IndyCar

All you need to know ahead of penultimate 2022 IndyCar round

by Jack Benyon
6 min read

IndyCar is back in action at the Portland road course that always throws up spectacular drama.

With a practice session on Friday and plenty to talk about off-track, we’ve rounded out the biggest stories of the day ahead of the penultimate race of the season.

Newgarden fastest in practice 1

It was an incredibly messy session as after 20 minutes, the big screen situated adjacent to the start/finish line fell at an angle, and presumably race control didn’t want any on track activity with the threat of it falling completely.

Luckily for the competitors, IndyCar stopped the clock to ensure the 50 minutes in the session remaining.

Once action got underway, Helio Castroneves (spin, Turn 1) and Pato O’Ward (spin, before Turn 12) brought out red flags that ebbed the time away.

On the harder tyre Andretti Autosport topped the order with Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean.

Then late on the challengers bolted on the soft tyres and Grosjean was immediately out of action with a transmission issue.

The rest of his Andretti team-mates were usurped too, as despite the fact the Portland street circuit shares little with the short oval at Gateway, the top three in the session here mirrored the last race perfectly.

That meant a test last week at the venue benefitted Penske with Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin first and third respectively, split by Dale Coyne with HMD’s star rookie David Malukas.

Rossi and Herta rounded out the top five, with Rossi’s Andretti replacement for next season Kyle Kirkwood up in seventh.

Championship leader Will Power was 10th in the third Penske-run car.

Newgarden’s penalty

Josef Newgarden Bommarito Automotive Group 500 By Chris Owens Referenceimagewithoutwatermark M68749

After winning at Gateway, Josef Newgarden is the driver with the momentum heading into Portland, especially after testing at the venue last week.

However, after taking an engine earlier than expected at Toronto, Newgarden maxed out the mileage on his fourth unit of the season, he had to take a fifth for Portland which warrants a six-place grid penalty.

After last year’s pole winner Alex Palou won the race despite dropping back to 16th in the melee at the start, starting position isn’t always the most important thing at Portland which should provide Newgarden with some comfort.

New chicane added

IndyCar has reacted to the constant use of the Turn 1 runoff in recent races (see last year’s start below) by adding a second chicane in the run off, closer to the first corner, in a bid to slow drivers down and avoid people gaining an advantage.

This is being trialled in practice today and IndyCar will make a decision on whether to keep it or not before the race.

If drivers don’t go through both run-off chicanes, they could be subject to a penalty.

New liveries

In a repeat of the most mind-boggling livery decision of last season, once again Chip Ganassi Racing will run two PNC Bank-sponsored cars that are near identical to the naked eye.

Scott Dixon is the usual driver and this year’s birthday boy Marcus Ericsson takes over from Alex Palou in the second PNC Bank machine this year.

There is at least a good reason for confusing anyone watching like this. Alongside Jimmie Johnson – who is running an Athena Racing livery for women in STEM, and donated $1.5 million to the American Legion earlier this week – Ganassi is promoting its Women In Motorsports Powered by PNC Bank Internship for the 2023 season, which has opened for applications.

Ericsson’s car has blue on the front and rear wing endplates as opposed to the orange on Dixon’s car, and remember Ericsson is #8 with Dixon in the #9.

Andretti rookie Devlin DeFrancesco is running a black and blue Jones Soda scheme in stark contrast to his regular neon livery.

Palou latest in light of Piastri conclusion

Alex Palou Hy Vee Salute To Farmers 300 By Joe Skibinski Referenceimagewithoutwatermark M65185

Now that the Oscar Piastri situation has been decided against Alpine and for McLaren, attention can switch back to the original case of this happening with Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi.

After all, before Piastri’s case kicked off in F1 it was Palou who was the trendsetter, announcing hours after Ganassi revealed a contract extension that he in fact was off to McLaren, which has led to a three-month legal process with no end in sight.

Our verdict on McLaren beating Alpine to Piastri F1 contract
Read more

At the moment, Ganassi and Palou are in a phase of mediation in a bid to avoid the case going to federal court. While the first round of mediation reportedly proved unsuccessful, a second round of mediation looks likely to try and solve the issue.

So that’s where we are up to. The news that Piastri signed a deal to race for McLaren in F1 before Palou’s situation blew up shows Palou wasn’t in the running for an F1 seat, which begs the question if Palou’s move away from the current IndyCar and Indy 500 champions was the right move.

Whichever way this case swings in mediation or court, it will merely be the first domino as either McLaren or Ganassi will have to work to fill its driver line-ups. For McLaren, it also has a second Formula E seat to consider too.

One final note on Palou, he’s also running a different livery this weekend, in the green Ridgeline car as opposed to his usual NTT Data scheme.

The Road to Indy Series finale

On Friday, British driver Louis Foster wrapped up the Indy Pro 2000 title two races early. He has won on a street course and an oval this season at the first attempt as part of his maiden season racing in the US.

The Exclusive Autosport driver earns a scholarship to pay for racing in Indy Lights next year.

In USF2000 – which awards a scholarship to race in Indy Pro 2000 – Myles Rowe holds the championship lead.

In the first of three races this weekend, Rowe fought his way through the field to second before running wide defending his position, so a 10th place finish leaves him four-points clear with two races to go.

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