The NTT IndyCar Series season resumed Saturday (Aug. 17) at Worldwide Technology Raceway with the start of a five-race dash to the end of the season. By the time the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 came to a close in a race marked by varying pit strategies, it was Josef Newgarden celebrating a win with his two Team Penske teammates, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power disappointed.
It’s Newgarden’s second win of the season and fifth at Gateway. McLaughlin was second ahead of Linus Lundqvist, Colton Herta, and Alex Palou, though Herta was penalized after the flag fell, bumping Palou to fourth.
“[The team] have done a great job,” Newgarden said after the race.
“On the No. 2 car, specifically, they’ve done a really good job. They’ve given me race-winning cars throughout the year, even past Indianapolis, and they haven’t materialized. So, it’s nice to get another one on the board. The worst part about [the penultimate restart] is the No. 12 not making it home. I hate that that happened at the very end.”
As Saturday unfolded, Alexander Rossi and Power established themselves as the frontrunners, and that was even more-so the case with less than eight laps to go coming to a restart. That’s when an accordion effect reared its destructive head with Rossi getting into the rear of Power’s car, sending both to a sliding halt near the inside wall of the frontstretch. It also dented the title hopes of Power, who came into Gateway 49 points behind series leader Alex Palou. Instead of winning or at least finishing near the front, Power ended up 18th.
A 20-lap sprint to the finish was set up when Power and David Malukas engaged in a side-by-side battle. Malukas was by far the biggest loser, spinning to the inside of the track’s second turn after contact between the two, putting McLaughlin and Newgarden in front before Newgarden prevailed on pit road to lead.
The late-race drama was hardly done. On the restart with less than 10 laps to go, multiple cars stacked up, involving drivers including Power and Rossi, bringing out the red flag. Power failing to finish marked a tough night for series points leaders with him being the second of the top-five drivers entering Saturday failing to finish, joining Pato O’Ward.
McLaughlin paced a frantic opening eight laps under green before the caution came out with Katherine Legge and Ed Carpenter sustaining damage after the two cars made contact heading into turn one. It’d hardly be the only incident of the late afternoon as just a handful of laps later, a multi-car incident damaged the machines of Romain Grosjean, Kyle Kirkwood, and Conor Daly moments after Malukas got around on the outside to lead.
The lead was short-lived, with Power taking advantage of the restart to take the race lead.
O’Ward was among the point leaders taking a hit in the title chase on Saturday. He entered Saturday 71 points out of first place, but that gap widened after mechanical issues forced his car to the garage just before the race’s 50-lap mark.
Kyffin Simpson caused the race’s third caution, sustaining heavy rear-end damage as his car got into the fourth-turn wall, resulting in major damage.
Dixon and Marcus Ericsson, taking advantage of differing pit strategy through the first two cycles, led as the race went past its halfway mark, Ericsson’s fortunes would eventually fade as a result of apparent overheating issues.
That pit strategy mindset took another turn with 65 laps to go. After Newgarden brought out the caution after spinning while racing near the front, the race’s two leaders and Team Penske teammates took differing approaches. While McLaughlin pitted, Power opted not to, moving back into the lead.
Power pulled away at first on the restart, leading Malukas by more than a second before pitting with 41 laps to go, handing the lead back to McLaughlin.
2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Race Results
The next stop on the IndyCar schedule is Portland International Raceway, which will host the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland. Coverage will begin on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Network and Peacock.
About the author
Brad joined Frontstretch.com in 2020 and contributes to the site's 5 Points To Ponder column and other roles as needed. A graduate of the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has covered sports in some capacity for more than 20 years with coverage including local high school sports, college athletics and minor league hockey. Brad has received multiple awards for his work from the Georgia Press Association.
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