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.
