IndyCar drivers to watch on Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course

The IndyCar Series has raced on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course more often than at any other track over the past three years. It returns to the 14-turn, 2.439-mile course for the seventh time since the start of 2020 on July 30, 2022, for the Gallagher Grand Prix.

Will Power owns the most victories (5) and pole positions (6) on that track. Simon Pagenaud won the first IndyCar race on the course, in May 2014, after starting 4th. That race featured a standing start, and pole sitter Sebastian Saavedra's car failed to launch, getting smashed from behind by Mikhail Aleshin. Greg Ballard, Indianapolis' mayor at the time, was waving the green flag and got knicked by some debris from the accident.

Colton Herta won the GMR Grand Prix in May 2022 after starting 14th in wild weather. He's the only winner in the 12 events on that track to start deeper than 8th.

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Here's how 2022 IndyCar drivers have fared on the IMS road course, and why these are the drivers to watch this weekend: Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean, Herta, Josef Newgarden, Pagenaud, Alex Palou, Power, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi and Rinus VeeKay.

Helio Castroneves

The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion has made 10 starts on the road course. He finished in the top 6 in each of his first five starts, no better than 14th (in the 2021 GMR Grand Prix) since. His first six starts were with Team Penske, the next two in 2020 with Arrow McLaren and the two most recent with Meyer Shank.

Conor Daly

His most recent performance of 5th place in the GMR Grand Prix is Daly's best in eight starts. His six most recent starts have come with Ed Carpenter Racing. His IMS road course debut in 2016 came with Dale Coyne's team, and he finished 6th. His average finish is 13.5.

Devlin DeFrancesco

The Andretti-Steinbrenner rookie finished the GMR Grand Prix 21st, two laps down, after starting 17th.

Scott Dixon

The winner of 52 IndyCar Series races owns one on this circuit, in 2020. He finished 2nd in 2017, '18 and '19. It's been tougher sledding since that 2020 win, with no finishes of better than 8th in five starts. His average finish in 12 starts on the circuit is 7.7.

Marcus Ericsson

The 2022 Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Series points leader is making strides on the road course, too. He has made seven road course starts, six with Chip Ganassi's team. His 4th-place finish in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix is his best, and he has an average finish of 11.1.

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean, driving for Dale Coyne's team, finished 2nd in both IMS road course races in 2021. He led 44 laps after starting from the pole in the 2021 GMR Grand Prix. In this year's GMR Grand Prix, the Andretti Autosport driver finished 17th.

Jack Harvey

Harvey's 3rd-place finish in his 2019 IMS road course debut remains his best. His first six starts on the circuit came with Meyer Shank Racing. In the 2022 GMR Grand Prix with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Harvey finished 13th. His average finish is 10.9.

Colton Herta

Herta's win in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix featured a "Fast and Furious" style save in the rain. He also has a runner-up and 3rd-place finish on the course, and his average finish in seven starts is 7.1.

Callum Ilott

The Juncos Hollinger rookie finished 8th in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix.

Jimmie Johnson

Johnson's best finish in three starts on the course with Ganassi Racing is 19th.

Kyle Kirkwood

The Foyt Racing rookie finished 26th in the GMR Grand Prix.

Dalton Kellett

In six starts with Foyt Racing, Kellett's best finish on the circuit is 20th.

Chrisitan Lundgaard

Lundgaard has made two starts with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on the IMS road course, with finishes of 12th and 9th.

David Malukas

The rookie driving for Dale Coyne with HMD finished 12th in the GMR Grand Prix after starting 24th.

Scott McLaughlin

In three starts with Team Penske, he has finished 8th, 23rd and 20th.

Josef Newgarden

Newgarden won one of the three races on the circuit in 2020. His best finish beyond that event is 4th, on two occasions. His average finish in 12 starts is 12th, including 25th in this year's GMR Grand Prix.

Pato O'Ward

O'Ward has two 5th-place finishes on the course, including one after starting from the pole in 2021. He took 19th in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix. His average finish is seven starts is 13.3.

Simon Pagenaud

Pagenaud has three wins in 12 starts, but none since 2019. In his first start on the IMS road course with Meyer Shank Racing, he finished 2nd in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix. His average finish is 7.8.

Alex Palou

The defending series champion has made six starts, with a best finish of 3rd in the 2021 GMR Grand Prix. He has started in the top 6 in each of his last four starts.

Will Power

This track is Will Power's world, and everybody else is living in it. Driving for Team Penske in all 12 of his starts, he owns five wins and an average finish of 6.6. He finished 3rd in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix. He has started half of these events from the pole.

Graham Rahal

Qualifying at the IMS road course hasn't been Rahal's favorite experience; racing there is better. He has improved on his qualifying position nine times in 12 starts, including a runner-up finish after starting 4th in 2020. He finished 16th in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix, and has an average finish of 7.9. Rahal's average starting position is 13.4.

Felix Rosenqvist

In seven starts, he has an average finish of 10.7, including 6th in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix.

Alexander Rossi

Rossi has improved on his qualifying position seven times in 10 starts on the course, and he has a best finish of runner-up in 2020. His finishing average is 9.7.

Takuma Sato

Sato has struggled in qualifying on the course (17.1 average starting position) and he has advanced through the field 11 times in 12 starts (12.3 finish average). He moved from 13th to a track-best finish of 7th in the 2022 GMR Grand Prix.

Rinus VeeKay

It's feast or famine with VeeKay on this track. He has one pole start (2020) and one race victory (2021 GMR Grand Prix) in six starts. He has finished in the top 5 three times, and 17th or worse in the other three.

Speedway road course race winners

IndyCar 2022 points

(Drivers within 100 points of the lead)

Marcus Ericsson 403

Will Power 395

Josef Newgarden 369

Scott Dixon 369

Pato O'Ward 367

Alex Palou 359

Scott McLaughlin 317

Remaining 2022 IndyCar schedule

July 30, Saturday: Gallagher GP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, noon ET

Aug. 7, Sunday: Nashville street course, 3 p.m. ET

Aug. 20, Saturday: Madison, Ill., oval, 6 p.m. ET

Sept. 4, Sunday: Portland road course, 3 p.m. ET

Sept. 11, Sunday: Monterey, Calif., road course, 3 p.m. ET

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar Series results on Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course