Madison, IL – The NTT INDYCAR series headed just west of downtown St. Louis for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, where Josef Newgarden triumphed over Marcus Ericsson. Christian Rasmussen finished in third, followed by Rinus VeeKay and Scott McLaughlin.
This isn’t the first time that the American beat the Swede in a 1-2 finish; Newgarden won the 2023 Indianapolis 500, edging out Ericsson after a controversial red flag that created a final one-lap shootout.
“This Penske Team is unbelievable – my crew and the Chevy engine,” exclaimed Newgarden, still wearing a boot when not in the race car due to an injured left foot from his Turn 4 crash at the 2026 Indianapolis 500 two weeks earlier. “It was a methodical night. I had a good car to start the race. Then the race came to us. Marcus (Ericsson) was super good. I don’t know that I was better than him. It turned into a track position race and it just came down to execution. There was not much difference between Marcus and I. He drove a great race but my team did the job tonight. If I am winning races, it is always because of the car.
“I’m glad we went the distance,” continued Newgarden, who led 53 of the 260 laps while under a threat of rain, earning his sixth win at the St. Louis track and bringing his career total to 34 (tied with Al Unser Jr. for ninth on the all-time win list). “Rain almost turns it into a casino. The key to a good race is to have multiple lanes. I believe the car should be a little harder to drive, having more power (and less downforce). You must have two lanes working at a track because the fans expect it.”
Instead of the strategy centering around how long the tires would last, it turned out to be who could best predict the weather, as the race was stopped twice for moisture. Fortunately, it did not rain heavy enough to lose the race track surface. There were several different strategies in play as some drivers pitted six or more times. And with the timing of the second red flag on Lap 200, drivers could try to stretch their fuel for all 60 remaining laps, or even longer if another caution occurred.
Newgarden took the lead as a result of a faster pit stop than Ericsson’s on Lap 203. His margin of victory was 0.6613 seconds.
“I’m very proud of my performance,” said Ericsson, who dominated the middle of the race, leading 114 laps and earning his first podium of 2026 in a contract year. “It’s tough to be that close and lead that many laps. I thought we had it at some point. Josef is strong on these short ovals. But I wanted that win. So, it is bittersweet to lead that many laps and have such a great car underneath me. My car felt really good at the front. Second is a good result for the team. We had great strategy so I don’t know what else we could have done.
“I studied a lot of videos of Josef leading up to this weekend to see what we could do to improve our performance,” revealed Ericsson. “My crew gave me a car that I could drive the way I wanted. This year has been a big turn-around. We’ve had two DNFs out of our control (Long Beach and IMS Grand Prix). I have new people on my car. They’ve worked really hard to get the car to my liking. I feel I have been driving at my best and it is starting to pay off. Short ovals have been difficult for the Andretti cars but I was able to drive through the field. It shows the hard work has paid off. I felt when I had track position (leading) that no one could overtake me. But Josef was just too strong once he got in front of me. I’m finally feeling confident in the car on all types of tracks, which is a big step for me at the Andretti team. We’ve made some big strides on the car in general and it gives us confidence.”
Always exciting to watch on an oval, Rasmussen, now in his third season with Ed Carpenter Racing, just signed a contract renewal. The Dane went side-by-side with Newgarden and exchanged the lead several times from Lap 215 to 221. Newgarden admitted post-race that he thought Rasmussen was a lap down and not fighting for the lead.
“I had a good race car but not the ultimate pace,” stated Rasmussen, who led five laps, making 38 on-track passes and improving the most positions, with 16. “My car didn’t work super well at the bottom. So, I had to go to the top. I moved forward. That is where my car was happy. I could see Marcus was running the low line but I was just dead slow on the low line. I didn’t have much tire degradation. Thought I’d come back strong at the end (of the stint). We had a third-place car and got third place. This season has been a terrible year and this podium helps us build up our momentum.
“Josef was faster than me and, once he got by me, he took off,” added Rasmussen. “I couldn’t hang with those guys. I had some understeer throughout the race. We dialed in the car as well as we could. We had a good race car, moved forward, was super strong on the high line and at the end of the stints.”
Alex Palou became the first driver since 2011 (Will Power) to win four consecutive pole positions (Indianapolis Sonsio Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500, Detroit Grand Prix, and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500). His two-lap average speed was 174.353 mph, a full mph faster than the other 24 drivers. Palou benefitted by being the last to qualify, having a little help from Mother Nature with the benefit of cloud cover and as temperatures cooled. He led the first 46 laps but, at this track, the polesitter rarely wins.
The race was red flagged for moisture on Lap 137, lasting 38 minutes, just past the halfway point that would’ve made it possible to declare the race complete while Ericsson was in the lead. But the Swede wanted to win going the full 260-lap distance (325 miles). A second red flag on Lap 200 occurred for moisture, again, delaying the action for 14 minutes. Some teams felt they could go the distance, 60 more laps, with one final pit stop.
Chip Ganassi Racing made an uncharacteristic mistake by gambling on rain, keeping their drivers out too long. Circling the track under caution for moisture (Lap 197 while the pits were closed), leader Scott Dixon had to make an emergency stop for fuel on Lap 201, following the second red flag. That put his teammate, Palou, in the lead. When the pits opened a lap later, Palou’s car ran dry as he entered pit lane, causing a number of cars to veer around him. Palou dropped two laps as his car wouldn’t immediately refire when fuel was added, moving him from the lead to a 17th-place finish. Dixon finished 12th.
Fans remained standing in the grandstands after the restarts that followed the red flags. They were treated to battles throughout the field, resulting in a new record of 268 on-track passes. The race had six different leaders. There were four cautions for a total of 60 laps, including one for moisture and two for contact (Lap 55 when Palou and Nolan Siegel touched, sending Siegel into the Turn 1 wall, and when Graham Rahal spun in Turn 4 on Lap 113). The final caution was on Lap 226 for seven laps when Caio Collet’s car slowed while smoking out of the rear.
The 1.25-mile St. Louis track is egg shaped, requiring a compromise on set-up where peak straightaway speeds drop from 180 mph to about 140 mph going through the tighter Turns 1 and 2, banked at 11 degrees, and only drop about 5 mph from 180 to 175 going through Turns 3 & 4, banked at 9 degrees.
INDYCAR reduced both the downforce available and power by lowering the amount of boost pressure (1.3 Kpa instead of 1.5 Kpa) for the St. Louis oval to prevent the right-front tire that carries the weight of the car through the turns from wearing. Specially developed by Firestone to compensate for the higher loads due to the hybrid’s added weight, the right-front tire was actually wider than the left-front, which was first used on the Phoenix one-mile oval in March to allow for increased lateral cornering capability.
Chevy won their third race of the season (Newgarden won on the Phoenix short oval and Christian Lundgaard won on the IMS road course). Honda has won the other six races, including the Indianapolis 500.
At the halfway point of the season, with nine of 18 races complete, Palou still leads the title fight with 342 points. Kyle Kirkwood is in second with 293 points, David Malukas is third, 274, Lundgaard fourth, 246, and Pato O’Ward rounds out the top-five with 239 points.
Teams have a much-needed weekend off and then return to competition on June 21st at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.
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