This was Newgarden’s third straight victory at this 1.25-mile oval.
Josef Newgarden won the rain-interrupted Bommarito Automotive Group 500 late Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. This moved him closer to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead. Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, drove to his series-leading fifth victory of the season in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet by 0.4708 of a second over rookie David Malukas, whose brilliant charge – as threatening as the lightning that rag-flagged show – after the race restarted in the No. 18 HMD Honda finished second – a career-best.
The Race distance is 260 laps, but the rain delay made it a 213-lap race in daylight, followed by a 47-lap all-out dash under the lights. When the race resumed at 9:05 p.m. local time, track conditions had changed significantly because of the rain-cleaned asphalt. There was better adhesion with lower temperatures after sundown. The race was a contest of strategies as well as drivers and teams.
This was Newgarden’s third straight victory at this 1.25-mile oval in the shadows of the Gateway Arch. This was also Newgarden’s 25th career series victory, tying him with Gordon Johncock for 16th place on the all-time list. Two-time series champion Newgarden is now just three points behind teammate and series leader Will Power in the race for the Astor Challenge Cup with just two races remaining. Power, the NTT P1 Award winner, led a race-high 128 laps but finished sixth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Pato O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, while two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato placed fifth for his best result this season in the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Honda. The championship race remains tight. Seven drivers are mathematically eligible to win the title, with just 58 points, a scant four more than the maximum awarded at one race, between leader Power from seventh-place Pato O’Ward.
“That’s INDYCAR. It’s never straight-forward,” said Will Power. “You expect that in the championship. It might come back to us in the next two in a different way. That’s how it is. We’ve got some good tracks coming up. Like I predicted, it will be a tough battle all the way to the end. I’ve been around a long time and know how these things go. The best thing about today is that we finished in the top-six, so that’s still pretty good.”
History was made on Friday afternoon as Power became the second driver in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history with 67 pole positions, tying Mario Andretti for the all-time lead. To date, 42 of Power’s 67 pole positions have been in a Team Penske car powered by the Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 engine. Power maintains the lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings with only two races remaining. Next is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday 4 Sept. at Portland International Raceway. The season ends with the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday 11 Sept. at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
IndyCar: Rain Soaked Bommarito 500 Goes to Chevy
This was Newgarden’s third straight victory at this 1.25-mile oval.
Josef Newgarden won the rain-interrupted Bommarito Automotive Group 500 late Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. This moved him closer to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead. Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, drove to his series-leading fifth victory of the season in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet by 0.4708 of a second over rookie David Malukas, whose brilliant charge – as threatening as the lightning that rag-flagged show – after the race restarted in the No. 18 HMD Honda finished second – a career-best.
The Race distance is 260 laps, but the rain delay made it a 213-lap race in daylight, followed by a 47-lap all-out dash under the lights. When the race resumed at 9:05 p.m. local time, track conditions had changed significantly because of the rain-cleaned asphalt. There was better adhesion with lower temperatures after sundown. The race was a contest of strategies as well as drivers and teams.
Pato O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, while two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato placed fifth for his best result this season in the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Honda. The championship race remains tight. Seven drivers are mathematically eligible to win the title, with just 58 points, a scant four more than the maximum awarded at one race, between leader Power from seventh-place Pato O’Ward.
“That’s INDYCAR. It’s never straight-forward,” said Will Power. “You expect that in the championship. It might come back to us in the next two in a different way. That’s how it is. We’ve got some good tracks coming up. Like I predicted, it will be a tough battle all the way to the end. I’ve been around a long time and know how these things go. The best thing about today is that we finished in the top-six, so that’s still pretty good.”
History was made on Friday afternoon as Power became the second driver in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history with 67 pole positions, tying Mario Andretti for the all-time lead. To date, 42 of Power’s 67 pole positions have been in a Team Penske car powered by the Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 engine. Power maintains the lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings with only two races remaining. Next is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday 4 Sept. at Portland International Raceway. The season ends with the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday 11 Sept. at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.