For the final time before a one-week break after five consecutive weekends of racing and one of testing, IndyCar returned to oval racing Saturday night for the
For the final time before a one-week break after five consecutive weekends of racing and one of testing, IndyCar returned to oval racing Saturday night for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.and pole position on Saturday, it seemed that his advantage in the championship would continue to extend over Penske's David Malukas and Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood.
However, the World Wide Technology Raceway is simply not his best track. Anything can happen around this 'rectangular' oval, with Kyle Kirkwood taking home his first-ever oval victory last year alongside Christian Rasmussen's maiden podium finish in 2025.in fact, happen — except not in a way that we all expected. IndyCar racing cannot take place in wet conditions due to safety concerns and Firestone Tire compounds.
Rain entered the area of the track, leading to nearly an hour-long red flag followed by a period of racing and a 25-minute red flag. In the end, it was Team Penske's Josef Newgarden who took home the win, extending his streak at the World Wide Technology Raceway. He has won six of the 11 races at this track, and this time, it was with an injury.
While this race was anything but ordinary due to the long weather red flags, that peculiarity was compounded when several drivers were impacted by fueling issues throughout the race. This is generally a strategy issue seen among races like the Indianapolis 500, but not at a shorter race.
First, during a yellow flag restart, Kyffin Simpson ran out of fuel just one lap after his teammates pit for top-offs. The young driver got very lucky, though, when, during the first red flag restart, the team was able to roll his car back out and refuel to rejoin the race.
Chip Ganassi Scott Dixon and Alex Palou | Bob Goshert/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images More notably, Dixon and Palou took a gamble by running an alternate strategy and bet on a yellow flag to get a 'free pit stop' and regain control of the race. However, that yellow – then red for weather – came just one lap too early for the Ganassi pair.
When the cars rejoined the track to prep for the restart, Palou ran out of fuel in the pit lane.. This dropped him from second in the race to 19th. He continued to finish in P17. Considering Palou's very low finishing position, the IndyCar Championship has had a bit of a shakeup.
While Palou still leads, it is now only a 49-point margin to Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti in second, after boasting a 62-point lead just one race ago. Team Penske – namely Josef Newgarden – is considered the strongest around what the series dubs 'short ovals'. Now, bringing home his second oval win of the year, Newgarden continues to prove his salt around this type of track.
Penske, overall, had the strongest finish in the race with Newgarden closely followed by McLaughlin – after his late race surge – in fifth and their newest rookie, David Malukas, in seventh. Then, we can turn our lens to Christian Rasmussen. Rasmussen comes off the heels of his contract renewal at ECR for the foreseeable future, just before the track that brought him his very first IndyCar podium last year.
He finished in the exact same position, third, after battling for the win. Rasmussen's racecraft around a 'short oval' is something to be studied. Not only was he IndyCar's 'biggest mover' today, but he is also one who favors the heavy marbling of the high line on the track. Naturally, his skill around ovals is a massive factor in ECR retaining the young driver for several more years.
IndyCar will return to Fox in two weeks at one of the most famous tracks in America, aptly named Road America in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The race is on Sunday, June 21, at 2 p.m. ET. Kaitlin Tucci has been a fan of motorsport for close to a decade. Before joining On SI in 2025, she contributed heavily to the marketing and media efforts at FanAmp, a motorsports startup for which she was the Head of Marketing.
She has contributed to a number of publications covering series such as Formula 1, IndyCar, IMSA, and more... Kaitlin graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a degree in Business/Marketing and Political Science. She works full time as a marketer at high-growth tech startups while spending her weekends immersed in the world of racing. Kaitlin was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, but has lived in New York City for the past 5 years with her 'giant chihuahua' Willow.
You'll often catch Willow watching races alongside Kaitlin, but unfortunately she doesn't have enough airline miles to join her at the track just yet.
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