1. What a strange race that was from Gateway Motorsports Park? But after weeks of consternation about IndyCar's return from Olympic break after a stretch of lackluster races in July, IndyCar had a race full of action, strategy, controversy, and Josef Newgarden pulled out a victory after a combination of all three.
For most of this race, Newgarden was the third of the three Team Penske cars, usually running in fourth as David Malukas had a strong race mixed in with the Penske trio, this was not an oval race Newgarden dominated. He more or less paced himself for the first two-thirds of this race. Once we got into the final third, Newgarden picked up his speed and starting pushing for more. It nearly cost him.
While battling Scott McLaughlin through lapped traffic, Newgarden walked up the racetrack in turn two and spun. In what was a flashback to last year when Newgarden threw the Gateway race away, it appeared he had repeated his same mistake. This time, Newgarden spun down the track, avoided the barrier and any other cars coming through and he was able to continue having only lost two spots.
That was the action. Here comes the strategy.
With the pits open under caution with 62 laps remaining, McLaughlin and Newgarden both stopped for what appeared to be their final times. Will Power and David Malukas stayed out. That 62 laps was on the cusp of making it, but with the caution laps it felt like it would be enough. Power and Malukas decided to run all-out before stopping about 20 laps after the restart. McLaughlin and Newgarden weren't even on the same page.
McLaughlin went at ten-tenths while Newgarden saved. McLaughlin kept up with the top two while Newgarden paced himself. McLaughlin's team was set for a splash-and-go late in the race. Newgarden's team was set to save, but as Power and Malukas came in, Newgarden picked up the pace to close in on McLaughlin. As the laps wound down, it looked like both would need a splash, but it was unclear if or when that would happen.
With 20 laps to go, Malukas spun after Power pinched him down in turn two, and that settled any debate over strategy. With McLaughlin and Newgarden as the only cars on the lead lap, they effectively had a free pit stop and could fall down to no worse than second. The pit crews would decide the running order to the finish and Newgarden's team got him out first.
Here comes the controversy.
Coming to the restart with nine laps to go, Newgarden approached the front straightaway slowly. As the green lights flashed, the field compressed behind him and it saw Power hit from behind from Alexander Rossi, while Jack Harvey and others spun. The finger pointing immediately went to Newgarden for not maintaining his pace approaching the restart.
After a red flag to clean up the mess, Newgarden fired off like a rocket on the subsequent restart. McLaughlin couldn't keep up. Newgarden took the victory with ease, but he had a season in a night in what has already been a chaotic year for the two-time champion.
It wasn't Newgarden's greatest race, and that has nothing to do with the late restart shenanigans. After a season where Newgarden has thrown many races away, and he nearly did the same tonight, it felt like Newgarden was playing it cool until it got late and then he would show his pace. Last year, he led 98 laps before the three-stop versus four-stop split cost him. Instead of leading an abundance of laps, Newgarden focused on leading the right laps and he put himself in the best position to be leading late and at the checkered flag.
Even with this strategy, Newgarden looked to have tossed away another result when he spun off of turn two. He was desperate to stay with McLaughlin as they were going through traffic. Newgarden could have waited until they exited turn two to make moves. He would have lost ground to McLaughlin, but it would have been the wiser choice. It didn't cost him, but he was still toeing that line.
As for the restart, it wasn't the worst we have ever seen. It was a subtle lift and not a hard start-stop that bunched the field. IndyCar has had these problems on restarts and the initial start for years. Pocono 2018 was a notable example. IndyCar has not done anything to clean it up and remove the gamesmanship. This isn't a new problem. IndyCar should have done something years ago. It hasn't. Will that change after tonight? Probably not, but we have another example and maybe it is time to do something different.
Was it the dirtiest move in the world from Newgarden? Not really, but it did take out a handful of cars that were having good nights. No love lost when that happens especially if the driver seen at fault ends up in victory lane.
2. This will feel like one that got away for Scott McLaughlin. He had the best car all race. The race came down to the final pit stop. McLaughlin's crew didn't quite have enough to beat Newgarden's crew. It is still a good result, but it feels like it should have been more.
The strategy was curious to pit with 62 laps to go and still plan on making one more pit stop. If that was the case, McLaughlin should have remained out and stopped with about 40 laps to go like Power and Malukas did. We will never know how this race would have played out without the Power/Malukas caution, but if you are planning on a splash-and-go, you likely should have stayed out and taken that final pit stop when you knew you were in the window.
This still ended up in a second-place finish for McLaughlin, but that was questionable strategy at best.
3. Linus Lundqvist was screwed and then caught a break to finish on the podium. Lundqvist was running a conservative strategy to stretch fuel and make his final pit stop as soon as the window opened. The problem was the pace was so great that those on this strategy were not going to cycle to the lead while the likes of the Penske cars and Malukas made an extra stop. Those saving lost time, and Lundqvist bailed while Scott Dixon remained committed to running almost two seconds off pace.
Lundqvist bailed and then had the cautions fall his way. He remained on the lead lap or at least within the wave around cars to remain in the conversation. In the closing laps, he was suddenly in a podium fight and overcame a block from Colton Herta to take third.
This has not been a great season for Lundqvist. I am not sure tonight was a brilliant night for him, but when faced with a strategy that clearly was not going to work, the team called an audible and Lundqvist ended up finishing much better than had they stuck to their guns. All credit to the #8 Honda crew.
4. Due to Herta's block, which wasn't all that successful as Lundqvist still passed Herta despite the move, Herta earned himself a penalty of losing one position, so instead of finishing fourth, Colton Herta will be fifth and Álex Palou will be promoted to fourth, the last driver anyone needed to see earn a promotion.
Palou is going to lock up the championship at Milwaukee. All he did tonight was avoid accidents. There were at least three incidents right near him that he missed. He snuck through the Power/Rossi restart contact. With Power out, Patricio O'Ward losing an engine early and Scott Dixon trapped off the lead lap due to his strategy, this was a night where Palou was not going to lose much. His greatest championship threat at the finish was Herta and Herta gifted Palou an additional two points attempting a block. Palou didn't need any more help and he got it anyway.
Palou doesn't have to try. He was set to finish seventh in this race and losing about nine or ten points, not a great night but one Palou could afford. Instead, he ended up gaining ground, and there might be four races remaining, but this one is effectively over and it will be over long before anyone arrives to Nashville.
5. Herta falls to fifth, but considering he started 25th, this was a great day. Herta had no issues driving into the top ten, but he didn't quite have the car to really take the fight to the front of the grid. I don't know if the car wasn't quite at its maximum potential after the qualifying accident.
It appeared to be the best car before Herta hit the barrier in qualifying. It was still a good car and a good day for Herta though he likely wishes this weekend ended better.
6. Felix Rosenqvist finally had a good day and finished sixth. Meyer Shank Racing looked strong this weekend. If Rosenqvist didn't have the grid penalty, he would have been starting on the front row instead of Malukas. I think Rosenqvist could have hung with the Penske cars had he started at the front. The Swede needed a good day. The pace has been there but the finishes have been lacked. That wasn't the case at Gateway.
7. The rest of the top ten was a mess but Nolan Siegel ended up getting his first career top ten finish in seventh. Siegel was on the same conservative strategy as Lundqvist and Dixon, but right when it looked like Siegel was in the thick of running with those guys, he sped entering the pit lane and had to serve a penalty. It shuffled him back, but Siegel was able to use the cautions to get back in position and he ended up pulling out a seventh-place finish.
This was Siegel's best race so far. He was running with some top tier names and holding his own. He sped on pit entry but he didn't look out of his depths on track. He has some work to do but this was still a good night.
8. There is not much to say about Marcus Armstrong's race other than every time you looked up he was running somewhere between seventh and 12th. It didn't matter what strategy he was on, whether he was saving fuel or running all-out. Armstrong was at the bottom of the top ten the entire race. You must acknowledge he was at least comfortable out there for his first visit to Gateway. There are not many faults you can find in this night.
9. Sting Ray Robb ended up ninth, which illustrates how crazy this race was but also should highlight that Robb didn't do anything wrong. He wasn't lighting the world on fire but he didn't botch a pit stop, didn't hit a barrier, didn't catch a caution at the wrong time, Robb kept his nose clean, didn't do anything risky, and he finished ninth. When everyone else is spinning or making mistakes, do the simple things right and you can get your first career top ten finish. Good for Robb!
10. Rinus VeeKay keeps his top ten streak alive with a tenth-place result. I don't think VeeKay did anything remarkable all race. We didn't hear much praise for how VeeKay was running, kind of like Robb. As we covered, keep your nose clean and run a simple race and a good result will come while others stumble around you.
11. It is hard to fault Scott Dixon for the strategy run. From 19th starting position, running long and saving fuel is the most likely path to success in this race. For the first half of the race, it was not clear which strategy would be successful. Then as the race entered the final third, it became clear Dixon's strategy was not going to work.
Only insult was added to injury when Dixon was caught out after the Newgarden spin because he had just made his pit stop and was caught two laps down instead of one. Then Power stayed out under that caution meaning Dixon could not get the wave around. That was essentially night over for him and he could only manage 11th, one lap down.
12. Santino Ferrucci was on the same strategy as Lundqvist, Dixon and Siegel, and Ferrucci was caught speeding on pit lane on the same lap as Siegel. Then Ferrucci was caught out like Dixon when Newgarden spun after having just made a pit stop. Ferrucci recovered to 12th, and that might have been as good as it was going to get considering how this race was turning. The conservative strategy was not going to be the winning strategy. Without the cautions, I think Ferrucci finishes at best 12th. It likely would have been worse.
13. Conor Daly was caught in what felt like a half-dozen incidents and he still finished 13th and only one lap down. This was a tough one because Daly was caught in an early incident with Juncos Hollinger Racing teammate Romain Grosjean and Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood. This trapped Grosjean and Daly off the lead lap for practically the entire race.
JHR showed good pace in practice and qualifying. It would have been nice to see if that could have translated over to the race. Considering Daly ended up 13th after all the crap he went through, that seems like a good probably he and JHR would have run at least a little better than 13th without all the speed bumps along the way.
The same can be said for Grosjean. He ended up 16th, but he was ahead of Daly for a good percentage of this race.
14. It is late and we are going to blow through many of these other teams. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had Pietro Fittipaldi in 14th, Christian Lundgaard in 15th and Graham Rahal lost an engine to place him 23rd. This is a RLLR oval special. No one running all the good, but the RLLR cars end up finishing around one another in the middle of the field.
Fittipaldi was ok. He needed a good race. Lundgaard was never competitive and benefitted from all the cars retiring ahead of him. Rahal looked good on the conservative strategy, but an engine failure is something out of his control and spoils what could have been promising but likely would have ended up as a 17th-place finish.
15. Ed Carpenter was 17th despite being caught in a lap eight incident with Katherine Legge. He had nothing to lose. Didn't really gain much either.
16. It might not have been entirely Alexander Rossi's fault, but when you run over the back of another car, some blame will fall on you, and Rossi needed to get a good finish. He was in the top five late and wound up 18th. This feels too common for him. He must see the checkered flag from that spot and he didn't.
As for Patricio O'Ward, he lost an engine after 42 laps. It was out of his control. It puts the championship out of reach. Bummer.
17. Will Power was livid after the Newgarden's penultimate restart. I get it. Power likely felt he was going to win this race after his final stop while McLaughlin and Newgarden were 50/50 on whether or not they could make or require a splash-and-go. I think McLaughlin had the best car but Power ran the best strategy in this race. To walk away with basically nothing, something that his 2024 season has been known for is painful.
18. Jack Harvey will get lost in the Power/Rossi restart accident but he was 13th and in position for his best finish of the season when he was spun in the background of that accident. That was tough to watch because this was likely Harvey's best race of the season. It wasn't going to be much better than 12th but he was holding his own in the middle of the field.
As mentioned early, Legge had an incident on lap eight with Ed Carpenter. Legge got a penalty for avoidable contact, which was moot because she was already out of the race. I don't know what she was doing flying into turn one like that so early in the race.
19. Who is left? David Malukas was done rotten. Malukas was pinched in turn two. Power came down on him and Malukas had nowhere to go. This should have been a top five finish for Malukas, maybe a podium but at least a top five.
It is curious that Power makes that move and there is no penalty. It wasn't the worst move in the world, but Malukas didn't change his line at all. It was getting late in the race and Power didn't want to lose any ground. As mad as Power is about Newgarden's restart, Power isn't entirely innocent after this race.
20. Kyle Kirkwood was caught exiting turn two and ran into Daly while also collecting Grosjean. It damaged Kirkwood's car but he could continue, spending most of the race about 30 laps down. Marcus Ericsson had an engine issue cost him while on the conservative strategy. If wasn't for Herta, this would have been a wasted opportunity for Andretti Global. The team was quickest at the test and was fast in practice. The team needed at least one good result today, but it really should have had three.
21. Kyffin Simpson spun in the middle of turns three and four and hit the way. That is it. That is what happened in Simpson's day.
22. We must be pleased with how this Gateway race turned out. Everyone expected the worst after Iowa and how the first four races with the hybrid system played out. There were 676 total passes in this race, 254 of those were for position. Entering this race, the most passes a Gateway race has had since 2017 was 520, and the most passes for position was 217.
Gateway has never been a track with constant action, constant passing, drivers able to use the entire racetrack. We saw two functional lines for this entire race. It wasn't cars running side-by-side for six consecutive laps, but a car could commit to the outside of turns one and two and make it work. Or we could see a car get a better corner exit off the bottom of turn two and use that to take advantage of a car feathering the throttle exiting on the outside.
Cars could make a run and dive to the inside of turn three. This is what we hoped Gateway could be and now that the surface has aged a bit, it allows for a more lively race.
It isn't identical, but we should be feeling a little bit better about Milwaukee in a few weeks.
23. This was longer than I expected. At least Sunday is a day off of sorts, but Portland will be here in about eight days.
