It’s been more than 12 weeks since the NTT IndyCar Series contested its last race of the 2022 season and crowned Will Power as champion. With so many other forms of racing being contested and finishing their seasons since then, did the IndyCar season even happen?
Yes. And it was glorious.
While the IndyCar season is probably the shortest major racing season on the planet, it packs a lot of punch into 17 races run in just over six months. Once again, the series put on a great show in 2022, and it’s time to pass out a few IndyCar awards.
As an IndyCar blogger since 2010, I’ve put on quite a few IndyCar awards ceremonies, but, sadly, none of the drivers have ever shown up. That’s the case once again, but that doesn’t stop me from putting on my tuxedo, heading to my shed-that’s-become-a-sports-bar in my backyard, and honoring the worthy recipients with some of the most prestigious awards in the business.
Let’s take a moment to recognize some of the biggest stars in the IndyCar galaxy.
Driver of the Year: Will Power
This was an agonizing decision, and it’s very similar to the American League Most Valuable Player race between New York Yankees’ outfielder Aaron Judge and Anaheim Angels’ pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani. Otani is the best baseball player on the planet, and second place isn’t even close.
At the same time, Judge had a season for the ages and chased down a 61-year-old ghost that was Roger Maris’ American League home run record.
The same debate exists in IndyCar. At this exact moment, Josef Newgarden is the best driver in the series, and, dare I say, one of the best drivers in the world. In 2022, the Team Penske driver was the class of the field, winning five times while posting six podiums, eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10 results. The history of the 2022 season will have his fingerprints all over it.
But he didn’t win the title thanks to, among other races, a 24th place finish at the Indy GP and a 25th at the second race at Iowa; where he dominated all day before having a suspension failure and crashing out of the race.
In the meantime, Power had what could be argued as the best overall season of his career. We all know how great Power is: he’s the greatest qualifier in IndyCar history, he’s just one of five drivers all-time to win 40 races, he won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and the 2014 IndyCar championship.
With all of that, Power had never been as consistent as he…
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