Marcus Ericsson of Sweden is a legitimate candidate to challenge for the NTT IndyCar Series championship.
Although the former Formula 1 driver tends to operate in the shadows of his more famous Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, the driver of the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda established himself as an IndyCar Series winner last season.
Ericsson started 15th and used a brilliant strategy to win the first race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader last June. Ericsson led the final five laps to score the victory. The previous year on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Ericsson finished second.
His second victory of the season came in a race that appeared to be over for him on the first lap. The Music City Grand Prix in Nashville had already been slowed for an incident before a second multi-car crash blocked the race course. Ericsson’s Honda collided with the car driven by Sebastien Bourdais. The impact sent Ericsson’s car airborne, landing in a hard thud.
Amazingly, the car sustained little damage. After it was quickly repaired on pit lane, Ericsson’s No. 8 was among the fastest cars in the race. He led 37 laps en route to his second career victory.
“It’s still one of the craziest races I’ve ever done,” Ericsson told SPEED SPORT. “To come out the winner was crazy. When I was crashing into Sebastien and seeing the sky, I thought they would retire the car there on the spot. But I was able to crawl around on the track, managed to get back to the pits, make four or five pit stops to repair the car, then had a drive through (penalty) and I was dead last.
“Somehow, we managed to get back to running up front and winning the race. It was one of the craziest races of my life, but it was super memorable.”
A last-place finish in the 28-car field after he crashed on lap 25 of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach dropped him to sixth in the final standings.
But Ericsson continued his trend of improvement since joining IndyCar in 2019 with what was then Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. He was 17th in the standings as a rookie in 2019, 12th in ’20 and sixth in ’21.
Ericsson is ready to contend for the championship.
“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Ericsson said. “I’ve had a few years now in the IndyCar Series and every year I have been taking steps and getting better and better. To have the continuation with Chip Ganassi Racing and my race engineer Brad Goldberg and the other core group on the 8 car is really helping me feel comfortable and confident going into this season now.
“Last year was a breakthrough year for me finishing sixth in the championship and winning my first two races, being consistent, running up front.
“This year, we want to fight for the championship. That is definitely my goal.”
Team owner Chip Ganassi believes Ericsson has the potential to battle for a title.
“Certainly, you’d have to say momentum is on his side,” Ganassi said. “I guess time will tell. I think he’s going to have a better year than he did last year.
“The question is what type of year is it going to take to win a championship? Are the points going to be divided among a lot of guys? A few guys break away? It goes back to math.”
The list of Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar Series drivers is stacked with champions, led by six-time series champion Scott Dixon and reigning titlist Palou. Jimmie Johnson won a record-tying seven NASCAR Cup Series championships before joining Ganassi’s IndyCar team in 2021. The team’s extra Indy 500 driver, Tony Kanaan, won the 2004 IndyCar title and the 2013 Indianapolis 500.
Those drivers also have big personalities. That allowed Ericsson to work on his race craft without the glare of the spotlight.
“That’s been the case since I first came to IndyCar,” Ericsson said. “I’ve been flying under the radar for most of it and people may not notice my progress, but I don’t mind that. I work hard and have a great team around me. Last year, we showed that.
“As a team, we had such a strong season with Alex winning the championship, Scott finishing fourth and me sixth. We were up front and want to build on that and maybe be a little stronger this season.”
Ericsson came to North America after making 97 Formula 1 starts. When he won at Detroit last year, it was his first victory in eight years of racing.
“It was incredible,” Ericsson said. “I did five years, nearly 100 races in Formula 1. It was never a realistic chance to win or even be on the podium. That is one of the big reasons I wanted to come to IndyCar because I knew here, I would have the chance to win again.
“Since I came here, I’ve worked extremely hard to get to victory lane. To get that first win in Detroit was a very, very special moment and something I’ll always remember,” he continued. “It was so big to win on this level, especially in IndyCar with the depth of the series so impressive, to win races in IndyCar is very, very difficult so I’m extremely proud about that.”
A big boost to Ericsson’s drive to the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series championship would be a victory in the 106th Indianapolis 500. In addition to earning fame and immortality by winning the world’s biggest race, it also pays double points toward the championship.
“I think we will have a good chance,” Ericsson said. “Last year and the year before, we had really strong months. In 2020, I crashed out early while having a really good car. Last year, we ran out of fuel on the first yellow and had to pit after losing all that track position that we had worked very hard for after a good month.
“In the 500, you have to have a bit of luck on your side and be in the right place at the right time. We haven’t got that together yet. But I feel comfortable at the speedway. The team puts together great cars there. It’s one of the big goals this year to have a strong Indianapolis 500 and aim for that win.”
Ericsson believes he has a “secret weapon” on the team with Dixon’s knowledge and expertise.
“It’s fantastic because you can always lean on him and his experience,” Ericsson said. “I think he is the best-ever Indy car driver so to be teammates with him, you learn a lot. But also, T.K. is a great addition to the team when he came to the 500 with all of his experience as well. I learned a lot with those guys.
“Combine them with Alex and Jimmie this year, I think we will have a real ‘Dream Team’ coming this May.”
Ericsson would like to pattern his season after Palou’s title run in 2021.
“Everyone knew Alex was a good driver, but to come into a new team and win the championship the way he did, he was the class of the field all year and I was very impressed and happy for him,” Ericsson said. “This year, we are going to make it hard for him and challenge him for that championship.”
Ericsson believes he has also learned how to be a great champion from the way Johnson carries himself in and out of the race car.
“I haven’t seen many people in this world that works harder than Jimmie does,” Ericsson said.
Then, there is team owner, Chip Ganassi, who expects his drivers to win and gives them everything necessary to accomplish that.
“I love driving for Chip,” Ericsson said. “He is putting some pressure on us drivers, but that helps us get the best out of ourselves. He expects us to deliver wins and he gives us all the tools for that. To have that kind of pressure is good for us as a driver. I thrive on that and I love being in that position. He is hard but fair and tells us how it is. That is what I appreciate as a person. That’s perfect for me.
“Hopefully, we can make him happy many times this year. I want to build on that success we had last year, and we have the tools to win a championship.”