Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Fast Facts
Race weekend: Saturday, Aug. 21
Track: World Wide Technology Raceway, a 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Illinois
Race distance: 260 laps / 325 miles
Firestone tire allotment: Nine sets for use throughout the weekend
Twitter: @WWTRaceway, @IndyCar, #Bommarito500, #IndyCar
Event website: www.wwtraceway.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2020 race winners: Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) and Josef Newgarden (No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet)
2020 NTT P1 Award winners: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 24.6718 seconds, 182.394 mph) and Takuma Sato (No. 30 ABeam Consulting Honda), 24.6577 seconds, 182.499 mph)
One-lap qualifying record: Will Power, 23.7206 seconds, 189.709 mph, Aug. 25, 2017
NBCSN television broadcasts: Race, 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 21 (live). Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for the NBCSN telecast alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.
Peacock Premium Live Streaming: The NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session and qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman is the turn announcer. Ryan Myrehn and Jake Query will report from the pits. The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will air live on network affiliates, Sirius XM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Saturday, Aug. 21
12:15-1:45 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice #1, Peacock Premium (live)
4 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps), Peacock Premium (live)
7 p.m. – NBCSN on air
7:40 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”
7:45 p.m. – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (260 laps/305 miles), NBCSN (Live)
Championship facts:
Alex Palou leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with four races to go for the first time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Palou has led the point standings after eight of the 12 races this season.
Since the first INDYCAR SERIES race at World Wide Technology Raceway, the winning driver has won the INDYCAR SERIES championship three times: Alex Zanardi (1998), Josef Newgarden (2017) and Scott Dixon (2020-Race 1).
Key championship point statistic: Since 2008, the largest deficit overcome by the eventual champion was 59 points by Dario Franchitti in 2010, while Scott Dixon overcame Juan Pablo Montoya’s 54-point lead in 2015. The top five drivers in the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings are separated by 62 points.
Point differential: The 21 points that separate Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward is the fifth-closest point margin since 2008. Before this season, the average lead with four races to go since 2008 was 38.9 points.
Race notes:
There have been nine different winners in 12 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park, Road America), Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500), Marcus Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1, Streets of Nashville), Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) and Will Power (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-2) have all won in 2021. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
There have been eight different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden and Will Power) The only repeat winners in that stretch are O’Ward (Texas-2 and Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2) and Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1 and Streets of Nashville)
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be the 13th INDYCAR SERIES race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden split the doubleheader races in 2020. Paul Tracy won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at WWTR in 1997. Dixon, Newgarden, Takuma Sato (2019) and Will Power (2018) are the former winners entered in this year’s race.
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be the fourth and final oval race of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. The previous oval races were won by Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2) and Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis Motor Speedway).
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 six 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) and Will Power (2018). Chip Ganassi Racing has three wins at Gateway with Alex Zanardi (1998), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000) and Scott Dixon (2020-Race 1).
Twenty-one drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Tony Kanaan has nine starts, most among the entered drivers. Fourteen entered drivers have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 268, Scott Dixon 251, Will Power 200, Takuma Sato 145, Pato O’Ward 130, Kanaan 21, Colton Herta 20, James Hinchcliffe 20, Simon Pagenaud 13, Sebastien Bourdais 6, Alexander Rossi 4, Felix Rosenqvist 3, Marcus Ericsson 2 and Conor Daly 1).
Two rookies – Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin – are expected to compete. Both rookies along with Dalton Kellett will make their first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start at World Wide Technology Raceway. It will be Grosjean’s first race on an oval.
