What Dalton Kellett needs this season is to deliver more of the same.

The smart Canadian knows he isn’t destined for wins and championships, and that doesn’t have to be a negative or uncomfortable realization. He’s enjoyed himself at every step of the journey at A.J. Foyt Racing, and he’s also made gains in lap time and overall competitiveness. Kellett works hard to improve and truly cares about being good a good citizen within the field as the leaders approach. Some love to criticize Kellett, but I’m thankful he’s here, thankful he tries like hell, and hope he continues racing in the series for many years.

What Jimmie Johnson needs this season is to stand on a podium at one of the ovals.

The Chip Ganassi Racing sophomore will be faster on all the road and street courses; there’s no doubt about that aspect of Johnson’s rapid growth as an open-wheel newcomer. It’s the ovals, however, where the 46-year-old can run with the leaders. Barring a fluke result on the roads and streets, the oval master is primed to make an impact at Texas, Indy, Iowa, and Gateway in ways that just aren’t yet feasible at the other rounds. If 2022 is his first and last full season in IndyCar, we know where the greatest odds of podiums and wins are held.

What Ed Carpenter needs this season is to just be Ed Carpenter.

Finishing fifth at Indy last year was a welcome return to normalcy for Ed, and unfortunately, it was his only highlight of the season as the other three ovals returned finishes outside the top 10. He’s achieved a long-held goal of transitioning his No. 20 Chevy into a full-time seat, so with Conor Daly in the car for the year alongside Rinus VeeKay in the No. 21 Chevy, Carpenter can focus on however many ovals he wants to enter outside of Indy. He deserves to enjoy himself and ensure the twilight of his driving career is a joy and not a burden.

What Christian Lundgaard needs this season is to become an oval racer.

The speedy Dane will be learning all the time as in his first IndyCar season, and based on his outings so far for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, he should have an easy time securing Rookie of the Year honors. On road and street courses, Lundgaard will obviously be in his element. Learning the ovals is his only notable challenge, and considering how most of the recent European open-wheelers have taken a liking to the art of turning left, I suspect he’ll thrive in the new discipline by the end of the year.

What Callum Ilott needs this season is to fight like hell as the only solo driver in the field.

Every other team has at least two drivers to handle the performance tuning workload in practice and qualifying, and for this British rookie, it’s a tall order to handle on his own.

Although Ilott’s regarded as talent worthy of a quality Formula 1 ride, he’s an unknown quantity in IndyCar and last year’s three-race stint to close the calendar with Juncos Hollinger Racing did little to make an impression. That’s not Ilott or the team’s fault; pressed for time and staff, he had to learn about the car, series, and three tracks with the best available people JHR could find. He’s been presented with stronger engineering and chassis setup starting points this year thanks to a technical alliance between JHR and the Carlin Racing. Nonetheless, he’s going to have a tough time standing out in IndyCar’s smallest team.

At an Andretti or Arrow McLaren SP, Ilott’s an instant Rookie of the Year contender and someone who could win a race this season. With a startup like JHR, he’ll need to find a way to get noticed in the midfield as the team begins a long-term building process. Being a minnow among the sharks can be mentally exhausting. Ilott can drive, and he’ll need to keep fighting and stay positive, even when it’s for a 12^th-place finish that goes unnoticed.

Ilott is in for a year of expectation management. Phillip Abbott/Lumen

What Kyle Kirkwood needs this season is to keep his spirits up.

Coming off three consecutive Road To Indy championships, he’s like the No. 1 draft pick going to the Detroit Lions. Kirkwood’s unaccustomed to losing and his mental fortitude will be challenged as he spends the year trying to help the A.J. Foyt Racing team improve upon the gains made in 2021 with Sebastien Bourdais.

Even the 40-year-old Frenchman, a four-time IndyCar champion with 37 wins, grew weary of the shortcomings throughout the season, so it’s a lot to ask of a 23-year-old rookie to handle the inevitable disappointments just as well as one of the sport’s most decorated veterans. The Foyt team is looking to Kirkwood to lift them towards the midfield, and when the program is on point, the Indy Lights champion is certainly capable of delivering some fireworks.

Don’t look for miracles to happen in 2022, but he’s given every indicator on the RTI, and in pre-season testing, to suggest we have a major talent in our presence. Kirkwood’s paired with a strong race engineer in Mike Colliver, which offers promise. The question here is how often the Foyt team as a whole will be competitive. For a kid who only knows how to lead and win, he’ll bristle at the limitations he’s dealt. Kirkwood’s assignment is to stay strong and give the big teams a reason to place him in one of their cars.

What Tatiana Calderon needs this season is time and patience.

The talented Colombian just met and worked with her new A.J. Foyt Racing race engineer Daniele Cucchiaroni less than two weeks before her first IndyCar race, so it’s hard to ask the 28-year-old to do more than learn and develop chemistry on the fly.

To her credit, Calderon brings immense open-wheel and sports car experience to her rookie campaign with Foyt, and with a career filled with adapting to new cars and series — often multiple cars and series per year — she’s well-versed with being dropped into sink-or-swim situations.

Calderon is a gamer; she, like most of the rookie class, is short on IndyCar mileage, and in her case, she’ll debut with less time in an IndyCar than any driver in the field. Assess her upcoming performances accordingly.

What David Malukas needs this season is to build upon his breakout year of Indy Lights.

At 20, the Chicago native got an early start in open-wheel racing, and in those formative years, he didn’t show much to suggest he’d eventually be slugging it out with Kyle Kirkwood for the 2021 Indy Lights title. The unexpected rise for Malukas was one of last year’s great surprises. He arrives in IndyCar as a relative unknown with a team that’s undergone its umpteenth overhaul.

If there’s stability to be offered from the Dale Coyne Racing outfit, Malukas will continue his upward trajectory and do so without the weight of heavy expectations placed on his shoulders. Even so, this diamond in the rough will shine and surprise on occasion. It’s meant to be a rookie year of development for Malukas, who is signed to a multi-year contract, and in light of his breakout Road To Indy output, he really needs DCR to deliver a strong car to drive.

Some Indy Lights graduates arrive in IndyCar as finished products. Malukas isn’t quite there, and can’t afford to lose the momentum he’s recently gained if DCR is beset by issues with reliability, pit stops, or performance.

What Devlin DeFrancesco needs this season is to get to 2023 where real expectations can be set.

The rookie leapt at the opportunity to fill James Hinchcliffe’s former seat at Andretti, and while the timing was right from an availability standpoint, spending a second year in Indy Lights would have polished a few areas, added a bit more speed, and left more of the big-car learning curve behind on the Road To Indy.

So with all of that in mind, the young Canadian will surprise at times, underwhelm at times, and experience the full range of outcomes we often see when a driver’s first year of IndyCar also doubles as a finishing school. A great debut season would entail finishing almost every lap available and using the knowledge to push harder as a sophomore. Like Calderon, and Malukas to a lesser degree, we’re a year away from judging the full measure of DeFrancesco’s talent.