1. It is after midnight, this race went about an hour longer than I wished, we are going to make this quick for everybody, we might come back with second impressions tomorrow, which is now today because it is Monday or actually tomorrow because they will come Tuesday.
Josef Newgarden looked comfortable the entire night, and that is why he won for the sixth time at Gateway Motorsports Park. Newgarden had a good car and he knew it. He was willing to run second and let the race evolve. Newgarden has been here long enough that he didn't need to lead lap 123. He had to lead lap 260. The car was in a spot where he could contend. In the final battle with Christian Rasmussen and Marcus Ericsson, Newgarden could counterpunch and take the lead even after Rasmussen went to the front.
It timed out that when Newgarden took the lead it was the crossover point where the tires were not there to continue the back-and-forth battle we had been seeing. On the final restart, Newgarden had the advantage as the tires were not there for Rasmussen or Ericsson to get back ahead of Newgarden. With clean air ahead, Newgarden had enough to hold them off.
What we saw tonight was 15 years of IndyCar experience and oval racing expertise pull out a victory. Newgarden might not have had the best car, but he was comfortable with a good car and that was enough to finish first.
2. I think this was the best race Marcus Ericsson had in IndyCar. I am pretty sure Ericsson had never led the most laps in a race prior to tonight. He has a few victories, but there has never been a race he won where he definitively had the best car. Tonight, he did, and it was only good enough for second. Ericsson got shuffled back to third at the worst time. He could get back to second, and he kept Newgarden honest, but Ericsson fell a little short of making it a perfect night.
3. This was another impressive short oval race for Christian Rasmussen. He drove into the top ten and soon the top five, Rasmussen hung in there. I didn't think he was better than Newgarden and Ericsson. The late charge was stellar, and there was a brief second where shades of Milwaukee 2025 were breaking through. Perhaps Newgarden and Ericsson were always going to get back ahead. Either way, Rasmussen needed a great night. He had not finished in the top ten yet this season. He got third. He looked pleased with it.
4. A handful of drivers deserve their flowers for this night, and Rinus VeeKay is one of them. VeeKay had a top five car. He never quite got in the battle for the podium or the victory, but he was wonderful tonight. At no point did he look out of control. He never overdrove the car. VeeKay is impressing us again with another back-marker team. Our top four finishers drove for Team Penske, Andretti Global, Ed Carpenter Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing, and they were all legitimately there on pace.
5. Scott McLaughlin took tires under the final caution after Caio Collet blew an engine. McLaughlin restarted ninth and he worked his way to fifth. That is likely better than where he would have finished if he had not stopped. It never felt like tires were that much of a deciding factor. It helped on the restart, but there were only 30 laps left when McLaughlin and other stopped, and the leaders were only on 27 laps older tires. It got McLaughlin a few more positions, but I didn't think it would turn into a winning strategy. Top five is still excellent for a night that didn't feel much better than seventh.
6. Kyle Kirkwood was the sixth-best car tonight. Maybe Kirkwood should have been fifth. He was in the background but never showed up as a contender. That is fine. The good news is Kirkwood gained ground in the championship tonight. He did toss away a good opportunity. That is most important.
7. David Malukas felt good but not great tonight. Malukas started second, but he never showed a fire to get to the lead. He settled just outside the top five. For a brief moment it looked like the race was going to cycle against Malukas and he was going to finish 12th or 13th. That wasn't the case. He will be the third of the three Penske cars with a finish of seventh, but this is an adequate night for Malukas. His season is still spectacular. Now he has nine races to close it out.
8. Will Power had a wild night. Power was making up positions early. Then he got caught out topping off for fuel and lost a lap. Then he got back on the lead lap and was in the top five because that topping off on fuel allowed him to run long, get back on the lead lap and stay out prior to a caution coming out. Then Power got cycled back again, stopped late like McLaughlin, and drove into the top ten. You took eighth place anyway you can get it.
9. Marcus Armstrong had a good night. Armstrong took tires late and that likely got him ninth. I felt like I would look up and Armstrong was somewhere in the top ten. Nothing flashy but still good. That is kind of the name Armstrong is making for himself. You can count on him running seventh or eighth.
10. Christian Lundgaard did not look brilliant in this race, but Lundgaard passed Arrow McLaren teammate Patricio O'Ward late to steal tenth. Lundgaard was firmly in the middle of the field for this entire race. He doesn't quite have that punch on ovals to be a contender. For Lundgaard, it is a real tussle to break into the top ten. He can still work on it and improve. We are not yet at a point of admitting this is the best it will be for him on ovals.
11. Patricio O'Ward took tires late, he had spent a fair amount of this race in the top ten, and he ended up finishing 11th. O'Ward wasn't a contender in this race, but he was running well. In the later stages, it was clear he wasn't going to finish in the top five. The team took a gamble to get more and it didn't pan out. O'Ward was the best McLaren car for essentially 259 of 260 laps and he will wind up second best and outside the top ten overall. This result doesn't tell the full story.
12. Scott Dixon took a gamble, stretched his fuel, caught the cautions in his favor, and ultimately was a lap short and needed emergency service. I don't think Dixon had a good car tonight. I think Dixon had a car where he could stretch fuel into his favor, and it nearly worked out. Dixon lost spots early. He still hung in the top ten, but he wasn't knocking down the door to fight for a top five or podium finish. I think we saw the car he had when he was shuffled to the back, took tires on the final caution and ended up 12th, the worst of the cars to stop under that final caution. He was better than 12th but this 12th-place finish tells the story of where his car was compared to the rest of the field.
13. Santino Ferrucci was in the middle of the pack all race and was 13th. It isn't clear what happened to Felix Rosenqvist. Rosenqvist may have been trapped a lap down after a caution following a pit stop. He did not do anything notable as he finished 14th. Romain Grosjean was the first car a lap down in 15th. Mick Schumacher was 16th. Not bad days for either driver. Schumacher got to run 259 of 260 laps. That is beneficial to him.
14. Álex Palou stretched his fuel like his teammate Scott Dixon, and it appeared Palou had done enough to make it without emergency service. Then Palou ran out of fuel as he entered pit lane for his final stop. The car coasted to his box and at that point the damage was done. He lost a lap coasting and then another lap getting the car re-fired. Instead of possibly pulling out a victory, but probably at worst a top five result, Palou was 17th.
Palou lost some ground in the championship. He had a good night. I don't think his car was set up for traffic well because once he lost the lead he never put up a good counterattack. Stretching their fuel was worth the risk for Dixon and Palou, and it nearly paid off.
15. I have no clue what Alexander Rossi did all night, but it wasn't good and he was 18th. Sting Ray Robb was out there and finished 19th. Louis Foster was slow and he finished 20th.
16. Caio Collet had a great race. Collet made up spots early. He probably benefitted from a caution or two, but when Collet was in the top five, he held his own. And then the engine failed him. Many people were thrilled with his Indianapolis 500 performance. I still don't think it was that exceptional. This was a great drive from him. Now, he has got to do it again.
17. Graham Rahal spun in turn four while on worn tires and with faster cars that had just made pit stops around him. Rahal said he went low and caught the marble build up on the inside. Rahal said the car was getting better and he had settled around 15th. Perhaps he could have picked up another two or three spots if he went the distance. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing did not start this race well. All three cars dropped from the opening lap. RLLR still has work to do on its oval program.
18. Nolan Siegel was knocked out after contact with Álex Palou entering turn one. I saw it as a racing incident. Palou had fresh tires and he was quicker going into the corner. Palou was ahead. Siegel was turning in and they collided. If that is a penalty than we are going to have 100 penalties a race.
What is a racing incident if it is not this?
Palou didn't bowl into Siegel. Palou was making a pass. Siegel thought he could turn in when he did. Palou was there. Contact was made. Siegel got the worst of it. It is unfortunate. Not every contact should be a penalty. In this case, the contact is made with Siegel turning into Palou's rear tire. It is hard to pin that on Siegel.
19. Dennis Hauger was unable to start the race as the car suffered a fuel leak on the grid. Maybe I missed it, but I don't think that was mentioned during the broadcast. Either way, it is the second time in two short oval races a Dale Coyne Racing car has had an issue on the grid prevent a car from starting a race. It is a shame Hauger did not get a chance to compete.
20. It is 12:59 a.m. Eastern as I type this sentence. This was a fun race. Gateway had a phenomenal crowd. It is reasonable to want a night race but not a race that starts after 9:00 p.m. Eastern on a Sunday night that is not a holiday weekend. There is a happy medium there. Perhaps we discuss some of this during a second impressions.
21. Let's go to bed. At least it is two weeks until Road America.
