This Week In Action Motorsports: May 13-15, 2022

Image via Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

Gear up for events from the biggest series in action motorsports with our weekend preview of the most exciting races in the world! From the premier open-wheel circuits in the world to both two and four-wheel events in the dirt, check in here each week to find out who’s running up front and how to watch.

IndyCar at Indianapolis Road Course (Saturday, 3PM ET, NBC)

The month of May might not look quite like it used to back in the day for the NTT IndyCar Series, with fewer days of Indianapolis 500 qualifying, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is as busy as ever thanks to Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix. 2022 marks the ninth year that the IMS road course has joined the oval on the IndyCar schedule, while this will be the second year that the track hosts two events in a single calendar year.

Defending winner Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing enters the weekend with a shot of momentum from Barber Motorsports Park after winning the pole and finishing third there. But the IMS road course has traditionally been dominated by Team Penske, which has prepared all but three of the race-winning cars here across a dozen races. Will Power’s five wins, the most recent of which came last August, are the all-time record, and after finishing no worse than fourth in all four races thus far this year, he’ll be keen to join teammates Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden as a 2022 race winner with his possible sixth.

Great American Shortcourse at Glen Helen (Saturday/Sunday, 3PM ET, greatamericanshortcourse.com/live)

The second of five rounds in the second Great American Shortcourse season sees the series return to Glen Helen Raceway for the first of two events this season. As was the case last year, Glen Helen joins SBC Fairgrounds as one of the two hosts of GAS action in 2022, though a third event at the latter will serve as this year’s championship finale in the fall.

Last year’s Pro 2 action at Glen Helen saw four different winners, as RJ and Ronnie Anderson split a truck to sweep the first weekend and Ricky Gutierrez and Dave Mason Jr. split the second. Christopher Polvoorde’s Pro Lite title was built on success here last year, as he scored his first win of the season in the second race and swept the final two rounds of the season to clinch the title. Top points battles coming into the race include Pro Lite, where Robby Hornsby, Trey Gibbs, and Kyle Knott are separated by just four points, and Pro Buggy, where Zachary Drapkin and Matt Brister are tied.

NHRA at Virginia (Sunday, 6:30PM ET, FS1)

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series puts all four of its premier classes in action for just the third time all year at Virginia Motorsports Park this weekend. The Virginia NHRA Nationals have been off the schedule since 2019 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will mark the seventh event of the year for the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, sixth for Pro Stock, and fourth for Pro Stock Motorcycle.

The last time the series visited VMP, Steve Torrence scored his third Top Fuel win of that season; this year, he’s still looking for his first. Defending Funny Car champion Ron Capps took the most recent win here in that class, while Bo Butner could benefit greatly by reclaiming his Pro Stock magic here from three years ago as he looks to improve on his current eighth place in points. Andrew Hines, the most recent Pro Stock Motorcycle winner, is currently focused on running the Vance & Hines team for Angelle Sampey and Eddie Krawiec.

Additional Broadcasts

·      Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Qualifying: Friday, 4PM ET, Peacock

·      Indy Lights at Indianapolis 1: Friday, 5:25PM ET, Peacock

·      Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Warmup: Saturday, 10:30AM ET, Peacock

·      Indy Lights at Indianapolis 2: Saturday, 1:10PM ET, Peacock

·      2022 Race of Champions: Saturday, 3:30PM ET, CBSSN

·      Formula E Berlin ePrix 1: Saturday, 6PM ET, CBSSN

·      NHRA Virginia Nationals Friday Qualifying: Saturday, 10:30PM ET, FS1

·      NHRA Virginia Nationals Saturday Qualifying: Sunday, 12:30PM ET, FS1

·      Formula E Berlin ePrix 2: Sunday, 8PM ET, CBSSN