There are four races left in the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series after last weekend's race at Indianapolis for the Gallagher Grand Prix there were still five drivers lining up to take the championship lead away from Marcus Ericsson, So before the Music City Grand Prix this weekend, here is everything that happened in the championship pecking order after the Gallagher Grand Prix.
Going into Saturday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it looked as if the championship title race was going to take a new twist after Friday's qualifying session. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson went into the session with an 8 -point lead over Team Penske's Will Power. The session had only just started before drama happened when the Honda engine in the back of the 8 Huski Chocolate Honda decided it wanted to expire and for the title it forced Ericsson to start in 25th place, giving the advantage to Power and the other title contenders. It looked even more likely that we would have a new championship leader after Power qualified in 4th place.
Powers team-mate Josef Newgarden, desperate to make amends for the lost points from race two at Iowa, made a good start to his weekend qualifying by getting into the final stage of qualifying and getting a P5 start for the race. We all know that Newgarden should be in the points lead after his dominant Iowa weekend but rolling off from 5th place while Ericsson starting at the back, the points gap between the two of them will shrink at the chequered flags.
Spanish racer Alex Palou, another title contender in the 10 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing, standing 6th in the standings going into the Gallagher Grand Prix is 44 points off championship leader and team-mate Ericsson. Palou, starting in 7th place in the race, had the chance to close the points gap. Given everything that is going on with his future, winning back-to-back titles would be some statement and also backs up his cool, calm, and collected personality.
Scott Dixon, targeting a record-equalling 7th IndyCar title, sits 34 points off his Swedish team-mate Ericsson with 5 races left in the 2022 NTT IndyCar schedule. After qualifying for the Grand Prix on Saturday, Dixon qualified in 20th place and if he wanted to close the points gap then it would be a hard ask for that to happen given his lowly grid spot. For Dixon to win his 7th title, he would need to win one of the remaining races but would need to pray for a miracle and hope his title rivals don't score strong points.
Final title contender Pato O'Ward went into the Grand Prix 5th place in the standings 36 points off the leader Ericsson. With O'Ward starting 3rd on the grid, that 36-point gap could easily become 15 points or less at the chequered flags. O'Ward, just like Ericsson, is fighting for a title with multiple champions.
With five races left in the schedule, four of the races are road/street courses and the other is an oval. Going into the Gallagher Grand Prix, Power is the points leader on the road/street course with 251 points which is 45 points more than Ericsson, 29 points more than team-mate Newgarden, 7 points more than Dixon, and 77 points ahead of O’Ward. So it would indicate that the road/street courses are a weakness to both Ericsson and O’Ward, so the question is will the road/street courses define the winner of the championship?
When it comes to the oval then it is Ericsson who comes out on top over the rest of the field. Ericsson has the most points of the field who cover the oval races with 197 points with one oval left on the 2022 schedule. The Indy 500 has played a massive part in the number of points as it pays for double points, unlike the other ovals that are on the calendar. After Ericsson comes O’Ward who is only 4 points off the Swede, then there is a big gap back to the next championship contender on the oval with Newgarden being 50 points back from the lead. Power is only 3 points off his Penske team-mate, Palou comes next being 70 points off his Swedish team-mate, and then New Zealander Dixon who is 77 points off the 8 Huski Chocolate Honda.
Following the completion of the Gallagher Grand Prix at Indianapolis, we had a new points leader in Team Penske’s Will Power takes over the points lead from Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson’s grasp on the title has been getting looser and looser after having a 35-point lead after the series visited Toronto and after the Gallagher Grand Prix, Ericsson now has a 9-point deficit to Power with four races to go.
The fact that Ericsson, who was starting at the back for the race, was able to come out of the weekend with only a 9-point deficit to Power shows how good of a driver he is. The biggest issue that Ericsson has struggled with in his time as an Indycar driver is his qualifying, he is yet to have a pole position in nearly four years but the fact that he is fighting for a championship given his qualifying positions suggests that we still haven’t seen the best of the Swede.
The Indycar paddock takes to the streets of Nashville where Ericsson won the inaugural Music City Grand Prix last year and will be hoping for the same again to retake the championship lead Power will be hoping that Ericsson and the other title contenders struggle to adapt to the Nashville streets and open up his championship lead. Power and Ericsson are the only two drivers to have scored more than 400 points this season while the other contenders are around the 370-399 points range. Newgarden trails his team-mate Power by 32 points going into his home GP this coming weekend. Dixon is a further 6 points behind Newgarden, O’Ward is a further 8 points behind Dixon, and Palou is 6 points behind O’Ward.
Nevertheless whatever happens in the remaining races of the 2022 NTT Indycar series remains to be fascinating and the more races that go by the more questions are going to be left needing answers but all that matters is that the race keeps staying intense and can go the full distance to WeatherTech Laguna Seca in California and whoever wins the championship wins it on merit.
Driver standings coming into the Music City Grand Prix
Driver | Team | Points |
Will Power | Team Penske | 431 |
Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 422 |
Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 399 |
Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 393 |
Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | 385 |
Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 379 |
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