Ethan Miller

The 107th running of the Indy 500 is this weekend on Sunday, May 28th, at 12 EST on NBC. The race is the crown jewel of the IndyCar schedule, and it features big crowds, big money, and great racing. Many fans only watch the Indy 500- last year, 4.8 million watched the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, compared to about 1 million per race for the rest of the schedule. The Indy 500 is IndyCar’s prizewinning race; so, to the millions of fans who ONLY tune into the 500, who should you root for? 33 options, most of them compelling— I make the case for them all below.

 

Drivers are listed in their qualifying order.

 

Alex Palou #10

Nation of Origin: Spain

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing

Sponsor: The American Legion

Alex Palou is an exciting young driver. He’s also very very good. The 2021 champion has already come close to winning the 500, as he finished second to Helio Castroneves in 2021. Palou is off to an excellent start to the year, and won the previous IndyCar race 2 weeks ago at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Bonus: Formula 1 fans, you may recognize this name— he tested an F1 car for McLaren last fall.

 

Rinus VeeKay #21

Nation of Origin: Netherlands

Team: Ed Carpenter Racing

Sponsor: Bitnile.com

VeeKay is part of IndyCar’s latest youth movement, and has 1 career win in the series. Just 22 years old and already running his 4th Indy 500, VeeKay is always a fast competitor at the Speedway. His career qualifying positions for the 500? 4th, 3rd, 3rd, and now 2nd this year. He’s struggled to finish the race, as he crashed out early last year, but keep an eye on VeeKay to spice things up on Sunday.

 

Felix Rosenqvist #7

Nation of Origin: Sweden

Team: Arrow McLaren

Sponsor: Arrow McLaren

On a flashy McLaren IndyCar team, Rosenqvist is the constant, quiet veteran. He’s won in the series before (2020, Road America), as well as in Indy NXT and Formula E. Felix has a career best finish of 4th in the 500 (2022), and won the pole at the last oval IndyCar visited (Texas earlier this year). 

 

Santino Ferrucci #14

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: A.J. Foyt Racing

Sponsor: Homes For Our Troops

It will be easy to spot Ferrucci’s car on Sunday— look for the American flag. His sponsor, ABC Supply Co., does a fantastic job putting worthwhile charities on the racecar. Ferrucci is as American as it gets, so if that is what you are looking for, he may be your best bet. He’s also fast at Indianapolis; in 4 starts, he’s never finished outside of the top 10. Him and teammate Benjamin Petersen are the big surprises of qualifying— both qualified their underdog A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolets into the top 12. 

 

Plato O’Ward #5

Nation of Origin: Mexico

Team: Arrow McLaren

Sponsor: Arrow McLaren

O’Ward is, based on recent merchandise numbers, the most popular IndyCar driver. It’s no surprise why, as he is both fast and a driver for McLaren, the most popular racing team on the planet. O’Ward finished second here last year to Marcus Ericsson in a fantastic battle, and he’s once again a favorite to lead the race. Just keep your eyes peeled— he’s in a black throwback ride this weekend, a divergence from his normal papaya orange.

 

Scott Dixon #9

Nation of Origin: New Zealand

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing

Sponsor: PNC Bank

6-time champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon has a legitimate argument for being the GOAT. The one thing he’s missing? More Indy 500 wins. Recent years have been one heartbreak after another— he finished second in 2020 after leading the most laps, won the pole in 2021 but finished 17th, and led the most laps from the pole last year before a speeding penalty on his final pit stop cost him the race. Despite his struggles to seal the deal, he still may be the favorite— bandwagon fans, here’s your guy. 

 

Alexander Rossi

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Arrow McLaren

Sponsor: Arrow McLaren

Rossi won in his first ever Indy 500, the historic 100th running in 2016. Towards the end of his tenure with Andretti, he struggled. Now he’s with a new team, flashy McLaren, and has shown more speed as of late. Rossi is one of the most talented drivers in the garage; the field is waiting for him to show it once more. 2022 Indy finish: 5th.

 

Takuma Sato #11

Nation of Origin: Japan

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing

Sponsor: Deloitte

Sato has won 2 Indy 500s—in 2017 and 2020—and is one of the better oval racers in the series. He’s only running the ovals this year for CGR (Marcus Armstrong is running the road and street courses. Sato is a fan-favorite driver, and he has the speed to make it 3 wins in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

 

Tony Kanaan #66

Nation of Origin: Brazil

Team: Arrow McLaren

Sponsor: Arrow McLaren

Sunday will be the last ride for Tony Kanaan; expect the emotions to run high regardless of whether he wins or finishes last. Winning the race isn’t out of the question, as Kanaan and his McLaren team are incredibly fast. Kanaan won the 2004 championship, and the 2013 Indy 500– a second 500 win is in the cards. He’s an IndyCar legend, and his amazing career will come to a close on Sunday.

 

Marcus Ericsson #10

Nation of Origin: Sweden

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing

Sponsor: Huski Ice Spritz

The champ is here! Ericsson won last year’s race in thrilling fashion. This year, he looks to become the first back-to-back winner since Hélio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. Ericsson currently sits third in the points standings with a win at St. Petersburg earlier this year; since he won this race last year, he’s been one of the most consistent drivers in the field. Ericsson is a championship threat, and he is cementing himself as a top driver in the field. 

 

Benjamin Pedersen #55

Nation of Origin: Denmark

Team: A.J. Foyt Racing

Sponsor: Sexton Properties

Pedersen is the most shocking driver to make the top 12. A rookie driver, for an underdog team, being top 10 on speed? This is no fluke; he and teammate Santino Ferrucci have been high up on the speed charts in most of the practice sessions this month. What Pedersen has done is incredibly impressive, as the highest qualified rookie in the field. Keep an eye on him Sunday to make more waves than he’s already made. 

 

Will Power #12

Nation of Origin: Australia

Team: Team Penske

Sponsor: Verizon

Will Power, the defending IndyCar champion and 2018 Indy 500 winner, is a character. One never knows what to expect from Power, who also won the 2014 title, so keep your eyes on the driver of the #12. Team Penske, one of IndyCar’s top teams, has struggled on speed slightly in May— Power is the highest qualified driver from the team. Look for him and Penske to make improvements on Sunday

 

Ed Carpenter #33

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Ed Carpenter Racing 

Sponsor: Bitnile.com

2023 is Ed’s 20th attempt at winning the Indy 500— the best he has finished was in 2018, where he finished second. Ed and his race team are consistently fast at Indianapolis, as he’s won 3 poles in his career at the track. Teammates Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly start 2nd and 16th, respectively, and always end up towards the front of the race. Can attempt #20 pay off for Ed? He’s got a fighting chance to pull it off on Sunday.

 

Scott McLaughlin #3

Nation of Origin: New Zealand

Team: Team Penske

Sponsor: Pennzoil 

McLaughlin, since his rookie season in 2021 coming over from Australian Supercars, has skyrocketed into superstardom. Last year, he won 3 races and finished 4th in points; this year, he’s 5th and already has a win at Barber. McLaughlin hosts the entertaining “Bus Bros” series with teammate Josef Newgarden on YouTube, and is active and engaging on social media. At only 30 years old, McLaughlin has a fantastic IndyCar career ahead of him, and an Indy 500 win would be another mark towards an impressive start to his career.

 

Kyle Kirkwood #27

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Andretti Autosport

Sponsor: AutoNation

Kyle Kirkwood had a dismal rookie season. This year is off to a much better start with his new team. Kirkwood won at Long Beach last month in a breakthrough moment with Andretti Autosport. He, and Andretti as a whole, have had speed without results. The team seems down on speed at Indy, however, and needs a strong run to right the ship heading into the summer. Kirkwood can right the ship. 

 

Conor Daly #20

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Ed Carpenter Racing 

Sponsor: Bitnile.com

He’s the local kid, from Noblesville, Indiana. He’s got a podcast with Dirty Mo Media. He used to drive the US Air Force car and sport a mullet, and he ran the Daytona 500 this spring. Conor Daly is IndyCar’s most interesting man, and he’s also been fast at Indianapolis as of late. He led 40 laps in 2021, and finished in 6th last year. With a solid starting spot, expect some cheers from the local crowd as he drives towards the front. 

 

Josef Newgarden #2

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Team Penske

Sponsor: Shell Powering Progress

Newgarden is the best driver in the field to not have won an Indy 500. By all accounts, he should have won one by now. Of his 26 career wins, 12 have come on ovals, including his last 3. Newgarden is a 2-time champion, and has finished second in points the last three years. He is one of the stars of the sport, and also the host of Bus Bros with teammate Scott McLaughlin. A chalk pick at any other race, Newgarden is a talented driver who will aim for a breakthrough win at the Speedway on Sunday. 

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay #23

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Sponsor: Root Insurance

RHR is back! The 2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner is back in the seat with Dreyer & Reinbold. He retired from full-time competition in 2021, and has spent time as an analyst for TV—it’s nice to see him return to the driver’s seat. He’s won 16 races in his career, 8 of which came on an oval. Hunter-Reay is experienced, steady, and consistent. He will be a factor at the end of this year’s race.

 

Romain Grosjean #28

Nation of Origin: Switzerland

Team: Andretti Autosport

Sponsor: DHL

From the former driver of the #28 DHL machine to the current, Grosjean has found plenty of speed this season. What he hasn’t found, however, are the finishes. Grosjean has been competitive in every race this season. If not for 2 crashes late in the opening 2 rounds of the season, he would likely be the points leader. Last year, he crashed out of his debut in the race, but ran strong beforehand. Grosjean’s following is strong– he ran 179 races in F1 with 10 podium finishes– and he’s considered one of the most popular drivers in the garage. The cheers will be loud on Sunday, but can he make it to the front from a midpack starting spot? We shall see

 

Helio Castroneves #06

Nation of Origin: Brazil

Team: Meyer Shank Racing

Sponsor: AutoNation/SiriusXM

Helio is an Indy 500 legend. In 2021, he won his record-tying 4th Indy 500, all while running just a part time schedule that year. Now, he’s back in the seat full time, and will be vying for a 5th Indy 500 crown on Sunday. He’s with the same team, Meyer Shank Racing, that he won with in 2021; they’ve struggled to find speed at other tracks, but perhaps the fan-favorite Castroneves can work his magic one more time at the yard of bricks. 

 

Colton Herta #26

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Andretti Autosport

Sponsor: Gainbridge

Colton Herta’s 2022 season at Indianapolis had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. High: a dominant Indy GP win in wet conditions, featuring the greatest save in motorsports history. Seriously. Look it up. Low: a crash and flip on Carb Day, 48 hours before the green flag of the 106th Indy 500. Herta was unscathed, but his fast Honda machine was not after a long slide on its aeroscreen down the backstretch of the speedway. On raceday, the backup car was slow, and eventually retired due to mechanical failure. Herta has all the talent in the world, Formula 1 aspirations, and a powerful race team and manufacturer behind him. Could 2023 be the year that he shakes off the inconsistencies and bad luck and delivers a fantastic 500 result? It has to happen eventually.

 

Simon Pagenaud #60

Nation of Origin: France

Team: Meyer Shank Racing

Sponsor: AutoNation/SiriusXM

A few small things have happened in the 4 years since Pagenaud was the one drinking the milk in victory lane in 2019. Since then, Pagenaud’s career has gone differently than he may have expected. Now, the 15-time IndyCar winner and 2016 champion is partnered with longtime Penske teammate Helio Castroneves…at a team not called Penske. The veteran pairing bring a lot of experience to the garage, and Pagenaud has a solid chance to 

 

David Malukas #18

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Dale Coyne Racing with HMD

Sponsor: HMD Trucking

After Texas, Malukas became “Little Dave”, a moniker advanced by the NBC TV booth during the race. His performance there was anything but little- a top 5 on one of the toughest ovals in the series. Malukas has embraced the nickname while also proving his worth with some strong finishes to start the season. He qualified deep in the field, but don’t be surprised to see him make an underdog run towards the front

 

Marco Andretti #98

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Andretti Autosport

Sponsor: KULR/Curb

The son of racing royalty has done everything at Indianapolis except win. He finished second in his rookie race at the speedway, the 2006 Indy 500, won the pole in 2020, and has 8 career top 10 finishes in 17 races. Marco is always a factor in the Indy 500, even when it’s his only race of the year (like this year). Starting in 24th place, he will have a tall hill to climb; it's nothing he hasn’t done before.

 

Devlin DeFrancesco #29

Nation of Origin: Canada

Team: Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport

Sponsor: Sodexo

Defrancesco is the lone Canadien in this year’s race. The young driver is in the midst of his sophomore season after a trying rookie year. In his Indy 500 debut last year, he finished 20th, a very respectable result. DeFrancesco has consistently been solid on ovals in the early stages of his career, and can be expected to return another clean run on Sunday.

 

Augustin Canapino #78

Nation of Origin: Argentina

Team: Juncos Hollinger Racing

Sponsor: Juncos Hollinger Racing

Canapino is sporting a livery supporting the Argentinian National Football Team this year, as the driver makes his inaugural Indy 500 start. Last week, things did not look promising for him (or teammate Callum Ilott, but the team pulled out some upgrades as practice went on. He’s still starting far back, and is very new to ovals, but the energetic driver with legions of national fans will certainly make his mark this weekend. 

 

Callum Ilott #77

Nation of Origin: England

Team: Juncos Hollinger Racing

Sponsor: Juncos Hollinger Racing

Ilott started the season strong; as of late, he’s ran into some bumps in the road. Regardless, the Englishman is steadily improving as he works his second full season. Like Canapino, he was off the pace in early practice sessions, and even looked to be in danger of getting bumped. He and the team pulled through and, while still starting towards the rear, the car is fast enough to give him a chance at a good finish. 

 

RC Enerson #50

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Abel Motorsports

Sponsor: Abel Motorsports

Enerson is making his Indy 500 debut, and his first IndyCar start since 2021, for the family-run Abel Motorsports. The consensus 34th entry, the team was considered most likely to be bumped from the field. Instead, not only did Enerson make the race, but he made the top 30 and thus avoided the extra Bump Day qualifying session. Enerson and the team have already surpassed expectations this month; on Sunday, they’ll be capable of even more. 

 

Katherine Legge #44

Nation of Origin: England

Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Sponsor: Hendrickson

This isn’t Legge’s first rodeo or, rather, Indy 500. But it is her first in a decade. Despite that, she showed no rust by being the highest qualifying and most consistent RLL Honda, and was the only Rahal machine to avoid the Last Chance Shootout on Bump Day. Legge is the only female driver in the field, but she has impressed in her return from a decade-long hiatus and will continue to do so on race day. 

 

Christian Lundgaard #45

Nation of Origin: Denmark

Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Sponsor: Hy-Vee

Lundgaard is one of the sport’s young rising stars. He scored a podium in his rookie season, and a pole in the series’ most recent race at the Indy GP two weeks ago. He currently sits 9th in the points standings with a strong average finish. But, as with all the RLL cars, he barely made the field and qualified in the 30th. Lundgaard’s talent is undeniable; he will need every ounce of it to wheel a struggling team to a competitive race. 

 

Sting Ray Robb #51

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Dale Coyne Racing with RWR

Sponsor: biohaven

First off, that’s his real name. And yes, it’s the best name in racing. Robb has struggled to find his footing in his rookie year, as he’s only finished 1 race out of 5. Indy will need to be a get-right race for him and his #51 team as he starts 31st. He’s got the ability, and has won before in Indy NXT and USF2000– now, he has an opportunity to show it. 

 

Jack Harvey #30

Nation of Origin: England

Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Sponsor: PeopleReady

Harvey had the unenviable challenge of racing his boss– Graham Rahal– for the final spot in the race. Harvey won out by 0.007 seconds, making the field as the final entry for the 2023 Indianapolis 500. He’s ran 6 prior 500s, and his best career finish in the race is 9th, which came in 2020.

 

Graham Rahal #24

Nation of Origin: United States

Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Sponsor: DRR Cusick CareKeepers

The previous paragraph said that Graham Rahal got bumped out of the Indy 500. And he was. But Stefan Wilson and Katherine Legge crashed during Monday’s practice, and Wilson suffered an injury that will prevent him from running the race. Rahal, having run hours of practice during the month, was the best option for the part-time Chevrolet operation, despite him and RLL’s Honda ties. With a new lease on life, and an injured friend to race for, Rahal could be a threat in his 16th Indy 500 start. 

 

The 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will be on Sunday, May 28th at Noon EST on NBC

33 drivers will take the green on Sunday in the 107th running of the Indy 500. Graham Rahal will not be one of them.

Rahal, veteran of 15 starts in the Greatest Spectacle of Racing, missed the cut by 0.007 miles per hour to teammate Jack Harvey after a frustrating week for Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan, Rahal’s IndyCar team. 3 out of the 4 RLL cars were involved in Sunday’s Last Chance Shootout (part-time entry Katherine Legge qualified inside the top 30 on Saturday and locked herself into the field). Rahal appeared safe as the clock wound down for the session, but Harvey went out for one more last ditch run despite not having cooled down his engine enough to get a solid run in.

Harvey’s first laps were trending towards him missing the show, but a strong third lap put him back on track. The fourth lap was just enough; Harvey was in the race for the seventh time in his career, and Rahal was going home. 

“We had done two attempts,” Harvey said. “Neither of them seemed to be enough to get it done, and actually on the final one, I said to the guys, do you even think we can do this. The car is hot, engine is hot, and they said, yeah, you've got to try; it's the Indy 500. In that moment I just tried to forget about everything else for a moment.”

Harvey is not only teammates of Rahal’s, but close friends as well. Early in the day, they discussed the possibility of one bumping the other out. Afterwards, they talked about the result.

“I said to Graham, ‘I'm sorry, I'm not sorry,” Harvey explained. “What do you say to someone in that moment? I want to be in the race. I want to be in the 107th running of the Indy 500. I want to do it for me, for my family, my friends. I want to do it for the mechanics on the team, for everybody on the team, for all of the sponsors that we have on the No. 30 car, especially for people ready this weekend. I hate what it means for the 15 car and for Graham and all his crew because at the end of the day we are one united effort, and we know there's a lot of work ahead, but I just said to him, ‘I just wanted to do the best four laps I could. I'm sorry it's bumped you out.”

Taking up the final row of the grid is Christian Lundgaard, also of RLL, rookie Sting Ray Robb, and Harvey. The fourth RLL car, driven by Katherine Legge, will start in 30th place.

On the opposite end of the grid, 2021 IndyCar champion Alex Palou won the poll after an electrifying Fast Six shootout. He beat Rinus VeeKay’s speed of 234.211 MPH by 6 thousandths of a second and grabbed the top spot with a speed of 234.217 MPH. Palou is off to a hot start in 2022 and is coming off a win at the Indy GP.

“Yeah, it's been amazing for the 10 car, honestly,” Palou said after winning the pole. “We knew we had a fast car since the beginning. We had to take advantage of that. Yeah, enjoying my time here. Last year, as I said, we were really close, learned how we could go be more aggressive if we were in that position again, and lucky if we were in that position again today, we took it.”

Palou’s best finish in the 500 came in 2021 when he finished second to Helio Castroneves. 

Felix Rosenqvist will start third. Row 2 will have Santino Ferrucci, Pato O’Ward, and Scott Dixon. Row 3 will feature Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato, and Tony Kanaan, making his final IndyCar start. 

Sunday’s 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 will start at Noon ES

Spring is in full swing as we rush into summer, but the year warming up isn’t the only thing getting up to speed in Indianapolis. All 34 entries for the 107th Indy 500 descended upon the speedway Wednesday morning to begin the hectic push of preparation for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in 10 days’ time. Wednesday was the first of many practices for the prospective Indy 500 field in the lead up to the race on Memorial Day weekend; some prospects rose, and others plummeted. 

Stock Up:

Chip Ganassi Racing: Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon topped the board as the only drivers to reach an excess of 229 MPH in Wednesday’s session. Both cars were fast and their teammates were not far behind. Alex Palou placed 4th in the session; Marcus Ericsson, last year’s winner, finished 7th in time. To have all 4 cars from the same organization post top 7 times is an impressive achievement, and Ganassi enters Thursday with a chance to cement themselves as the clear-cut favorite for qualifying this weekend.

Santino Ferrucci: A Foyt car in the top 3 on speed? Impressive. Ferrucci has a penchant for strong runs in underperforming cars, and he has never finished outside of the top 10 in 4 starts in the Indy 500. The American driver posted a speed of 228.977 MPH- just a hair away from 229- and was the fastest Chevy in the session. Also worth noting is that teammate Benjamin Pedersen was the fastest rookie in the session, placing 21st with a speed of 225.48 MPH. Foyt has clearly brought some stout cars to Indy this year; Ferrucci and Pedersen will look to keep those heads turned as we race towards qualifying on Saturday.

Team Penske: While not as strong a session as Ganassi had, Penske left Wednesday looking solid on speed and performance. Scott McLaughlin was 5th, Josef Newgarden was 9th, and Will Power was 12th on speed. For a team that’s best finish in this race last year was 13th (Newgarden), a strong running on Wednesday gives optimism for a stronger run this year. 

Stock Down:

Juncos-Hollinger Racing: A car will be bumped this year. 34 entries, 33 spots. And after Wednesday’s practice? Callum Ilott is in danger of missing the field. The entire Juncos organization was woefully off on speed, but Ilott especially struggled to post a competitive time. The team spent the entire day in last on the chart, Ilott at one point being 5 MPH behind the next closest car (his teammate, Augustin Canapino). Canapino was able to jump up to 22nd towards the end of the day, salvaging an equally rough session for him, but Ilott was unable to climb out of the 34th place spot on the speed chart. The struggles were a carry-over from the April practice, but they were able to improve throughout the day. However, the concerns persist. There are a few more sessions before qualifying, and the team can improve their prospects, but if not? We may see a full-time entry going home this weekend. 

McLaren: TV commented, multiple times, that the orange team has the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place drivers from last year’s Indy 500. All that is fine and dandy, but to repeat those results you need a fast car. A fast car the McLaren was not on Wednesday, as they could only muster the 19th best speed as their fastest car in the session (Alexander Rossi). We may be early in the Indy 500 preparations, but to see a powerhouse organization like McLaren- with 2 former 500 winners on its roster to boot- struggle heavily to find speed at a track that has become one of their strengths is concerning. Thursday will show whether Wednesday was a fluke or not, but the eyes are on those beautiful throwback rides to see some improvement as we inch towards qualifying this weekend. 

Andretti Autosport: It’s a mixed bag for Andretti leaving Wednesday; reach a hand in and you may pull out Colton Herta, who ended the session in 6th place and looked strong all day. Reach a hand in again, however, and you’ll pull out Romain Grosjean, who finished a measly 30th in the session and was among the worst, especially for those who drive for a consensus top team like Andretti, Ganassi, Penske, and the like. Teammate Devlin DeFrancesco was just one spot better, and Kyle Kirkwood was in 25th. Marco Andretti, returning to the Speedway once more, was tenth, but even he seemed dissatisfied with the car following his runs. Andretti has had the speed, albeit not the results, early in the 2023 season; Thursday will show if they can regain the speed after a frustrating Wednesday practice.

Up Next:

Thursday will see another 6 hour session for all teams from 12-6 PM. It can be viewed on Peacock and listened to on SiriusXM channel 160. 

Kyle Kirkwood did not have a good rookie season in 2022. Driving for the oft-maligned A.J. Foyt Enterprises, he failed to finish 7 races and finished nearly dead last in points. Yet, when Alexander Rossi left IndyCar superpower Andretti Autosport in the offseason and vacated the iconic no. 27 Honda, Kirkwood was tabbed as the replacement. Some questioned the move. But on Sunday, Kirkwood proved the doubters wrong with a dominant win at the historic Grand Prix of Long Island.

Kirkwood put in a blistering lap during Saturday’s qualifying session, besting Marcus Ericsson and teammate Romain Grosjean for pole position. Starting out front on Sunday afternoon, he bolted out to an early lead before a lap 1 caution for Helio Castroneves bunched the field back up. Following the resumption of the race, he continued to lead comfortably.

Pato O’Ward, racing Scott Dixon for 6th, made an extremely late lunge inside of Dixon that resulted in side-by-side contact. Dixon was sent into the tire barriers, and was not pleased with the move when asked later. He was able to continue with damage, but eventually retired from the race from a mechanical failure. On the restart from the caution, O’Ward attempted a similar move on Kyle Kirkwood, but instead spun himself out, which he never recovered from and finished 17th. The ensuing chaos gave Josef Newgarden the lead, with Grosjean and Kirkwood in tow. Newgarden led the next 27 laps while Kirkwood, who quickly maneuvered around his Andretti teammate, gave chase. Kirkwood was able to easily follow Newgarden, and maintained his stuff while keeping Newgarden close.

When Newgarden made his final pitstop with 33 laps remaining, Kirkwood was able to stay out an extra 2 laps and build a gap on Newgarden by taking advantage of a clean racetrack in front of him. Kirkwood regained the lead once the pit sequence cycled through the field, and held off a hard-charging Grosjean in the final laps to secure his first career win. He led a total of 53 laps and had the fastest car; Andretti overall brought home a fantastic day with his cars finishing 1-2-4 (Devlin DeFrancesco, the Andretti-Steinbrenner entry, finished 16th.) Kirkwood’s previous best finish was 10th at Long Beach last year. Now, he’s an IndyCar winner.

“[It was] a little bit nerve-wracking there at the end to be honest because we thought we had a fuel number we needed to hit, all of a sudden it changed for about a lap,” Kirkwood said of the final laps and his first win. “I knew Romain had a ton of push to pass left. I don't know how much he saved fuel, how much he could use. It was a little bit scary. It was a little bit of a scary moment. But once I crossed the finish line, I was so happy, so happy for myself, so happy for the team, so happy for Michael, everyone that works so hard to make this happen. It's not just me, it's the entire group that works all year long. They work a lot harder than me if I'm being honest. To have my first win at Long Beach is something that's incredible. I know I'm going to cherish this moment and this day for the rest of my life.”

Romain Grosjean finished in second, his first podium (and his first race finished of the season after 2 DNFS). Following a rough start to the season for the entire team, he was content with securing the 1-2 for Andretti.

“I did not even want to try to go for the win today,” he said in his post race press conference. “It would have been taking too much risk. Kyle drove a brilliant weekend. He had the best strategy out there, but he was on pole. He was fast. He didn't make any mistake. He drove well. He deserved the race. For me, it was more like after the two first races, Marcus mentioned he won St. Pete, kind of was mine, but it's okay, I give it to you. You got it anyway. I think we're strong everywhere. Today the race car wasn't the best ever. I think we're going to learn a few things and move forward. Generally we have a very fast car. Two weeks ago in Texas Motor Speedway, also showed I could do ovals.”

Grosjean can carry today’s result forward and build momentum for Barber in 2 weeks.

Ericsson is once again the NTT IndyCar Series points leader after his third place finish at Long Beach. His result, coupled with his win at St. Pete and a top 10 at Texas, gives him an excellent start to the 2023 championship hunt.

“It gives a lot of confidence,” Ericsson said. “I think we've been really strong. Last year already, we were fighting for the championship and leading the championship for a long time. Was disappointed to miss out on that. But I used that as motivation this winter to work hard on myself and my team. I think we've come out even stronger this year. Winning in St. Pete showed that. We had a good weekend on a bad weekend in Texas, quite a good result. Here again this weekend, we had tremendous speed. We're definitely in the fight. Leading the championship feels good, but it's a long way to go. We need to keep focused and keep working hard.”

Colton Herta and Alex Palou claimed the final two spots of the top 5, while Will Power, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong, Josef Newgarden, and Scott McLaughlin closed out the top 10.

As for the points standings, Marcus Ericsson is back out front of the field, with Pato O’Ward in second. Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden sit in third and fourth, respectively. Kirkwood’s win vaulted him from 20th to fifth. 

A driver’s first win only comes once. And for Kirkwood it proves, not only to his competitors and critics but more importantly to himself, that he is capable of winning at the top level of American open-wheel racing.

“It's really just a moment of calmness for me. I've had almost like built-up anxiety that I haven't been able to do as well as I know I can do. The fact that I've actually been able to do it today, it's like okay, level off, calm down, now I'm going to be able to focus on getting wins now that I have my first one…”

Marcus Ericsson was not the fastest car in Sunday’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He wasn’t the second fastest either, and may not have even been the third. But, in a form that is quickly becoming an Ericsson specialty, he kept the car clean, and found himself in victory lane after 3 hours of chaotic racing around the streets of St. Petersburg. Ericsson only led 4 laps– the last 4– on the way to his fourth career IndyCar victory, yet he was there when it mattered.

Ericsson was asked post race if he’s noticed that most of his wins have come during dramatic, chaos-filled events. His response? “It's my thing, apparently.”

“All those races are very high intensity races,” Ericsson said. “It's not sort of straightforward races. There's a lot of things happening. You need to be ready to adjust your strategy, pit stops, restarts. There's a lot of things going on, and we seem to be very good at that. That's definitely one of our strengths. Not saying we cannot win without the red flag, but it's definitely been working for us.”

Sunday’s chaos was hinted at on Friday and Saturday when multiple drivers experienced issues during practice and qualifying preparing for the main event. Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden each had to sit through multiple toe link repairs before qualifying began on Saturday, and eventual pole sitter Romain Grosjean crashed by himself during Friday practice. The track proved to be tough on drivers throughout the weekend.

At the drop of the green flag, polesitter Romain Grosjean got away cleanly, as did his teammate and outside pole position driver Colton Herta. At the back half of the top 10, however, the race was immediately marked with a dramatic crash on lap 1.

Scott Dixon made contact with Felix Rosenqvist, which sent the Swedish driver into the wall. The field behind Rosenqvist checked up to avoid the slow-moving McLaren, and the resulting accordion effect saw Helio Castroneves get spun in front of the field exiting the turn. Multiple cars crashed in a 5-car pileup, which only got worse. Benjamin Pedersen, who was further behind the field, rounded the corner and was at near full speed when he encountered the wreck. The AJ Foyt Enterprises driver slammed into a stationary Devlin DeFrancesco, launching the no. 29 Andretti Autosport Honda into the air. The scary wreck resulted in a 20 minute red flag to clean up. Also involved were Santino Ferrucci, Simon Pagenaud, and Sting Ray Robb.

After the red flag was lifted, the drivers settled into the first long run of the day. Grosjean and teammate Colton Herta, both on the softer alternate tires for the first stint, built a big lead on third place Pato O’Ward. Herta used up his tires early and slipped back while Grosjean continued to expand his lead. The first pit cycle opened up on lap 28, with Herta being the first taker of fresh Primary tires, followed by leaders Grosjean and O’Ward 5 laps later. Scott McLaughlin took over the lead of the race, and maintained it over Grosjean when the no. 3 Penske crew executed a flawless pitstop to keep him out front of the former F1 veteran Grosjean. One lap later, Conor Daly spun with help from Kyle Kirkwood, bringing out the second yellow.

The cliche goes that cautions breed cautions. There is a reason it’s always repeated because it does often ring true. On the restart from the previous caution, Rinus VeeKay went too deep into a corner and cooked it into the tire barriers, making contact with Jack Harvey in the process. Kyle Kirkwood had nowhere to go, and launched over Harvey, completely clearing Harvey’s machine before crashing back to earth. It was the second liftoff at the converted runway/street course of the afternoon, after Devlin Defrancesco left the pavement briefly on lap 1. Miraculously, Kirkwood’s day was not done, though he was uncompetitive and finished 3 laps down in 15th place. Jack Harvey had a hard time getting out of his wrecked race car and was taken to the hospital out of an abundance caution; as of this writing, he’s been cleared and released. 

The cautions were not done yet. On the following restart, Will Power sent it on Colton Herta, made contact, and Herta went into the tire barriers. For the reckless move, Power was penalized and sent to the rear of the field; on the flip, the damage to his Gainbridge Honda sent Herta to the garage, done for the day. Calamity had struck 3 of the 4 Andretti Autosport Hondas during the afternoon, and more was on the way

The race finally settled back down long enough for a green flag run to develop. Scott McLaughlin led, but Romain Grosjean remained glued to his rear wing. Never dropping further back than a second, Grosjean kept up with McLaughlin despite having the slower primary tire compared to McLaughlin’s alternates. Grosjean seemed faster, and McLaughlin’s team was worried that if they pitted before Grosjean, the Frenchman would pass the Team Penske driver by virtue of having clean air. McLaughlin pushed it on the tire stint, forcing Grosjean to pit first on lap 71. McLaughlin followed on lap later, and the two converged at nearly the same exact spot on the track when McLaughlin emerged from the pits. Grosjean had warm tires, and flew to the outside, knowing that he had to act quickly to move in front of McLaughlin. McLaughlin fought back on the inside as the two cars screamed towards the right-handed Turn 4, and drove in deep. Grosjean gave room, but McLaughlin trusted his cold tires too much– the back end stepped out, and he slid into Grosjean’s Honda, putting both cars in the tires. Three times Grosjean has been the bridesmaid in his short IndyCar career; on an afternoon that looked like his first career win was likely, he went home with a crushed-up race car instead. McLaughlin suffered less damage, but incurred a penalty for the reckless move and finished a lap down in 13th. Both drivers were visibly frustrated post race (both with McLaughlin, ironically, as he even blamed himself for the move).

Pato O’Ward assumed the lead following the stunning development between Grosjean and McLaughlin, followed by Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon. O’Ward took off, and gapped Ericsson on the restart. Ericsson slowly chipped away at his lead, with Dixon in tow, and O’Ward’s lead was down to 7 tenths of a second with 10 laps to go. Another caution seemed to be a possibility with 6 laps left when Josef Newgarden’s Chevy caught fire, but he nursed the wounded machine back to the pits without causing an issue. Ericsson continued to hound O’Ward, but the Mexican McLaren driver proved adept at keeping last year’s Indy 500 winner behind him. Ericsson needed a daring move or a stroke of luck to get around O’Ward; the daring move may have happened soon had the latter not occurred with 4 laps to go. On the exit of Turn 14, O’Ward’s Chevrolet experienced a random plenum backfire– a rare occurrence that momentarily shuts the engine off– and Ericsson darted around him to take the lead. O’Ward regained power immediately and did not lose any more positions, cruising home in very disappointing second place. 

“Yeah, we did everything right today,” said a frustrated O’Ward during his post race press conference. “I've got to give it to the teams. Arrow Electronics and everybody, not just our 5 car, but Felix, Alex, their groups, as well. I feel like we've all really collaborated fantastically and come with a package that has been a massive step up to where we were last year, so that's super promising. Super happy with that. Didn't really move much; we rolled off the truck strong, which is what we wanted to do…. I don't know what else to tell you. It's very unfortunate….It makes me proud of -- we arrived here, people knew we were here. We were fighting for the win. That was ours to take, and it was just very -- I wouldn't say heartbreaking, but I would say just very -- it was very generic. I was trying to find a more fancy word. Frazzled. I learned that maybe it's not the right thing. I learned it in school. But no, just slightly annoying.”

Savvy veteran Scott Dixon rounded out the podium by finishing third. Alexander Rossi came in fourth in his McLaren debut, and Callum Ilott turned in a very impressive fifth place finish for Juncos-Hollinger. Graham Rahal improved 14 spots from his starting spot to finish sixth, Will Power recovered from a penalty to place seventh, and Alex Palou slid back from the top 5 during the last run to the eighth finishing spot. Youngsters Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas closed out the top ten in ninth and tenth, respectively.

On the rookie front, Marcus Armstrong paced the 2023 class by finishing an impressive 11th in his IndyCar debut. Even more impressive is the fact that he achieved that result despite an unscheduled pit stop resulting from a flat tire. Augustin Canapino finished 12th, Sting Ray Robb finished 16th despite suffering heavy damage in the lap 1 wreck, and Benjamin Pedersen finished last in 27th. 

Back to Ericsson. The 32-year-old Swede now has 4 career wins and an early points lead in 2023. The driver of the no. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda for Chip Ganassi is extremely optimistic for this season.

“I think we're going to be good on all types of tracks,” he said. “That's the goal, of course. Yeah, it's been a promising start for us, and we need to keep working hard because we cannot just relax and say everything is fixed. This was one weekend. We need to make sure we continue this trend for the rest of the year, as well.”

Ericsson may not have come to IndyCar by a traditional path. He’s not flashy, and has a penchant for unexpected wins. But there is no doubt what his goals are, and what he thinks he is capable of. 

“I'm here to win. I want to win a championship. I want to win another 500. That's our goals, and what other people say doesn't really matter. But I think we've proven last year and the year before that we can be up front and run, fighting for a championship. We just need to keep doing that, and what people say, I don't really mind too much.”

St. Petersburg is just days away, and with that comes the beginning of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season. As the season is moments from going green, it’s time to take a look at the biggest storylines for this year’s title fight.

Penske Power

Can Team Penske follow up their stellar 2022? Will Power won the championship, Josef Newgarden led the series in wins (5), and Scott McLaughlin won 3 races in a breakout sophomore season. All three drivers were in mathematical contention for the title entering the final race at Laguna Seca, and Power, while only having one win, was remarkably consistent during his title run. Penske won nearly half the races in 2022; is it too tall an order to repeat? The team returns the same stellar lineup for 2023 (McLaughlin, Power, Newgarden), and with minimal changes in car package, will also return their speed. It will be stunning if Penske is not the top dog in IndyCar once again.

The question is focused then on who among the Captain’s drivers will be the best. Scott McLaughlin's meteoric rise since moving to IndyCar from Australian Supercars in 2021 hints at superstardom in open wheel racing. Josef Newgarden finished second in points three years running and would have been close to usurping Power last year if not for a freak mechanical failure while leading in the second Iowa race last summer. And, of course, Will Power is Will Power, now with a second title on his resume. Regardless of who seizes the top spot within the organization in 2023, all three drivers are legitimate championship contenders, and one of them will end up on top at the conclusion of the season.

Strong Rookie Class

IndyCar is experiencing a youth movement, and 2023 will feature a new batch of the sport’s future stars. 4 drivers enter the ranks of North America’s premier open-wheel racing series, 3 of which intend on competing full time (and the fourth running a majority of the schedule). The entries push the series to 27 full-time cars (26 full-time drivers). 

New Zealander Marcus Armstrong headlines the class as he makes the switch from FIA Formula 2 to a road/street gig with Chip Ganassi Racing. Armstrong won 4 races and stood on the podium 8 times during his 3-year stint in F2, including 3 wins last year. He’ll drive the no. 11 Honda, which he’ll share with Takuma Sato (Sato will run the oval races). Armstrong has already shown impressive speed in preseason testing at the Thermal Club. Over four practice sessions, he had the 5th best time overall, behind only Callum Ilott, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard, and Marcus Ericsson. Armstrong is a premier talent, and deserves the hype behind him coming from the F2 ranks. He may be the favorite to be the top rookie in points in 2023, despite running 5 less races than the rest of the rookies. 

Benjamin Pedersen, the Danish driver from Seattle, Washington, replaces Dalton Kellett at a reinvigorated A.J. Foyt Racing that saw both 2022 drivers depart following the 2022 season. Pedersen is coming off of 2 strong seasons in Indy Lights (now Indy NXT), including a dominant weekend at Portland where he captured his first Lights pole and win. Pedersen finished 4th and 5th in the Indy Lights standings in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and will bring a fresh burst of talent to a rebuilding Foyt. Pedersen will compete full-time with Foyt in the no. 55 Chevrolet.

Sting Ray Robb, who takes the lead for the best race car driver name in the world, is a late addition to the list. Robb finished second in the Indy Lights standings in 2022, with a win in the penultimate race at Laguna Seca. Robb will join Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing to pilot the no. 51 Honda full time in 2023, joining the race for the IndyCar Rookie of the Year championship. DCR with RWR, which operates with less funding and fanfare than some of the larger teams, always finds competitive results. In 2021, the team achieved a pole at the Indy GP and 3 podiums with Romain Grosjean. In 2022, Takuma Sato led laps at Gateway, and found speed at numerous tracks. Given Robb’s talent and energy, the team will have some strong runs in 2023. The future is promising for Robb and DCR/RWR. 

Augustin Canapino is a surprise addition to the list, as the 33-year-old Argentinian announced in January that he would join Juncos-Hollinger Racing full time in 2023, driving the no. 78 Chevrolet. Canapino joins Callum Ilott on an up-and-coming Juncos team that saw strong results towards the end of 2022. Canapino is not a household name in the United States, but has the support of his home country and has a strong racing resume in Argentina. He has 15 national series championships over the course of his South American racing career. In November of last year, Canapino drove a Juncos-Hollinger car in an exhibition event in front of a packed crowd in Buenos Aires, proving both his speed and the enthusiasm for IndyCar racing within the fans of his home nation. As IndyCar looks to grow internationally, Canapino could be a boon for the series, as he opens the exposure to an entire nation of racing fans. Given Hollinger’s speed at the end of 2022, Canapino should have some strong results, even though he’s not the traditional rookie. 

Changing Places

Alexander Rossi headlines a group of drivers that moved teams in the offseason. The American star, formerly of Andretti Autosport, makes the jump to Arrow McLaren. He’ll join Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist in papaya as the global racing team prepares three full-time entries for the 2023 season. Rossi snapped a winless streak spanning nearly 3 years last summer with a win at the Indianapolis GP summer race. The 2016 Indy 500 champion and former Formula 1 driver has 8 career IndyCar wins and a best points finish of second in 2018. Time will tell if a change of scenery will propel Rossi to the performance that many believe him capable of; if McLaren can provide fast cars, expect him to be a serious title competitor.

Rossi’s departure opened the door for Kyle Kirkwood. The 24-year-old, hailing from Jupiter, Florida, spent a significant portion of his rookie season at A.J. Foyt Racing behind the wall. Kirkwood, after a dominant 2021 in Indy Lights that saw him winning 10 races and the title, struggled in his debut IndyCar season and failed to finish 7 times. Kirkwood clearly has talent, and moving to a powerhouse organization like Andretti will be a huge equipment upgrade. He needs to keep the car on track; if he can avoid the garage in 2023, he’ll have a strong sophomore season.

2 time Indy 500 champion Takuma Sato is not done yet. He recently announced that he’ll run the oval races for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023, filling in for rookie Marcus Armstrong. Sato, a former F1 driver, returns for his 14th year in IndyCar.

Also making a triumphant return, Tony Kanaan will make one final run at the Indy 500 in 2023 with McLaren. He’ll drive the no. 66 for the orange-and-black outfit in May. Kanaan won the 2013 Indy 500; 10 years later, the 2004 IndyCar champion will attempt to win it again one last time. Last year, he finished on the podium, so a storybook ending isn’t completely out of the cards. 

2023 Schedule Shakeups (or lack thereof)

The 2023 schedule has a whopping two changes compared to last season. Nashville and the second Indianapolis GP swap weekends— yippee! The major change, if you can even call it that, is the Detroit GP’s move from the historic Belle Isle racetrack to downtown Detroit in early June. There is some excitement around the street course, and the city of Detroit seems to be investing heavily in the June 4th event. 

The 2023 IndyCar season begins this Sunday in St. Petersburg, Florida, with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 5th. The race will begin at 12 PM eastern, and will air on NBC. 

 

“I just want to be driving race cars for the rest of my life and that is my number one goal.”

For Ryan Vargas, a 22-year-old Californian with a humble background, the journey to reach that goal hasn’t been easy. The Xfinity Series driver has 67 career starts under his belt, all but one with the David-esque JD Motorsports, and has only two career top tens in 4 years racing part-time in NASCAR’s second-level series. Despite all that, however, Vargas looks towards the future. 

Vargas was introduced to racing in his childhood in Southern California when his parents took him to Monster Jam events, which sparked his passion for “anything with four wheels and a motor”, as he said himself. A trip to Irwindale Speedway when he was 9 turned that spark into a 3 alarm fire. 

“It's our local short track,” Vargas recalled, “and as we're there we see a recess aide from my elementary school and I'm just kind of thinking myself, ‘Oh, that's wild, that you’re here,’ and she just happens to tell me about her son's racing, a bandolero race car, and that they plan on actually selling that car. My eyes immediately light up and I'm just kind of like, ‘OK, this is something I want to do.’”

Vargas wrecked the car in his first time testing a bandolero; driving home from the test, his dad gave him a choice. 

“He said, ‘Look, we could do one of two things. We can race. But if we do this, we're going to make sure that you're a champion by the end of this, and if not that's fine. We can go and race K1 Speed on the weekends with some friends and you just do your normal school stuff and all that and find a job.’

It took me about 5 minutes to decide that I want to drive a race car and we haven't looked back.”

After finding success in bandoleros, street stocks, and late models on the west coast, Vargas moved to the east coast to advance his career with Rev Racing’s Drive for Diversity program. The initiative is designed to create more opportunities in NASCAR for minorities and women both behind the wheel and in the garage. The 2018 class includes Vargas, then 18, Ernie Francis, Jr. (SRX winner and TransAm champion), Nick Sanchez (2022 ARCA champion with 8 career Xfinity races), among others. Moving to the east coast and fully diving into a professional racing career while still being a teenager helped mold Vargas into the man he is today. 

“My dad moved here with me for a few months and once I turned 18 and was able to kind of support myself, he moved back to California with my mom and I basically took over trying to cover things and do my own stuff, do groceries and all that,” Vargas said. “I was freshly 18 years old and now living on my own for the first time in this area that I didn't know. And that was intimidating, but it was a lot of fun, and in 2019 when I was racing late models and stuff and making my Xfinity debut and stuff, I was racing my winnings from late model races to pay for rent and groceries through those deals that I got. It was a very big learning experience for me on how to grow the business side of being a racecar driver so that you can actually live doing so and that was a very important point in my life.”

His first career Xfinity start came in 2019 at Iowa Speedway for JD Motorsports in the 15 car, where he finished a respectable 17th. 2 more starts came that year, one at Road America when he finished on the lead lap, and one in the penultimate race at Phoenix. 

He then ran 9 races in 2020, all for JDM once again, with the last 6 being the final 6 of the season with social media giant TikTok on the car. Vargas has a penchant for finding big sponsors; he’s brought in the aforementioned TikTok, Swann, Best Buy, Critical Path Security, Williamsburg Contracting, and Reddit to support his racing career. As to how he continues to draw big brands, Vargas isn’t entirely sure.

“It's funny 'cause I don't know,” he explained. “I try to be the squeaky wheel. I try to make sure I follow up, I'm very hands on with all of these programs that I put together. I'm very up front with all of my partners, I make sure that they know what they're getting into when they sign on with me.  I want them to know that everything that is put out there is put out there by me, and that I have a direct influence on the partnership.”

“Putting a sticker on the car, that doesn't mean anything anymore,” Vargas said. 

“It's about making sure that you actually return it for your partners and then everything will sort itself out.” 

Vargas makes sure that the companies know that he’s behind the sponsorship deal at hand, and he alone focuses on making the deals succeed. The level of responsibility, however, is not lost on him. 

“I'm aware that I have a lot on my shoulders when it comes to finding new partners,” Vargas said. “Obviously I email a lot, I do a lot of cold calling; it's definitely a lot, it's definitely stressful, but that's what you gotta do to be in this sport, and that's what’s kept me in this sport, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep me here.”

Vargas’s grassroots sponsorship campaign allowed him to compete on a nearly full-time basis with JDM in 2021 and 2022, running 29 and 26 races, respectively. Each year he improved his points finish, and in 2022 he scored a career-high 6th place finish at Daytona in August. 

“I think we accomplished a lot of our goals,” Vargas said. “We kept cars clean, I think I have the least amount of incidents of any driver in Xfinity, which is a very important stat to have.”

Following his successful 2022 season, Vargas announced this offseason that he would be moving on from JDM, with whom he’s spent the first four years of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career. He’s ready for the next step of his racing career.

“There's just things that you come to the realization of and you just kind of decide, ‘It's time for me to take a little bit of a leap,’” Vargas explained. “I wish John and his organization nothing but the best. But I do look forward to changing things up in 2023. Things are still very fluid at the moment. Things are still very, very much in the works. I'm very confident that I'll be able to figure out my plans here in the coming few days.”

Vargas has not announced his plans for 2023 and beyond yet, but he’s optimistic for his future in the sport. 

“If I'm driving, my overall goal is to get into a highly competitive Xfinity ride in the coming years and run full time, chase wins, chase championships,” Vargas said. “But that does come with time, I do need more seat time, I need more experience at these bigger teams…But now, moving into the future I hope to find myself a seat at the table and hopefully one day, like I mentioned, chase the championship one day.”

Ryan Vargas is young, but he’s got a ton of seat time already. He’s got the personality, talent, and business smarts to grow a successful career in the upper ranks of NASCAR. He’s not a household name yet- but watch for Ryan Vargas to make a splash in the coming years.

Formula 1 has experienced tremendous growth globally, especially in the United States, over the last 5 years. The organization is desperate to tap into the vast American market but they’ve been missing the biggest component to American commercial success: a home-grown driver. Until now. On Sunday, Williams Racing announced that American Logan Sargeant will join the team in 2023.

In 2022, the Williams Racing lineup featured Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon, a pairing which produced only 8 points to this point in the season. Albon was signed to a multi-year extension in August; one month later, Williams announced that Latifi would not return to the team following 2022, leaving the team with an open seat for 2023. Latifi scored only 7 points in nearly 3 full seasons with Williams to date, and was repeatedly outperformed by teammates George Russell (2019-2021) and Albon (2022). Prior to Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, the team had not revealed Latifi’s replacement. 

During Saturday’s press conference prior to the race on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, Williams team principal Jost Capito slipped in the team’s decision for their second driver in 2023 and beyond. Logan Sargeant, a 21-year-old American from Florida, will replace Latifi at Williams next year provided that he achieves enough FIA SuperLicense points to be eligible for a Formula 1 drive. Sargeant replaced Latifi for Free Practice 1 on Saturday and will also run FP1 at Mexico and Abu Dhabi to increase his chances at reaching the license threshold.

“I think with every rookie who comes in, and he had one season in Formula 2, and I’m a fan of getting young drivers as quick through as possible into Formula 1 because the series, the cars, compared to Formula 1 cars, lack tracks, so get him in as soon as possible and find out if he’s capable to stay in Formula 1 long-term – which we believe he is,” Capito said. “His first year in F2, and he won races, and he has been qualifying very strong, all the years in his career, so we believe he’s absolutely ready to get into Formula 1.”

Sargeant won two races in F2 this year, in back-to-back events at Silverstone and Austria, becoming the first American to win in the series since Alexander Rossi in 2013. He currently sits in third place in the F2 standings with 1 race left; in order to obtain a SuperLicense, he needs to finish the season in 5th place or higher in the driver standings. Should he succeed, and be officially signed to Williams Racing, he will join Alex Albon for Williams’ 2023 driver pairing. Capito is confident that the pairing will be successful next year.

“We can have a rookie because, with Alex, who’s still young but also already a very experienced driver,” Capito explained. “He established so well in the team, he gave fantastic results, he’s working well with the team, so we can put a rookie alongside him.”

Sargeant will join McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and AlphaTauri’s Nyck De Vries as drivers making their full-time Formula 1 debuts in 2023. The American will be the first driver from the states since Alexander Rossi in 2015. Rossi, an 8-time race winner in the NTT IndyCar Series since 2016, ran 5 races in F1 between 2014 and 2015 with Manor Marussia (a best finish of 12th at the 2015 USGP). The last time an American won an F1 race was in 1978, when Mario Andretti won the Dutch Grand Prix that year. Andretti is also the last American driver to win the F1 Championship, also in 1978. His son Michael Andretti is the last American to score points in 1993; Scott Speed is the most recent driver to finish in the top 10 for the red, white, and blue (2007). In short— America has a serious F1 drought. Sargeant could change everything for American fans. 

Formula 1 already has 2 US races, in Miami and Austin, Texas on the schedule. Next year, they’ll add a third on the streets of Las Vegas. American interest in the series has grown exponentially since the release of Netflix reality show Drive to Survive, which goes behind the scenes of the F1 season. Adding a homegrown driver to the grid will only increase the series popularity among Americans. Instead of picking from a cast of mostly European drivers and teams, we the people have a driver to gravitate to. 

Logan Sargeant is not stepping into a good car. Williams will likely finish last in the constructor standings this year, a spot that they’re familiar with over the last decade. He’ll be a rookie, competing against the best open wheel drivers on the planet. But, despite all of that, his addition to the F1 grid is monumental. It signifies a shift in the sport’s popularity in the United States and will usher in a new era of American motorsports, regardless of how he performs and how many races he runs. Sargeant signifies the next chapter of American F1; it’s lights out, and away we go. 

 

Standing in a rain of confetti, Power recaptured the championship trophy for the first time in 8 years. Power, then 33, won his first championship in 2014 with 3 wins, dominating a season in which he never fell below second in the points standings. This year, he faced a tougher road. While he did lead the points standings early in the year, he didn’t regain the points lead until race 13/17 at Indy. Power now joins an illustrious list of multi-time IndyCar Champions with his second title on Sunday in 2022. 

 

Power entered Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca with a 20-point lead over teammate Josef Newgarden and 6-time champion Scott Dixon. If he placed on the podium, he was guaranteed the title, and his chances of doing so looked good on Saturday. Power qualified on the pole and led the field to green. Said Power of his pole, which was the fifth of the season for him,

 

“I couldn't really enjoy the pole yesterday because I was so focused on the race.”

 

Rookie Callum Ilott put in a stellar run to start second in Sunday’s race, and had an immensely impressive race until lap 39, when his engine failed. He ended up bringing out the only caution of the race, as the remainder of the event was incident-free. Power led the first 14 laps before giving it up during a pit cycle, in which the lead changed hands multiple times. Alex Palou emerged as the leader as the race approached halfway, and he settled in as the sole frontrunner for the win. While he was eliminated from championship contention at Portland last week, Palou was winless on the season, which made the win at Laguna Seca all the more enticing. The driver of the no. 10 NTT Data Honda ran away with the lead and the win while Power fought to clinch the championship. 

 

Josef Newgarden, still with a chance at the title, drove up to second after starting in 25th place due to a qualifying spin. He did all that he could, but was unable to catch Palou for the lead or a break that would allow him to gain more points on Power. Palou resulted in leading 67 out of 95 laps en route to a dominating win in what may have been his last race for Chip Ganassi Racing, winning by over 30 seconds. Newgarden placed second, and Power clinched his second title by taking the final podium spot. 

Felix Rosenqvist, with an uncertain future in IndyCar, closed out an up-and-down season of his own to place fourth, and Christian Lundgaard wrapped up an impressive rookie season in fifth, capturing the Rookie of the Year crown. 

 

Scott McLaughlin capped off a strong sophomore season in sixth, and Romain Grosjean finished seventh. Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson, and Alexander Rossi concluded the top 10. 

 

Power’s championship comes a year after his worst points finish in 13 years in 2021, when he finished ninth with only one win. This year, he also only had one win, at Belle Isle, but he was remarkably consistent. He had an average finish of 5.9, and only had one finish worse than 15th (19th at Road America). The championship drive was smooth and calm down the stretch as he slowly reeled in Marcus Ericsson, tallying 5 podiums in the last 7 races. Power led the series in podiums with 9, and he finished every race on the lead lap. His consistency is ultimately what won him the championship.

 

“You can't leave anything on the table,” Power explained. “That's what makes this series so tough and unique is that you've got all these disciplines. Even the difference between a road course and a street course is quite significant in our series because the street course is extremely rough and bumpy and tight. There's not a series like it. I'm going to say it's the toughest series in the world because of what you've got to master to win it and the competition level. You don't even have to take my word for it; just do the math on lap times, and you'll see that we're the toughest, the most competitive series in the world.”

 

Power was glad that it came down to the wire and wasn’t a runaway for the championship this year.

 

“Yeah, it was a hard fight to the end,” he said. “You're fighting Dixon and Newgarden, like two of the best guys in the series. It's very satisfying. Very satisfying. That matters. It's not fun -- it's fun at the time when you win with ease, but it's way better when it was a difficult fight to the end, which it was. It adds to the satisfaction. “

 

Newgarden, with his podium finish, came up second in the season points standings to Power. For the 2-time champion, now runner-up for the championship in three straight seasons, there may have been a scenario where things worked out differently; Newgarden was dominating late at Iowa when something broke in the car, knocking him out of the race and costing him dozens of points. When he fell short by only 16 points to Power in the end, the season was surely bittersweet. 

 

Scott Dixon placed third in the standings, his sixth straight season of being top-5 in points. Scott McLaughlin finished in fourth, and 2021 champ Alex Palou climbed up to fifth with his win. 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who led the points for multiple weeks this summer, resulted in sixth in points, meaning the top 6 spots in the standings belonged to drivers from either Team Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing. 

 

With the checkered flag flying at Laguna Seca on Sunday, the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season is in the books. Not without its own intrigue and excitement, the ultra-competitive field put on a stellar show once again. Now, as 2022 concludes, all teams and drivers turn their eyes to the offseason, contract negotiations, and preparing for the beginning of the 2023 season next spring. 

In fall 2020, Scott McLaughlin made his first career IndyCar start at St. Petersburg in the 2020 season finale. He crashed on lap 46. Less than 2 years later, the 29-year-old Australian SuperCars legend is poised to become the next big star in the NTT IndyCar series. McLaughlin dominated Sunday’s race at Portland International Raceway for his third win of the season.

The driver for Team Penske never gave up the lead under normal race circumstances, only ceding the lead during green flag pit stops. McLaughlin led 104 out of 110 laps after starting on the pole, and finished 1.18 seconds ahead of teammate Will Power in second. It was a total beatdown of the field by McLaughlin, and he also pulled closer in the championship fight with the final race of the season coming up. He added to his wins at St. Petersburg and Mid-Ohio earlier this year for his third career win.

Will Power, the championship leader, finished second, with 6-time champion Scott Dixon finishing third. Pato O’Ward placed fourth, and Graham Rahal continued his late summer surge with a fifth place finish, his fifth top 10 of the last seven races. Colton Herta, in the midst of F1 rumors, finished in sixth, with teammate Alexander Rossi grabbing the seventh place finishing spot. Josef Newgarden, Callum Illot, and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 10 in eight, ninth, and tenth. 

With one race to go in the 2022 IndyCar season, Will Power leads Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden by 20 points. Marcus Ericsson, 39 points behind, and Scott McLaughlin, 41 points behind, are both still mathematically eligible but are longshots. It’s Will Power’s title to lose, and as long as he has a solid run at Laguna Seca, he’ll clinch the title. 

IndyCar closes out its 2022 season next weekend at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The race is on Sunday, September 11th at 3 PM EST on NBC, where a champion will be crowned.