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

I think the three-stoppers made a big mistake.

Mclaughlin in the lead with 11 to go...can he hold off Palou...

Nail-biter!

Penske doing Penske things. Love it

My favorite young drivers are VeeKay, McLaughlin, and Palou, in that order, so I'm pretty stoked about this first race. I think Herta and O'Ward are a bit overhyped because of their F1 ambitions. They are super fast when it's their day, but I'm not convinced yet that either are consistent enough to win the championship.

My favorites among the old guard are Sato (45 yrs old) and Castroneves (46 yrs old). They don't have the speed to win on road courses anymore, but they won the last two Indy 500s (Sato has won two of the last five), so they remain a formidable threat there.

Sato started in P22 for Dale Coyne today and finished P10, exactly where he would have finished if he had stayed at Rahal. I say that because last year he frequently finished 2-3 places behind Graham, and today he finished three places behind Graham and just ahead of his replacement in the #30 car, Lundgaard (and finished three spots ahead of the other new Rahal driver Harvey). I mention this because although his qualifying has been terrible the last couple of years, and he has a well-earned reputation for getting into a lot of incidents, he's actually racing better than ever. He's not fast, but he's been consistent and savvy on Sunday for the last couple of years. I think it's actually because he's lost speed and has fewer opportunities to execute his "no attack, no chance" style. He's relying more on experience now.

I think Rossi is cooked. Not sure if it’s mental or something with the car post aeroscreen, but feels like there are more bad days than good now.

Rough day for a lot of good drivers. Talent level in IndyCar is so deep now though, no more easy top 10s

Recent IndyCar news:

JR Hildebrand has signed with A.J. Foyt to drive the oval races in the #11 car this year. Colombian rookie Tatiana Calderón is racing the road and street courses in the #11 car. Hildebrand last ran a full season in IndyCar in 2017, scoring a couple of podium finishes.

Colton Herta has signed with McLaren F1 as a test driver. Apparently there are new rules that allow testing of one-year-old cars (previously they had to be at least two years old), so Herta will test the 2021 McLaren sometime this year. I don’t know if this includes an opportunity to drive on a Friday race weekend (where he can gain Superlicense points). Michael Andretti is fine with this arrangement. Note that Michael and Zak Brown are friends and business partners in Aussie Supercar, so this is not surprising.

Interestingly, McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward, who recently tested a McLaren F1 car, was quoted recently:

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...O’Ward gave an interesting response when asked about his future with the team. “I am currently under contract with McLaren, but there are scenarios that could see me in a very different position at the end of this season,” O’Ward told RACER.

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racer.com/2022/03/03/indycars-hybrid-engine-rollout-delayed-until-2024/

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The NTT IndyCar Series will postpone the introduction of its upcoming hybrid powertrains from 2023 to 2024.

The resolution comes on the heels of more than a year of delays with the energy recovery systems (ERS) and other critical components affected by global supply chain challenges.

Facing uncertainty as to when those supply issues will be resolved, the decision was made to push the new, more powerful 2.4-twin-turbo V6 internal combustion engines from Chevrolet and Honda – and the ERS units built by Germany’s MAHLE – back by a year to give all parties enough time to sufficiently prepare for debut in 2024.

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It will be interesting to see if Jimmie Johnson can improve his typical IndyCar performance when running on an oval where he has won multiple times in a stock car. Hell, they named winner's circle for him.

From Hendrick:

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Johnson holds several records at Texas Motor Speedway, including the most wins at the track (seven), most runner-up finishes (five), first among top-five finishes (16) and he has led the most laps at Texas with 1,152.

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Doubtful IndyCar and COTA are getting back together.

Charlotte or Atlanta would be good ovals to try, since they aren’t owned by NASCAR, although Atlanta just got reconfigured and I’m not sure how these cars would race there + what the speeds would be.

Wish Penske never would have sold Michigan (or Fontana)