Tag: World Wide Technology Raceway

Gateway Wrap Up

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A few final thoughts about Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

IndyCar needs more ovals. The first half of the 2026 season included three oval races, and they were the best three races of the year. While three more oval, races are on the schedule for the second half of the season, only two venues will host oval races, Nashville and Milwaukee.

IndyCar needs one more night oval. Night racing is some of the best racing I’ve seen, and the time of day adds several variables to how a race plays out. Cars change when the sun goes down.; Look at David Malukas this weekend. He qualified second but had no pace during the race. Malukas said the team missed the setup. He finished seventh on a race where he was one of the favorites.

Was it as good a race as the 2026 race? No, but it was still a very good race. Christian Rasmussen said in the post race media availability that last year’s package raced better, yet there was a record 268 passes for position, more than 35 by the Danish driver himself.

Keep in mind that Marcus Ericsson started 12th, meaning he passed nearly half the field to get to the lead on lap 47. Ericsson passed pole winner Alex Palou on track for the first place.

It was evident from the start that Ericsson and Jopsef Newgarden had the two fastest cars. Both drivers said after the race that their cars were nearly equal. Newgarden got the jump on the last pit stop to get ahead.

Christian Rasmussen and Newgarden battled for the lead for 15 laps near the end before Ericssson got past Rasmussen for second. Newgarden led the final 40 laps and won by 0.6 seconds.

Rasmussen is one to watch for on the remaining ovals. He won at Milwaukee last year, and he was about to win at Phoenix in March before tangling with Will Power.

When Caio Collet finally gets a break, he just might end up being the next new winner in IndyCar. His brilliant drive Sunday on lap 226 with a blown engine. He led seven laps after starting 20th, and Collet had a podium finish in sight.

Has Dixon Lost a Step?

Scott Dixon has seemed to be step behind this season, and Sunday was an example as the Ganassi driver’s usually great fuel save strategy failed. Dixon needed emergency service a closed pit and finished 12th. He was still in better shape than teammate Alex Palou.

In a rare error by the number 10 crew Palou ran out of fuel and stopped on pit lane. It took several minutes to get the car refired. The points leader finished 17th, two laps down. Palou has won four consecutive poles, but he has converted just one of those to a win.

Is the Window Closing?

Time is running out for David Malukas, Marcus Armstrong, or anyone else who has never won a race to get to the top step of the podium. The first of an IndyCar is where we normally see a variety of winners, but in the second, the championship contenders usually sweep up all the hardware.

Granted, last year Christiuan Rasmussen got his breakthrough first victory late in the season, but things like that don’t occur very often.

After a much neede3d week off IndyCar goes to Road America for the next race Jube 21 to begin the second half of the 2026 schedule. I plan to have a couple of posts between now and then. Thanks to all who followed here this past weekend.

Gateway Marathon Ends

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I will have a mote in depth report later, But just a fe wquick notes.

Josef Newgarden won another race at WWTR, his sixth at this track.

Marcus Ericsson and Christian Rasmussen earned podiums, a much needed result for both.

Palou and the 10 crew are human after all. Palou ran out of fuel before he got to his pit on the final stop, and he lost two laps getting the car restarted.

Caio Collet is tonight’s tough luck story. Collet was in contention for a podium when he lost an engine just before the final yellow for rain.

Rasmussen backed up his performance at Phoenix. He said he felt he had a “third place car. We just didn’t have the pace to hang with the two guys.”

Ericsson said this result is “very important. We’ve worked to get the car more to my liking.”

That will do it for me for tonight. Look for a wrapup later this morning. Thanks for following along the last two days.

Bommarito 500 Race Day (Night)!

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Today’s schedule Times Central

Be alert for time changes due to weather. The Silver Crown schedule has already moved practice, and that race has benn bumped up to 2:30 pm Central.

The most recent from @Indycar_Wxman:

Overall, the weather looks promising to get the entire race e in on time and without interruption.

I am sticking with my pick of David Malukas to win tonight’s race, which I hope is as good as last year’s event. We ned to wait and see what effect a different aero and engine package has on the racing. I’m not sure why IndyCar would change a formula that worked so well last year. The oval races have been by far the best races this season. Let’s not spoil that record.

I will post any weather updates on X @PitWindowToo, and on Threads thepitwindow.

I’ll be back here with a report on any news later this afternoon.

Deja Vu- Palou on Pole

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It was his worst track. Until today. Alex Palou turned a blistering average of 174.35 to beat David Malukas for the top spot in tomorrow’ night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500. The margin was more one mile an hour.

In an ominous statement to the rest of the field, Palou said after practice that he was'”…happier than I’ve ever been at this track.”

Malukas was not too upset with the result, in fact, he was happy his team found something for qualifying after finishing sixth in the morning practice.

Today’s pole is Palou’s fourth in a row, tying a record set by Scott Dixon. The four time series champion has been on pole at Long Beach, the Sonsio Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500, and now at WWTR. Long Beach is the only race he converted to a win.

The last winner from the pole at Gateway was in 2003 when Helio Castroneves won from the first grid position.

Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist spent time at the top of the scoring pylon, as did Marcus Armstrong.

The final three drivers, Palou, Kirkwood, and Malukas- were all too strong for the rest of the field.

Notes

Mick Schumacher had a respectable qualifying in 18th.

Will Power will start a disappointing 21st.

The difference in speed between Palou and 25th place Sting Ray Robb is 6.2 mph.

Next up is highline practice at 8 pm Eastern. Today’s high line practice is different tan at most tracks. Each group will have two 10-minute sessions, alternating between groups. A full 60 minute practice follows at 9 pm Eastern.

Results

Welcome to Gateway

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Sultry summer days have come to the St. Louis area early as the temperature is already 86 degrees with a discomfort index of 91 degrees. A chance of rain still exists for around qualifying time this afternoon.

The schedule: Central time

Cars are firing up forpractice 1. The rest of the day will go with whatever the weather dictates. If you are coming to the track, hydrate and use sunscreen.

I’ll be back after practice with results and to set the qualifying order.

10th Annual Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline Fast Facts

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From IndyCar. Look for my preview tomorrow morning.

Race weekend: Saturday, June 6 – Sunday, June 7
Track: World Wide Technology Raceway, a 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Illinois
Race distance: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline 260 laps / 325 miles | INDY NXT by Firestone: INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway 75 laps / 93.75 miles

Hybrid energy deployment parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of 150 kilojoules (kJ) per lap.
Firestone tire allotment: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Ten new sets for use during the event weekend. An extra set will be provided to teams participating in the high-line session before final practice. INDY NXT by Firestone: Three new sets for use during the event weekend
.X: @WWTRaceway, @IndyCar, #Bommarito500, #INDYCAR
Instagram: @WWTRaceway, @IndyCar, #Bommarito500, #INDYCAR
Threads: @WWTRaceway, @IndyCar, #Bommarito500, #INDYCAR
Facebook: @WWTRaceway, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR
TikTok: @WWT_Raceway, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR
YouTube: @INDYCAR
Event website: www.wwtraceway.com
/INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com

2025 race winners:NTT INDYCAR SERIES Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Siemens Honda) INDY NXT by Firestone Lochie Hugh es (No. 26 Andretti Global)2025 NTT P1 Award winner (NTT INDYCAR SERIES): Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 49.9088 seconds, 180.329 mph (two laps)
2025 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner: Dennis Hauger (No. 28 Andretti Global), 54.1639 seconds, 166.162 mph (two laps)

One-lap qualifying lap record:NTT INDYCAR SERIES Will Power, 23.7206, 189.709 mph, Aug. 25, 2017 INDY NXT by Firestone Caio Collet, 27.0529, 166.341 mph, June 14, 2025

FOX Sports telecasts:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 
Practice 1, 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Qualifying, 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live);
High-line and Final Practice, 8 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Race, 9 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX (live).
Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. |

 INDY NXT by Firestone: 
Practice 1, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live);
Qualifying 6 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live);
Race, 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday, FS1 (live).
Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ coverage of INDY NXT by Firestone alongside analyst Jack Harvey. Georgia Henneberry is the pit reporter. All sessions also air on FOX One.
INDYCAR Radio Powered by OnlyBulls broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Michael Young is the turn announcer. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The 10th Annual Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline race (8:30 p.m. ET Sunday), INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway (5:25 p.m. Sunday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. All INDY NXT by Firestone practice, qualifying sessions and races are available on SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.

At-track schedule (all times local):
SATURDAY, JUNE 6

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, FS1
2:05-2:55 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice, FS2
3:35 p.m. – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 NTT P1 Award qualifying (single car/cumulative time of two laps), FS2
5:05 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway qualifying, FS2
7-8 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES high-line session (two groups/two 10-minute sessions each), FS1
8-9 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, FS1

SUNDAY, JUNE 7
4:31 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway “Drivers Start Your Engines”4:35 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway (75 laps / 93.75 miles), FS1 (Live)
8 p.m. – FOX on air
8:20 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”
8:25 p.m. – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline (260 laps/325 miles), FOX (Live)

Race Notes:There have been five winners in the first eight NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Streets of St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Streets of Long Beach and Streets of Detroit), Josef Newgarden (Phoenix Raceway), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Arlington), Christian Lundgaard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course) and Felix Rosenqvist (Indianapolis 500).
The record for most wins in a season is 10, held by A.J. Foyt (1961) and Al Unser (1970).World Wide Technology Raceway will host the 10th Annual Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline as a prime-time Sunday night INDYCAR SERIES race for the second consecutive season.
The 10th Annual Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline will be the third of six oval races during the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Josef Newgarden won at Phoenix in March, and Felix Rosenqvist won the 110th Indianapolis 500 in May.
Three drivers have won at World Wide Technology Raceway from the pole – Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Gil de Ferran (2002) and Helio Castroneves (2003).Team Penske has won nine times at World Wide Technology Raceway. Penske’s winning drivers are Paul Tracy (1997), Gil de Ferran (2002), Helio Castroneves (2003), Josef Newgarden (2017, 2020-Race 2, 2021, 2022 and 2024) and Will Power (2018). Chip Ganassi Racing has four wins at WWTR, with Alex Zanardi (1998), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000) and Scott Dixon (2020-Race 1 and 2023).Twenty-two drivers have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Scott Dixon has 11 starts, the most among the entered drivers. Rookies Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger and Mick Schumacher will make their first start at WWTR.
Sixteen entered drivers have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 624, Will Power 450, Scott Dixon 422, Pato O’Ward 167, Scott McLaughlin 130, David Malukas 82, Marcus Ericsson 18, Alexander Rossi 18, Santino Ferrucci 8, Kyle Kirkwood 8, Sting Ray Robb 8, Nolan Siegel 8, Felix Rosenqvist 7, Graham Rahal 7, Christian Rasmussen 1 and Rinus VeeKay 1).

INDY NXT by Firestone Notes:
HMD Motorsports’ Enzo Fittipaldi leads INDY NXT by Firestone to World Wide Technology Raceway, looking to extend his lead in the INDYCAR’s development series. The 24-year-old Brazilian-American driver hasn’t raced on an oval since he raced Legends cars early in his career. He leads Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR’s Nikita Johnson by seven points and HMD Motorsports driver Tymek Kucharczyk by eight points entering a pivotal summer stretch of six races in June and July.The INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway will be the series’ 16th race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Previous INDY NXT by Firestone winners at WWT Raceway include Lee Bentham, Townsend Bell, Dan Wheldon, Jeff Simmons, Oliver Askew, David Malukas, Christian Rasmussen, Louis Foster and Lochie Hughes. 
 

Bommarito 500 Preview

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IndyCar begins its way too limited oval portion of the schedule this weekend with an experimental time slot at World Wide Technology Raceway. Father’s Day weekend races have had mixed success in the past. The first attempt to revive Milwaukee on Father’s Day weekend didn’t go very well.

IndyCar’s first non 500 oval caps a busy motorsports weekend which begins tomorrow with the Le Mans 24 hour race and includes the F1 Canadian Grand Prix, and a NASCAR race in Mexico City. Moving the race to Sunday evening makes sense in the context of all the other motorsports events. going on.

The Madison, Illinois venue started off well, and the event has a super promotional team. The August date worked quite well here, but it remains to be seen if this earlier date will be as well received. Changing the starting time to a Sunday evening may boost television viewing, but I’m not sure what it will do for track attendance.

Let’s take a look on what the two day show may bring.

Penske Rebound?

Josef Newgarden has won five times here, including last year, when he benefitted from a controversial restart. Will Power also has a victory in this race, and Scott McLaughlin usually does well on ovals. If Team Penske is going to score a win this season, Sunday is probably their best chance.

Palou Rebound

I can’t believe we are even talking about this, but after Palou’s crash at Detroit, he will be looking to return to form. Now that the three time series champion has notched his first oval win, I think he may begin a run of oval wins.

Others to Watch

David Malukas finished second in this race in 2022, and WWTR has been one of the better tracks for A. J. Foyt Racing. This is a combination that could be a factor in the race.

Alexander Rossi has run well here and has contended at times, but misfortune seems to find him every year. Could this be the year he has a good result?

Pato O’Ward won at Milwaukee last year and is overdue for a victory in 2025. I look for a strong run from the MclAREN TEAM.

Andretti Oval Resurgence

Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta were strong on ovals late last year, and they were strong in the Indianapolis 500. Teammate Marcus Ericsson finished second on track before he and Kirkwood were disqualified.

With so many drivers to choose, I’m going with a Team Penske resurgence, and a Will Power victory this weekend.

Coverage here tomorrow will be a wrap-up at the end of the day of all sessions. I’m not on site this weekend. I will have a quick race summary Sunday evening, and my thoughts on the race on Monday.