, six of which are in partnership with Dale Coyne Racing and one with Force Indy. Christian Rasmussen moves from Andretti Autosport to HMD while Christian Bogle and Danial Frost each return. Nolan Siegel and Josh Green each move up from Indy Pro 2000 after finishing fourth and sixth receptively in that championship. 

Rasmus Lindh returns to Indy Lights driving full-time for HMD. Lindh was runner-up in the 2019 Indy Pro 2000 championship behind Kyle Kirkwood, and he started six Indy Lights races with Juncos Racing in 2021. The Swedish driver has been competing primarily in IMSA's LMP3 competition. Josh Pierson will run some Indy Lights races this season while also competing in IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Kyffin Simpson will be in another HMD car while Ernie Francis, Jr. returns for a second season driving the car in partnership with Force Indy. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing will field two cars this season. Reece Gold moves up after finishing second in the Indy Pro 2000 championship last year. Matteo Nannini did not compete last season. He was 14th in the 2021 Formula Three championship and won a race at Budapest. Abel Motorsports expands to two cars, keeping Jacob Abel while adding Colin Kaminsky. Cape Motorsports joins Indy Lights and it brings Jagger Jones up from U.S. F2000 and Enaam Ahmed up from Indy Pro 2000. Jones was fourth in U.S. F2000 championship while Ahmed was third in Indy Pro 2000. 

Indy Lights will race at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday March 5.

USF Pro 2000 will feature the top three drivers from the 2022 U.S. F2000 championship moving up a division. 

The reigning U.S. F2000 champion Michael d'Orlando will drive for Turn 3 Motorsport alongside Jonathan Browne, who returns for a second season, and Jackson Lee, who drove in U.S. F2000 the previous two seasons. 

Myles Rowe and Jace Denmark will continue to be teammates and continue to drive for Pabst Racing. They will have a third teammate in Jordan Missing, who was 11th in the Indy Pro 2000 championship last year. 

Salvador de Alba is the top returning driver in the championship. De Alba was fifth in the championship last year and he will move to Exclusive Autosport to drive alongside Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Joel Granfors and Lindsay Brewer. Kiko Porto continues at DEForce Racing with Bijoy Garg as his teammate. 

Jay Howard Driver Development is back with a two-car team. Reece Ushijima joins the team after the American spent the 2022 season in Formula Three where he was 20th in the championship, but he finished third in the Silverstone sprint race. His teammate will be Ricardo Escotto.

TJ Speed Motorsports enters USF Pro 2000 with three cars. Christian Weir moves up from U.S. F2000 while Lirmi Zendeli moves over from Formula Two, and Francesco Pizzi moves over from Formula Three.

Jack William Miller is back for his third season in this series and Nicholas Monteiro moves up from the Formula 4 Brazilian Championship. 

USF Pro 2000 will race at 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday March 4 and at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday March 5.

U.S. F2000 will look different this year as Cape Motorsports is not competing as it focuses on its Indy Lights program. Cape Motorsports drivers have won ten of 13 championships since U.S. F2000 returned in 2010. 

DEForce Racing won the 2021 championship with Kiko Porto, and it will field 2022 USF Juniors champion Mac Clark. Clark won the penultimate race of the 2022 U.S. F2000 season stepping up for the final round. Clark's teammates will be Jorge Garciarce, who was 13th in this championship last year, and Maxwell Jamieson. 

Jay Howard Driver Development will field four cars for Evagoras Papasavvas, Al Morey, Lochie Hughes and Louka St. Jean. Velocity Racing Development will field five cars, including a car for Nikita Johnson, who was on the podium in second of the first Portland race last year. Sam Corry, Danny Dyszelski, Gordon Scully and Noah Ping will round out the Velocity lineup. 

Jacob Douglas is back with Exclusive Autosport. Douglas had three top five finishes last season. Joey Brienza and Avery Towns will be his teammates this season. Elliot Cox will drive for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development and Future Star Racing will field two cars for Andre Castro and Trey Burke.

The first race of the U.S. F2000 season will be at 3:45 p.m. ET on Saturday March 4 and the second race will be at 8:00 a.m. ET on Sunday March 5.

Fast Facts

This will be the third IndyCar race to take place on March 5 and the first since Jacques Villeneuve won on the streets of Miami in 1995. 

The only other March 5 IndyCar race was on March 5, 1922 at Los Angeles Motor Speedway. Tommy Milton won the 250-mile race on the 1.25-mile board oval. 

Scott McLaughlin could become the fifth driver to win consecutive St. Petersburg races joining Hélio Castroneves (2006-07), Juan Pablo Montoya (2015-16), Sébastien Bourdais (2017-18), and Josef Newgarden (2019-20).

The last two seasons have seen the season opener winner be a first time IndyCar race winner. 

Chevrolet has won eight of 11 St. Petersburg races since the start of the DW12 era in 2012.

Since reunification, 14 of 15 champions have finished in the top ten of the first race of the season. Nine of those 14 drivers were on the podium in the opening race and 11 of 14 finished in the top five.

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

Andretti Autosport has not won a season opener since James Hinchcliffe won at St. Petersburg in 2013. 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's only season opener victory was Homestead in 2000 with Max Papis. A.J. Foyt Racing's most recent season opener victory was the 1996-97 Indy Racing League opener at Loudon with Scott Sharp.

The average starting position for a St. Petersburg winner is 5.3157 with a median of fourth. 

The last two St. Petersburg races have been won from pole position after only two of the first 17 St. Petersburg races were won from pole position. 

Fourth starting position has produced the most St. Petersburg winners. Five times has the St. Petersburg winner started fourth, including in four consecutive years from 2013 to 2016.

The third-place starter has never won at St. Petersburg. 

The average number of lead changes in a St. Petersburg race is 6.47368 with a median of seven. 

Five of the last six St. Petersburg races have had seven or more lead changes. 

The average number of cautions in a St. Petersburg race is 4.1052 with a median of five. The average number of caution laps is 18.1052 with a median of 16.

Last year's St. Petersburg had a record-low one caution for a record-low eight caution laps.

Predictions

Josef Newgarden gets his third St. Petersburg victory in four seasons, and two Penske drivers will be standing on the podium. Kyle Kirkwood will get his career best finish. Alexander Rossi will be the best McLaren finisher. Marcus Armstrong will be the top rookie finisher by at least four positions, but Armstrong will not be the top New Zealander. There will at least be nine positions between the Ed Carpenter Racing drivers. At least two caution periods will occur, and an incident will occur in turn ten. Sleeper: David Malukas.