Josef Newgarden celebrates after winning the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway. Photo by Joe Skibinski

Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series

MADISON, Ill. _ The King of World Wide Technology Raceway has returned to his throne.

Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Chris Owens

Josef Newgarden won for the sixth time in 11 starts on the 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Ill., located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and its signature Gateway Arch. The Team Penske ace endured two rain delays during Sunday night’s race to win a feverish Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. The victory was Newgarden’s second this season, as he also won on the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval in March.

SEE: Race Results 

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion has captured 15 of his 34 career victories on ovals shorter than 1.5-miles. This win came as he recovers from a lower leg injury suffered two weeks ago in the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Podium finishers Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, Christian Rasmussen – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by James Black

“Great job to the group,” said Newgarden, a 35-year-old native of Nashville, Tenn. “Just a methodical night. We had a good car to start. It wasn’t perfect, but it really came to us just when we needed it. It was a track-position day.”

Newgarden, who started eighth, drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by 0.6613-seconds over the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of fellow-Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson of Sweden, who posted a season-best finish. Christian Rasmussen of Denmark finished a season-best third in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing.

The Parade Lap – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by James Black

Dutchman Rinus VeeKay continued the trend of season-best finishes by placing fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. Native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin completing the top-five in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet featuring a throwback Marlboro Racing livery honoring the 2009 Indy 500-winning car driven by Brazilian Helio Castroneves.

Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 221 of the scheduled 260 after a duel with Rasmussen that began almost immediately after a restart on Lap 212. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden in Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 215, but Newgarden drove past Rasmussen in Turn 3 for the top spot on Lap 219.

Josef Newgarden – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by James Black

One lap later, Rasmussen again drove under Newgarden for the lead in Turn 1, one of his race-high 38 on-track passes. But Newgarden countered again in Turn 3 one lap later for a lead he would not surrender. It was the most decisive of an event-record 268 passes for position.

Ericsson sped under Rasmussen for second in Turn 3 on Lap 225 and set his sights on Newgarden. But one lap later, a plume of smoke trailed from the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Racing for Brazilian Caio Collet, who was enjoying the best race of his rookie season by leading seven laps and running consistently in the top-five during the second half of the race.

Christian Lundgaard – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by James Black

That triggered the last of four caution periods, with another wrinkle to concern Newgarden and the lead pack. A host of trailing cars entered the pits for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, while the top eight cars stayed out.

McLaughlin charged toward the front on the restart on Lap 234, climbing from ninth to fifth in just four laps. But the Kiwi and the other cars that pitted for tires didn’t have enough traction or speed to challenge the top-four down the stretch.

Meanwhile, Newgarden maintained a gap of around one-half-second over Ericsson over the closing 10 laps and never was threatened.

Marcus Ericsson – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Marcus,” Newgarden said. “I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us, so it was a matter of who was going to get position on each other, and that was going to seal the deal. He drove a great race.”

Ericsson _ seeking his first win since March 2023 on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. _ added, “I’m very proud of our performance, but at the same time it’s tough to lead that many laps…I thought we had it at some points, but Josef is the best in the business on these short ovals.”

Nolan Seigel – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Chris Owens

Two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes kept strategists’ heads spinning on the pit wall as various permutations and fuel options were considered.

Chip Ganassi Racing rolled the dice earlier by calling NTT P1 Award-winner Alex Palou and teammate Scott Dixon into the pits to top off fuel as soon as the lane opened after the first red flag period, which lasted 38 minutes. The strategy was to get enough caution time to need one fewer fuel stop than rivals or be out-front when a race-ending rain shower arrived.

Alex Palou – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Neither happened _ and Palou paid the price. The four-time/reigning series champion from Spain entered the pits on Lap 203, two laps after native New Zealander Dixon had to enter a closed pit for “emergency service” as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was running out of fuel. Palou’s No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sputtered when it entered the pit lane and ran out of fuel, and he was forced to coast to his pit box for a stop made even longer when his engine wouldn’t re-fire.

Palou’s car finally started and he returned to the track to finish 17th. The two short oval races this season have been Palou’s Achilles’ heel. He finished 24th after contact in March at Phoenix Raceway. That result and Sunday’s disappointing showing are his only finishes outside the top-seven all season.

Palou’s current lead in the standings was trimmed to 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.

Next NTT IndyCar Series race is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Myles Rowe – INDY NXT By Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway – Photo by James Black

Myles Rowe drove from 24^th-and-last in the starting field to win Sunday’s INDY NXT by Firestone race in historic fashion at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Myles Rowe – INDY NXT By Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway – Photo by Aaron Skillman

Rowe authored the longest climb to victory in the 40-year history of INDYCAR’s developmental series. The previous lowest starting spot for a race-winner was 18th, set by Esteban Guerrieri of Argentina in the 2012 Freedom 100 on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

SEE: Race Results

“It’s a chess game out there,” said Rowe, a 25-year-old African American and native of Powder Springs, Ga. “Confidence is key in motorsports. The Abel Motorsports Force Indy guys, they really gave me a car today to have that kind of confidence to have a plan and to be able to execute it.

“I’m so thrilled I could give this to them, especially after the disappointment (Saturday) and having to start from the back. This is no doubt awesome.”

Myles Rowe and Rod Reid – INDY NXT By Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway – Photo by James Black

Rowe drove the No. 99 machine to his first victory of the season and third career INDY NXT victory _ all on ovals _ by 2.2081-seconds over rookie Alessandro de Tullio of Miami in the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing car.

Josh Pierson finished a season-best third in the No. 29 Starchive Andretti entry, prevailing in a fierce battle for the final podium spot with fellow-series veteran Niels Koolen of the Netherlands, who ended up a career-best fourth in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car, and fifth-place Max Taylor in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen machine of Andretti Global.

Rowe was forced to start last after forfeiting his qualifying run Saturday for failure to follow the direction of INDYCAR Officiating. Rowe continued on a third flying lap after taking the checkered for his two-lap run, which would have earned him the pole, due to what he said were radio communication problems.

Alessandro de Tullio, Myles Rowe and Josh Pierson – INDY NXT By Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway – Photo by James Black

Rowe wasted little time charging toward the front on the asymmetrical, 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and its signature Gateway Arch. He drove to 10th by Lap 19 of the 75-lapper, using the high line to zoom past rivals on corner-exit. Rowe passed Taylor for third with a rare inside move in Turn 1 on Lap 32 and set his sights on pole-sitter Lochie Hughes of Australia running second in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine and leader Pierson.

On Lap 41, Rowe passed Hughes for second while running in the middle in a three-wide move entering Turn 3. Rowe then zeroed-in on leader Pierson, who was 1-second ahead but starting to navigate lapped traffic. On Lap 47, Rowe dove under Pierson exiting Turn 4 for a lead he would not surrender. That was the most noteworthy of 229 on-track passes and 183 passes for position in the race _ series records for WWTR.

Myles Rowe – INDY NXT By Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway – Photo by James Black

“It’s a balance, an equilibrium,” Rowe said of his strategy. “There are times where I needed to be aggressive and times I really needed to be calculated. I was definitely trying to make sure I managed the right rear (Firestone Firehawk tire) because I knew at the end that was going to be important, just making sure I kept it underneath me so I had something for the end.”

As noted during the live telecast on FOX Sports, Rowe watched the ensuing INDYCAR night race from the pit box of eventual winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske.

Two caution periods bunched the field in the last 22 laps, with the yellow flying for debris on Lap 54 _ which Rowe ran over at-speed while leading without any damage to his car _ and for a two-car accident on Lap 61 involving veterans Salvador de Alba of Mexico in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports entry and Wisconsin native Yuven Sundaramoorthy in the No. 15 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car. Neither driver was injured.

Pierson made his last gasp for the lead on Lap 68 after the final restart, looking under Rowe in Turn 1. But he couldn’t complete the pass and Rowe rocketed away over the closing laps to win comfortably.

Myles Rowe – INDY NXT By Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway – Photo by James Black

The series points lead changed hands again as rookie Nikita Johnson returned to the top after finishing seventh in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car. Johnson is two points ahead of previous championship leader and fellow-rookie Enzo Fittipaldi, who finished 13th in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports machine. Rookie Tymek Kucharczyk of Poland is five points behind Johnson in third after placing ninth in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry.

While not as dramatic as Rowe’s charge, Fittipaldi climbed from 23rd after starting from pit lane due to a mechanical problem. The resident of Miami already had forfeited his guaranteed qualifying attempt Saturday due to a mechanical issue while rolling out for qualifying that prevented the No. 67 car from going through technical inspection.

Next INDY NXT by Firestone races are a double-header at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21.