Thunderstorms significantly disrupted IndyCar's schedule from Gateway Motorsports Park on Saturday, but conditions did clear for IndyCar to hold a practice session and a high line practice session in the evening and into night. Despite the rain, it has not cancelled qualifying. IndyCar has altered the Sunday schedule to include a qualifying session at 11:00 a.m. ET with the race remaining scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. Five cars will be taking nine-spot grid penalties for this race due to using a fifth engine this season.
IndyCar's best oval driver was its fastest oval driver in the lone practice session, as Josef Newgarden topped the charts with a lap at 24.9944 seconds, an average speed of 180.040 mph. Newgarden is currently third in the championship, 105 points behind championship leader Álex Palou. Newgarden has won the last three Gateway races. Newgarden could become the first driver to win four consecutive races at one track since Al Unser, Jr. at Long Beach from 1988 to 1991. Newgarden’s most recent pole position was Belle Isle last year, 24 races ago.
Scott McLaughlin had a spin on the access road exiting pit lane during practice. The spin did not damage McLaughlin’s car but it did see Will Power hit the barrier and collect Marcus Ericsson. Both Power and Ericsson were medically cleared after the accident. Prior to the spin, McLaughlin was second quickest, only 0.0958 seconds slower than Newgarden. McLaughlin has eight consecutive top ten finishes, the longest streak of his IndyCar career. McLaughlin's previous longest streak was five consecutive top ten results. McLaughlin is one of five drivers taking a nine-spot grid penalty.
Takuma Sato was third in practice, 0.1163 seconds behind Newgarden, but Sato is the second of five drivers set to take a nine-spot grid penalty. Sato has six consecutive top ten finishes at Gateway. Sato's average finish at this track is 7.285, statistically his best track in IndyCar. His lone finish outside the top ten was 19th in 2019 when Sato was collected in an accident on a restart on the sixth lap of the race.
Prior to his accident, Will Power had the fourth fastest practice lap. Power was 0.1870 seconds behind his Team Penske teammate as the Penske drivers took three of the top four spots. Power swerved up the racetrack in turn two to avoid Scott McLaughlin's car, brushing the wall and then spinning into the path of Marcus Ericsson, with the two cars colliding. The latest Power's first victory in a season has come was the 15th race of the 2013 season when he won at Sonoma. Gateway is the 15th race of the 2023 season.
Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top five in practice, 0.2123 seconds slower than Newgarden. Rosenqvist has finished outside the top twenty in the last two races. Only once has Rosenqvist had finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive starts. That was in 2021 from the Indianapolis through Mid-Ohio. He missed the second Belle Isle race and Road America during that span after an accident in the first Belle Isle race.
Alexander Rossi followed his Arrow McLaren teammate Rosenqvist on the practice sheet in sixth. Rossi was only 0.293 seconds slower than the Swede. Rossi has not finished in the top five at an oval other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway since he was second at Texas in 2019, 21 oval races ago.
Colton Herta was just over a quarter second off Newgarden's best time, and Herta was placed in seventh. Herta has led 121 laps at Gateway. The only place where he has led more laps is Laguna Seca. The Californian has started in the top ten in three of four oval races this season. He has three top ten finishes, but his best result is seventh.
Conor Daly makes his first appearance for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing this weekend at Gateway, and Daly was fastest of the RLLR three cars in his first practice session for RLLR in eighth, 0.28 seconds off Newgarden. Daly had four top ten finishes and an average finish of 7.25 in his first four Gateway starts. Daly has finished 11th and 23rd in the last two Gateway races.
Marcus Ericsson was ninth in practice before his car needed repairs after the contact with Will Power. Ericsson was only eight-thousandths slower than Daly. Ericsson has never had a top five finish after the 11th race of the season. In three of the last four seasons, Ericsson has finished in the top five of the 11th race. In the 17 combined races that have occurred after the 11th race in those season, he has 12 top ten finishes, but his best finish is sixth.
Callum Ilott rounded out the top ten in practice. The Briton has yet to start better than 15th this season. His last top ten start was when Illot started second in last season’s Laguna Seca finale. His best career start on an oval was 17th at Texas earlier this season. He has finished better than his starting position in every oval race this season and in 11 of 14 total races.
Patricio O'Ward was the slowest McLaren entry, but was still 11th overall, 0.3791 seconds off the top. O'Ward has seven consecutive top ten finishes, the longest streak of his IndyCar career. Prior to this streak, O'Ward had finished the previous two races outside the top twenty. During this seven-race run, O'Ward has finished third in three races and eighth in three races with a tenth mixed in.
In 12th was David Malukas, a hair over four-tenths off first. Malukas has retired from six races this season, tie for the most among drivers that have started all 14 races. Malukas is tied with his Dale Coyne Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb. The only oval Malukas has failed to finish this season is Indianapolis.
Romain Grosjean has finished 14th and 13th in his first two Gateway starts, and Grosjean was 13th in practice. The Frenchman has started in the top ten in four of the last five races, but he has only one top ten finish during that span. He was sixth at Nashville.
Championship leader Álex Palou was 14th in practice, 0.4250 seconds behind Newgarden. Palou is still looking for his first career oval victory. Palou has finished in the top five in three of four oval races this season. Last season, his best oval finish was sixth. With an average finish of 14th in four Gateway starts, this is Palou's worst track based on average finish. (Update - 9:30 a.m. ET, Palou will take a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change).
Sting Ray Robb cracked the top fifteen in practice. Robb's best starting position this season was 21st at Long Beach. His average finish on an oval this season is 27.25. Robb's average finish in ten road/street course races this season is 21.2.
Down in 16th was Scott Dixon, but Dixon will be the third of five drivers taking a nine-spot grid penalty for this race. With his victory two weeks ago on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Dixon extended his record to six victories when starting outside the top ten. No other driver in IndyCar history has won more than four races when starting outside the top ten. Dixon has won consecutive races on five occasions in his IndyCar career. Three of those occasions were streaks of three consecutive victories.
Linus Lundqvist will make his IndyCar oval debut this weekend, and Lundqvist was 17th in practice. In four Indy Lights starts, Lundqvist had a runner-up finish, which came at Gateway, two fourth-place finishes and a ninth.
The final driver within a half-second of Newgarden's practice time was Devlin DeFrancesco in 18th. After finishing on the lead lap in six of seven races from Long Beach to Mid-Ohio, DeFrancesco has zero lead lap finishes in the last five races.
Nineteenth and the slowest Andretti Autosport car is not the greatest start to a weekend, but it gets worse for Kyle Kirkwood, as Kirkwood is the fourth driver with a nine-spot grid penalty. He has yet to have three consecutive top ten finishes. Kirkwood has finished first and ninth in the last two races. His only other time with consecutive top ten finishes was a sixth at Detroit and a ninth at Road America back in June.
Christian Lundgaard was 20th in practice. Lundgaard has finished in the top ten in the last five road/street course races. Lundgaard has one top ten finish in nine oval starts. Only twice has Lundgaard finished outside the top 20 in 32 IndyCar starts.
Hélio Castroneves ended up as the slowest of the two Meyer Shank Racing cars in practice, but Castroneves was only 0.0975 seconds slower than Lundqvist. Castroneves had top ten finishes in each of his first six Gateway starts prior to his 15th place finish last year.
Agustín Canapino followed Castroneves in 22nd, and Canapino is the fifth and final driver serving a nine-spot grid penalty. The Argentine is 28 points behind Marcus Armstrong for top rookie in the championship with Armstrong not contesting the Gateway round. Canapino's average finish through the first four oval races is 20th, which pays ten points.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was the fastest Ed Carpenter Racing entry in practice, but only 23rd out of a 28-car field. Hunter-Reay had three top ten finishes in his four most recent Gateway starts. His most recent top five finish on an oval was fifth in the 2019 Texas race.
Rinus VeeKay immediately followed his ECR teammate Hunter-Reay in 24th. VeeKay has started outside the top ten in eight consecutive races and he has started outside the top fifteen in seven races this season. The Dutchman has finished between 11th and 15th in seven of 14 races this season.
The two A.J. Foyt Racing entries were next to each other on the speed chart with Santino Ferrucci as the fastest of the two, but 0.8837 seconds off Newgarden in 25th. Ferrucci was fourth in his Gateway debut in 2019, and he finished tenth in the second race of the 2020 Gateway doubleheader.
Benjamin Pedersen was over a tenth slower than Ferrucci in 26th, and 1.1405 seconds from Newgarden's time. Pedersen's average finish on ovals this season is 22.5. Pedersen's average finish in ten road/street course races this season is 24th. He has finished outside the top twenty in the last three oval races.
Ed Carpenter ended up 1.3339 seconds slower than the fastest practice lap. Carpenter's most recent podium finish was his runner-up at Gateway in 2019. He has two top ten finishes in his 19 starts since that race.
Graham Rahal struggled with balance in his car during practice and Rahal was the slowest car, 1.4129 seconds off the top spot. Rahal's average finish on ovals this season is 23.5. That has dropped from 13.8 in 2022 Rahal's best finish in seven Gateway starts is tenth.
NBC's coverage of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 3:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:36 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 260 laps.
