MADISON, Ill. — World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway reliably provides fans of the NTT IndyCar Series with thrilling racing and hair-raising action from the explosion of the parade lap on the backstretch all the way through the 260-lap Bommarito Automotive Group 500, and Sunday (June 7) night’s race was no different despite changes to the package.
Behind the winning effort of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and the strong runner-up drive by Marcus Ericsson, two drivers made their own unique mark during the race: the third and fourth-place finishers, Christian Rasmussen and Rinus VeeKay.
Rasmussen drove free of any worry about his future thanks to a newly inked deal with his team, Ed Carpenter Racing, for multiple seasons, and he instantly rewarded the team with a sensational drive, typical of what he usually delivers at the short ovals.
Starting deep in the field, Rasmussen immediately started to cut through the field despite an alteration to the racing package reducing both downforce and horsepower and quickly became a contender thanks to his pace and rain in the area that delayed the event and opened up many different strategies throughout the evening.
VeeKay also capitalized on both his pace and the underlying strategies, moving his No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet into contention for third while Newgarden and Ericsson checked out on the field.
A key moment that brought the two next to one another was the third caution of the day for rain, as both Scott Dixon and Alex Palou ran out of fuel on pit lane, sending the two up the order and near one another to fight it out for the last step of the podium.
Rasmussen also had a critical moment as he lost grip in turn three and drifted up the racetrack into the marbles but somehow managed to catch the car and keep it out of the wall, saving the Dane’s race.
“That was pretty big,” Rasmussen said. “I think I just got a little bit too close to the car in front, and I was wanting to add wing to the car the whole race, but I was very limited by the entries of turn 1 and turn 3, but still had a decent amount of understeer kind of like mid to exit on both ends. I wanted to keep adding wing, but I was so limited. When I was close to cars, that definitely upset the rear a little bit more.”
While Oval Prince Rasmussen did get to lead and fight with Oval King Newgarden for the lead, Newgarden’s dominant pace prevailed between those two, and Rasmussen fell back into a fight with VeeKay.
“He was faster than me,” Rasmussen said. “I tried to hold it as much as I could, but I just didn’t have that pace. I don’t think it had anything to do with me burning up my tires or anything else because once he got by, he took off. He was right on my ass.”
VeeKay was able to make a lunge for third on Rasmussen, but couldn’t prevail as the Dane claimed his second consecutive podium at Gateway.
For Rasmussen, it’s redemption after misfortune at Phoenix Raceway and the start to a turnaround in 2026.
“We’ve had a tough year,” Rasmussen said. “We Kind of had a win robbed from us back in Phoenix. So coming right back to an oval and starting up where we finished off was a good feeling. I think we had a third-place car today.”
VeeKay also matched his career-best result at the 1.25-mile oval.
“This team has a great oval car,” VeeKay told Frontstretch. “This was my goal, racing like this [in] the top five this weekend. I wanted that podium for sure. We’ve had really good runs on the ovals so far.
“Really happy that we showed that pace, and we had a race like this that where we were dominant at parts. We gave it all. We had good pit stops. We beat a lot of guys out there. Great job by the team. We’ll have to wait a little bit longer for that trophy.”
For VeeKay, he delivers a better result for JHR after last year’s stellar run by Conor Daly, improving from the Noblesville, Ind. native’s sixth-place effort.
Both drivers cashed out their best results for the 2026 season and will look to build momentum in a few weeks at Road America.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing
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