Fearless 2024 indycar predictions

The long wait is (almost) over!

It’s finally IndyCar race week!

It’s been a long wait since the 2023 season finale last September at Laguna Seca, but we have made it through the off-season! In just a few short days, the series will be back on track on the streets, parking lots, and runways at St. Pete.

There have been a lot of changes over the winter, with drivers switching teams, sponsors moving to other cars, and a bunch of schedule changes.

(We won’t talk about management in this post — let’s save that for another day.)

As it is with any other sport, optimism abounds through the paddock, but when all of it shakes out at Nashville SuperSpeedway 6 1/2 months from now, what might happen?

You know what that question means…prediction time! Here’s what my crystal ball is telling me about 2024.

indycar champion

Scott Dixon.

I’m thinking this may be one of the most competitive seasons in IndyCar history. I can think of about six different drivers who, if everything falls their way, are capable of hoisting the Astor Cup in September.

In the end, though, I think it will be the Iceman lifting it for the seventh time in his spectacular career. Dixon had a brilliant season in 2023, but it was overshadowed by the dominance of teammate Alex Palou, who was on another level last year.

For the third time in his career, Dixon finished second in points, and other then a DFL at Long Beach, had his usual solid and nearly mistake-free season. From the Indy GP on, he never finished worse than sixth, and finished the season with three wins and another podium in the final four races.

One thing that helps Dixon is the schedule. With the addition of Nashville and Milwaukee, he’s got two tracks where he has won and had a significant amount of success. While all of that were in previous iterations of cars or car configurations, I mean, come on, it’s Scott Dixon. He would be good at those two places in everything.

If Andretti and McLaren improve, wins will be harder to come by, and, like Will Power’s 2022 championship season, consistency will be the key. Dixon is as consistent as it comes, and as long as no one has a Palou-type outlier season, he will add another piece to his already legendary legacy.

rookie of the year

Linus Lundqvist.

After winning the 2022 IndyNXT championship, Lundqvist was without a ride in 2023. Eventually, he got a three-race tryout with Meyer Shank Racing while subbing for injured Simon Pagenaud, and asserted himself well enough to get a multi-year contract from Chip Ganassi Racing.

Chip loves winners, and he has one in the 24-year-old from Sweden, who has won four full-season championships since moving to single seaters in 2015. Having veterans Palou and Dixon in his camp, and being part of a championship organization sets Lundqvist up to get his career started off on a solid path.

driver with the most to prove

Alexander Rossi.

I’m going to start this with a bit of a disclaimer…and an apology.

Molly is an Alexander Rossi fan, and since she is a Fast Cars Fast Girls OG, I’m guessing technically there should be no Rossi discourse on this site.

But Molly, I’ve gotta do it, and I deeply apologize.

OK, read on.

If you read my “Five Things” column in January, I called Colton Herta the most disappointing driver of they year. Herta has a ton to prove this year, but since I didn’t just want to rehash what I wrote a few weeks ago, I’m talking about another driver who is in the same camp.

What has happened to Rossi since he finished second and third, respectively, in 2018-19 is absolutely baffling. You can blame his teams, you can blame “cartoon anvils”, you can blame whatever you want, but ultimately it comes down to the person holding the wheel, and that guy has one win and three ninth-place finishes in points in the last four years.

At this point, I thought Rossi’s career would’ve been a lot more successful. That pains me to say, because I think he is super talented, but the results haven’t been there. He gets a bit of a mulligan for last year having moved to a new team that didn’t win a race in 2023, but again, the numbers don’t lie.

Not to mention, all of the sudden, Rossi is 32 years old. Not many drivers approaching their mid-30s keep their rides with top teams if they aren’t hanging up great results, and with the depth of talent in the series, and more talent on the way, Rossi needs to do something — and fast.

Indy 500 winner

Alex Palou.

Here’s how I roll: when I pick a driver to win the 500, I keep picking them until they finally do. Hence Palou.

Besides, he’s a great pick! In four races, he’s finished P7, P2, P9 and P4. Last year he sat on the pole and probably had the best car in the field, but spent most of the final half of the race fighting his way from the back of the field after contact with Rinus Veekay during a pit stop on Lap 94.

No doubt the 500 has become a crapshoot over the years, especially given all of the late-race passes, as well as race control “seeing red” a lot more than they should. But the key to the race is still the same: get your car up front and set yourself up for the last 50 miles.

Palou has more than shown he is capable of doing that, now it just has to fall into place for him, which will happen sooner or later. I’m saying sooner, like 82 days from now.

So what do you think? Hit me up on Twitter @15daysinmay and let me know.

Have a great race weekend!