Indycar 2022

Delighted to see Rossi get the pole and he deserves it after the close run last week. He finally has a car. It's going to be an insane race though when you look behind him. I mean like Newgarden, Palou, Ericsson, O'Ward and Grosjean is a crazy lineup to have behind you.

Unbelievable start to this, not sure we've had two green flag laps out of 11 so far.

Hertha charging through the field.

Rossi ends up third, he just has no luck at all.

Newgarden wins it and that means he gets one million dollars to share between a couple of charities which is very nice. I wasn't aware of that before the race. Ericsson finished second.

ROUND 9 — HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO

Break over, time for the real meat of the season to begin. 9 races over the next 11 weeks to determine a champion. Strap in.

Friday 1st July

• 7:20pm — Indy Lights practice 1 {streaming only}
• 8:30pm — INDYCAR practice 1 {SSF1, or streaming}

Saturday 2nd July

• 1:35pm — Indy Lights practice 2 {streaming only}
• 2:30pm — INDYCAR practice 2 {SS Mix, SSF1 Red Button, or streaming}
• 6:45pm — Indy Lights qualifying {streaming only}
• 7:45pm — INDYCAR qualifying {SSF1, or streaming}

Sunday 3rd July

• 2:45pm — INDYCAR Warmup {streaming only}
• 3:30pm — Indy Lights race {streaming only}
• 5:30pm — Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio {SS Action or SSF1 Red Button}
  • 5:53pm — Green flag

I thought I heard the NBC commentators on Friday or Saturday briefly mentioning something about Rossi and Grosjean not getting along which wouldn't surprise you as both are different types of strong personalities. I didn't see that toxic blow up all across that four car team yesterday they are an underforming mess with Herta's and Rossi's title aspirations almost certainly ending yesterday

Good on Scotty Mac pulling off that commanding win after a ropey recent run he's back in with an outside shout for title again

ROUND 10 — HONDA INDY TORONTO

After two years of cancellations, IndyCar is finally back north of the border!

Friday 15th July

• 7:30pm — INDYCAR Practice 1 {SSF1, or streaming}

Saturday 16th July

• 3:00pm — INDYCAR Practice 2 {SSF1, or streaming}
• 7:00pm — INDYCAR Qualifying {SSF1, or streaming}

Sunday 17th July

• 3:55pm — INDYCAR Warmup {streaming only}
• 8pm — Honda Indy Toronto {Sky Sports F1}
  • 8:30pm — Green flag

Well... that was a fun bombshell to drop just after midnight last night. Almost immediately the r/INDYCAR reddit traffic quadrupled over our usual load...

The press release is just as ambiguous as Rosenqvist's was. He could still do an old car test and theoretically join the F1 grid since he has the Super Licence points... Similarly, he could just as easily be shipped off to Formula E. While neither are likely to happen, you can't say it's not theoretically possible.

Tony has debunked that theory already - he will be in Missouri for race 5 of the SRX season this Saturday: https://twitter.com/TonyKanaan/status/1547194250726879234

The #11 car is already confirmed to be off the entry list: https://racer.com/2022/07/11/foyt-parks-no-11-entry-for-toronto-due-to-late-sponsorship-payments/

Colton is the only serious contender for a McLaren F1 seat, Pato is in the McLaren family until 2025 but has been placed in an Indycar celling and Palou would want to win either/both Indy 500 and championship in 2023 if he has a shot at replacing Ricciardo

Veekay should be a certainty to replace Palou at Ganassi, if it wasn't for this Palou mess I think he would still be with ECR for a one year extension for 2023. If Veekay goes to Ganassi I would think Ferrucci or Ilott would be the two obvious contenders for that seat

I'd definitely agree that Colton is not ready right now for driving for McLaren in F1 maybe he will by 2024, he needs to iron out these pattern of errors because everything else with him ticks all McLaren's boxes, all indications from his latest test that he performed really well

I feel for Palou is some respects its clearly an ugly situation for him. He obviously was signed by Ganassi in 2021 on a minimal salary and now he was a better financial offer with F1 test/opportunities with McLaren but is locked with Ganassi's option that has now been exercised because Zak Brown thinks he can avoid paying Chip compensation and doesn't like him. I don't think Palou has the raw electric driving of Colton or Pato but he is the most measured for the three in terms of F1 which could suit McLaren for a solid number 2 to Lando, Colton being a young American driver it's his opportunity to lose for 2024. The only other scenario I can see is that Ricciardo is already gone for 2023 and Palou may be an interim option for McLaren in 2023 with his super license

If Palou does leave for Arrow McLaren in 2023 I just can't see Chip not making make his move for Veekay because Penske, Andretti and Arrow McLaren are not in the window to sign Rinus for 2023 unless Penske pulls out the 4th car again which he has done before. Chip regularly over the years has gone leftfield you couldn't rule out Ilott or an F2 driver but with Dixon not having age on his side Chip needs that fast young foundation driver prepped to take over that lead role in the team which was going to be Palou

What are you smoking.... The only serious contender is the lad that actually meets the requirements to get on the grid.

In reality Pato needs 4th or higher this and next season to qualify for a seat in 2023 or 2024

Colton has it even tougher, he needs to finish 3rd to qualify for a 2023 licence (looks pretty unlikely at the moment) leaving him on 48 points, but he drops 20 of those before the start of 2024 so would again need to finish in the top 3 next year.

Meanwhile Palou can jump into a F1 car and race next weekend if needed, and will keep those points until the end of 2024....

ROUNDS 11 & 12 — HY-VEE INDYCAR RACE WEEKEND AT IOWA

🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽 We're back in corn country for a doubleheader weekend.

Friday 22nd July

• 8:15pm — Indy Lights Practice {streaming only}
• 9:30pm — INDYCAR Practice {SSF1, or streaming}

Saturday 23rd July

• 2:30pm — Indy Lights Qualifying {streaming only}
• 3:30pm — INDYCAR Qualifying {SS Arena, or streaming}
• 5:10pm — Indy Lights Race {streaming only}
  • 5:15pm — Green flag
• 9:00pm — Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 {Sky Sports F1}
  • 9:00pm — Green flag

Sunday 24th July

• 8:00pm — Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 {Sky Sports F1}
  • 8:30pm — Green flag

Newgarden loves the place. I think it was race 2 he won last year and the only race the year before.

Hertha starting third in this one could be a danger and obviously Power from pole. Power will want to make up for a lacklustre performance yesterday.

This is insane, just over a third of the way in and there's only five cars left on the lead lap.

The way it's going there'll be only three cars on the lead lap by halfway.

Newgarden has had more than a lucky escape after that crash, he's thankfully ok now but after he went back to his motorhome he collapsed, hit his head and was taken to hospital for overnight evaluation now discharged

His condition will be reviewed on Thursday but Ferrucci is on standby to replace him for Saturday's race if he is not cleared. It would be some disaster from that dominant position in Race 2 to then miss the Indy race which would likely kill off his championship ambitions

Ganassi has now filed a lawsuit against Palou, but he is still racing for them this weekend and for the rest of the season... awkward

With Palou 44 points behind Ericsson if he has a bad result this weekend and loses any significant ground it won't be a shock if Ganassi stands him down with Ryan Hunter Reay signed as standby to focus on Ericsson and Dixon for the run-in

They have made changes to course better be an improvement, it was the worst race of last season in the best location

Lightning hold has delayed qualifying to where it's only going to start at 11pm. If that's too late for you to watch live, SSF1 will repeat tomorrow before the race:

https://twitter.com/nellietellie/status/1556031196391505921

https://twitter.com/Motorsport_LAT/status/1556358852345479168?t=wUA_PU9rjtBtVDwvy1SGjQ&s=19

This track breeds the cautions. While it's not great racing, it's certainly entertaining!

Scott McLaughlin was very lucky, a yellow when he was about 500 from his pitstop. He fought his way back up to second but the late yellows gave him very little chance to get past Dixon.

ROUND 15 — BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500

Saturday night oval racing time! You might want to ensure you have enough coffee or booze to hand. 260 laps around the 1.25-mile short oval, which actually makes 523km so they rounded it down a fair bit.

Friday 19th August

• 6pm — INDYCAR Practice 1 {SSF1 or streaming}
• 8:10pm — Indy Lights Practice 1 {streaming only}
• 9:15pm — INDYCAR Practice 2 {SSF1 or streaming}
• 11:15pm — Indy Lights Qualifying {streaming only}
• 12:15am — INDYCAR Qualifying {SSF1 or streaming}

Saturday 20th August

• 9:15pm — Indy Lights Race {streaming only}
  • 9:20pm — Green flag
• 11pm — Bommarito Automotive Group 500 {Sky Sports F1}
  • 11:30pm — Green flag