2022 Gallagher Grand Prix

Race Notes

• The 2022 Gallagher Grand Prix was 85 laps on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course totaling 207.315 miles. The race started the third time past the flag stand with the acceleration zone for the start and restarts located at drivers' left on the exit of Turn 14.
• All cars but those of Devlin DeFrancesco, Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood, Romain Grosjean and Jimmie Johnson started the race on Firestone Firehawk black-sidewalled primary tires. Each car was required to use one set of new alternate red tires and one set of primary black tires during the race.
• Fifteen minutes before the green flag, the ambient temperature in Speedway, Indiana was 80 degrees with partly cloudy skies. The track temperature was 117 degrees according to Firestone Racing engineers.
• At 12:22 p.m. EDT, co-grand marshals Shannon and Mattias Michelangeli gave the command, "Racers, start your engines." All engines started and all cars were rolling on the grid.
• Pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist led the field into Turn 1. Behind the leader, the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Pato O'Ward spun after contact on track. The start was under review by INDYCAR Race Control but no action was taken.
• The No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda of Colton Herta was dominant through the first half of the race and initially took the lead on Lap 8 following the first of the race's two full-course cautions.
  • Lap 3: The No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Dalton Kellett was stopped on course in Turn 7 after a spin. The incident was reviewed by Race Control but no action was taken. The two-lap caution led to a restart on Lap 5.
  • Lap 36: After running out of fuel, the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Simon Pagenaud slowed in Turn 7 and pulled off course at Turn 8. The incident brought out the race's second caution which lasted for three laps and resulted in a restart on Lap 39.
• Herta led the field to the green on the Lap 39 restart, but three laps later his car slowed on course in Turn 12. The No. 26 Honda was able to make it back to pit lane but had to be pushed to its pit box. Herta exited the race having officially completed 43 laps.
• Following Herta's exit, Rossi dominated the second half of the race and went on to lead 44 laps. Chased by Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Christian Lundgaard and Team Penske's Will Power, Rossi consistently maintained a two-to-four second lead and took the checkered flag with a 3.5441-second advantage over Lundgaard.
• The victory marked the first of 2022 for Rossi and the eighth of his NTT IndyCar Series career. His last win came at Road America in 2019, 49 starts or 1,133 days ago.
• Lundgaard finished second, his best IndyCar result and the first podium of his young career. The effort marked the best finish of any rookie in 2022.
• Power finished third, the 92nd podium of his Indy car career which ties him with Dario Franchitti for seventh on the all-time podium finishes list.
• Points after the Gallagher Grand Prix:
  1. Power 431
  2. Ericsson 422 (-9)
  3. Newgarden 399 (-32)
  4. Dixon 393 (-38)
  5. O'Ward 385 (-46)
  6. Palou 379 (-52)
  7. McLaughlin 350 (-81)
  8. Rossi 318 (-113)
     

Session Notes

• Morning warm-up for the Gallager Grand Prix started on time at 8:15 a.m. EDT and continued for 30 minutes without interruption.
• The No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden ended the session with the fastest lap: 1:10.9281.
  

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 25. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• At the start of the session, the ambient temperature was 79 degrees with partly cloudy skies. The track temperature was 123 degrees according to Firestone Racing engineers.
• While Group 1 was without incident, Group 2 featured one red flag for the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Marcus Ericsson which stopped on course in Turn 6. Ericsson was penalized his two fastest laps and the ability to advance.
• Will Power, Felix Rosenqvist, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard competed in the Firestone Fast Six for the NTT P1 Award.
• Rosenqvist ended the final round of qualifying with the fastest lap: 1:10.2265. The effort represented his third career NTT IndyCar Series pole and his second pole of 2022. His previous poles were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May 2019 and Texas earlier this year.