The 2022 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (804.7 km, 200 lap) race in the 2022 IndyCar Series, held on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The month of May activities formally began on May 14 with the GMR Grand Prix on the combined road course. Practice on the oval opened on May 17, and time trials took place on May 21–22. Carb Day, the traditional final day of practice, along with the Pit Stop Challenge, took place on May 27.
Six-time IndyCar champion, and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon won the pole position, his fifth career Indy 500 pole. It was also Chip Ganassi Racing's seventh Indy pole. Dixon's qualifying speed of was the fastest Indy 500 pole speed until Scott McLaughlin broke the record in 2024 at , and was the third-fastest Indy 500 qualifying attempt in history. Dixon moved into second on the all-time list for poles at Indy, behind only Rick Mears, who had six. The top twelve starting positions saw a near even split with seven Hondas and five Chevrolets. During the race, Dixon became the all-time lap leader in the history of the Indy 500.
Dixon led the most laps (95), and dominated much of the race along with teammate Álex Palou. With 25 laps to go, however, during his final pit stop, Dixon was penalized for speeding entering the pit lane. Dixon was issued a drive-through penalty, which took him out of contention and handed the lead to his teammate, Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson held off a furious charge from Pato O'Ward on a restart with two laps to go to win the race. Ericsson became the second Swedish winner in the race's history, after Kenny Bräck in 1999.
Race background
Sponsorship On January 31, 2019, it was announced that the online financial services company Gainbridge would become the new presenting sponsor of the 500 under a four-year deal. This will be the fourth year under the current deal.
Rule changes During pit stops, crew members are prohibited from physically assisting with the car's exit of the pit box. A car must leave the pits under its own power and can not be pushed. All pneumatic wheel guns must not have any electronic devices attached. "Smart" wheel guns, with electronic torque sensors, have been banned. Championship bonus points will be awarded to the top twelve qualifiers. This reflects a new qualifying procedure (see below). From 2018 to 2021, the top nine qualifiers earned bonus points. Now, the pole position winner receives 12 bonus points, down to 1 bonus point for the 12th qualifier (12–11–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1). Points earned for the race finishing positions are unchanged. All finishers earn double championships points for the Indy 500 (the case since 2014).
Qualifying changes The Two-day format that began in 2019 has been expanded, based on the popularity of the three-round system used for most of the IndyCar road and street courses events. The system will continue to use the two day system (Saturday May 21 & Sunday May 22), and cars will continue to utilize the traditional four-lap qualifying attempts. The top twelve cars from the first day will advance to a new second round that will take place on the second day. The top six cars in the second round advance to the final round to determine the pole position as well as starting positions two through six. If more than 33 entries take part in the event, the Last Chance Qualifying session will be used once again to set starting positions 31–32–33.
On Saturday, the procedure will be as follows: Qualifying will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. All cars entered will be guaranteed at least one attempt. Additional attempts are allowed, time/weather permitting. Cars ranking 1–12 will advance to second round qualifying. Cars ranking 13–30 will be locked-in to those starting positions, and will not re-qualify. Cars ranking 31 and lower will be entered into the Last Chance Qualifying. If there are only 33 entries, the Last Chance Qualifying will not be held, and instead all positions 13–33 will be locked-in.
On Sunday, time trials will conclude as follows: At 2 p.m. the Last Chance Qualifying session will be held (if necessary). Entries that ranked 31st and lower on Saturday will have at least one attempt to qualify. Qualifying speeds from Saturday will be erased. Additional attempts will be allowed, time/weather permitting, until 3 p.m. Starting positions 31–32–33 will be filled. All other cars from 34th and lower will fail to qualify. At 4 p.m., the second round of qualifying will be held. The cars that ranked 1st through 12th on Saturday will have one guaranteed attempt. Qualifying speeds from Saturday will be erased. Cars will go out in reverse order (12th to 1st). The cars ranking 7th through 12th will be locked-in to those starting positions. The top six cars will advance to the final round. At 5:10 p.m., the final round of qualifying will be held. The cars that ranked 1st through 6th during the second round will have one guaranteed attempt. Qualifying speeds from the Top 12 session will be erased. Cars will go out in reverse order (6th to 1st). The top six starting positions will be set, including the pole position.
2022 IndyCar Series
The 2022 Indianapolis 500 was the sixth race of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season. Four different drivers won the first five races of the season, including one first-time winner. Scott McLaughlin won the season opener at St. Petersburg, his first career IndyCar win. At Texas, Josef Newgarden won, passing McLaughlin coming off the last turn of the last lap. Newgarden followed up with another win at Long Beach and Pato O'Ward won at Alabama in a time-shortened race (two hours) due to rain. The GMR Grand Prix was won by Colton Herta. Despite zero wins thus far on the season, Will Power entered the 500 as the series points leader.
Race schedules The 2022 IndyCar Series schedule was announced on September 19, 2021. The Indianapolis 500 was for Sunday, May 29. Practice, time trials, and other ancillary events are scheduled for the two weeks leading up to the race. The GMR Grand Prix, including the Road to Indy races, will again serve as the opening weekend of track activity, on May 14. The Freedom 100 for the Indy Lights was left off the schedule for the third year in a row, with Roger Penske citing safety as an issue. The 2022 Indy Lights season will only include a race on the road course during GMR Grand Prix weekend.
+Race schedules — May 2022SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 1Barber 2 3 4 5 6 7Mini-Marathon 8 9 10 11 12 13GMR Grand Prix14GMR Grand Prix151617Practice18Practice19Practice20Fast Friday21Time Trials22Time Trials23Practice24 25 26 27Carb Day28Parade29Indianapolis 50030Memorial Day31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantly limited due to rain
Source: 2022 Indianapolis 500 Event Schedule
Entry list
All entries utilized the Dallara DW12 chassis with the Universal Aero Kit 18, with Firestone tires. A total of 32 car/driver combinations were made official in time for the Open test on April 20. Paretta Autosport (in technical alliance with Ed Carpenter Racing) announced on April 19 that they would not enter, electing instead to focus on road/street course races during the summer months. The 33rd and final entry was announced on May 5, with DragonSpeed and Cusick Motorsports joining to field a car. The official entry list was published on May 16, 2022.
Driver Team Engine1 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Honda2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet6 Juan Pablo Montoya Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda11 J. R. Hildebrand A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Kyle Kirkwood A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet23 Santino Ferrucci Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet24 Sage Karam Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet25 Stefan Wilson DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda28 Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda29 Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda30 Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda33 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet45 Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda51 Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda60 Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet98 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian HondaOFFICIAL REPORT Former Indianapolis 500 Winner Indianapolis 500 Rookie
Testing and Rookie Orientation October 2021
A private offseason Firestone tire test was scheduled for October 8. Hélio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing) and Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren SP) were scheduled to participate. Jimmie Johnson (Ganassi) and Romain Grosjean (Andretti) were scheduled to complete the Rookie Orientation Program during a separate session on October 6.
Rookie Orientation consists of three phases. Phase 1 was ten laps between , Phase 2 was fifteen laps between , and Phase 3 was fifteen laps over . Lingering rain hampered track activity, but the track was dried and Johnson and Grosjean both completed Phase 1 and Phase 2. Both drivers completed about half of Phase 3 before a downpour closed the track for the day at 4:15 p.m.. Series officials announced that both drivers had completed a satisfactory amount of laps, and would be eligible to participate in the full-field Open Test scheduled for April.
On Friday October 8, Castroneves and O'Ward conducted baseline testing, as well as preliminary KERS testing. No incidents were reported, and no speeds were announced.
Veteran Only Test — Wednesday April 20 Weather: , light rain early, cloudy in the afternoon Summary: A full-field open test was scheduled at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for April 20–21, 2022. All 32 confirmed entries for the 2022 Indianapolis 500 were present for the test. Light rain delayed testing by roughly 90 minutes, with the veterans only session beginning at roughly 12:30 p.m. Scott Dixon was fastest in the opening session at , while Scott McLaughlin was second. McLaughlin was fastest in the "no-tow" rankings – laps set without the benefit of aerodynamic drafting. The only significant incident of the opening session came when Alexander Rossi spun in the pit exit lane during his first installment lap, but avoided any contact and continued on.
+ Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine 19 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 23 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 323 Santino Ferrucci Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet OFFICIAL REPORT
Rookie Orientation / Refresher tests — Wednesday April 20 Summary: At 2:30 p.m., the track was opened to drivers needing to complete Rookie Orientation and veteran Refresher tests. Eight drivers took to the track during the session, with all rookies and two of the veterans completing their tests. Juan Pablo Montoya and Sage Karam did not pass their refresher programs, but had completed enough to be allowed on track for the full-field session later in the day. The fastest time in the session came from rookie Callum Ilott at . No incidents were reported.