IndyCar: Who will be the next first-time winner?

By Asher Fair | Oct 19, 2019

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 22: Colton Herta #88 of United States and Capstone Turbine Honda crosses the finish line to win the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 22, 2019 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images) /

The 2019 IndyCar season was the first season since 2016 to feature a first-time winner. Who will the next first-time winner be?

After four consecutive seasons in which a combined nine drivers, with at least one driver in each season, became first-time IndyCar winners, neither the 2017 nor the 2018 season featured first-time winners in America’s premier open-wheel racing series, marking the first time consecutive seasons hadn’t featured at least one first-time winner since the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

But for the first time since Alexander Rossi’s victory in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May of 2016, IndyCar crowned a first-time winner in March of this year at Circuit of the Americas.

Rookie Colton Herta drove his way to victory lane at the 20-turn, 3.427-mile (5.515-kilometer) Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas to become the youngest winner in IndyCar history at the age of 18 in just his third start.

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Herta ended up winning the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in September as well, but the 2019 season did not feature any other first-time winners.

Who will be the next first-time winner in IndyCar?

There are several solid candidates to be the next first-time winner, perhaps even as early as the 2020 season, even though the 2020 driver lineup hasn’t been entirely confirmed.

Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Santino Ferrucci, all rookies in the 2019 season, showed their potential. Rosenqvist even earned Rookie of the Year honors ahead of Herta with his sixth place finish in the championship standings.

Rosenqvist, however, did so without even winning a race. But after he recorded two second-place finishes, including one that came just a few hundredths of a second behind teammate and race winner Scott Dixon, he is poised to find victory lane at some point in the near future.

Ericsson only recorded three top 10 finishes throughout the season, but all there were top seven finishes. One of them was even a second place finish behind Dixon. Now slated to drive for a championship-caliber team in Chip Ganassi Racing, could he be the latest driver from Formula 1 to win an IndyCar race?

Ferrucci’s rookie season was ultra-impressive as well, particularly in the oval races, especially considering the fact that he drove for Dale Coyne Racing, which entered the season having competed in the sport since 1984 but only having recorded four top four finishes in oval races. Ferrucci finished in fourth place in the oval championship standings with three top four finishes in five races, all in a four-race span.

It is still unknown whether Ferrucci will return to Dale Coyne Racing, which he has a deal to do if he wants to, or move to another team. Regardless, he showed in his rookie season that he has what it takes to win.

Other candidates include Oliver Askew, who hasn’t yet been confirmed at a team for the 2020 season but is set to land some kind of ride after winning the 2019 Indy Lights championship and netting himself a $1 million scholarship to compete in at least three races, including the 104th running of the Indy 500, next year.

There have been several rumored landing spots for Askew already, the most notable two being a fourth car at Chip Ganassi Racing after he tested for the team at Portland International Raceway in August and one of the two cars at Arrow McLaren Racing SP.

You can also not count out Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach, who has struggled mightily in his first two seasons driving for the team but has shown flashes of potential in both seasons. In a competitive ride and entering the third and final year of his three-year contract with Michael Andretti’s organization, Veach will be a driver to watch.

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Who will be the next first-time IndyCar winner, and will that driver be victorious at any point throughout the 17-race 2020 season? There are certainly several potential candidates to pull it off next year.