re: 2022 IndyCar Season Thread - Last Race: Laguna Seca 9/11 3:00 PM ET (NBC)

Great explanation.

Absolutely. Leaving the race completely is wild.

Many clean laps have spread the field. It's a well-timed FCY for an exciting end to the race.

Absolutely incredible last three laps.

Lots of argy bargy for a great ending.

Race 8 Road America

Official results and points

2022 Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America - 55 laps

P01 Josef Newgarden (#2 Penske / Chevy)
P02 Marcus Ericsson (#8 Ganassi / Honda)
P03 Alexander Rossi (#27 Andretti / Honda)
P04 Romain Grosjean (#28 Andretti / Honda)
P05 Colton Herta (#26 Andretti / Honda)
P06 Felix Rosenqvist (#7 McLaren / Chevy)
P07 Scott McLaughlin (#3 Penske / Chevy)
P08 Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan / Honda)
P09 Scott Dixon (#9 Ganassi / Honda)
P10 Christian Lundgaard [R] (#30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan / Honda)
P11 Callum Ilott [R] (#77 Juncos Hollinger / Chevy)
P12 Simon Pagenaud (#60 Meyer Shank / Honda)
P13 Jack Harvey (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan / Honda)
P14 Conor Daly (#20 Carpenter / Chevy)
P15 Takuma Sato (#51 Coyne / Honda)
P16 David Malukas [R] (#18 Coyne / Honda)
P17 Rinus VeeKay (#21 Carpenter / Chevy)
P18 Devlin DeFrancesco [R] (#29 Andretti / Honda)
P19 Will Power (#12 Penske / Chevy)
P20 Kyle Kirkwood [R] (#14 AJ Foyt / Chevy)
P21 Simona De Silvestro (#16 Paretta / Chevy)
P22 Hélio Castroneves (#06 Meyer Shank / Honda)
P23 Dalton Kellett (#4 AJ Foyt / Chevy)
P24 Jimmie Johnson (#48 Ganassi / Honda)
P25 Tatiana Calderón [R] (#11 AJ Foyt / Chevy)
P26 Pato O'Ward (#5 McLaren / Chevy) - 46 laps Mechanical
P27 Alex Palou (#10 Ganassi / Honda) - 36 laps Contact


Except for a couple of early full-course yellows, it was a fantastic race with a ton of passing, and the strategy calls made it difficult to know who really had the upper hand until late in the race. The most significant incident was championship leader Will Power getting punted and damaged by rookie Devlin DeFrancesco. Power finished P19 and lost the championship lead to Marcus Ericsson. Alexander Rossi yet again made a late race charge, this time in hopes of passing Josef Newgarden for the win, but a restart after a very late race FCY gave Ericsson the upper hand on Rossi as he passed him to finish P2.

Championship After 8 Races
(+/- number of positions gained or lost)

P01 Marcus Ericsson (Ganassi / Honda) 293 pts (+1)
P02 Will Power (Penske / Chevy) 266 pts (-1)
P03 Josef Newgarden (Penske / Chevy) 261 pts (+2)
P04 Pato O'Ward (McLaren / Chevy) 248 pts (-1)
P05 Alex Palou (Ganassi / Honda) 246 pts (-1)
P06 Scott Dixon (Ganassi / Honda) 224 pts (+0)
P07 Alexander Rossi (Andretti / Honda) 218 pts (+0)
P08 Felix Rosenqvist (McLaren / Chevy) 203 pts (+1)
P09 Scott McLaughlin (Penske / Chevy) 199 pts (+1)
P10 Simon Pagenaud (Meyer Shank / Honda) 197 pts (-2)
P11 Colton Herta (Andretti / Honda) 196 pts (+0)
P12 Romain Grosjean (Andretti / Honda) 174 pts (+2)
P13 Conor Daly (Carpenter / Chevy) 171 pts (-1)
P14 Rinus VeeKay (Carpenter / Chevy) 161 pts (-1)
P15 Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan / Honda) 159 pts (+0)
P16 Christian Lundgaard [R] (Rahal Letterman Lanigan / Honda) 140 pts (+1)
P17 Hélio Castroneves (Meyer Shank / Honda) 136 pts (-1)
P18 Takuma Sato (Coyne / Honda) 133 pts (+0)
P19 David Malukas [R] (Coyne / Honda) 123 pts (+0)
P20 Jack Harvey (Rahal Letterman Lanigan / Honda) 105 pts (+0)
P21 Kyle Kirkwood [R] (Foyt / Chevy) 93 pts (+0)
P22 Callum Ilott [R] (Juncos Hollinger / Chevy) 90 pts (+3)
P23 Devlin DeFrancesco [R] (Andretti / Honda) 86 pts (+1)
P24 Jimmie Johnson (Ganassi / Honda) 85 pts (-2)

(Partial list - 35 drivers have scored points)


At about the halfway point in the season (8 of 17 races), Josef Newgarden is the only multi-race winner, with three wins. It may seem that he should easily be leading the championship, but Ericsson leads the championship on the strength of the double-points Indy 500, and Power is in 2nd place on the strength of finishing in the top 5 of every race this season until getting punted at Road America to finish P19. With up to 52 points available at each race, it seems like the top 10-12 drivers still have a reasonable chance to compete for the championship.

R01 St. Petersburg - P1 Scott McLaughlin, P2 Alex Palou, P3 Will Power
R02 Texas - P1 Josef Newgarden, P2 Scott McLaughlin, P3 Marcus Ericsson
R03 Long Beach - P1 Josef Newgarden, P2 Romain Grosjean, P3 Alex Palou
R04 Barber Motorsports Park - P1 Pato O'Ward, P2 Alex Palou, P3 Rinus VeeKay
R05 IMS Road Course - P1 Colton Herta, P2 Simon Pagenaud, P3 Will Power
R06 Indy 500 - P1 Marcus Ericsson, P2 Pato O'Ward, P3 Tony Kanaan
R07 Belle Isle - P1 Will Power, P2 Alexander Rossi, P3 Scott Dixon
R08 Road America - P1 Josef Newgarden, P2 Marcus Ericsson, P3 Alexander Rossi

Rosenqvist out. Engine blew up?

Oh I see, everyone is now on the same strategy, and McLaughlin is now in position to win the race, and it's just Lap 36 of 80. O'Ward led the first stint, now he's in P4 after the pits.

And Harvey punts Kellett. Another FCY.

Yikes, FCY because of Calderón, and Colton Herta missed his opportunity to pit. He's now completely screwed. He will end up at the back of the order (last guy on the lead lap) when he pits after the pit lane re-opens.

O'Ward retires. Both McLarens are now out of the race.

Wow, soon after the restart, Grosjean punted teammate Herta off the track.

There was later replay footage showing Rossi crashing into another teammate, Devlin DeFrancesco.