The release of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series Schedule should be right around the corner.
So, we wanted to take the time to lay out the information we currently have on the schedule and I wanted to try my hand in predicting what the final slate will look like.
What We Know
- The final schedule will feature 15-18 races, confirmed by Roger Penske in an interview with ARD at the Iowa Speedway press conference.
- Two races will be held at Iowa Speedway on July 23 and 24
- The season will open on March 13, 2022 at St. Petersburg
- Nashville will return to the schedule on August 7
- Gateway will return in 2022
- The month of May will remain unchanged with the road course race preceding the Indy 500
The Questions that Remain
There’s still some questions for what we’ll see in 2022, but not as many as the NASCAR Cup Series schedule has prior to the big reveal.
The biggest thing will be looking at what IndyCar does with Texas. I don’t see the series – which wants to expand the number of ovals it goes to – moving away from the track that it’s seen on every schedule since 1997.
Texas’ last signed contract with IndyCar is believed to expire after 2022, though, and with the PJ1 on the surface of the track creating a colossal of challenges to put on a race, I think we’ll have seen the end of their doubleheaders for the time being.
Doubleheader or not, I believe Texas will return to the schedule – I just think it will be back to the Saturday night marathon race – which IndyCar used to thrive with.
The other question surrounding tracks familiar to the series comes with Toronto. The street course race in Canada has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic during each of the past two seasons.
I’ll say I think it will return as well, and there’s nothing glaring that would prevent IndyCar from going their next summer, however two years without a race can change a lot – ask the fans around Iowa Speedway.
The last major thing I might look for is one more new track potentially coming to the schedule. I don’t have any inside info on this whatsoever, but with how Iowa was kept out of the light for so long, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out about one more track – specifically an oval.
Alright, though. Here’s my best guess:
Connor’s 2022 IndyCar Schedule Prediction
Race 1 | Streets of St. Petersburg
Race 2 | Barber Motorsports Park
Race 3 | Streets of Long Beach
Race 4 | Texas Saturday Night 600-mile race
Race 5 | Indianapolis Road Course
Race 6 | 106th Indianapolis 500
Race 7 | Streets of Detroit 1
Race 8 | Streets of Detroit 2
Race 9 | Road America
Race 10 | Mid-Ohio
Race 11 | Streets of Toronto
Race 12 | Iowa Speedway 1
Race 13 | Iowa Speedway 2
Race 14 | Streets of Nashville
Race 15 | Gateway
Race 16 | Portland
Race 17 | Laguna Seca
