Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Paul Hurley

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden admitted his half-spin-and-win during Saturday night’s INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was “a little clumsy.”

Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

That was among the more polite-and-printable terms being uttered by his NTT IndyCar Series peers after a late-race crash during a restart paced by Newgarden proved pivotal to the outcome at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. 

Newgarden and teammate Scott McLaughlin were running 1-2 in front of Colton Herta of Andretti Global and Penske’s Will Power coming to a restart with nine laps remaining in the scheduled 260-lapper. When Newgarden accelerated under green, Power appeared to bump Herta. Power then checked-up enough to have Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi run into the back of his car. Rossi’s car went airborne momentarily, with both machines smacking the inside wall.

Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

It was a crushing blow especially for Power, who began the race second in the point standings in a bid for a third series title.

Speaking over his in-car radio, Herta accused Newgarden of brake-checking the field and said he should be penalized. After exiting his wrecked car, Power called-out “the leader” _ Newgarden _ for getting in and out of the gas while rounding Turn 4. Power delivered those remarks during a rather tame TV interview. Upon returning to his pit stall, however, Power was visibly agitated while “discussing” the incident with his crew.

Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Paul Hurley

Newgarden admitted post-race he had accelerated late in the restart zone, but defended his strategy.

“It was definitely late,” said Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. “I was trying to go as late as I could. I’ve done a lot of restarts from the front. It’s not that different from other restarts that have gone late.

“I don’t know that I’d change much. If anyone especially on our team wants to look at the data (referencing Power), you’re going to see a very consistent speed. What it looked like to me, when he stopped on the red, I saw the replay, what looked like happened is it went green momentarily before I went, just momentarily. I’m talking like half-a-second or a second.

Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“If it’s just that slight difference in timing, if race control goes green and I haven’t gone yet for just a second, I think people were trying to jump, which we’ve had a problem with, to be honest. We’ve had a problem with jump-starts the last two years. It’s a constant topic in the driver meeting. If there’s just a slight miscue there, I think people are very on-edge on these restarts trying to get the run. It looked like it miss-timed in the back, at least with one individual and that’s what caused a problem.

“From my side, it’s the last thing you want to happen at the end. I don’t want to create a wreck. I was not trying to do that. That was not my intention. I did the same speed. The next time through I just went a little sooner. It looked like the green going slightly early was the big miscue. That’s my take seeing it from the car, just going off live. Yeah, that’s how I saw it.”

Alex Palou – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

The benefactor was point-leader and two-time/reigning series champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. At the sight of the green, the Spaniard dove to the inside lane in a bid to advance from seventh place. That decision kept him out of the fray that became a four-car accident, and after a red flag period for cleanup, Palou turned the opportunity into a championship moment. He finished fourth to add more points to his overall lead.

Driver of the No. 10 Samaritan Purse Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou will take a 59-point lead into the season’s final four races.

“The worst part (of the victory) is (Power) not making it home,” Newgarden said upon exiting his car. “I hate that that happened at the very end. That’s the last thing you want to happen with 10 (laps) to go is to create a mess.”

Will Power – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Chris Owens

Power was denied more than a chance at a victory. The native Australian ended up losing 17 points to Palou and dropped to fourth in the standings behind Herta and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the six-time series champ from New Zealand. Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet, led a race-high 117 laps.

“Where are you supposed to go?” said Power, now 66 points out of the series lead. “In between (Turns) 3 and 4 (the leader) he just waited, then he went. He went, he stopped. I knew that was going to happen. As soon as I checked-up because (others) checked-up, I knew I was going to get pounded (from behind). Man, disappointing. We had such a good car.”

Alexander Rossi and Graham Rahal – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Paul Hurley

Rossi, driver of the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 19^th. “I’m so very disappointed with this result,” Rossi said. “I don’t know what anyone can do in that situation when the leader is brake- checking the field. It’s heartbreaking for the team as we had a great race going and should have easily finished in the top five or better.”

Earlier, Newgarden deftly recovered from a spin exiting Turn 4 of the 1.25-mile oval while trying to pass Palou on the outside on Lap 196. That moment conjured up memories of Danny Sullivan’s “spin-and-win” between Turns 1 and 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan, of course, was driving for team-owner Roger Penske.

Josef Newgarden – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“Yeah, great reference,” Newgarden said. “Certainly not as beautiful as Danny’s. Man, he pirouetted. That was a really pretty victory, right? Mine was probably a little more clumsy looking. But the same. I never thought I’d have one of those, too. Very cool.

“The fortunate part, why I got lucky with it, when I went sideways, went yellow immediately, right? I think I lost one position to Will at that time. I went back to third. We were all about pit. We needed to pit potentially. I was able to pit, get fresh tires. No harm, no foul basically. Got really, really lucky with it. Was able to basically mess-up, push too hard, then say, ‘That’s where the line is. I can just go back and know where it’s at.’^”

Indeed, Newgarden’s pit crew contributed mightily to his second win of the season. The crew changed four tires on the final stop in just over 5-seconds to get their driver out of the pits ahead of McLaughlin, who had been the leader.

Scott McLaughlin – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“It was 1-on-1 with the teams on the pit stop,” said McLaughlin, the native of New Zealand who started on-pole and led 67 laps. “We lost track position.”

Newgarden had to hold off McLaughlin for one final restart, breaking away cleanly as McLaughlin said his No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet bogged down briefly.

“The last yellow was good for us,” McLaughlin said. “Then all the kerfuffle at the end. Ultimately it was I think just nice to bring home really good points. All we can do. Keep knocking out results.”

Asked his opinion of the events leading up to “the kerfuffle,” McLauglin said the series restart rules have changed this season. “They were probably a bit lenient on jump-starts, whatnot, people getting runs before green flag,” said McLaughlin, referring to the race stewards. “I guess my strategy all year in some ways has been to be as close as I can to the car in front. Most people are like that because you’re limiting the concertina effect that you have. I was right up Josef’s gearbox.

Scott McLaughlin – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

“It’s not up to me to review. It’s an INDYCAR thing. Personally, I think he restarted very late. That was probably more the problem. I just wish we did a restart like we did on the last restart ’cause I think we potentially could have had a first, second, third for the team, or first, second, fourth.

“It’s not up to me to judge that. From my perspective, it didn’t need to happen. But I’m also not driving the No. 2 car, and no one else is but him. Ultimately we all make decisions. He thought that was the right restart to make. It sucks for everyone behind us. He got the win. Doesn’t really matter for him. Will is crashed-out, and a few others. Yeah, it sucks I guess for the spectacle at the end.”

Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden and Linus Lundqvist – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Newgarden added to his growing legend at the facility outside St. Louis. Josef won his first race in 2017 in his inaugural season with Team Penske, then added three in succession in 2020, 2021 and 2022. That’s five in nine tries (as there were two races in 2020).

The win was the 31st of Newgarden’s career, tying Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves for 10th place on the sport’s all-time list. Recall that Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 for a second consecutive year in May.

“I think the team needed (the win),” said Newgarden, who led 17 laps en route to victory by 1.7260-seconds. “They’ve done a great job…on the No. 2 car specifically. They’ve given me race-winning cars throughout the year _ even past Indy _ and they haven’t materialized (into wins). So, it’s nice to get another one on the board.”

Linus Lundqvist – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Rookie Linus Lundqvist of Sweden charged through the lead group in the waning laps to grab his second top-three finish in the series. The leader in the Rookie of the Year standings passed Palou and Herta to grab the final spot on the podium. Lundqvist, driver of the No. 8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, also finished third at Barber Motorsports Park in April.

Herta had the fourth car across the finish line, but his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian was later penalized one position for a blatant blocking attempt on Lundqvist. That handed fourth place to Palou with Herta fifth. Still, Herta moved into second place in the standings.

Colton Herta – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Chris Owens

The race produced an event-record 21 passes for the lead, a figure that smashed the previous mark of 13. Eleven drivers held the top spot as a multitude of pit strategies were in play, including a different one by each of the three Team Penske drivers. Additionally, action throughout the field produced 676 on-track passes with 254 of those happening for position _ both event records.

Herta, who started 25th in the 27-car field due to a crash in qualifying, got things going in a hurry. He sliced his way through a four-wide rush to the opening green flag, part of grabbing six positions on the first lap.

Ed Carpenter Racing owner/driver Carpenter and Dale Coyne Racing’s Katherine Legge engaged in early contact in Turn 1 on Lap 8, and on Lap 17 there was contact aplenty on the back straight. A bobble by Carpenter’s teammate, Rinus VeeKay of The Netherlands, triggered a chain reaction that saw Conor Daly and his Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet get turned from behind by Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. Daly’s teammate, Frenchman Romain Grosjean, also was collected. Grosjean and Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey of Great Britian also became part of the Power-Rossi squabble with eight laps to go.

David Malukas – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas, who led 11 laps, was contending for the win when he took contact from Power with 21 laps remaining. The two were battling for the effective race lead in Turn 1. Malukas was running in the bottom lane when he failed to squeeze under Power.

Pato O’Ward became a reluctant early spectator when his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet lost power after completing only 42 laps en route to finishing 26^th in the 27-car field.

“We’re not quite sure if it was a (coolant) leak or if it was a plain engine failure; we’ll just have to see,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “It’s been a year of ups-and-downs, and at this point, we just want to be winning races. There are four to go, so there are plenty of points on the table. In terms of the championship, we’ll just see where we stack up at the end of the year. At this point, all I care about is winning races.”

There won’t be much time to sort through the various replays and explanations. The series returns to action in six days for the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway in Oregon.

No matter the INDY NXT by Firestone circuit, Louis Foster has conquered it _ especially recently.

The 21-year-old Andretti Global driver from Great Britian won for the sixth time in the past eight series races Saturday, turning the OUTFRONT Showdown at World Wide Technology Raceway into his second consecutive oval victory. During this dominating stretch, Foster has claimed three wins on permanent road-courses (at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and twice at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca) and another on a street circuit (Detroit).

Louis Foster – OUTFRONT Showdown – Photo by Joe Skibinski

His sixth victory pushed Foster into a tie for 10th place in series history for wins in a season, and his eight career series wins now are tied for seventh all-time. In the past decade, only Kyle Kirkwood (10 wins in 2021), Pato O’Ward (nine in 2018), Oliver Askew (seven in 2019) and David Malukas (seven in 2021) have more frequently been to Victory Lane.

Starting on-pole, Foster led all 75 laps and his margin at the finish line of 3.3406-seconds could have been larger had he pushed his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies machine harder.

“I built a really strong gap at the start and then once I realized my pace was really strong we just backed (off) massively,” Foster said. “I was just massively tire-saving kind of halfway through the race.”

A late restart allowed Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports, among others, to close the gap, but Foster again put them away in short order. “When the caution came out it wasn’t the best thing in the world, but I knew I had a good car and could pull away again,” Foster said.

Louis Foster – OUTFRONT Showdown – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Abel finished second in his Abel Motorsports entry, while teammate Yuven Sundaramoorthy placed third for the best series finish of his career. “I think we fully maximized it today,” Abel said.

Still, there has been no keeping pace with Foster, who stretched his series lead to 91 points over Abel with three races remaining. Next up is the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 25. Foster, who won last year’s race from P1, will have the opportunity to clinch the season championship with a similar performance.

The season’s last two races are on ovals _ Aug. 31 at The Milwaukee Mile and Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Saturday’s 75-lapper got off to a rough start. The initial green flag was waved-off due to the field’s poor alignment. On the first lap at speed, rookie Myles Rowe spun his No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car without contact in Turn 2 to bring out the caution.

Just after Foster completed the first full lap under green, an accident behind him sent Andretti Global teammate Jamie Chadwick, the No. 2 qualifier in the No. 28 VEXT entry, and rookie Caio Collet into the inside wall on the frontstretch.

Collet and his No. 18 HMD Motorsports machine were able to continue following repairs, but he was penalized for avoidable contact and blocking. Chadwick’s car was too damaged to continue.

“From my side, I didn’t move,” said Chadwick, who led all 20 laps in the June 9 race at Road America, one of two in the past eight races where Foster finished second. “The margins in this championship are so narrow. We were so close (on the front straightaway). When we race close and well, it’s fine. Obviously, that is just a little too close.”

On Lap 52, Josh Pierson lost control of his No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry as he turned into Turn 4. The car slid into the wall, hitting with the rear. He, like Chadwick, was uninjured.

Results of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline NTT IndyCar Series event on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 260, Running
   2. (1) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 260, Running
   3. (18) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 260, Running
   4. (16) Alex Palou, Honda, 260, Running
   5. (25) Colton Herta, Honda, 260, Running
   6. (11) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 259, Running
   7. (20) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 259, Running
   8. (10) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 259, Running
   9. (24) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 259, Contact
   10. (12) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 259, Running
   11. (19) Scott Dixon, Honda, 258, Running
   12. (17) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 258, Running
   13. (9) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 258, Running
   14. (15) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 258, Running
   15. (23) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 257, Running
   16. (6) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 257, Running
   17. (21) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 252, Running
   18. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 250, Running
   19. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 250, Contact
   20. (26) Jack Harvey, Honda, 249, Contact
   21. (2) David Malukas, Honda, 238, Contact
   22. (5) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 207, Contact
   23. (14) Graham Rahal, Honda, 161, Mechanical
   24. (7) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 151, Mechanical
   25. (22) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 84, Contact
   26. (8) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 42, Mechanical
   27. (27) Katherine Legge, Honda, 7, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 136.870 mph
Time of Race: 02:22:28.2772
Margin of victory: 1.7260-seconds
Cautions: 6 for 49 laps 
Lead changes: 21 among 11 drivers

Lap Leaders
McLaughlin, Scott 1 – 15
Malukas, David 16 – 26
Power, Will 27 – 60
McLaughlin, Scott 61
Siegel, Nolan 62 – 66
Rossi, Alexander 67 – 68
Lundqvist, Linus 69
Rahal, Graham 70 – 74
Power, Will 75 – 118
McLaughlin, Scott 119 – 120
Rossi, Alexander 121 – 126
Ericsson, Marcus 127 – 138
Dixon, Scott 139 – 143
Siegel, Nolan 144 – 146
Ericsson, Marcus 147
Power, Will 148 – 168
McLaughlin, Scott 169 – 170
Robb, Sting Ray 171 – 178
McLaughlin, Scott 179 – 199
Power, Will 200 – 217
McLaughlin, Scott 218 – 243
Newgarden, Josef 244 – 260

NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 443; 2, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 384; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 378; 4, Will Power, Team Penske, 377; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 370; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 345; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 322; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 317; 9, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 277; 10, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 249;

11, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 249; 12, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 244; 13, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 229; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 227; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 221; 16, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 213; 17, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 209; 18, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 205; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 151; 20, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 144;

21, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 138; 22, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 115; 23, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 109; 24, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 109; 25, David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing, 92; 26, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 91; 27, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 90; 28, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 29, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 45; 30, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 43;

31, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 32, Toby Sowery, Dale Coyne Racing, 32; 33, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 29; 34, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 29; 35, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 36, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 37, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 38, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 39, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 40, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10;

41, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 42, Hunter McElrea, Dale Coyne Racing, 6; 43, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5.