Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden prevailed through rain, red flags and chaos to win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
The Tennessee native outlasted a fight to the finish against Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, fending him off over the final 35 laps to win by 0.6613s at the 1.25- mile egg-shaped oval. It marks the 34th victory of his career (ninth all-time), and a record-extending sixth at the track just outside of St. Louis.
Ericsson, who led 114 of 260 laps, scored his best result of the season with second. ECR’s Christian Rasmussen charged up 16 spots to take third.
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay crossed the finish line fourth, ahead of Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin.
The Race
Pole-sitter Palou jumped out to a strong start, with Malukas filing in behind.
Through the opening 10 laps, it was Caio Collet but six spots to 14th, with Marcus Ericsson matching the tally and improving from 12th to sixth. Ericsson broke into the top five by Lap 20.
Palou was untouchable for the opening 30 laps, leading every lap and holding firm with a 1.4s lead over Malukas, with Newgarden third. However, Malukas closed that gap by Lap 42 but was suddenly passed by Newgarden and Ericsson to slide back to fourth.
Ericsson surged by Newgarden into Turn 3 on Lap 45, with Newgarden sliding back to fourth as Malukas also got by.
After getting held up by backmarker Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Palou lost the lead to Ericsson on Lap 47.
Ericsson pitted from the lead on Lap 51, a lap later than Palou. Scott Dixon took over the race lead as a result.
Once the cycle was complete, Ericsson held a solid advantage of 0.3s over Newgarden and Palou. Moments later, however, Palou and backmarker Nolan Siegel touched entering Turn 1, sending the latter into the Turn 1 wall and bringing out the caution. Race Control did not take action on Palou for the incident.
A restart on Lap 64 saw Ericsson fend off a tight fight from Newgarden, with the pair making slight contact.
Despite the contact, Ericsson managed to extend out to a 0.7s lead over Newgarden, with Palou 1.7s back.
Through 75 laps, Ericsson led, followed by Newgarden, Palou, Malukas, and Kirkwood among the top five. Dixon was sixth, with rookie Caio Collet seventh, and Rinus VeeKay eighth.
Ericsson’s advantage grew to 1s over Newgarden by Lap 88, with Palou a distant third at 4.2s behind.
Ericsson continued to hold firmly out front by 1.1s through 100 laps, but caught backmarker traffic. Newgarden closed to within 0.3s as Ericsson pushed through traffic two laps later.
Newgarden dove to pit lane on Lap 106, but suffered a slow stop. Veekay and Malukas stopped at the same time, with the former getting out ahead. Ericsson pitted on Lap 108, handing the lead to Collet.
Collet dove to pit lane on Lap 114, with the caution waving moments later after Graham Rahal suffered a hard crash in turn 4. Dixon assumed the lead, but had yet to pit until a few moments later. He handed the lead back to Ericsson, with Collet in second and Dixon coming out third.
Under the extended caution, Kyffin Simpson ended up stopped in Turn 3 after running out of fuel. He exited his #8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in disgust, shaking his head after getting out.
First red flag for weather
The raindrops came during the caution laps, which led to a red flag on Lap 137. Ericsson brought the field to pit lane as a result.
After a 38-minute red flag, which saw drivers briefly exit their cars, the field went back out on track and ran laps under caution preparing to go back green.
A few drivers dove to pit lane on Lap 141 with the focus on making it on one more stop, led by Dixon, Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, and Malukas. Simpson’s crew pushed his car back down pit lane and refueled it, albeit 20 laps down.
Ericsson led Collet to the restart on Lap 144, with Marcus Armstrong getting by the lead to get his lap back.
Newgarden attempted to make an outside pass on Collet on Lap 145, but was unsuccessful. Two laps later, though, Newgarden got by Collet to take second. Ericsson held a 0.7s lead.
Ericsson continued to be stuck behind Armstrong, allowing Newgarden to close within 0.3s by Lap 152. Ericsson was able to finally get by at the end of the lap, with Newgarden following in Turn 1.
With 100 laps to go, Ericsson held a 0.9s lead over Newgarden, with Collet third at 4.4s back. ECR’s Christian Rasmussen was the one on the move, and propelled by Will Power to take third.
VeeKay got by Kirkwood and Power to move up to fifth, and sat less than 1s behind Rasmussen for fourth. Ericsson’s lead was 1.5s ahead of Newgarden by Lap 171, with Collet 9s behind.
Kirkwood dove to pit lane on Lap 172, with VeeKay coming down the following lap. Rasmussen and Power dipped down on Lap 174. Ericsson pitted from the lead on Lap 178, right as he caught the backmarker of Robb. Newgarden came down for service the next lap. Collet pitted on Lap 180.
The cycle saw Newgarden ahead of Ericsson, while Dixon assumed the race lead.
Second red flag
The caution came out on Lap 197 due to conditions, with Dixon in the lead. Palou was second, with Newgarden third, Ericsson fourth, and Rasmussen in fifth.
A second red flag came out on Lap 200, with Dixon leading the field to pit lane.
Following a 14-minute halt, the red flag left and the field rolled back off pit lane. Dixon was forced to dive to pit lane for emergency service the following lap, handing the lead to teammate Palou.
Palou led the field to pit lane, but ran out of fuel on pit lane and slowed to his pit stop. Meanwhile, the rest of the lead lap cars also pitted, with Newgarden winning the race off pit lane, ahead of Rasmussen, Ericsson, VeeKay, and Collet.
Newgarden led the field to the restart with 48 laps to go, with Rasmussen pulled by the lapped ECR teammate of Alexander Rossi that was between him and the leader. Rasmussen caught Newgarden and threw it into Turn 1 with 46 laps to go, with the pair nearly touching as he took the lead.
Rasmussen led Newgarden by 0.4s, with Ericsson 0.7s behind and VeeKay 1.2s back in a four-driver race .
Newgarden returned an inside move on Rasmussen in Turn 3 with 42 laps to go, but Rasmussen fought back to retake the lead into Turn 1 the next lap. Newgarden went back to the front the next lap, with Rasmussen unable to retaliate.
Ericsson went to the inside of Rasmussen to take second entering Turn 3 with 35 laps to go, with the caution coming out once more as smoke erupted from Collet’s #4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.
The battle for the win
With 26 laps to go, Newgarden led Ericsson, Rasmussen, VeeKay, and Kirkwood to the green flag. McLaughlin, with a fresh set of tires, was on the charge after restarting ninth, up to sixth a lap later. McLaughlin made it up to fifth a lap later with an outside pass on Kirkwood in Turn 3.
Newgarden continued to lead with 20 laps to go, with Ericsson hanging tough at 0.3s back.
VeeKay tried to dive under Rasmussen to take third with 12 laps to go, but was unsuccessful.
The gap was 0.5s between Newgarden and Ericsson, with Rasmussen a distant third at 1.7s behind.
Ericsson was 0.7s behind Newgarden with five laps to go. The gap stayed the same over the next two laps.
In the end, Newgarden held firm ahead of Ericsson, with Rasmussen taking the final spot on the podium.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
