2022 Indianapolis 500

Map of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

The **109th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race**, known colloquially as the **2022 Indianapolis 500**, was a 500 mile (800 kilometer) motor racing event that took place on 8 May 2022 as the premier event of the 2022 AT&T Champ Car World Series season, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Pre-race activities began on Tuesday, 26 April 2022 with Indy 500 Media Day, while opening day of practice began on Wednesday, 27 April 2022. Time Trial weekend took place on both Saturday, 30 April, and Sunday, 1 May, in a similar setup as what was used in 2021.

The month of May activities leading up to the 109th running of the event was described as a "historic" two week time period, culminating in a weekend of five different races taking place during race weekend. The Red Bull International Race of Champions held their race at the Brickyard on Thursday, 5 May, while the Nissan Atlantic Championship shared Carburation Day (6 May) with Indy 500 final practice and the Champ Car Pit Stop Challenge, with Sunday, 8 May dedicated to the Indianapolis 500 itself.

Hazel Lacasse entered the race as the defending Indianapolis 500 Champion, having won both the race and the Indycar World Championship in 2021. Panasonic Team Impulse, despite their dominance in 2021, were seen as underdogs entering the 2022 race. The first five races of the season had seen them struggle with reliability and accidents, while Cat Devil Racing, winners of the race from 2015 to 2018, reestablished themselves as heavy favorites entering the race.

Despite the heavy favoritism of the Cat Devil Racing, and Red Bull Highlight Racing efforts, it was Panasonic Team Impulse, and Hazel Lacasse winning their second straight Indianapolis 500. Lacasse, despite starting the race off timidly, ended up leading 132 laps, and taking the win over Atomic Autosport's Evangeline Porter, who scored her first ever top 5 finish in the race in her ninth start. B.K. Glover, the 2015 pole sitter, and teammate to Lacasse, followed up his 2nd place finish in 2021 with a third place finish in 2022 to round out the podium.

## Race Background

### Event Alterations

A variety of schedule alterations were made to fit an increase of activity at the Speedway, with the Nissan Atlantic Championship, GTPlanet Fandom Series, and Red Bull International Race of Champions all a part of the supporting role for the race.

#### Time Trial Weekend Changes

For Time Trial weekend, an additional qualifying session has been added to the program. On Saturday, 30 April, all entered cars will make 1 qualifying run, with the fastest six of that session moving on to the Firestone Fast 6 to qualify for the first three rows of the grid.

Qualifying on Sunday will see all remaining cars make a second qualifying run, with positions 7-24 locked in from that qualifying session. Those remaining will have a third and final qualifying run to determine positions 25-33 for the race.

#### Schedule Alignment

With the addition of multiple races during the Indianapolis 500 race weekend, the days between Thursday, 5 May, and Sunday, 8 May, all have realigned schedules to fit all of the events taking place.

### 2022 Champ Car season

*Main Article: 2022 AT&T Champ Car World Series season*

The 109th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race is will be the sixth race of the 2022 Champ Car season, which awards the best driver and team each season with the Indycar World Championship. Coming into the event, three time Indianapolis 500 winner, Kunimitsu Kinoshita, holds the Indycar World Driver's Championship lead, entering with a 31 point buffer to Simona Leroux. Kinoshita won the second race of the season at Twin Ring Motegi, as well as the race directly before the Indianapolis 500 at Kansas Speedway. Esther Hoffson started off the season with a win at Phillip Island, while Astrid Krane won the third race of the season at Richmond. Leroux, en route to second in points leading up to the Indy 500, has 2 podiums on the season, finishing 2nd at Phillip Island, as well as third at the fourth race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. Leroux's teammate, Nicole Liechti, won that event.

## Entry List

As of 21 April 2022, there are 42 car/driver combinations registered for the 109th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, all of which will be attempting to qualify for one of 33 starting positions in the race. Four former winners are currently entered for the event, including the defending Indianapolis 500 Champion, Hazel Lacasse. Currently, there are eight drivers set to compete for Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors. All entries will be using the AAI IR-22 chassis used in the 2022 Champ Car season. Two of the 39 entries will be using conversions from their Microsoft IndyCar Series cars; Escuderia Aguila will be using Hyundai engines for the Month of May, while Apex Racing Team will be the sole Mercedes representative for the race. The other 33 entries will be using either Alpine-Renault, Chevrolet, or Honda engines.

**(R)** denotes Indianapolis 500 rookie, **(P)** denotes former Indianapolis 500 pole sitter, **(W)** denotes former Indianapolis 500 champion.

### Notes

* Evangeline Porter is set to compete in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 2020. She qualified for the event in 2021 in place of Nicole Liechti, who was cleared to race after qualifying weekend. Porter is scheduled to be the only driver competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the CRC Network 250, the GTPlanet Fandom Series race held just a day earlier at the same track.
* Zoe Sharp is set to make her Indianapolis 500 return in 2022, having last competed in the event in 2011.

## Box Score

### Race Statistics

* Cautions: 2 for 8 laps
* Lead Changes: 13 among 5 drivers
* Weather Report: Cloudy, 75-78 degrees Fahrenheit, winds North-Northwest 1-6 miles per hour.