Meet The Teams Competing In The 2022 IndyCar Series Championship

There are 32 different drivers competing on 11 teams.

The 2022 IndyCar Series season is set to kick off this weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg in Florida — and if you need a little refresher about who’s competing on the grid and for what team, then we’ve got you covered.

If this is your first season watching IndyCar, then it’s important to note that teams aren’t as structured as they are in, say, Formula One. A team can have six cars, or it can field one. Liveries can remain the same all season, or they can change for each race. Drivers that compete in one car may only do so for a few races before swapping to another one.

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A.J. Foyt Enterprises

Full-Time Drivers: No. 4 (Dalton Kellett), No. 14 (Kyle Kirkwood, Rookie)
Part-Time Drivers: No. 11 (Tatiana Calderón; road and street courses, Rookie), No. 11 TBA (road courses)
2021 Standings: Kellet (23rd overall, 23rd Indy 500)

A. J. Foyt racing is a longstanding member of the IndyCar paddock, but the team hasn’t exactly always had the best results. Last year, Sebastian Bourdais scored the team’s best finish — two fifth places — but Foyt has opted against the veteran in exchange for younger talent. Whether or not that’ll be a fruitful decision remains to be seen, but rookie Kyle Kirkwood is one of the biggest excitements of the season after winning damn near everything on the ladder to IndyCar.

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Andretti Autosport

Full-Time Drivers: No. 26 (Colton Herta), No. 27 (Alexander Rossi), No. 28 (Romain Grosjean), No. 29 with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport (Devlin DeFrancesco, Rookie)
Part-Time Drivers: No. 98 (Marco Andretti, Indy 500 only)
2021 Standings: Herta (5th overall, 16th Indy 500), Rossi (1oth overall, 29th Indy 500), Grosjean (15th overall, no Indy 500)

Andretti Autosport has been growing around the world, but its IndyCar performance these past few years has been hit or miss thanks to driver error, technical issues, and bad strategy calls. The team’s biggest performer has been Colton Herta, but Rossi and Grosjean aren’t to be messed with. The skill of the team will provide a great place for rookie Devlin DeFrancesco to get his bearings — and it’s hard not to imagine that 2022 will be a great year for the Andretti crew.

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Arrow McLaren SP

Full-Time Drivers: No. 5 (Patricio O’Ward), No. 7 (Felix Rosenqvist)
Part-Time Drivers: No. 6 (Juan Pablo Montoya, rounds 5-6)
2021 Standings: O’Ward (3rd overall, 4th Indy 500), Rosenqvist (21st overall, 27th Indy 500), Montoya (31st overall, 9th Indy 500)

Arrow McLaren SP has made a strong impression on the IndyCar paddock since Schmidt Peterson and McLaren joined forces. Pato O’Ward has been the backbone of the team, helping it grow as he improves as a driver, and we can expect him to double down on his performance ahead of the new season. His teammate Rosenqvist has left some performance on the table — but you can expect both drivers to improve for 2022.

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Chip Ganassi Racing

Full-Time Drivers: No. 8 (Marcus Ericsson), No. 9 (Scott Dixon), No. 10 (Alex Palou), No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson)
Part-Time Drivers: No. TBA (Tony Kanaan, Indy 500)
2021 Standings: Ericsson (6th overall, 11th Indy 500), Dixon (4th overall, 17th Indy 500), Palou (1st overall, 2nd Indy 500), Johnson (26th overall, no Indy 500)

Chip Ganassi Racing is easily one of IndyCar’s powerhouse teams thanks to veteran Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou. The team has always been one expected to top the charts, and it wouldn’t be strange to expect more of the same as we head into 2022. The biggest surprise will be Jimmie Johnson, who is taking on his first full-time IndyCar season after only perusing road and street courses in 2021.

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Dale Coyne Racing

Full-Time Drivers: No. 18 with HMD Motorsports (David Malukas, Rookie), No. 51 with Rick Ware Racing (Takuma Sato)
Part-Time Drivers: N/A
2021 Standings: Sato (11th overall, 14th Indy 500)

Dale Coyne Racing probably isn’t going to win any championships any time soon, but it’s been a historically great place for drivers to get their bearings, start their careers, and occasionally win a race. That bodes well for rookie David Malukas, who will be partnering with veteran Takuma Sato in the team for 2022.

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Ed Carpenter Racing

Full-Time Drivers: No. 20 (Conor Daly), No. 21 (Rinus Veekay)
Part-Time Drivers: No. TBA (Ed Carpenter, Indy 500)
2021 Standings: Daly (18th overall, 13th Indy 500), Veekay (12th overall, 14th Indy 500), Carpenter (27th overall, 5th Indy 500)

Ed Carpenter has finally taken a step back from his career as driver of the team that bears his name, instead electing to hire two full-timers — Conor Daly and Rinus Veekay — while Carpenter himself runs an entry for the 500. The team has its moments of brilliance — like Veekay’s two podiums in 2022 — but the consistency of two full-timers may be just what ECR needs to really get into the swing of things.

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Juncos Hollinger Racing

Full-Time Drivers: No. 77 (Callum Ilott, Rookie)
Part-Time Drivers: N/A
2021 Standings: N/A

Juncos will be debuting in the IndyCar series for its first full-time effort after several years of trying to get the ball moving. The team is known for its success in the lower divisions of the Road to Indy ladder, but that success has never quite translated to IndyCar due to a lack of funding. This year, though, the team is going for it by running Callum Ilott, one of the most promising drivers from the Formula One ladder.

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Meyer Shank Racing

Full-Time Drivers: No. 06 (Hélio Castroneves), No. 60 (Simon Pagenaud)
Part-Time Drivers: N/A
2021 Standings: Castroneves (22nd overall, 1st Indy 500), Pagenaud (8th overall, 3rd Indy 500)

My managing editor Lalita Chemello sees great things coming for Meyer Shank Racing this year. After running a single full-time car last year, the outfit has moved to a two-car setup piloted by two legends that can list a championship and five Indy 500 wins between them: Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud. If Castroneves could drive them to a 500 win in 2021, the duo could easily give MSR a championship in 2022.

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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Full-Time Drivers: No. 15 (Graham Rahal), No. 30 (Christian Lundgaard, Rookie), No. 45 (Jack Harvey)
Part-Time Drivers: N/A
2021 Standings: Rahal (7th overall, 32nd Indy 500), Harvey (13th overall, 18th Indy 500)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan performance tends to fluctuate strongly depending on the season, but 2022 looks great. Jack Harvey will be debuting with the team after several years spent prepping MSR’s effort, and Christian Lundgaard has a great shot at Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile, Graham Rahal himself is able to bring in solid results to form a strong base for the team.

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Team Penske

Full-Time Drivers: No. 2 (Josef Newgarden), No. 3 (Scott McLaughlin), No. 12 (Will Power)
Part-Time Drivers: N/A
2021 Standings: Newgarden (2nd overall, 12th Indy 500), McLaughlin (14th overall, 20th Indy 500), Power (9th overall, 30th Indy 500)

Team Penske is a powerhouse of motorsport no matter where you go, and the 2022 lineup is, frankly, stacked. Theoretically, any Penske driver is fit to make a strong championship run — Josef Newgarden is consistently at the front of the pack — but the circumstances just need to be right for this Chevy-powered team.

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Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Indy 500 Only Entry
Part-Time Drivers: No. 23 (Santino Ferrucci), No. 24 (Sage Karam)
2021 Standings: Ferrucci (24th overall, 6th Indy 500), Karam (30th overall, 7th Indy 500)

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has confirmed its participation in the Indy 500 this year, bringing with it Santino Ferrucci and Sage Karam. As the team generally only fields entries for a handful of races at most, it’s something of an unknown entity — and we’ll have to wait until the Month of May to see how these two drivers handle their new car.

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