3 things to watch before NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1 start
By Joe Capraro
Things to watch: No. 1 – IMSA, WRC Formula E all start in January
If you require top-level competitive racing action to tide you over, there are plenty of world-class races on the calendar for January.
The IMSA season is scheduled to kick off with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona from Friday, January 28 to Sunday, January 30, with the Roar Before the Rolex 24 the weekend prior. The legendary endurance race will feature a record-high 60 entries, including nearly half of the 2022 IndyCar field.
The entire Chip Ganassi Racing stable are set to drive in Daytona, along with former Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen.
Simon Pagenaud, Rinus VeeKay, Jimmie Johnson, Pato O’Ward, and Colton Herta are among the other IndyCar veterans who aim to compete in one of racing’s most challenging events.
At least the drivers in Daytona will have clean, dry pavement beneath them and the Florida sunshine warming them from above.
The World Rally Championship season is scheduled to kick off with the Rallye Monte-Carlo from Thursday, January 20 to Sunday, January 23, when drivers will have to contend with the snow-covered roads and freezing temperatures of the Swiss Alps.
Endurance and rally races can make for difficult television viewing, however. Until racing fans can organize themselves into teams to split viewing duties like race teams do with the driving, those remain events best consumed by picking through online updates periodically and tuning in for highlights and the finish.
For racing fans looking for a more traditional weekend racing experience, Formula E has you covered. The 2022 driver lineup features three former Formula 1 drivers – Stoffel Vandoorne, Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Giovinazzi – as well as Oliver Askew, who drove for Arrow McLaren SP in IndyCar in 2020.
You can also get a look at Formula 1 hopeful Nyck de Vries during the doubleheader in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29. But if you can’t bring yourself to watch electric cars, there is still some internal combustion happening inches in front of top-notch drivers this coming weekend.