Musings From the Weekend: The Unanswerable Questions From F1 The Movie

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Álex Palou won again. IndyCar announced its regulations for its new chassis and engine, which are basically unchanged from the regulations announced in 2020, so we are getting what we were told about six or seven years late. Maybe that is enough time to attract some other manufacturers. Elsewhere, there was an endurance race that was not won on the road. There was another endurance race that went to the final lap. The power went out. There was some rain. It appeared to be hot no matter where in the world you stood. Fuel mileage was a common thread across a number of series. NASCAR could be heading to San Diego and Philadelphia. However..., "Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby and get ourselves a treat." 

The Unanswerable Questions From F1 The Movie

It is premiere week for one of the most anticipated motorsports movies in recent memory. 

For years we have heard about this ambitious project of a Formula One feature film with Apple Studios, and Lewis Hamilton as a producer. There were many skeptics, but after two years of filming, it is here and F1 The Movie is about to be released in the United States. 

This film comes during the boom Formula One has experienced over the last half-decade. Never has Formula One been more popular in the United States, and a feature film was the next step along with the docuseries, three grand prix, live flag-to-flag race coverage and even commercial appearances for a number of the teams. Formula One has never been more exposed and recognized. To top it all off, it has Brad Pitt in the leading role.

Many are still skeptical, this time over the quality of the film. You aren't going to please everyone, but motorsports fans are some of the hardest people to please. Because they are snooty and will not admit it. They also do not accept creative license. Plenty are writing this film off before even going to the box office. 

"Let's judge a book by its cover! It saves time!" 

Do as you please, but let's see how it goes. Will it push reality? Probably. It is a movie. Will it live up to what Formula One actually is? To some level it will, but again, movie! 

I am not that interested in how the film portrays Formula One. I don't really care how it does with the lingo or the presentation of races or we get the scene where a car is in second-place and then all it needed to pass was to shift into the next gear and we get that stereotypical car movie trope. That is coming and I can live with that. 

I am here to pick some knits. 

If you listen to The Rewatchables, every film has some loose threads. Some are glaring! Others you need to ponder. 

This film has a few knits before it has even hit the screen. We know it. To the average viewer with no knowledge or a passing knowledge of Formula One, they aren't thinking about it. To me, I am focus on those. 

Without further ado, let's get to picking.

How can a 60-ish-year-old driver make it to Formula One?

Pitt's main character is Sonny Hayes, a "New York City cab driver, professional gambler and nomadic racer-for-hire who was a Formula One driver in his youth" according to Wikipedia. In another character description, Hayes is said to have suffered a significant accident that took him out of the sport. 

That's nice. Let's cut to the chase, Brad Pitt is 61 years old. He was born in 1963. The last driver born in 1963 to compete in a Formula One weekend was Ukyo Katayama in the 1997 European Grand Prix from Jerez. Literally the day Jacques Villeneuve became world champion! Hell, Villeneuve is still only 54 years old!

How can a 60-ish-year-old person make it to Formula One? 

This isn't a late-30s-something driver who was a star junior driver, had a bad accident in his early 20s, was out of the sport and started rebuilding after years of recovery and now is getting his chance. He is 60-ish years old. 

The oldest driver to ever start a race was Louis Chiron in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix at 55 years and 292 days old. This film started filming when Pitt was 59 years old, but still, how does a driver who has been out of Formula One for almost 30 years, comeback at an age that is nearly four years older than the current record for oldest race starter?

There hasn't even been a driver over the age of 45 since Graham Hill ran the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Which brings us to our next point...

How does Sonny Hayes have a Super License if he was competing IMSA's GT Daytona class?

On regulations alone, I don't see how Hayes could have been allowed in a Formula One car. 

Let's just start with driver rankings that the FIA uses for sports cars. There are four categories, from highest to lowest, platinum, gold, silver and bronze. 

A platinum ranking includes those who are a "current or past Super License holder." But Hayes would have been downgraded a grade to gold when he turned 50 and he would have been downgraded again to silver when he turned 55. 

If it had been 30-ish years since he ran in Formula One, and he is now "a racer-for-hire" competing in the GT Daytona class at the 24 Hours of Daytona (as we know from the filming two years ago and from the shots in trailer), I don't think he could just show back up and get a ride. 

This guy got a Super License waiver and Colton Herta couldn't?!?!?!

Yeah! In what world would an at-best silver-rated, part-time driver competing in a pro-am class as the amateur get a Super License waiver to return directly into Formula One? And this would be an American driver by the way if you want to believe that kind of thing matters.

Herta couldn't get a waiver and was at least competitive in IndyCar. In no world would Hayes be allowed.

There was not other driver out there?

The team hiring Hayes, APX GP, couldn't find a more capable solution? I know the plot is Hayes is brought in to mentor APX's young talent, but there isn't another more suitable driver out there?

I know Hayes is friends with the APX team owner (team principal?) played by Javier Bardem. That is how he gets the ride, but in what world would Bardem's character throw Hayes a bone? This is like Christian Horner (who is ten years younger than Pitt) being fed up with the driver situation at Red Bull and after running through Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, Horner decides to bring in former British Formula Three teammate Warren Hughes in to be Max Verstappen's teammate, or Zak Brown needing a new driver at McLaren and calling up his former British Formula Three teammate Johnny Mowlem. 

Of all the drivers in the world, there are no other options to be the second driver in this team? 

Hayes could be a driver's coach. He doesn't have to be the other race driver. We see plenty of drivers work as coaches. 

How in the world can Sonny Hayes be competitive?

He is descried as a "racer-for-hire." 

I am not sure what that means. He is getting hired to race, but he was competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTD class and he is at best a silver-rated driver. Is he the equivalent of the old driver that other silver-rated drivers or bronze-rated drivers watched growing up and now that they are gentlemen drivers and are funding a seat they can hire whomever they want as their co-driver, and Hayes is the driver they grew up watching they can now pay him to round out their lineup? 

He isn't even competing in IMSA's top class. He is going from GT3 competition to Formula One. At least if he was in a GTP car it could be a little more plausible. If he was driving for Proton Competition or Action Express Racing, we could at least acknowledge it is possible. Kevin Magnussen went from GTP back to Formula One.  

We saw Jimmie Johnson jump into an IndyCar after almost 20 years in the NASCAR Cup Series and he couldn't finish above 16th on a road or street course. Hayes has been competing less than that in mostly GT competition and he is just going to get into a Formula One car and be competitive? 

I don't think so.

How bad is APX GP?

During one of the trailers, Hayes is out of the car and when celebrating finishing the race the character who is the team... something or another played by Kerry Condon comments he finished last. 

Some of that could be the driver, and Hayes being 30 years removed from racing Formula One and competing in a grand prix at 60 years old, but is APX GP bad? 

If the team was any good, it wouldn't be relying on Hayes. It would have a development program of some sort or a partnership and could have a Mercedes junior driver or Ferrari junior driver on call that could fill that opening. If APX GP needed a veteran driver for mentorship, Mercedes could have given them Stoffel Vandoorne at that time. There were better options out there. 

I don't think this is a competitive team. Now, it is a movie. APX GP will be competitive. It would be funny if they made this movie and the plot point is APX trying to get sixth in the constructors' champion and that extra $10 million. I think there is an audience that would appreciate that.

Who is Hayes Replacing?

If APX GP is relying on a 60-something who is basically done driving, who the hell was its second driver before Hayes? What is that guy doing afterward? Is he getting another shot in Formula One and Williams is thinking they got a steal or is this guy off to sports cars after realizing APX GP is simultaneously the mountaintop and rock-bottom of his Formula One career?

Who is paying for this?

Is APX GP that settled on sponsorship that it can hire this guy? 

Where is its funding coming from? This isn't an actual automobile manufacturer. It doesn't appear to be Red Bull where it is selling another product through Formula One. This is a pure private team. Is this is all Javier Bardem's character's team and he funds it to a points where he can hire whomever he wants or he has signed all the sponsors and they have trusted him to hire any driver without getting any say? He obviously gets the only say in who the drivers are. No boardroom would allow Hayes to be hired. 

I think if we are getting into how the fictional race team in a Formula One movie has its funding, that is a place to wrap it up. The runtime for this film is over two hours and 30 minutes in length. Maybe there is a five-minute or 15-minute scene going over the Super License waiver process with the FIA. There is going to be plenty of time for it.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Italian Grand Prix, his sixth victory of the season, and Márquez also won the sprint race. Manuel González won the Moto2 race, his fourth victory of the season. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his first career victory in his fifth career start. 

The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun won 6 Hours of the Glen. The #22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson of Paul di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and Dan Goldburg won in LMP2. The #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Max Hesse and Dan Harper won in GTD Pro. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Zacharie Robichon, Tom Gamble and Casper Stevenson won in GTD.

Chase Briscoe won the NASCAR Cup race from Pocono. Connor Zilisch won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. Layne Riggs won the Truck race.

Caio Collet won the Indy Lights race from Road America. Max Garcia (race one & two) and Max Taylor  (race three) split the USF Pro 2000 races. Thomas Schrage and Teddy Musella split the U.S. F2000 races.

The #98 Rowe Racing BMW of Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, Kelvin van der Linde and Raffaele Marciello won the Nürburgring 24 Hour.

Dan Ticktum won the Jakarta ePrix.

Broc Feeney swept the Supercars races from Hidden Valley Raceway.

Coming Up This Weekend

Formula One is in Austria. 

MotoGP runs the Dutch TT. 

NASCAR opens its in-season tournament in Atlanta.

IMSA has the 6 Hours of the Glen. 

The 24 Hours of Spa closes out a three-week run of 24-hour endurance races.

The Acropolis Rally will take place. 

First Impressions: Road America 2025

1. When Álex Palou made his final pit stop with 15 laps remaining in the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America, it felt like he would make it. Fifteen laps was right on the limit for a fuel stint, but it would be close. Palou was running second as Scott Dixon led, but with Dixon stopping 17 laps from the finish, he would be short. It allowed Palou to run in the draft until Dixon peeled off with two laps to go. Palou held a three-second lead over Felix Rosenqvist, and at no point over the final eight miles did Palou stumble. He had enough fuel, taking his sixth victory of the season, and he even had enough for a cool down lap.

If it isn't Dixon, it is Palou who is going to complete the unthinkable. Fifteen laps wasn't that crazy, but with the pace Palou was running, it felt he would be right on the edge. It doesn't appear that was the case. No concerns were expressed over Palou's radio in those closing laps. The needed might have been close, but it had belief it would get there. This wasn't Palou's greatest race, but then again, in a choppy Road America race, no one looked that dominate. It wasn't a matter of leading laps today. It was a matter of having the right strategy. 

Palou was able to remain in front as this race shuffled about. He didn't get caught in traffic, which cost some other drivers. When it came to the finish, Chip Ganassi Racing placed two of its cars in an advantageous position to win the race. If it wasn't going to be Dixon, it was going to be Palou, and sure enough it played out that way.

Entering this race, everyone tried to make appear the championship is still in play. It isn't. Mathematically, it is as Palou is up 93 points with eight races remaining. It will require someone, whether that be Kyle Kirkwood or Patricio O'Ward, to win four or five or six of the final eight races. Palou isn't going to make mistakes. If he has an off day, it will likely be the only one. Until others start thrashing the competition, Palou will remain in control. 

Six victories from nine races. I think we need to start considering the records Álex Palou will be chasing down in the second half of the season. 

2. It felt like this was going to fall in Felix Rosenqvist's favor. Rosenqvist made his final stop with 13 laps to go. He was set on fuel and he could fly. He did but he just wasn't running enough laps in the low-1:47 range to do it. Rosenqvist ran the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, 1:46.7814, no other driver ran a sub-1:47 lap in this race, but it was too little too late, as the Swede was 2.1725 seconds off Palou. 

Certainly, Rosenqvist had the right strategy. He did not stop under caution at lap 24. He ran the extra four laps before making his third stop, which put him firmly in the spot to make it on one more stop and allow him to run aggressively to the finish. The difference was Palou's pace. Palou had the pace, and the gap was enough that he could hold off Rosenqvist. 

I don't think Rosenqvist did anything wrong. He was running at the limit during the final stint and Palou just had the advantage of time. I don't know if anyone else could have run the race Palou did. Take Palou out, Rosenqvist wins today.

3. Santino Ferrucci had enough fuel to finish third and he ran out just after taking the checkered flag. This was another race where the cautions went in Ferrucci's favor. It wasn't until that caution at lap 24 did it look like Ferrucci was going to be in contention for a top ten finish let alone ending up on the podium. Ferrucci was more aggressive in that penultimate stint and made up spots before his final stop. It seemed like some drivers were already saving in that penultimate stint, and Ferrucci took advantage before saving when he needed to in the final laps. 

Four consecutive top five results for Ferrucci and the A.J. Foyt Racing team. This was the team's best finish ever at Road America. Things keep falling their way. 

4. Kyle Kirkwood was on the same strategy as Rosenqvist, but he got caught in traffic and shuffled back. Kirkwood was caught behind Will Power and Colton Herta before his final pit stop, which allowed Rosenqvist to open the gap and be the only one that could really challenge Palou. On the final stint, Kirkwood came out of the pit lane about seven seconds behind Ferrucci. Once he was in that dirty air, he couldn't get back ahead and Kirkwood finished fourth. 

If there was any negative from this day it was Kirkwood kept getting bogged down with cars. In the opening stint, he was better than Palou, but Kirkwood lost two spots when Power forced him wide in Canada Corner. When that happened, Palou slipped ahead of both. That was the story of Kirkwood's day. He probably could have been a little better. This isn't a bad day, but the last person Kirkwood needed to win today ended up winning.

5. I thought stopping at lap 24 was a stretch. At that point, it didn't look like anyone could make it one more stop. They stretched it, but it wasn't easy. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist and Kirkwood stayed out until laps 28 and 29 respectively and could run flat out. Marcus Armstrong also stayed out until lap 29, and it got him a top five finish. 

Armstrong was closing on Kirkwood in that final stint as his car was better in dirty air. I think too many teams played it safe today. It made sense to stop under that lap 24 caution, but it forced a lot of guys to slow down and the right call was to run extra laps and stop under green. 

Armstrong is not in the top five if he stops under that caution. Meyer Shank Racing made a great call today for both cars.

6. Kyffin Simpson also went 15 laps on his final stint, like his teammate Palou, and it ended up netting Simpson a sixth-place finish, his third top ten result of the season. Simpson had to stretch it, and he was able to make it work. Chip Ganassi Racing has better fuel mileage than probably everyone at this moment. It likely allowed Simpson to run more confidently than others. Everyone who stopped under that lap 24 caution made it on one more stop, but some cut it closer than others. Simpson didn't and he got a bit of a break to finish sixth.

7. Speaking of breaks, David Malukas lost it on his own heading into turn three of the opening lap. Beached, Malukas needed a tow out. He didn't lose a lap, but he lost a top ten position after he had started seventh. If it wasn't for all the cautions, Malukas might not finish in the top 20. He got a break and actually ran a short-stint to make this a four-stop race. It was actually a five-stopper because he stopped after he was pulled from the gravel. 

With nothing to lose, Malukas could run the aggressive strategy and it got him a top ten finish when he really didn't deserve one today. 

This was another race where Malukas tripped over himself. He was seventh, but he didn't run well after that opening lap incident. This kind of masks his problems. 

8. Nolan Siegel was eighth. I don't know how he was eighth, but he was. Siegel made pit stops at lap 12, 24, 26, 32 and 45. He and Malukas each stopped on lap 32 to split the end of the race in half and run harder. That likely helped, but this result was more down to the cautions than anything Siegel really did.

9. Starting 25th meant Scott Dixon had to do things differently. Dixon stopped under the opening caution for Malukas being beached, and he went long on that second stint, going to lap 22. It is Scott Dixon and when it comes to fuel mileage, it will play out in his favor more times than not. With how this race played out, he had to make a pit stop with 17 laps to go. Even Dixon wasn't going to make that work, but with a splash-and-go with two laps remaining, he still finished ninth.

I am not sure how else Dixon would have finished ninth today without this strategy. At best, you are picking up three spots per stint. If this was a clear race with three stops all about 14-15 laps apart, Dixon might finish 12th or 13th, but that isn't a top ten. 

Dixon's group played a strategy for the best of the #9 Honda team and also for Chip Ganassi Racing as a whole. Without Dixon, I am not sure Palou make his strategy work. Ferrucci and others stretched it 16 laps, but Palou likely benefitted from the draft. Without it, there is a chance Palou has to run a slower pace and Rosenqvist is able to chase Palou down. It is not a victory for Dixon, but this is a case where he played a big role in another Ganassi triumph.

10. Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top ten, and that was despite at drive-through penalty. VeeKay did 16 laps in the final stint. I don't think he did anything spectacular. Nothing stood out about his performance, and frankly everyone that finished outside the top ten was a bit of a mess. It felt like every two laps, someone dropped four spots because of an on-track battle during that final stint. Those guys were all over the place saving fuel but also battling on track. 

11. Louis Foster started on pole position but he did not have a car set up to lead from the start. Scott McLaughlin took the lead immediately and Foster kept losing spots. On the second stint, Foster took on the primary tire and it sent him backward again. His day leveled off just outside the top ten. 

I wish we got a cleaner race and it was not a mess on pit strategy because I think that would have given us a better clue on where Foster was on pace. This race is a little flattering, but he likely finishes ahead of Simpson, Malukas, Siegel, VeeKay and probably even Ferrucci if there aren't all the cautions. It might have been better than 11th or it could have been 11th but with a few different drivers ahead of him.

12. The best Team Penske finisher was Scott McLaughlin in 12th, as this was another terrible day for IndyCar's most successful team. 

McLaughlin was saving fuel heavily in the final stint, and it cost him a top ten finish, but he didn't have the cleanest day. At one point, he dropped his tires off the track heading down to turn five. It was a needless error that cost him time. 

That was the story of Team Penske's day. Self-inflicted errors.

Will Power was all over the place and eventually spun on his own. Power still recovered to finish 14th as he didn't hit anything spinning on exit of Canada Corner. 

Josef Newgarden hit the barrier after spinning on exit of turn 14. This was going to be at top ten day for Newgarden and he couldn't get out of his own way. It might have been a top five result if things fell right. 

The pace is there, but all three of these drivers are lost at the moment. It doesn't help that there is a mess behind the scenes. Roger Penske needs to get his house in order.

13. Alexander Rossi was in the same boat as Scott Dixon. Rossi had to stop a few laps earlier for his splash of fuel. All he could get out of it was 13th. This wasn't a great weekend for Rossi and Ed Carpenter Racing. They struggled for speed all weekend. I think they will see 13th as a kind result.

14. There is one guy that should be the most disappointed after today's race because he probably should have won or at least been the one breathing down Álex Palou's neck. 

It is Christian Lundgaard. Lundgaard was leading Rosenqvist and Kirkwood on their strategy. Lundgaard had a gap over both of them and he was positioned to be leading those guys as we entered the final stint. But Lundgaard spun when he went wide in Canada Corner attempting to pass Colton Herta, and Lundgaard lost it over the bumps. 

That was race over for Lundgaard. He went from likely leading the charge in the final stint to last car on the lead lap in 24th at the checkered flag.

This was a massive miss for Lundgaard. He was about two seconds up the road from Rosenqvist when he spun. Give him those two seconds and all that clear track Rosenqvist saw in the final laps, I think Lundgaard is in prime position in a late battle with Palou. If Lundgaard was within two seconds of Palou with say eight laps to go, I don't think Palou would have been able to hold Lundgaard off. 

This was a big miss for Lundgaard on a day when he really could have won over his team. The second quarter of the season hasn't been as great as the first for the Dane, but he could have used this race as a tone-setter for the final half of the season that is about to begin. It certainly set a different tone. 

15. Callum Ilott was 15th and that is fine. It could have been better. It could have been worse.

Colton Herta and Patricio O'Ward could not get away from one another in that final stint, and they both lost out finishing 16th and 17th respectively. Both those guys were closer to McLaughlin and around Power, and they both fell backward. In a clearer race, I think both guys are finishing the top ten.

Christian Rasmussen did nothing brilliant and was 18th. Same for Devlin DeFrancesco in 19th. Graham Rahal started well, but at one point Rahal was shuffled off course and that ruined his race. Rahal was better than 20th today. 

Marcus Ericsson is a mess and was 21st. Conor Daly continues to be a mess and was 22nd. Jacob Abel got a lead lap finish in 23rd, so that is a slight improve. 

Sting Ray Robb lost it under braking, but Robb does come off as someone who never makes a mistake. That looks like Robb was a little too aggressive and it put himself into the barrier.

We never got to see what happened to Robert Shwartzman that caused him to end up in the barriers early. That is a rough way to follow up your first career top ten finish.

16. This was a messy race, and it allowed the cars to be close and competitive. It also allowed the variety of pit strategy we saw, but this wasn't a great representation of how everyone raced today and their true pace. 

I wish there was a way we could get cars out of the gravel quicker, especially on lap one. We know turns three and five are going to be trouble areas. Is there a way to have a proactive extraction set up so the car can be pulled out in 20 seconds or 30 seconds? The lap times around Road America is over a minute and 45 seconds. Corner workers could have a minute to get a car out, and I am sure they could do it. I would rather see that over immediately having a caution on the first lap of the race. 

Unfortunately, we know IndyCar isn't exploring how to keep races green and get cars out of the gravel in a quicker fashion. 

17. IndyCar gets another week off. I know there was a week off between Detroit and Gateway, but it didn't really feel like we had a break. This one better feel like a break because after next week, IndyCar will have four consecutive race weekends and five races in that time. When that stretch is over, only three races will remain. The season will be over shortly. Enjoy this time before Mid-Ohio.

Morning Warm-Up: Road America 2025

In his ninth IndyCar weekend, Louis Foster scored his first career pole position with a lap at 104.5141 seconds around Road America, and Foster will lead the field to the green flag for the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America. This is Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's first pole position since Graham Rahal started first for Portland in 2023. This is the second consecutive year we have a first-time pole-sitter at Road America. Last year, Linus Lundqvist scored his first career pole position driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Foster's best start prior to this weekend was third for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Accidents at Detroit and Gateway means Foster has failed to finish the last two races. He had finished the previous five events. Foster is still looking for his first career top ten finish. He was 11th at the IMS road course. Eight drivers have had their first career victory come at Road America, most recently Felix Rosenqvist in 2020.

Álex Palou will start second after qualifying 0.1159 seconds off Foster's pole position time. This is the third time Palou has started on the front row this season. He has won each of the previous two times. His worst starting position this season is ninth. This is actually the first time Palou has started on the front row at Road America. He had started third-place three times in his first six starts here. Palou will be making his 90th start this weekend. He has 49 career top five finishes. He would become the sixth-fastest driver to 50 top five finishes should Palou end up in the top five this weekend.

Kyle Kirkwood makes it a sweep of the top three for Honda in qualifying as Kirkwood was 0.3382 seconds slower than Foster. Third is Kirkwood's best starting position at Road America. This will be Kirkwood's 60th career start. He won from third starting spot at Detroit earlier this month. Kirkwood could become the first driver to win three consecutive races with each coming on an oval, road course and street course since Cristiano da Matta won at Portland, Chicago Motor Speedway and Toronto in 2002.

Scott McLaughlin is the top Chevrolet starter in fourth. McLaughlin was 0.4996 seconds off pole position. McLaughlin will be looking to avoid four consecutive results outside the top ten for the first time since his rookie year when he had a seven-race run without a top ten finish. The last time he started fourth, he finished fourth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. The fourth starting position has not produced a winner at Road America since Christian Fittipaldi in 1999.

Christian Lundgaard has his best starting position ever at Road America in fifth. The Arrow McLaren driver fell 0.5687 seconds from the top spot. Will Power won last year at Road America from fifth starting position. Since returning to the circuit in 2016, the fifth starting position has produced three winners, more than any other starting position. The last time the same starting position produced consecutive winners in consecutive years at Road America was in 1996 and 1997 when Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi each respectively won from third.

Graham Rahal rounds out the top six. This is Rahal's best starting position at Road America since the second race of the 2020 doubleheader. In the previous four years, he had not started better than 14th here. Rahal has eight top ten finishes in his 11 Road America starts, but he hasn't finished better than eighth in his last five races at the circuit. Rahal has made 132 starts since his most recent victory at Belle Isle in 2017. He led 49 of 85 laps in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis last month before fading to finish sixth. 

David Malukas was 0.0401 seconds from making the final round of qualifying, and he takes seventh on the grid. A.J. Foyt Racing enters with a top five finish in three consecutive races. The team has never finished better than eighth at Road America. Mike Groff was eighth at Road America in 1991. Malukas' best finish on a permanent road course this season was 16th at Barber Motorsports Park with an average finish of 19th over the three road course events this year.

Will Power joins Malukas on row four after falling 0.0715 seconds shy of advancing from round two. Power was in last-place last week at Gateway. He became the 21st driver in IndyCar history with at least ten last-place finishes in a career. The most recent driver to finish last in a race and then when the following event was Will Power, who was last at Gateway in 2019 and followed it with a victory at Portland.

Callum Ilott scored his best starting position of the season and scored Prema its first appearance in the second round of qualifying on a road course as Ilott ended up ninth. His previous best starting position this season was 16th. Ilott has finished 11th and 18th in his first two trips to Road America. Ilott has yet to be classified inside the top fifteen this season. 

Josef Newgarden rounds out the top ten. This is only the third time in 11 Road America starts Newgarden is starting outside the top six. Newgarden has finished on the podium in three consecutive Road America races, and he has six podium finishes in ten starts at this circuit. Each of his two victories though came from a front row starting position. Nine times has Newgarden won from outside a top five starting position, but he has never won from tenth starting position. 

Patricio O'Ward is starting 11th for the second consecutive year at Road America. O'Ward was second last week at Gateway, his 16th career runner-up finish. The only time he has won the race following a runner-up result was the second race of the 2022 Iowa doubleheader. O'Ward has finished better than or equal to his starting position in five consecutive races. He went from 11th to eighth last year in this race.

Felix Rosenqvist takes the outside of row six. This is Rosenqvist's best start at Road America since 2022 when he stared seventh. In the prior two years, the Swede did not roll off from better than 16th on the grid. Only once has Rosenqvist finished in the top ten in the ninth race of the season. That was in 2020 when he was seventh in the second Gateway race.

Nolan Siegel was a little over a tenth of a second from making it to the second round qualifying, and this leaves the Arrow McLaren driver in 13th. This is Siegel's best starting position since he started sixth at Barber Motorsports Park. He had started 18th or worse in the last four races. Siegel ended up finishing 13th in both races from Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, and he has finished 19th in the first two races of June.

Marcus Ericsson fell 0.0555 seconds shy of making it out of the second group in round one of qualifying, and this places Ericsson 14th on the grid. He had started 12th and 13th in the previous two races. Ericsson has six consecutive top ten finishes at Road America, and his worst finish here was 13th in his rookie season. The Swede has finished 13th in the last two races. 

Marcus Armstrong matches his worst starting position on a road or street course this season in 15th. Armstrong was was a little more than a quarter of a second from advancing. This is only the scend time this season he did not make it out of the first round of qualifying. Armstrong is aiming for his third consecutive top ten finishes. The only other time he has had three consecutive top ten finishes was last year over Toronto, Gateway and Portland. 

Colton Herta has his worst starting position ever at Road America, Herta was 0.0806 seconds off advancing out of the first round of qualifying. This places Herta in 16th. He had made it out of the first round of qualifying every year he has competed at Road America. Herta has finished in the top five of the ninth race of the season in five consecutive seasons. This includes a pair of fifth-place results at Road America in 2022 and 2023.

Robert Shwartzman takes 17th on the grid, his best starting position on a road or street course this season. His previous best was when he qualified 18th at St. Petersburg to open the season. His avearge starting position on road and street courses prior to this weekend was 23.667. Shwartzman is coming off his first career top ten finish at Gateway. His previous best result was 18th. 

Santino Ferrucci finds himself starting 18th, a position better than where he started last year in this race. Ferrucci has finished in the top five in three consecutive aces and he has started 15th or worse in all three of those races. In eight of his ten career top ten finishes, Ferrucci has started outside the top ten and five of those have been starting positions outside the top fifteen. 

On the inside of row ten will be Devlin DeFrancesco. DeFrancesco has failed to finish the last two races. He has never failed to finish three consecutive starts. He has only finished better than his starting position in two races this year. He went from 26th to 20th at Thermal Club, and he went from 16th to 11th in the Indianapolis 500.

Christian Rasmussen is starting 20th in car #21. Last week, Rasmussen was on the podium for the first time in his IndyCar career as he was third at Gateway after starting 25th. His first career podium finish came in one fewer start than Bobby Unser, and in eight fewer starts than Arie Luyendyk and Josef Newgarden.

Conor Daly will match his worst starting position for a Road America race in 21st. The most positions Daly has ever gained from a starting position at this track is six, going from 21st to 15th in 2017. Last year, Juncos Hollinger Racing scored its best finish at Road America when Romain Grosjean finished seventh. 

Rinus VeeKay joins his old Ed Carpenter Racing teammate Daly on row 11. Through eight races, VeeKay has four top ten finishes. The most recent Dale Coyne Racing driver to have at least five top ten finishes through the first nine races was Justin Wilson in 2013, who had six top ten finishes in the first nine races. VeeKay has never finished in the top ten in five Road America starts. His best result was 12th in 2023. 

Kyffin Simpson takes 23rd on the grid. After starting the first seven races inside the top twenty, this is Simpson's second consecutive start outside the top twenty. He started 26th last week at Gateway. After finishing on the lead lap in the first three races, Simpson has one lead lap finish in the last five events. That was when he finished fifth at Detroit.

Alexander Rossi has his worst starting position of the season and his worst starting position ever at Road America in 24th. His previous worst grid position here was 16th in 2016. Rossi had started in the top 12 in eight consecutive Road America races. Rossi's best finish through eight races is eighth. Only one other time has Rossi gone nine races without a top five finish to start a season. That was in 2021.

Scott Dixon was penalized for interference in the first qualifying group in round one when he impeded Devlin DeFrancesco. Dixon lost his fastest two laps as punishment and he will take 25th on the grid. This is his seventh time starting outside the top ten this year, and he previously started on row 13 at Barber Motorsports Park when he started 26th. Dixon has not started in the top five at Road America since 2017, when he won the race. 

Sting Ray Robb will start on Dixon's outside in 26th. Last year, Robb started 26th and finished 17th at Road America. He went from 26th to 15th at Detroit earlier this month. Since finishing ninth at Long Beach, Robb's average finish is 20.2. He has finished in the top twenty of the last two races. The last time Robb had three consecutive top twenty results was a four-race run last season that started at Road America and went through the first Iowa race.

Jacob Abel takes last on the grid for the second consecutive race. Abel was in the top five in all three of his Indy Lights starts at Road America. He was second in 2023 and third last year with fastest lap.Jacob Abel. Abel was in the top five in all three of his Indy Lights starts at Road America. He was second in 2023 and third last year with fastest lap.

Fox's coverage of the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:47 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 55 laps.

Track Walk: Road America 2025

The ninth round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season sees the return of the first natural-terrain road course in just over two months with the series moving north to Road America. This is the halfway point of the season. Eight races have been completed, and when we are through with the 55 laps on Sunday, eight races will remain. Through eight races, 25 drivers have finished in the top ten, 15 drivers have finished in the top five, 12 drivers have stood on the podium, but only two drivers have won a race, the fewest through eight races since 1980. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday June 22 with green flag scheduled for 1:47 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 4:30 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 11:00 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 2:30 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 10:02 a.m. ET (25 minutes)
Race: 1:47 p.m. ET (55 laps)

FS2 will have coverage of Friday practice session while FS1 will have coverage of Saturday's sessions and the Sunday morning warm-up. Fox will have race coverage.

The Fight at the Top

Only two winners through eight races means the top of the IndyCar championship is separating from the rest of the field. Álex Palou's start of five victories and a second in the first six races of the season has put him firmly ahead of the field, but a pair of drivers are trying to remain close. Surprisingly the closest to Palou is a driver who has yet to win.

Though winless, Patricio O’Ward is 73 points behind Palou through eight races. This is thanks in part to four podium finishes this season. O'Ward is the only driver with multiple runner-up finishes, and Gateway was his third time finishing runner-up this year. This is the third consecutive season he has finished runner-up in at least three races. Like 2023, he has three runner-up finishes within the first eight races and has yet to win this season. 

Beyond second, O'Ward's worst finish this season is 13th. He has five consecutive top ten finishes and he has led laps in three consecutive races. 

This start to the season has O'Ward two points ahead of the only other driver to win a race this year. Kyle Kirkwood has three victories, but he is 75 points behind Palou in the championship. The disqualification from the Indianapolis 500 has been a substantial blow to his championship hopes. Kirkwood went from scoring 29 points in the Indianapolis 500 to five points after his penalty and being placed in 32nd.

When it comes to results on the road, Kirkwood hasn't finished worse than 11th this season. Last year, he opened the season having finished no worse than 11th in the first ten races. Kirkwood will head to Road America off the back of consecutive victories, one on the streets of Detroit and the other on the 1.25-mile Gateway Motorsports Park. Gateway was Kirkwood's first oval victory, and he has yet to win on a permanent road course in his IndyCar career.

Road America is a circuit that has been good to Palou, hit-or-miss for O'Ward, and unnoticeable but improving for Kirkwood. 

Palou has won twice in six Road America starts. Outside of the 2022 race where contact with then-Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson sent Palou into the turn five gravel and ended his race with a damaged car, Palou has finished in the top seven in every Road America start. He has four top five finishes at the circuit. 

He might have two wins, but Palou has been rather fortunate in those races as over his six starts at the track he has led only 18 laps. In 2021, Palou took the lead on the final restart with two laps to go when Josef Newgarden suffered gearbox issues. In 2023, Palou took the lead in the final pit cycle, leaping ahead of Colton Herta and he led the final seven laps.

O'Ward's first career pole position came at Road America for the second race of the 2020 doubleheader. The first career victory slipped through his fingers as the alternate tire compound wore down and saw Felix Rosenqvist take the lead with two laps remaining as O'Ward settled for second after leading 43 of 55 laps.

In seven starts, O'Ward has two podium finishes, but in three other races he has finished eighth or ninth. In the other two races, he was 17th in 2019, a lap down driving for Carlin, and he lost an engine with nine laps remaining in the 2022 race and was placed in 26th. 

Kirkwood's results have improved over three years at Road America. He was 20th in 2022 after starting 24th driving for A.J. Foyt Racing. In his first year with Andretti Global, Kirkwood qualified sixth but dropped to ninth at the finish. Last year, he started fourth and led three laps before finishing fifth. 

This is the first season in which only two drivers have combined to win the first eight races since the 1980 CART season when Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser combined to win the first nine races. Rutherford won five times and Unser won four times. 

Kirkwood is attempting to become the first Andretti Global driver to win three consecutive races since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012. A third Road America victory for Palou would tie him for the most all-time at the circuit with Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Andretti.

Who is Knocking on the Door for a First Victory This Season?

Patricio O'Ward might be leading the charge to become the third winner of the 2025 IndyCar season, but there are plenty of worthy candidates who could get on the board this weekend.

Over the first four races of the season, Christian Lundgaard was the closest driver to Palou. An eighth and three consecutive podium finishes had Lundgaard the closest to the Catalan and Lundgaard looked primed to get his first victory withe Arrow McLaren organization. In the four races since, Lundgaard has finished outside the top ten twice and his best finish is seventh. 

This dip in form has dropped Lundgaard to fourth in the championship and 114 points behind Palou's championship lead. In three starts at Road America, the Dane has finished tenth, seventh and 11th. He has started 13th, seventh and 13th in those races. Lundgaard hasn't led a lap since Long Beach.

A well-timed caution got Scott Dixon off the snide at Gateway. A night that looked to be destined to be a third consecutive finish outside the top ten, Dixon's longest slump since 2014, was flipped when Dixon was able to stretch his fuel and be the last car to make its penultimate pit stop. Dixon had a lap on the field and he all of a sudden was in control.

The race did not play out in Dixon's favor, but he still finished fourth, much better than where his night was heading prior to the caution. It was his third top five finish of the season. This is the third time in four seasons Dixon has not won one of the first eight races in a season. Since Road America returned to the schedule, Dixon has two victories, six top ten finishes and seven top ten results. He hasn't led a lap in the last three Road America races.

Felix Rosenqvist had opened the IndyCar season rather strong for the second consecutive year. Rosenqvist had three top five finishes in the first six races. He was fourth at the Indianapolis 500. His worst finish was 13th. In the last two races, the Swede has finished 21st and 16th. Ironically, he has led laps in the lap in the last two races after not leading a lap in the first six events. 

Road America is the site of Rosenqvist's only IndyCar victory, but it has been nearly five years and 83 starts since that triumphant day. Outside of that race, Road America has not been one of Rosenqvist's better tracks. His next best finish is sixth, and he has finished outside the top ten three times, including in the last two races. 

This season has been hit or miss for Colton Herta. Four top ten finishes and four finishes outside the top ten has Herta ninth in the championship on 170 points, 165 points from Palou's championship lead and Herta is the second-best Andretti Global driver. Herta was third at Detroit, but he has finished outside the top ten in three of the last four two of which has been results outside the top fifteen.

Herta has not won yet at Road America, but his worst finish at the circuit is eighth in seven starts. He has five top five finishes. Herta has started on the front row five times at Road America as well. He has led a combined 42 laps over the last two visits to Elkhart Lake.

Only once since 2016 has a Road America winner not been from Team Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing. The driver responsible for that victory was Alexander Rossi, who won the 2019 race with Andretti Autosport. Rossi is now on his second team since that Road America victory. In his 95 starts since that Road America victory, Rossi has won only once. He will entered this weekend on a 45-race winless streak. 

Along with his victory, Rossi has two other podium finishes at Road America. He started on pole position in 2022 and finished third after leading 16 laps. He has started in the top 11 in eight consecutive Road America races. The biggest hurdle in Rossi's way will be his new team. Ed Carpenter Racing has not had a top ten finisher in seven consecutive Road America races, and the team's best finish at the circuit is eighth.

Who is Knocking on the Door for a First Victory Ever?

In the last three races, we have been on the door step of a first-time winner. At the Indianapolis 500, David Malukas was running in the top five and finished third on the road, ultimately promoted to second after Marcus Ericsson was disqualified. At Detroit, Malukas' teammate Santino Ferrucci made his final pit stop on the right side of a caution and was vaulted into the lead. Ferrucci went on to finish second. Last week at Gateway, a number of drivers were positioned to get a first career victory. Malukas ended up leading the most laps. 

The next first-time winner will be the 300th winner in IndyCar history, and Road America is a place known for first-time winners. Eight drivers saw their first victory come on the famed Wisconsin circuit.

The top driver in the championship without an IndyCar victory is Marcus Armstrong. The Meyer Shank Racing driver is tenth on 153 points. Armstrong has finished in the top ten in the last two races, and he has three top ten finishes in the last four races. This weekend will be the 38th start of Armstrong's career this weekend. His only podium finish was third at Detroit last year. Road America has not been a kind track for  the New Zealander. He was a lap down in 24th in 2023, and last year he started third but spun his Ganassi teammate Linus Lundqvist, who had started on pole position, on the opening lap. This led to a penalty, but Armstrong would retire due to mechanical issues after 35 laps.

Santino Ferrucci returns to Road America on a tear. Gateway was Ferrucci's third consecutive top five finish, a first for him in his IndyCar career and the first for an A.J. Foyt Racing driver Eliseo Salazar in 2002. No Foyt driver has had four consecutive top five finishes since Salazar had a four-race stretch starting in the 2001 season finale and covering the first three races of 2001. Ferrucci was sixth in both Road America races in 2020, but he has finished 15th or worse in his other three starts.

David Malukas led 67 laps at Gateway but brushing the wall proved to be costly and it dropped him to a 12th-place finish. Though Malukas is 12th in the championship on 147 points, two points behind his Foyt teammate Ferrucci, Malukas' only top ten finish was second in the Indianapolis 500. On permanent road courses this season, he has finished 18th, 16th and 23rd. He was 16th at Road America as a rookie in 2022 and 27th after having an engine failure in 2023. 

Christian Rasmussen was third at Gateway, his first career podium finish in IndyCar, but it wasn't after a helter skelter night. Rasmussen exited pit lane on first after his first pit stop. The team was unable to get the car full of fuel on that stop and he was forced to stop early on the second stint. The caution for the Louis Foster/Josef Newgarden accident appeared to come at the right time and allow Rasmussen to get back on cycle, but he had to make an emergency stop for a splash for fuel and was forced to restart at the rear of the field. Despite all this, Rasmussen ended up scoring Ed Carpenter Racing its first poiudm finish in 54 races.

Conor Daly also spent a fair portion of the Gateway race at the front. Daly was the big mover early in the race driving into the top ten. He ended up leading 36 laps, and it was the second time in three races Daly has led. However, Daly lost significant time on pit stops and it shuffled him out of the battle for victory. He was sixth at Gateway, but while he has two top ten finishes in two oval races, his average finish elsewhere is 18.1667. In four Road America starts, he has an average finish of 18.25 with his best finish being 14th in his most recent visit in 2022. 

Eight drivers have scored their first career victory at Road America, but it is a bit of be careful of what you ask for. For half of those drivers, it is their only IndyCar victory. 

Team Penske's Woeful Weekend

For all the excitement over the mix of drivers at the front at Gateway, one team had a disastrous weekend, and if any one of these nights had gone differently, perhaps we would not be celebrating a wide-open race. 

All three Team Penske cars failed to finish the Gateway race. All three fell out of the race while in a contending position. Will Power lost a tire while running second. Josef Newgarden was caught in the path of a spinning Louis Foster while leading. Scott McLaughlin was knocked around while in the top five and eventually retired due to mechanical issues. 

With finishing positions of 24th, 25th and 27th, this is the first time Team Penske has had multiple cars finish outside the top twenty on the road since the 1998 CART season finale at Fontana where Al Unser, Jr. was 27th and André Ribeiro was 28th. Ribeiro was out after completing six laps due to an accident. Unser, Jr. retired due to an oil leak on lap 34.

Team Penske is winless through eight races for the first time since 2021. Penske won the ninth race that season. Penske hasn't had a car finish in the top two yet this season, the first time it hasn't had a top two finisher within the first eight races since 1999. The team is on a three-race podium slump, the team's first since 2023, and it has not had a four-race podium drought since 2013 when it had a five-race run without a driver on the rostrum from Long Beach through the Belle Isle doubleheader. All three of its drivers are ranked seventh or worse in the championship. None of its drivers have more than one podium finish this year.

Will Power is seventh in the championship. Power does have four top five finishes in the last six races, but he was 16th at the Indianapolis 500 and his tire failure at Gateway put him in last place. He did get his first pole position in nearly two years last week. Power is the defending Road America race winner, and that victory ended a two-year winless streak. However, no driver has won consecutive Road America races since Jacques Villeneuve in 1994 and 1995.

Scott McLaughlin has finished 30th, 12th and 24th in the last three races. McLaughlin had not had three consecutive finishes outside the top ten since 2022 when he failed to finish in the top ten in either May race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he followed that with a 19th at Belle Isle. He was third last year at Road America with a race-high 18 laps led despite starting eighth. 

Josef Newgarden's hardship continues. With his Gateway accident, Newgarden has gone seven consecutive races without a top five finish. He has finished outside the top twenty in three races this season, including both oval events. This is his third consecutive season with at least three finishes worse than 20th. Prior to this run Newgarden had only four total finishes outside the top twenty over 98 starts from 2017 through 2022. He has 11 over his last 42 races. 

If there is any hope for Team Penske it is that the team has won four of the last ten Road America races, including last year with Power. The bad news for Team Penske is it has not won consecutive Road America races since 1992 and 1993 with Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy respectively.

Road to Indy

It will be a full weekend from Road America as all three Road to Indy series will compete, and there is even a triple-header this weekend. 

While IndyCar has two winners through eight races, Indy Lights has only two winners through six races, and both drivers are from Andretti Global. 

Dennis Hauger has a 19-point lead over Lochie Hughes with Hughes coming off his second victory of the season at Gateway. Hauger was fifth. Hughes has finished in the top five of every race this season. The two drivers have also combined to win every pole position, and like victories, Hauger holds a 4-2 advantage. 

Caio Collet is on 195 points in third, 78 points behind Hauger, and Myles Rowe is fourth on 186 points. Rowe was second t Gateway while Collet was third. Salvador de Alba was fourth at Gateway and he is fifth in the championship on 167 points, five ahead of Josh Pierson. Callum Hedge has 133 points in seventh with Jordan Missig on 115 points. Sebastian Murray is ninth on 109 points and Niels Koolen and Jack William Miller are tied on 108 points in tenth.

Hughes swept the USF Pro 2000 triple-header held at Road America last year, and he also won at the circuit in 2023 in U.S. F2000. Last year, Jamie Chadwick won the race ahead of Louis Foster and Jacob Abel.

Indy Lights will race at 11:06 a.m. ET on Saturday for 20 laps or 55 minutes.

Max Garcia holds a 41-points championship lead in USF Pro 2000 with Ariel Elkin in second as USF Pro 2000 is set for a triple-header weekend. Elkin has won three of the last four races while Garcia has yet to finish worse than fourth in 2025. Alessandro de Tullio is 48 points off Garcia. After winning three of the first four races, de Tullio has finished second twice in the last five but he was 15th, ninth and 20th on the IMS road course. 

Mac Clark is finding form. Clark was four consecutive top five finishes, three of which are podium results. The Canadian is on 174 points in fourth. Tied for fifth are Jacob Douglas and Max Taylor. Douglas won the second race from the IMS road course and Taylor's best finish this season is third. Taylor on last year at Road America in U.S. F2000. 

Michael Costello is seventh in the championship on 129 points. Jace Denmark sits in eighth with 118 points. Nicholas Monteiro has finished sixth in four consecutive races and this has Monteiro ninth in points on 113. Cooper Brecklin rounds out the top ten with 102 points. 

USF Pro 2000 will race at 9:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, 5:25 p.m. ET on Saturday and 8:55 a.m. ET on Sunday. All three races are scheduled for 15 laps or 40 minutes.

The U.S. F2000 championship sees another twist in the visa plight of Liam McNeilly. After winning the first five races, McNeilly was unable to re-enter the country ahead of the IMS road course round in May. The Briton also missed the Indianapolis Raceway Park round and McNeilly is not entered this weekend for Road America. 

Despite missing three races, McNeilly remains third in the championship on 163 points, 27 points off championship leader Thomas Schrage.

Schrage has finished on the podium in six consecutive races. He split the IMS road course weekend with Jack Jeffers, who its second in the championship and seven points behind Schrage. 

Teddy Musella and G3 Argyros are tied on 135 points. Caleb Gafrarar is sixth on 116 points, two ahead of Evan Cooley. Anthony Martella won the IRP round and this has lifted Martella to eighth in the championship 106 points. Sebastián Garzón and Brad Majman are tied on 102 points.

U.S. F2000 will race twice on Saturday, first at 12:25 p.m. ET and then at 6:20 p.m. ET. Both races are scheduled for 12 laps or 40 laps.

Fast Facts

This will be the eighth IndyCar race to take place on June 22, and the first since 2008 when Dan Wheldon won at Iowa.

June 22 was also Dan Wheldon's birthday, and he would have turned 47 years old this year.

Wheldon is the most recent driver to win on his birthday, and he remains the most recent birthday winner. 

The other birthday winners are Dario Resta (August 19, 1916), Joe Boyer (May 30, 1924), Lou Moore (September 12, 1931), Tony Bettenhausen (September 12, 1953), Al Unser (May 29, 1971), Nigel Mansell (August 8, 1993), Sam Hornish, Jr. (July 2, 2006), and Scott Dixon (July 22, 2007).

We will have one potential birthday winner later this season. Laguna Seca will run on July 27, the same day as Louis Foster's 22nd birthday. 

The average starting position for a Road America winner is 3.8 with a median of third.

Twenty-eight of 34 Road America races have been won from a top five starting position. 

Only one Road America race has been won from outside the top ten. Alex Tagliani won from 13th in 2004. 

Since returning to the schedule in 2016, only once has a podium finisher started outside the top ten at Road America. Álex Palou went from 14th to third in the first race of the 2020 doubleheader.

Nine times has a Road America winner gone on to win the championship. 

Nineteen times has the Road America winner not led the most laps. 

Five of the eight race winners this season did not lead the most laps. 

Twice has the Road America winner led only the final lap (Héctor Rebaque 1982, Michael Andretti 1996).

The average number of lead changes in a Road America race is 4.324 with a median of four.

Five consecutive Road America races have had eight lead changes or greater. None of the previous 11 Road America races had more than six lead changes.

The average number of cautions in a Road America race is 2.294 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 6.705 with a median of six.

Five of the last six Road America races have had at least three cautions. The previous four Road America races had two cautions or fewer.

Predictions

Let's keep this party rolling. Kyle Kirkwood gets his third consecutive victory and we remain with only two IndyCar winners through the first nine races. Team Penske does get a podium finisher, and that driver leads at least 16 laps. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has at least two cars finish inside the top twenty. No Chip Ganassi Racing drivers will touch one another during the race. Meyer Shank Racing has a double top ten day. Nolan Siegel and Scott McLaughlin never cross paths. A.J. Foyt Racing comes back down to earth. There are no last-second driver changes at any team. Sleeper: Rinus VeeKay. 

Second Impressions: Gateway 2025

This might become a new way of breaking down an IndyCar race, especially if there are more night races in the future. Hit the main stuff immediately and expand on the broader topics later. We have covered the main points from IndyCar's prime time race at Gateway Motorsports Park, but there are a few things to revisit in the aftermath. 

1. Let's start with the officiating, and it can be hit in a few different parts. 

In chronological order, race control had questionable moments with Felix Rosenqvist's unsafe release penalty, which led to another penalty for failure to follow directions for Rosenqvist. Then we have the Louis Foster accident and the timing of that caution, which likely could have prevented Josef Newgarden from ever getting involved in the accident. Finally, we have the penalties to Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas for improper lane usage on pit lane. 

The first and the last one are tied together. 

Under the second caution of the race, Rosenqvist exits his pit box into the path of Santino Ferrucci, and it appears Rosenqvist's right rear tire may have grazed Ferrucci's front wing. Race control has been pretty consistent calling such as an unsafe release. If you touch another car while exiting your pit box, it will be a penalty. That is fine and it is the right call. Even if Rosenqvist didn't touch Ferrucci's car, it was still an unsafe release. 

The problem was the application of the penalty because when it was announced over the broadcast it was said Rosenqvist had a drive-through penalty, and that seemed off because in the past this foul moved the driver to the rear of the field prior to the restart. The most recent one that famously stands out to me is Alexander Rossi at the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Rossi came out into the path of Sato, there was slight contact, Rossi dropped to the rear and the rest was history. 

A drive-through felt like too much, and it was worse when Rosenqvist dropped to the rear of the field under green flag racing instead of driving through pit lane think that would be sufficient. This led to the failure to follow directions penalty and a further stop-and-go punishment. 

Then you flash forward a little over 80 laps later. 

McLaughlin comes out of his pit box erratically into the path of Patricio O'Ward. At the same time, Malukas exits his pit box in an erratic fashion, cutting off McLaughlin and forcing McLaughlin to cut from the fast lane to the transition lane. In neither case was contact made, but both releases looked rather unsafe. It felt like both would get a penalty. 

They did each get a penalty, but it was deemed as improper lane usage and neither McLaughlin nor Malukas had properly blended into the fast lane. Each driver was pushed back three spots prior to the restart, moving Malukas to fourth and McLaughlin to fifth. 

That looked like splitting hairs over what is an unsafe release and what is improper lane usage. If you are fond of tinfoil hats, you could view this as race control giving the team of the series owner and the team in technical alliance with the team of the series owner lesser infractions with more lenient penalties while the competition received harsher sentences. I don't think that is the case, but looking at the two, it is difficult to pick how one is different from the other.

You can have an unsafe release and not make contact with another car. 

Prior to Sunday night's race, IndyCar had not had an unsafe release penalty, contact in the pit lane penalty or improper lane usage penalty since the 2024 Indianapolis 500 It happened twice in that race, and each penalty was different. 

Rinus VeeKay bumped a car exiting his pit box during a pit cycle under the fourth caution. It was an improper lane usage/contact in pit lane penalty. VeeKay was sent to the rear of the field for the restart. Kyle Kirkwood missed his pit box and bumped Callum Ilott under the pit cycle during the fifth caution. Kirkwood was deemed only contact in pit lane. Kirkwood was given a drive-through penalty. 

The next most recent time a driver had an unsafe release/contact in pit lane/improper lane usage penalty was the 2024 Long Beach race. Christian Lundgaard made contact with Kirkwood while exiting his pit box. It was deemed an unsafe release and the penalty was for Lundgaard to yield five positions. This was done during a pit stop under caution, but the stop happened on lap 17. The penalty was not issued until lap 26. Lundgaard went from 14th position on lap 26 to 19th on lap 27. 

Severity of the incident and race condition clearly determine the penalty, but watching Sunday night, Rosenqvist's incident was hardly any different from McLaughlin and Malukas' misconduct. Rosenqvist didn't force Ferrucci to make an additional pit stop for repairs. It also felt like race control didn't notice the infraction until after the restart, and there is enough evidence to suggest that was the case.

The stop where the infraction happened was lap 50. The race restarted on lap 57. The penalty was issued to Rosenqvist on lap 60. 

Things move quick during a race, especially on a short oval, but if the difference between moving to the rear of the field on a restart or a drive-through penalty is when race control catches the infraction, that is unfair. Moving to the rear of the field is an inconvenience. A drive-through penalty is gutting a race. At Gateway, you are going to lose a lap with a drive-through. 

Either the penalty needs to be applied prior to the restart, or IndyCar should have accepted Rosenqvist sacrificing all those spots under green. He went to the rear of the field. He gave up all the track position he had. There was no reason why he had to be a lap down. 

In this case, the inconsistent application of a penalty was too big to go unnoticed.

2. As for the Foster caution, we touched upon it a bit after the race, this one got by the officials. They hung on for a second too long, really about three seconds too long before declaring caution. This is a tough spot for race control because it can overdo it calling a caution when a car continues after touching the barriers. 

You don't want to slow the race and lose 12 laps under caution because one driver ran a little high and grazed the wall. In this case, Foster smacked the wall pretty good. It always looked like an instant caution. 

Was there a trigger finger when David Malukas had his incident about 65 laps later? Yes, but even then I think a caution was warranted. 

IndyCar used to be very strict about cars brushing the wall. It used to be an automatic caution, but that could be overkill at times and ruin the rhythm of a race. It is tough to find that balance, but it missed one with Foster when it either wasn't looking or thought the damage wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, it took out the leader and flipped the results.

They are going to be more alert for the remainder of the season. 

3. Colton Herta was in line for a top ten finish, but late in the race Herta was used up. First when Santino Ferrucci bumped him through turns one and two. Somehow, neither car had an accident or was significantly damaged. After that though, Herta faded backward. He had been running 11th prior to his final pit stop on lap 225 but after that he was shuffled further back before ending the race in 17th, one lap down.

When your teammate wins for the third time in the first eight races, you cannot afford to throw away a top ten finish like this, especially when you are on the highest paid driver in IndyCar.

4. Nolan Siegel had a night to forget. We already covered the restart snafu that cost his teammate Patricio O'Ward and might have cost Arrow McLaren a victory, but before that, Siegel had already drew the ire of race control when he was charged with blocking when he chopped down on Scott McLaughlin as Siegel was going a lap down. 

Siegel had to serve a drive-through penalty, and he was kept off the lead lap for the rest of the race. 

Siegel has been under a spotlight lately, and once we get through Road America he will effectively have completed a full season with the McLaren organization. Ahead of the Gateway race, McLaren confirmed all three drivers will be returning for the 2026 season. 

It has been a difficult year for Siegel as he joined IndyCar midseason while competing in Indy Lights. He had competed in four race weekends prior to joining McLaren, and he had plans to run at Toronto later that season with Dale Coyne Racing, but he stepped into IndyCar as it was introducing the hybrid system and when he had no prior testing experience with the system and limited time in an IndyCar in general. 

However, McLaren has established a habit of rotating through drivers rather quickly when results have not been satisfactory. People weren't pleased when Oliver Askew was canned after a year, Felix Rosenqvist was constantly on the hot seat, and Alexander Rossi only had two seasons. Théo Pourchaire had been given the McLaren seat for the remainder of the season in 2024 and was on his way to Laguna Seca when the news came he was booted for Siegel while Pourchaire's results had been rather good for someone entering the series with no testing experience.

As much as we might not like it, this was the expectation the McLaren organization set for itself. It is going to hold a high standard and drivers must perform, but we are seeing Siegel struggle more than those other three, and yet it comes off as Siegel having greater job security than those before him.  

Siegel is only 20 years old and he will not turn 21 until November. He needs time, but Oliver Askew didn't get more than 12 races with the team. 

It goes back to what we are seeing with race control. We want consistency. The tone was set that you must perform at a high level at McLaren... and now we have a driver who has been given a noticeably longer leash. 

All young drivers should get at least two seasons, probably at least three seasons to learn. If Siegel is in the same zip code one year from now, we will have a different conversation, and McLaren will have a decision to make.

5. Gateway did well in terms of attendance. It has helped that the races the last few years have been the best since Gateway returned in 2017. 

I was nervous that the late decision to make this a Sunday night race would hurt attendance. The effect was negligible at best. I do wonder if a night race was the plan from the start, and we had seven or eight months of promoting this as a Sunday night race, would that have helped draw more people out?

The crowd was in line with what Gateway has been getting since 2017. I don't think it was its best ever, but it certainly didn't look horrible. Other than the Indianapolis 500 and Long Beach, every IndyCar race can do better. Ignore the turn two grandstands, there are still plenty of open pockets in the main grandstand. "Packed" does not equal "full." IndyCar has work to do to get to full. 

This is still one of IndyCar's better oval races. At one point, Robin Miller suggested Gateway be the season finale just based on the fan support. It is hard to disagree with that. However, with how the schedule has changed and with Gateway now hosting a NASCAR playoff race in the middle of September, I doubt the track would want IndyCar's season finale a few weeks earlier. 

IndyCar is the series that will preach "date equity" and then flip four rounds to different months of the year. This was the first Gateway race in June after eight years in August. We can't be tossing this race all  around the calendar. The middle of June looked to be a little more hospitable than late August in terms of temperature. I think Gateway's place can be right in the heart of the schedule, shortly after the Indianapolis 500. If things change on the NASCAR side, perhaps we investigate Gateway hosting the finale. 

If the finale isn't in the heart of Nashville then what is the difference between ending in Madison, Illinois vs. Lebanon, Tennessee? Neither are destinations. They are destination-adjacent, which says a lot about IndyCar in 2025.

Musings From the Weekend: Tourney Time!

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Kyle Kirkwood won a frenetic IndyCar race, and they beat the rain as well. Team Penske had a rough weekend. I had a bit of an existential crisis over endurance racing, but we will save that for a later day. IndyCar announced it will delay its new chassis and engine regulations until 2028, but we will save that for a later day. It was a testy weekend in Montreal, but the race results stood after hour of deliberations. NASCAR's trip to Mexico went well, a few were under the weather, but it is what comes next that is on my mind.

Tourney Time!

It isn't quite tourney time for NASCAR. It's five-week, 32-driver single-elimination tournament begins in just under two weeks at Atlnata Motor Speedway. In college basketball terms, we are in the middle of the conference tournaments and after the upcoming race from Pocono, we will know the seeds and how the bracket has shaped up.

But considering this space has been a proponent for racing series adopting a head-to-head component to its competition for years, it is only right that we give NASCAR's first tournament proper attention.

As we stand here, we have a rough idea of how the bracket will look.

NASCAR determined that the three races prior to the first round would decide seeding, and seeds would be based on best finishing positions over this three-week period. Winning a race essentially guaranteed a driver a top three seed. If two drivers had the same best finish then second-best finish would break the tie. If the drivers are still tied, then third-best finish would determine who got the better seed. If the drivers remained tied, then overall points would break the tie. 

Through two races we know Denny Hamlin will at least be one of the top two seeds. Hamlin won at Michigan and missed Mexico City after the birth of his third child. Combined with the results at Mexico City, there can only be one other possible winner. Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell have finished second with Buescher holding the tiebreaker with a tenth to Bell's next result of 16th. Then you have Ty Gibbs (3-11) and Chase Elliott (3-15), Bubba Wallace (4-12) and Alex Bowman (4-36), and rounding out the top nine seeds are Michael McDowell (5-30) and Kyle Larson (5-36).

Finishing position is a different way for NASCAR to determine seeding, and one that is beneficial to the three races leading into the tournament, but it is a little confusing as to why that is what determines the seeding and not championship points, which have been accumulated over 17 races prior to the first round. 

Points did determine something as the 32-driver qualified drivers were determined by points after the Nashville round. Unfortunately, this meant Shane van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware were the full-time drivers left on the outside. 

I don't know if that was necessary, partially because it seemed like no one knew Nashville would be a cutoff race for making the tournament. I think we were all under the impression that those three races prior to the first round would set the entire field of 32. I think NASCAR set an unnecessary barrier for this tournament. For starters, it knocked out Shane van Gisbergen, the prototypical driver who could play spoiler in the tournament with the races that will be taking place. 

You have Mexico City as one of the seeding races. Van Gisbergen would have been one of the top three seeds if he was eligible thanks to his victory in Mexico City. That might have set him higher than he should have been based on how he has normally been running, but it could have given him a favorable draw for the first round. With Atlanta being the opening round and Atlanta now being a pack race, there is a good chance multiple drivers will finish outside the top twenty and not advance. Atlanta basically makes the seeding meaningless in the first round. 

Then you have the Chicago street course follows hosting the round of 16, and the quarterfinals will be at Sonoma. That sets up nicely for van Gisbergen. There is a good chance van Gisbergen could have been a semifinalist as long as he survived the first round at Atlanta. Eliminating drivers before we even get to the seeding round only hurts the tournament concept. 

With 36 full-time drivers, there are going to be four drivers on the outside, but if NASCAR isn't going to use points to set the bracket and will instead using the best finishing position over a three-race period, all drivers should have been eligible for the tournament entering this three-race period. 

Is there a flaw to that concept as a top driver could get caught in his worst three-race slump of the season and fail to make it? Yeah, a little bit. But either make it so the 32 drivers are just the top 32 in points after 17 races or fully embrace the open nature and that anyone can make it and anyone can miss it.

The biggest critique from this first attempt is NASCAR's lack of attention to its own tournament format. 

Entering Nashville, most were clueless to the top-32 cutoff. Many drivers were unaware of the basics of the tournament when asked about it. To be fair to them, NASCAR had done nothing to make anyone aware in the build up to the tournament. It could have been made clear in February that the top 32 in points after Nashville would make the tournament and then over the first 14 races we would be watching to see who was in the trouble or who was cutting it close. It could have also done a better job of explaining how the seeding would work and that winning one of these three races is going to lock you into one of the top three seeds. Those were little hurdles we could have cleared months ago. 

Success is determined on how loud you bang the drum in certain cases. If NASCAR isn't going to stress the importance of making the tournament or the value of these race results then no one is going to get excited for the tournament itself. 

There also comes the issue that the juice isn't really worth the squeeze to the drivers. 

It is a $1 million prize to the tournament champion. 

Great. The drivers get a $1 million all the time. They are all millionaires or close to it. The All-Star Race has had a $1 million prize for over 20 years. It isn't as impressive as it was in 2003. If you are paying the same prize for essentially five races worth of results as you do for one exhibition race, I don't blame the drivers for not feeling jazzed up for it. 

Money is tight though. NASCAR may have just signed a $7.7 billion deal with its broadcast partners, but there isn't enough money for increased prizes. Have you noticed how the Cup champion in recent seasons hasn't been presented with a big check like he once was? There is a reason for that. NASCAR isn't going to make the All-Star Race worth $3 million to win nor pay the tournament champion $5 million when the series championship awards around $3 million. 

If the drivers aren't going to get the money they ned to really entice them to win this thing, there is one other thing that will catch their attention. 

Playoff points.

The only points that carry weight over the entire season, drivers care about playoff points. After all, it is the one thing NASCAR will strip from a driver and not allow them to earn any more during the regular season if a driver misses a race and needs a waiver for something other than a medical reason. If they are that valuable, then pay playoff points to the drivers based on how they do in the tournament.

That might seem excessive, but how do you make this tournament something the drivers care about? Give them a prize that has some value. 

My proposal is you pay playoff points based on how far a driver advances. If you win a first round matchup, that is one playoff point, so 16 drivers would earn one playoff point after round one. Win a second round matchup? Let's give them a few more points. Two playoff points. That leaves eight drivers with at least three additional playoff points. Win a quarterfinal matchup? Five points. Four drivers have earned at least eight playoff points with two races remaining. 

What happens if you win the semifinals and make the final? Those two drivers compete for the big prize. The tournament champion gets 25 more playoff points. The runner-up gets ten playoff points. 

To break it down, the tournament would pay the following playoff points to each driver...

Champion - 33 playoff points (1+2+5+25)

Runner-Up - 18 playoff points (1+2+5+10)

Semifinalists - Eight playoff points (Two Drivers)

Quarterfinalists - Three playoffs points (Four Drivers)

First Round winners - One playoff point (Eight Drivers)

Talk about an incentive! You are guaranteed to more than double you playoff points earned from the tournament making the finals versus being eliminated in the semifinals. You don't think that is going to make Dover an interesting race? The champion gets nearly double of the runner-up. You don't think that would matter and lead a team to strategize winning the tournament? 

At the end of last regular season, the driver with the most playoff points was Kyle Larson with 30. The only other driver with at least 19 playoff points was Christopher Bell with 25. Only six drivers had at least ten playoff points. Even after the playoff points were added for the top ten in the regular season points standings, Larson was on top with 40, only Bell (32), Tyler Reddick (28) and William Byron (22) had more than 20, and only seven total drivers had more than ten playoff points.  

Just making the semifinals could boost a driver like you would not believe. If one of the top drivers were to win the tournament or at least make a run, he would be sitting pretty in every round of the playoffs.

Now, if we are pay this many points for the tournament, surely we must increase the playoff points awarded to the top ten drivers at the end of the regular season. At this moment, the regular season champion only gets 15 playoff points, and the regular season champion should have always received more than that a long time ago.

Let's change it so the regular season champion gets 50 playoff points and second gets 25 with 15 for third, 12 for fourth, ten for fifth and then sixth through tenth can remain the same going 5-4-3-2-1.

NASCAR shouldn't be afraid to have its best driver who wins everything to be head, neck and shoulders clear of the competition entering the playoffs. If a driver does something special and wins a half-dozen races, the in-season tournament and the regular season championship, he should be lightyears away from the competition and be the clear man to beat. If it essentially locks him into the championship race, so be it. What better incentive could there be to take these things seriously? A driver could earn over 100 playoff points for regular season results. It would be near impossible for a driver to not make the championship four with that total. 

If the financial carrot is not going to be great enough to make the drivers care, then make it worth something towards the championship. Playoff points are more valuable at this moment than nearly any financial bonus NASCAR can afford to put out there. 

Playoff points are already an arbitrary metric. Leading lap 20 at Austin carries more weight toward deciding the champion than leading the first 124 laps at Bristol. You could lead 197 laps of the Daytona 500 and get no playoff points for it, but if you lead two specific laps, those earn you each a point that carries for the entire season. If a driver staying out instead of pitting before the pre-determined caution at a road course or any race for that matter is going to be worth a point that could be the difference between having a shot at the championship in the final race or not then NASCAR should go all-in and give its in-season tournament real stakes. 

The drivers will care and it will save NASCAR $1 million in the process. Talk about a win-win!

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Kyle Kirkwood and Shane van Gisbergen, but did you know...

The #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson won the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ferrari's third consecutive Le Mans victory and 11th overall. The #43 InterEuropol Competition Oreca-Gibson of Nick Yelloly, Jakub Śmiechowski and Tom Dillmann won in LMP2. The #92 Manthey Porsche of Richard Lietz, Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera won in LMGT3.

George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix. 

Daniel Suárez won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Mexico City, his first victory in the series since he won the 2016 season finale at Homestead to clinch his series championship. 

Lochie Hughes won the Indy Lights race from Gateway, his second victory of the season. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the World Superbike races from Misano. Stefano Manzi and Can Öncü split the World Supersport races.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar begins summer at Road America.

MotoGP is at Mugello. 

NASCAR has a long drive to Pocono.

Formula E is back at Jakarta.

Supercars will be in Darwin. 

Our second consecutive week with a 24-hour race sees the Nürburgring 24 Hour take place.

First Impressions: Gateway 2025

1. The 2025 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 from Gateway Motorsports Park will go down as one of the most unfathomable races we have seen. Timing of the cautions set up a final stint where it felt like no one could make it but maybe one or two could stretch it. What transpired was a 50-plus lap stint where everyone didn't know whether to push it or save it but once you hit the pit lane your night was set, and your result live or died by a caution. 

No caution came, and when it was over, Kyle Kirkwood pulled out a victory that was unthinkable for about the first 75% of the race. Kirkwood had a good car, but for most of this race, Chevrolet was in control. However, a late caution for David Malukas brushing the barrier had the entire field caught a lap down to Scott Dixon, who spent much of the race outside the top ten but was the last to pit during that cycle. 

This set up Dixon to lead but also be in a position to possibly stretch his fuel like he famously can. Kirkwood was in third, behind Patricio O'Ward, and with the lapped car of Nolan Siegel between Dixon and the rest of the leaders, Kirkwood was able to use Siegel as a pick on Siegel's own teammate in O'Ward. Kirkwood stepped in to second and he knew a final stop was coming. The question was whether Dixon could do something incredible. 

Leaders started peeling off to get that final stop out of the way. Kirkwood came with 28 laps to go. Unexpectedly, Dixon came five laps later, forgoing the conservation run and committing to going all out. At that point, it was a matter of could the likes of Callum Ilott and Felix Rosenqvist stretch their fuel over 55 laps as they came late during the caution period for Malukas' incident, or could someone catch a timely caution and leapfrog to the lead. 

That caution never came. Kirkwood was able to jump ahead of Dixon by stopping five laps early. Everyone else feel in behind Kirkwood as they made their final stops. Ilott took the lead, then Rosneqvist took the lead. Rosenqvist's team couldn't make it. Ilott's team was optimistic, but the fuel ran out on the fairy tale with three laps to go. 

It played perfectly for Kirkwood, and through eight races, we still have only two winners in the 2025 season. Álex Palou's five victories have been well covered. Kirkwood won a staring contest with Palou at Long Beach. Two weeks ago at Detroit, Kirkwood had to work some moves to pass three cars or caught a timely caution to pull out a victory when he was the best car. Tonight, Kirkwood was good, but not as great as some. With how this race fell, Kirkwood took advantage of opportunities and like Palou, Kirkwood made the most out of a day when he wasn't the man to beat. 

We are watching the second breakout season of Kirkwood. Two years ago, he won two races, but he wasn't a complete driver. Last year, Kirkwood was outstandingly consistent with his finishes, but he didn't have the speed to win races. This year, he has put both together. There are nine races left after this race. The championship is still a bit of a pipe dream because Palou continues to be sensational, but Kirkwood can make it a fight. No one else has stepped up to the table. At the moment, this is Kirkwood's opportunity to cement himself as one of IndyCar's best.

2. This was a night race and I don't want to be writing a midnight. We are going to cover the rest of the top ten, a few other key guys and then we can come back to the rest later in the week. 

On that restart, it crossed my mind that Nolan Siegel might have cost his Arrow McLaren teammate a victory. Patricio O'Ward was thinking the same thing in his post-race interview. 

With one pit stop to go, it might not have mattered. O'Ward might have remained ahead of Kirkwood if Siegel had a better restart or just got out of the way for his teammate, but this race came down to when everyone stopped and what traffic they came out in. O'Ward stopped with 22 laps to go, four laps after Kirkwood. Kirkwood might have been still in position to jump ahead in the pit cycle, but on a night when O'Ward had a victory in sight, his lapped down teammate did him no favors. 

With all the issues front-runners had, this was looking to line up for O'Ward, and the one driver he likely thought was the most on his side ended up being a stumbling block on his way to finishing second. 

3. Christian Rasmussen was on fire tonight! His car was not filled with fuel on his first stop and that knocked him off strategy all night. Then Louis Foster spins into the path of Josef Newgarden and it looks like Rasmussen caught a break and would not need to stop 15 laps before everyone. Nope! Rasmussen had to stop for emergency service, so instead of holding onto a top five position, he still went to the back. 

But this crazy night shook into Rasmussen's favor, especially when the Malukas caution came. Rasmussen had a car that was hooked up and could make moves all over the track. This was by far his best night and he pushed O'Ward for second but had to settle for third. Third is still incredible and a right result for Rasmussen. 

4. I thought Dixon was going to pull this out. He stopped with 58 laps to go. It looked like everyone was getting about 50 laps. Considering the race didn't go green until 54 laps to go, I thought Dixon could save enough to make up those few laps. Dixon didn't even try, which was likely the right strategy. 

Rosenqvist and Ilott both tried and they ended up 16th and 18th. Dixon spent most of this race outside the top ten. Stopped with 23 laps to go was the right call. It didn't turn into a victory, but it was a fourth-place finish on a night when none of the Chip Ganassi Racing cars were that competitive and this turned out to be a better night for CGR than most teams.

Dixon's magic didn't end up in victory, but it did earn him a better finish than expected.

5. Santino Ferrucci was aggressive and it got him a fifth-place finish. He never caught broke into the leading pack. He led late during the pit cycle hoping for a late caution to do for him what the previous one did for Dixon. That didn't happen. The difference is Ferrucci was in the top ten for the entire night. 

If nothing has bit Ferrucci yet, I don't know if it will. He bumped Colton Herta through all of turn one and two. He had a few other close calls on the pit lane, and yet he ended up fifth. He has been doing this regularly since 2019. This hasn't been luck. 

6. For a brief moment, it looked like this was going to be Conor Daly's night. Daly was leading and he was daring others to beat him. Well, they beat him on pit lane and Daly fell from the lead to second to third and then out of the top five. 

When it comes to oval victories in particular, the pit crew plays a greater role in winning a race. It doesn't matter that you are leading laps 154-190 when you still need to make three more pit stops. If you are going to lose at least one if not two positions each pit cycle, it is going to be very difficult to win any race. Daly and Juncos Hollinger Racing can produce a good car, but investment must be made on the pit crew, and that will cost a healthy penny.

7. Rinus VeeKay wasn't noticed all night and he finished seventh. That sounds about right for VeeKay this season. It is a good bounce back after the last two races. 

8. Álex Palou looked like he was in trouble all night. He was shuffled back, bumped and banged, he even had to take evasive action as Louis Foster's car spun in front of him. Despite all the turmoil, Palou was eighth. Yeah, the championship is his. Kirkwood and O'Ward did everything right and caught every break they could ask for and Palou still finished eighth! He lost ground but it will hardly be noticed. Palou will get it back at Road America. It is good to be the king.

9. Marcus Armstrong ran well all race and scored a ninth-place result. You looked up and Armstrong was still in the top ten. It is fine after starting sixth. Meyer Shank Racing still isn't used to running this well. It is a result to build on. 

10. I have no clue how Robert Shwartzman pulled out tenth. Shwartzman was never in the discussion for the top ten. His final stop came with 15 laps to go, one lap prior to Ferrucci, and it led to Shwartzman scoring his and Prema's first top ten finish. At Gateway, the place we all predicted. 

Ilott had good speed this weekend and was around 15th for much of this race, but at no point did I notice Shwartzman until he was one of the last cars to stop and he ended up tenth when the checkered flag waved. He deserves it. Prema deserves it.

11. I am going to recognize all the drivers who did close to nothing in this race here to save me time: Alexander Rossi (11th), Marcus Ericsson (13th), Christian Lundgaard (14th), Kyffin Simpson (15th), Colton Herta (17th), Nolan Siegel (19th), Sting Ray Robb (20th), Jacob Abel (21st).

If for any reason you deserve more attention, it will come later this week. 

12. David Malukas was 12th and led the most laps. In the same vain as Daly and JHR, Malukas lost spots in the pit lane. He was lucky he didn't get more for his "improper lane usage" after one of his pit stops. 

My problem with David Malukas is he is prone to mistakes, and he made another tonight, aggressively trying to pass Kirkwood during a pit cycle and getting into the marbles. This sent him up the track and he was fortunate the brush with the wall was not worse. 

At the moment, Malukas is a good driver if you want to succeed at three tracks. The problem is the IndyCar schedule is more than Gateway, Milwaukee and Iowa. The performances must step up at Detroit, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Toronto and so on. Even at the places where he thrives, he is still his own worst enemy. The scatterbrain behavior cannot continue behind the wheel of the car. 

13. I am going to cover Felix Rosenqvist and Callum Ilott both right here. They both took a gamble. It looked like it was going to work. It came up short. I was surprised more cars did not stop prior to that final restart with 54 laps to go. It appears the most anyone could get was 52 laps on a tank. They both went for it and they both led late. Rosenqvist had to overcome a questionable unsafe release penalty. Ilott had a good weekend and Prema had a shot at something spectacular. Both deserve a round of applause for taking the chance. 

14. This was a night from hell for Team Penske. Will Power loses a right front tire while running second. Josef Newgarden was leading and had nowhere to go when Louis Foster spun in front of him after officials questionably held the yellow. Scott McLaughlin retired with damage while running in the top ten and after spending most of the race in the top five. 

Penske finished 24th (McLaughlin), 25th (Newgarden) and 27th (Power). Three cars started in the top five and all three finished in the bottom four. Brutal! 

And none of the drivers did anything wrong. None of them made a mistake. Power cannot control his tires being punctured or failing. Newgarden might have won this race if the caution comes out two seconds earlier. On the broadcast, it was said to be six seconds from the time Foster hit the wall to the time the caution came out. At that point, Foster was already perpendicular to traffic and Newgarden was inches from launching over the disabled #45 Dallara. 

We aren't going to have time to cover all the officiating questions from this night, but 99 times out of 100, Foster hits the wall and the caution is out before we could even fathomable thinking about another car launching over a spinning car. I don't know how the officials were caught sleeping on this one. They were quick with that trigger when Malukas hit the wall. 

15. Team Penske had the worst night. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was a close second. Devlin DeFrancesco spun basically immediately. The car was repaired but he was scraping for pennies on this night and wound up 23rd, 43 laps down. 

Foster spun when he was just outside the top ten. A promising night was over and unfortunately what could have just been a rookie mistake will now be sizzle reel material for years, and that wasn't Foster's fault. 

Graham Rahal was slow all night. It felt like he was three laps down within the first 80 laps of this race. Rahal ended up finishing 22nd, seven laps down. He has never had any speed at this track. RLLR's oval struggles have been well-documented. Gateway is its worst by far. I do not understand how RLLR didn't give Michael Cannon everything it could to sign him because they could use him everywhere, but ovals in particular. 

16. Check list for a second impressions:

Race control on cautions and penalties. 

I do want to touch upon Colton Herta being chewed out in this race. 

Nolan Siegel's night could use some examination. 

I might mention Christian Lundgaard's penalty. Let's see how interesting that is after sleeping on it. 

Let's take the temperature on Gateway's prime time debut. 

17. Real quick on Gateway, for a race that had its start time pushed back about six hours only six weeks ago, the crowd was as good as you could ask for. It looked like pretty much every other IndyCar crowd it has drawn since 2017. That is a good thing. I was worried people would be scared away with a late change and a Sunday night race. It didn't turn it into a ghost town. That is a minor victory. 

The race was excellent as well. As the track has aged, it has become better to race on. There are two lines at both ends of the track. We didn't see that the first four or five years. I am glad with what we have seen the last few years, especially tonight. This was a positive night.

18. At least we got the race in before the rain. That was a close one.

19. Dry off. Road America is in less than a week.