Race 2 of the season and we head out west to the Auto Club Speedway for the last race on the 2 mile layout. But while they hit their 2nd race of the season another series has their 1st of the year, IndyCar is back in 2022 and their first stop is St Petersburg!

Race picks:

Scott Dixon 🇳🇿

Now some of these predictions might be hard for me to make since this weekend's practice is on a streaming service that I don't have just like how it may be hard to believe that the 6 time champion has NOT had back to back titles. Yep a man as accomplished as Dixon is for whatever reason he can't put it together for consecutive seasons and he also hasn't been victorious at St Pete. Perhaps a first win at St Pete could start the road that leads him to become the first driver since AJ Foyt🇺🇸 to become a 7 time champion of IndyCar.

Alex Palou 🇪🇸

Last season the IndyCar world said "Hello Palou!" This young man in only his 2nd IndyCar season and first with Chip Ganassi Racing would go on to get not only the first 3 wins of his young career but also go on to win his 1st IndyCar championship. Representing Spain🇪🇸 with pride as early as this might be to call I guess he may be the IndyCar version of Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 who is a 2 time F1 world champion. While Palou's championship defense will definitely be difficult it is difficult to get tour first championship in the IndyCar series not only for yourself but for your country to and Alex rose to the challenge so another season opening win could be on for the reigning champion.

Alexander Rossi 🇺🇸

Now to be honest with you I see Rossi being on the podium. To start of a season I'm sure he'd be thrilled considering how the last 2 years have been for him and his team Andretti AutoSport. Besides Colton Herta 🇺🇸 winning races results have been hard to come by for the rest of the drivers. When Rossi gets mad he gets more motivated and fast and for a guy who came up short in the championship battle in 2018 and 2019 Rossi would love to use the momentum of a podium to start 2022
Romain Grosjean 🇫🇷

Now Grosjean is gonna start his first full time year in IndyCar and it's for a powerhouse team like Andretti AutoSport. Grosjean impressed with 3 podiums and even a pole at the GMR grand prix with Dale Coyne and Rick Ware when he ran all the road courses and 1 oval race. He was fastest in 1st practice so the signs look up for a strong result on Sunday. Crazy to think that in 2022 could possibly be the best year in Grosjean's motorsports career and he showed his talent off in 2021 so maybe JUST MAYBE a season opening podium or a 1st career win could pave the way for Grosjean to become an IndyCar champion?

Xfinity:

Ty Gibbs

Now what else is there to say about this kid? In his first 18 Xfinity starts last year he won 4 of them including his debut race in a part time schedule. Seeing that 2 of them came on similar style tracks and how he just won his debut race at the Daytona road course where tires meant a lot a dream season could be in the making for Ty Gibbs

Cup:

Denny Hamlin

While this isn't the best track for DH since working with his crew chief Chris Gabehart in 2019 they have been able to elevate their performance at some of Hamlin's worst tracks like Las Vegas and Dover. Plus Denny has had success at Darlington, Atlanta before it got repaved, and Richmond where the tires get chewed up big time just like they do in Auto Club. So perhaps after the first race of 2022 where for the first time in his Daytona 500 career that he failed to finish Denny rebounds to get his first win at Auto Club.

Kyle Busch:

Auto Club over the years has been a good hunting ground for the candy man. The 2 time champ claimed his first win there and is a 4 time winner overall. If he claims his 5th win at this track it'll be 2nd only to Jimmie Johnson. Plus it'll be the big 60 win total for Busch, Auto Club has seen him hit big landmarks before like the aforementioned 1st Cup win in 2005 in his Hendrick Motorsports days and in 2019 when he got his 200th YES 200th win combining the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup series.

Martin Truex Jr:

For several years Auto Club was a track you wouldn't think Truex could run well at but in the last few years he seemed to figure the place out. He was a major contender in 2017 and won the race in 2018 in dominant fashion and was a contender for the win of late. This former champion is gonna be aiming to win the earliest he's ever had in a Cup season since he is one of 5 Cup championship who will have to wait another year to try to win the Dayton 500. Winning is the best way to move on.

Kyle Larson:

The reigning champion is heading to his home race. So fans of young money will come out in force, Larson was the 2017 winner of this event and can wheel a car with the best of them. Add that to a worn out surface and multiple grooves especially up against the wall he just might do a slidejob to pull of the W. After the rollercoaster he's put himself in and came out as a better person he'd love to continue to build on a legacy by getting a first win in front of a home crowd.