2022 Indianapolis 500

Race Notes:

• The 2022 edition of the Indianapolis 500 was 200 laps on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval totaling 500 miles.
• The pit road speed was 60 mph and each team had 125 gallons of Speedway E85 fuel per car for the race. The fuel window was approximately 30–35 laps under green-flag conditions.
• The green flag to start the race was shown on the fourth time past the flag stand. The pace speed on the parade laps was approximately 75, 85, 95 and 105 mph. The pace car was driven by nine-time Indy 500 starter and former team owner Sarah Fisher. In case of inclement weather, the race would have become official after 101 laps.
• Ten minutes before the green flag, the ambient temperature was 76 degrees with 59% relative humidity, south-southwest winds at 11 mph and sunny skies. The track temperature was 105 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 12:38 p.m., Indianapolis Motor Speedway Chairman Roger Penske gave the command to start engines. All cars started and rolled off pit road and onto the track for the pace laps.
• Pole sitter Scott Dixon led the field into Turn 1 but teammate Alex Palou passed Dixon for the lead in Turn 3, setting up a back-and-forth lead exchange that would characterize the opening segment of the race.
• In the midst of the first round of green-flag pit stops, Rinus VeeKay brought out the first caution of the race on Lap 39 when his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet did a quarter spin an made right rear contact in Turn 2. VeeKay was able to exit his race car without assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team, and he was later checked and released from the infield car center.
• The race returned to green on Lap 46 with Palou leading, although he and Dixon continued to trade the lead until Lap 70 when the race's second full-course caution period began, again during a green-flag pit stop cycle. The No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Callum Ilott spun and made heavy contact in Turn 2. Ilott was later checked and released from the infield care center.
• When the caution came out, Palou had committed to pit but the pits closed due to the caution just before the commit line, forcing Palou to travel through without taking service. Due to a low fuel situation, Palou then took emergency service in a closed pit which forced the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda — one of the dominate players early in the race — to take the restart from the rear of the field.
• The second caution set up a lead-change battle between Dixon and Ed Carpenter Racing's Conor Daly. Dixon lead at the halfway point with a half-second lead over Daly.
• With Daly having just pitted to kick off the third round of stops, the race's fourth caution began when the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda of Romain Grosjean spun and made contact in Turn 2 on Lap 105. The leaders at the time were Dixon, Pato O'Ward, Marcus Ericsson, Tony Kanaan and Santino Ferrucci.
• Daly led the field when green-flag racing resumed on Lap 112, but soon gave it back to Dixon who then was passed briefly by O'Ward. Dixon took over on Lap 114 and continued to lead until Lap 141 when the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Honda made its penultimate pit stop.
• Following the pit stop cycle, O'Ward emerged as the leader and was out front when the race's fourth caution period began on Lap 152, when the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet of Scott McLaughlin made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 3. The car continued across the short chute between Turns 3 and 4 and made secondary impact in Turn 4. McLaughlin was able to exit his race car without assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team. Completing the top five behind O'Ward at the time of the caution were Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist, Daly and Ferrucci.
• O'Ward led the field to the green flag on the Lap 158 restart and traded the lead with Dixon until Lap 175, when Dixon pitted from the lead for the final time. Dixon locked up when he entered pit road and was later judged to have committed a pit speed violation by Race Control, earning the six-time series champion a drive-through penalty and dropping him out of contention.
• Following the pit stop sequence, Ericsson emerged as the race leader on Lap 189 and held a 3.2869-second lead over O'Ward on Lap 190.
• On Lap 194, contact involving Ericsson's teammate Jimmie Johnson brought out the race's fifth caution period. The No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Johnson spun and made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. With six laps remaining, INDYCAR officials elected to display a red flag, bringing all cars to pit road while the track was cleared. Ericsson, O'Ward, Kanaan, Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi comprised the top five during the red flag.
• Seven minutes and 57 seconds later, engines were refired. At the conclusion of Lap 198, Ericsson led the field off Turn 4 to the start-finish line.
• On Lap 199, Ericsson took the white flag with a 0.0445-second lead over O'Ward.
• On the final lap, Sage Karam brought out the race's sixth and final caution when his No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet spun and made contact on the backstretch.
• Ericsson took the checkered flag under caution to win the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
• The achievement marked Ericsson's first Indianapolis 500 victory in his fourth career start. His previous results were 23rd in 2019 with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, 32nd in 2020 and 11th in 2021, both with Chip Ganassi Racing.
• Ericsson became the second Swedish driver to win the Indy 500. Kenny Brack was the first, winning in 1999 for AJ Foyt Racing.
• It was the fifth "500" victory for Chip Ganassi Racing. The team's previous wins came in 2000 with Juan Pablo Montoya, 2008 with Scott Dixon, and 2010 and 2012 with Dario Franchitti. Team owner Chip Ganassi was also a co-entrant with Pat Patrick on the 1989 winner car driven by Emerson Fittipaldi.
• Ericsson became the eighth Indianapolis 500 winner to start from the fifth position. Buddy Lazier was the last winner from the fifth starting spot in 1996.
• Winning at the age of 31, Ericsson was the same age as Al Unser was in 1970 when he earned his first win at the Brickyard.
• Ericsson drove the No. 8 car to victory and was the fourth "500" winner to carry that number. The last driver to win in the No. 8 was Pat Flaherty in 1956. Other winners in the No. 8 were Joe Dawson in 1912 and Louis Meyer in 1936.
• Having led the race for 13 laps, Ericsson had the fewest laps led by a race winners since Montoya led nine laps in 2015.
• Since records began being kept in 1951, this is the 14th time that the "500" winner has recorded the fasted lap of the race. Ericsson's fastest lap was 224.852 mph on Lap 179.
• There were 38 lead changes among nine drivers, the third-highest lead change total in the history of the Indy 500. The only years with more lead changes were 2013 with 68 and 2016 with 54.
• Dixon led a race-high 95 laps, setting an all-time record for Indianapolis 500 career lap sled with 665. The previous record was 644 by four-time winner Al Unser. Dixon broke Unser's record by leading Lap 133. Dixon surpassed both Unser and Ralph DePalma, as DePalma was second on the list entering the event with 612.
• Dixon joined an elite group of four drivers who have stood atop the all-time lap leaders list for the Indy 500: Ray Harroun in 1911, Ralph DePalma from 1912 to 1986, Al Unser from 1987 to 2021 and Dixon in 2022.
• Dixon led the most laps in the "500" for the sixth time in his career, extending his event record. He also led the most laps in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2020.
• Dixon led 12 times, extending his Indianapolis 500 record for times led to 70.
• Dixon and Kanaan each led laps, extending their shared all-time record of leading in 15 starts.
• There were 27 cars running at the finish, tied for the second-highest total in Indy 500 history. The record is 30, in 2021. There were also 27 cars running at the finish in the rain-shortened 1976 race, which completed only 102 laps.
• With 22 cars on the leap lap at the finish, the 2022 race tied the event record set in 2021.
• All five drivers for Chip Ganassi Racing — Dixon, Palou, Ericsson, Kanaan and Johnson — led at least one lap, tying an event record set by Andretti Autosport in 2013.
• The red flag on Lap 196 was the 12th in the race's history. The previous 11 times were in 1964, 1966, 1967 (after the winner took the checkered flag), 1970, 1973 (two occurrences), 1982, 1986, 2014, 2017 and 2019.
• The race marked the 15th Indy 500 victory for a Honda-powered car, second all time to Offenhauser engines which powered 27 winners.
• David Malukas finished 16th, the top rookie finisher.
• Championship points after the 2022 Indianapolis 500:
  1. Ericsson 226
  2. O'Ward 213 (-13)
  3. Palou 212 (-14)
  4. Power 202 (-24)
  5. Newgarden 174 (-52)
  6. Dixon 166 (-60)
  7. McLaughlin 162 (-64)
  8. Pagenaud 157 (-69)
  9. Rosenqvist 154 (-72)
  10. Herta 142 (-84)
      

Session Notes

• Practice 9 had a reduced duration due to inclement weather in the vicinity of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The revised scheduling saw the session begin at 1 p.m. EDT with the checkered flag at 2:30 p.m.
• Two significant incidents paused Carb Day practice:
  • Forty-four minutes into the session, the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of David Malukas did a half spin and made contact in Turn 1 after wheel-to-wheel contact with the No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci. Malukas' race car spun through the short chute and came to rest on the inside of the track with damage to all four corners. Malukas was able to exit his car without assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team. Race Control later judged Ferrucci to have played a role in causing the incident and levied an avoidable contact penalty against him, costing him the final 20 minutes of practice.
  • Fourteen minutes after the resumption of green-flag running following Malukas' crash, the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda of Colton Herta got loose in Turn 1, did a quarter spin and made right rear contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 1. The car then overturned and made secondary contact in Turn 2. Herta was assisted from his overturned race car by the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team.
• At the conclusion of the session, Tony Kanaan's 227.114 mph lap proved fastest. Kanaan was joined in the top 10 by three of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates: Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Jimmie Johnson.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 8, the first full-field practice after qualifying, began at 1 p.m. EDT and ran for two hours.
• There was one yellow flag for Dalton Kellett, whose No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet did a half-spin in Turn 1 and made hard left-side contact with the Turn 1 SAFER Barrier. The car then rode the outside wall and came to rest at the inside of the circuit in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2. Kellett was able to exit his race car without assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team.
  

Session Notes:

• The fastest 12 drivers from Saturday's qualifying session ran in the Fast 12 to advance to Firestone Fast Six qualifying. They ran from 12th to first and the top six requalified for the NTT P1 Award and its $100,000 prize.
• Weather at the start of Pole Day qualifying was 66 degrees ambient with mostly cloudy skies. The track temperature was 109.9 degrees according to Firestone Racing engineers.
• Scott Dixon won the NTT P1 Award for the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 with a 234.046 mph four-lap average, with the first two laps in excess of 234 mph.
• Dixon became the first repeat pole winner since Ed Carpenter won consecutive Indy 500 pole position in 2013 and 2014.
• Dixon's four-lap average of 234.046 mph was the fastest four-lap average for an Indianapolis 500 polesitter. Scott Brayton won the pole in 1996 at 233.718 mph
• Dixon and Alex Palou, who was the second-fastest qualifier, represent Chip Ganassi Racing's first 1-2 start in the Indy 500 since 2008 when Dixon and Dan Wheldon were the top two qualifiers.
• The pole marked Dixon's fifth Indianapolis 500 pole position, which gave him sole posession of second place on the all-time Indy 500 pole winner's list.
  

Session Notes:

• Practice 7 ran from 12:30 to 2 p.m. EDT exclusively for those drivers participating in Fast 12 qualifying at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 22.
• The 90-minute session was free of on-track incidents. However, the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Tony Kanaan was faced with electrical issues forcing the veteran driver to attempt a qualifying simulation without a display inside his race car.
• At the conclusion of Fast 12 practice, Ganassi's Scott Dixon topped both the overall speed chart at 234.042 mph and the four-lap runs with an average speed of 233.774 mph.
• Best four-lap average speeds in miles per hour:
  1. Dixon 233.774
  2. Ericsson 233.283
  3. Johnson 233.261
  4. Carpenter 232.958
  5. O'Ward 232.921
  6. Palou 232.764
  7. VeeKay 232.626
  8. Grosjean 232.071
  9. Power 231.990
  10. Rosenqvist 231.787
  11. Kanaan 229.991
  12. Sato 229.930
      

Session Notes:

• Qualifying for the 2022 Indianapolis 500 consists of two days. Day 1 established the cars advancing to Fast 12 qualifying and positions 13 through 33 based on the best four-lap average speed.
• With expected inclement weather, INDYCAR elected to start Day 1 qualifying at 11 a.m. EDT, one hour earlier than originally scheduled, while keeping the same end time. This gave teams an additional hour of track time.
• At the start of the session, the ambient temperature was 77 degrees with overcast skies. The track temperature was 85.6 degrees according to Firestone Racing.
• All drivers qualified based on the qualifying draw except two:
  • The No. 6 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Juan Pablo Montoya did not pass pre-qualifying technical inspection and was forced to give up its guaranteed qualifying slot, but was able to complete a qualifying run after all other guaranteed attempts had been completed.
  • The No. 25 DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet of Stefan Wilson did not make a qualification attempt.
• Takuma Sato, the ninth qualifier, averaged 232.196 mph over four laps but was forced to give up the attempt when he was judged to have interfered with Marco Andretti's first qualifying run. Sato remained on track during his cooldown lap rather than using the warm-up lane. Sato later completed a second qualifying run, averaging 231.708 mph which was good enough for the Fast 12.
• Colton Herta, originally the 15th qualifier, had a mechanical issue before taking the green and abandoned his qualification attempt. Later, Herta averaged 230.235 mph over four laps.
• At 2:14 p.m. EDT, qualifying was paused due to weather conditions and resumed one hour and 36 minutes later. The resumption only lasted for 10 minutes before inclement weather returned. At 4:50 p.m., INDYCAR elected to checker the session one hour early due to weather conditions.
• Rinus VeeKay, second to qualify, remained at the top of the speed chart throughout the day. His first lap at 234.702 mph was the fastest turned at Indianapolis since 1996. His four-lap average speed of 233.655 mph is the third-fastest qualifying speed in Indy 500 history.
  

Session Notes:

• PPG Armed Forces Day Qualifying Day 1 began with a rescheduled one-hour practice beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT with the qualification draw split into two groups.
• At the conclusion of the incident-free session, Ed Carpenter topped the speed chart with a tow-assisted 234.410 mph lap in the No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet — the fastest practice lap turned at Indianapolis since 1996.
• Scott Dixon had the fastest no-tow lap at 233.339 mph in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
• The four-lap average practice speeds, a predictor of qualifying performance, were topped by Dixon's Ganassi teammate Jimmie Johnson.
  1. Johnson 233.771
  2. Dixon 232.875
  3. Ilott 232.847
  4. VeeKay 232.769
  5. Ericsson 232.632
  6. Rossi 232.515
  7. Grosjean 232.404
  8. Palou 232.334
  9. Herta 231.783
     

• Fast Friday practice was marred by wind gusts that caused many teams to limit their track time.
• The six-hour session was slowed by four yellow flags.
  • The first yellow was for a power failure in Race Control and lasted for 30 minutes.
  • The second yellow was for the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Jimmie Johnson, which made light contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. Johnson was able to continue on course and return to pit lane.
  • The third yellow, 20 minutes in duration, was for a track inspection.
  • The final yellow of the day was for wildlife on the frontstretch.
• The No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda of Takuma Sato topped the speed chart with a 232.789 mph lap.
• The No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Tony Kanaan topped the four-lap averages.
  1. Kanaan 230.517
  2. Malukas 230.287
  3. Karam 230.114
  4. O'Ward 230.111
  5. Sato 229.680
  6. Johnson 229.094
  7. Pagenaud 227.625
  8. Castroneves 227.516
  9. Ericsson 227.418
  10. McLaughlin 226.400
  11. Newgarden 226.197
  12. Rosenqvist 225.494
      

Session Notes:

• After Practice 3 was rained out on May 18, Practice 4 ran for six hours without incident and paused only twice, both times for track inspections.
• At the conclusion of the session, Takuma Sato's 227.519 mph lap in the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda was the fastest of the day. Sato was also fastest in the previous practice session and tops the combined practice results.
• David Malukas ended the day as the fastest rookie with a 226.869 mph lap in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda.
• The fastest no-tow lap of the day belonged to the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet of Will Power at 224.325 mph.
  

Session Notes:

• Practice 2, the first Indianapolis 500 session to include the full field of 33 drivers, ran from 3 to 6 p.m. EDT on March 17, 2022.
• The three-hour practice was slowed by three yellow flags, all officially for debris. The first, at 3:57 p.m., was for "wildlife on track in Turn 2" when a fox barely missed being struck by a group of speeding Indy cars before scampering over the outside wall.
• At the conclusion of the session, Takuma Sato's 228.939 mph lap in the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda was the fastest of the day.
• Chip Ganassi Racing placed all five of its drivers inside the top 10 with Scott Dixon second, Jimmie Johnson third, Marcus Ericsson fourth, Alex Palou sixth and Tony Kanaan ninth.