Starting 11th place Car 10 Alex Palou, Honda, for his 1st NTT INDYCAR Series win. 2nd Place Car 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, started from 25th place. 3rd Place Car 12 Will Power, Chevrolet, started from pole won the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series Championship.
4th Place Car 7 Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, started from 8th place followed by 5th place Car 30 Christian Lundgaard, Honda, started from 16th place. 6th Place Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, started from 7th place followed by 7th place Car 28 Romain Grosjean, Honda, started from 4th place. 8th Place Car 5 Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, started from 5th place followed by 9th place Car 8 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, started from 9th place. Lastly in the Top 10 Car 27 Alexander Rossi, Honda, in 10th place, started from 3rd place.
The race had 1 Cautions for 3 laps: 1st Caution on lap 39 for Off Course: Car 77 in Turn 2.
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers. Lap Leaders: Power, Will 1 – 14, Ilott, Callum 15, Palou, Alex 16 – 18, Rosenqvist, Felix 19 – 23, Power, Will 24 – 26, Palou, Alex 27 – 67, Newgarden, Josef 68 – 72, Palou, Alex 73 – 95.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Power 560, Newgarden 544, Dixon 521, McLaughlin 510, Palou 510, Ericsson 506, O’Ward 480, Rosenqvist 393, Rossi 381, Herta 381, Rahal 345, VeeKay 331, Grosjean 328, Lundgaard 323, Pagenaud 314, Malukas 305, Daly 267, Castroneves 263, Sato 258, Ilott 219, Johnson 214, Harvey 209, DeFrancesco 206, Kirkwood 183, Kellett 133, Tony Kanaan 78, Ed Carpenter 75, Santino Ferrucci 71, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, De Silvestro 34, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10
Power Wins 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Title; Palou Dominates in Laguna Victory
MONTEREY, Calif. (Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022) – It wasn’t easy for differing reasons, but Will Power and Alex Palou both ended up winners Sunday after the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Power survived varying tire strategies and challenges from rivals to finish third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet and clinch his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, adding to his 2014 title. The championship came just one day after Power set the INDYCAR SERIES career record with his 68th pole, breaking a tie with fellow legend Mario Andretti.
“Man, I had to drive the thing today,” Power said. “It was on the edge, very loose. Man, what a relief. What a relief to get that done.”
Power, 41, from Australia, won just one race this season, but this was his series-leading 12th top-five finish in 17 races – three more than any other driver. Power and Scott Dixon also were the only drivers to finish every lap this season.
That consistency was part of a mental shift this season by Power to take what the car offered each race and not overdrive into mistakes. The newfound, Zen-like focus proved pivotal.
“From the beginning (of the season), it was just playing the long game, not necessarily going for the big wins and all that,” Power said.
This was the 17th INDYCAR SERIES championship by a Team Penske driver, extending the team’s record. Power beat teammate Josef Newgarden to the crown by just 16 points.
Palou ended his reign as series champion with his first victory of the season in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, dominating the race and beating Newgarden to the checkered flag by 30.3812 seconds, the largest margin of victory this season by more than 24 seconds. Palou delivered a victory after a fraught summer marked by a still-unresolved contractual dispute for his driving services next season between Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren Racing.
The win came despite a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after qualifying Saturday, dropping Palou from fifth to 11th on the starting grid.
“We struggled a bit (at) some races, especially the last couple of races,” Palou said. “But today was awesome. Strategy was on point. It’s good to finish a season with a win. We had some power there and good fuel mileage.”
Palou first took the lead on Lap 16 and proved to be the dominant driver almost immediately. He led 67 of the 95 laps in a race slowed by just three caution periods.
Spaniard Palou’s gap over second-place Power was 8.6287 seconds on Lap 50, but Palou rocketed away during the second half of the race as rivals managed varying tire and pit strategies. Palou used the Firestone alternate tires only from Laps 20 to 38 and then blitzed the field for the rest of the way on Firestone primary tires on the slick, highly abrasive surface of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit.
By Lap 62, Palou’s gap over Power was 20 seconds. It was checkout time.
“We struggled a bit during the whole weekend, and I don’t know what happened today,” said Palou, who won three races last year en route to the title. “But everything clicked. Super happy to win a race this year.”
Newgarden started the day second in the standings, 21 points behind Power, who earned a bonus point for the NTT P1 Award Saturday. He faced long odds for capturing his third championship due to starting 25th in the 26-car field after spinning off track in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet during the first round of qualifying.
But Newgarden never relented in his tenacious long shot bid to overhaul teammate Power. He started the race on Firestone primary tires – the opposite approach of title rivals Power, Dixon and Marcus Ericsson – and also made one more pit stop than Power in an attempt to use fresher tires and a full-bore fuel mixture to gain track position.
The gambit nearly worked. Newgarden exited the pits on Lap 36 on new Firestone primary tires and started inhaling rivals, especially with frightening closing speed entering the daunting “Corkscrew” turn complex.
Newgarden passed the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Pato O’Ward for fourth on Lap 43 in the Corkscrew and then repeated that move one lap later for third place, passing the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist.
Power was next on the hit list. Newgarden sailed past his teammate on Lap 46 at the top of the Corkscrew for second place. But Power didn’t panic, again focusing on the long view while doing title arithmetic in his brain at 175 mph.
“I just knew I had to absolutely get the most out of those stints and not lose any more positions,” Power said.
Newgarden had no chance to catch Palou, who already was in a different stratosphere, up by seven seconds just four laps after a Lap 41 restart. The top three cars held station for the rest of the race, sealing the title for Power.
“Even yesterday, with the heartache there, we came back, we fought, and we nearly got there,” Newgarden said. “I’m proud of the effort. We’re going to come back stronger next year.
“But I’m proud of this team. Huge congrats to Will and the entire team.”
Six-time series champion Dixon placed third in the standings, 39 points behind Power, after his 12th-place finish in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Scott McLaughlin ended up fourth in points in just his second season of open-wheel racing after his sixth-place finish in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.
2021 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Ericsson finished his best NTT INDYCAR SERIES season fifth in points after placing ninth in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Christian Lundgaard earned series Rookie of the Year honors with his fifth-place finish in the No. 30 PeopleReady Honda. Lundgaard ended with an 18-point gap over David Malukas, who finished 13th today in the No. 18 HMD Honda.
Palou will split $10,000 with his Chip Ganassi Racing team and his chosen charity for his victory as part of the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge.
Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race Results
MONTEREY, Calif. – Results Sunday of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, car #, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
- (11) Car 10 Alex Palou, Honda, 95, Running
- (25) Car 2 Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 95, Running
- (1) Car 12 Will Power, Chevrolet, 95, Running
- (8) Car 7 Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 95, Running
- (16) Car 30 Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 95, Running
- (7) Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 95, Running
- (4) Car 28 Romain Grosjean, Honda, 95, Running
- (5) Car 5 Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 95, Running
- (9) Car 8 Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 95, Running
- (3) Car 27 Alexander Rossi, Honda, 95, Running
- (18) Car 26 Colton Herta, Honda, 95, Running
- (13) Car 9 Scott Dixon, Honda, 95, Running
- (6) Car 18 David Malukas, Honda, 94, Running
- (14) Car 21 Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 94, Running
- (20) Car 29 Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 94, Running
- (23) Car 48 Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 94, Running
- (10) Car 60 Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 94, Running
- (19) Car 15 Graham Rahal, Honda, 94, Running
- (12) Car 06 Helio Castroneves, Honda, 94, Running
- (21) Car 45 Jack Harvey, Honda, 94, Running
- (17) Car 14 Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 94, Running
- (26) Car 16 Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 94, Running
- (22) Car 51 Takuma Sato, Honda, 94, Running
- (15) Car 20 Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 93, Running
- (24) Car 4 Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 93, Running
- (2) Car 77 Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 37, Mechanical
Race Statistics:
Winner’s average speed: 103.277 mph
Time of Race: 2:03:31.0628
Margin of victory: 30.3812 seconds
Cautions: 1 for 3 laps
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers
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Photos Courtesy of INDYCAR