Marcus Ericsson was a consistent NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship contender driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. He finished sixth in points in his final three seasons with the team.
The 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge victory was one of four NTT INDYCAR SERIES wins Ericsson amassed in 64 starts spanning four seasons (2020-23) at CGR. His runner-up finish a year later was one of 10 top-three finishes in 80 overall career starts, including his 2019 rookie season competing with Arrow McLaren.
Ericsson moved to Andretti Global in 2024. His first year was met with mixed results and inconsistency. The Swedish driver finished 15th in the final NTT INDYCAR SERIES points standings, his worst result since finishing 17th as a rookie.
Ericsson didn’t forget how to drive a race car. The 34-year-old was struck by plenty of misfortune during his maiden year driving the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda for Andretti Global.
“We had a lot of good speed, but not a lot of results to show for it,” he said. “A lot of potential but not so much results.”
The bad luck started in the season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg. Ericsson qualified sixth and ran inside of the top five before a mechanical failure on Lap 52 left him 23rd.
He flashed speed in Indianapolis 500 practice, but a rare mistake two days ahead of Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend ended with a totaled race car from a crash in Turn 4. The backup car didn’t produce the same speed as the primary chassis because of a short turnaround in car preparation, leaving Ericsson to the last row - starting 32nd out of 33 drivers.
His “500” was short-lived after he was collected in an opening-lap spin by Tom Blomqvist, and Ericsson ended up 33rd and last.
The team decided to hit the reset button with four finishes of 18th or worse in the opening five races. Ericsson was 19th in points with a fifth-place result in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21 as his best finish.
“The Month of May was obviously really tough, but the way we came back there and qualified into the race, and then just made it in there, that sort of team effort needed to get into that race, that was a bit of a turning point for us,” he said. “Obviously, it was a shame we couldn't do the actual race. We got into the first-corner crash, but I feel like after that point we were in the mix every weekend.”
Ericsson finished runner-up June 2 at Detroit, sparking a stretch of five consecutive top-10 finishes. He had seven top 10’s over the final 12 races.
“We’ve built a really good foundation for next year,” Ericsson said. “Especially the second half, I feel like we've been in the mix every track we've been to. We can build on that and have the offseason to analyze and work on things. Then, we should be really, really strong next year.”
Andretti Global returns all three drivers next season, with Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta remaining as Ericsson’s teammates. That continuity and the team’s performance, especially over the second half of the season, could make the trio a force in 2025.
“I think the team has been great,” Ericsson said. “To get into the team and get to know the people, the support I have in the team, that’s been fantastic.
“The team has been performing at a very high level. I feel like we really have been really good as a team being up front on all kinds of tracks. That’s something that Andretti has been struggling with the last couple of years, the consistency, and I feel like we’ve really stepped it up this year.
“Then the relationship with Colton and Kyle has been fantastic. We’re really working well together. Looking ahead for the next couple of years, that’s just going to make us strong and stronger.”