Newgarden Wins Bommarito Automotive Group 500

By Jeff Thornton

The weather played a major part of strategy in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.  The race schedule was rearranged on Sunday due to incoming rain. The race started about 25 minutes early with pole setter Alex Palou starting the race past the exploding fireworks on the backstretch of the track. Palou has won the pole in the past four races, something that has not been done since 2011. This was the first time in seven races that Palou had led laps at World Wide Technology raceway. He led 49 laps on the day but had issues after the second red flag of race and would run out of gas and finish two laps down.

The first caution of the day came on lap 54 when Nolan Siegel brushed the wall. The second caution came on lap 113 when Graham Rahal made contact in turn 3. The weather began with some light sprinkles around lap 134 bringing out the first red flag and Marcus Ericksson was in the lead at the time.  Ericsson has not won an oval race since the 2022 Indy 500.  Many of the drivers had to change race strategy with the radar showing rain. Drivers such as Palou pitted for tires and gas.  The race would be delayed 38 minutes and the race restarted. There were 30 plus minutes of green flag racing until another rain burst happened around the 195 lap. Several drivers were ready to pit but were unable to due to the second red flag. This time after the cars were started, Palou fell about 200 feet short of his pit and the gas can before he stalled on pit lane. He went from first to 20th in a matter of minutes.

The third driver caution came rookie; Caio Collet had some mechanical issues bringing out the caution on lap 226. On the restart, Christian Rasmussen and Newgarden raced each other for the lead. Newgarden had a stronger car and took control of the race. “I thought Rasmussen was a lap down so when he was racing me hard I was kind of confused,” said Newgarden. “When I saw him on the podium I asked what are you doing here’. Newgarden would have one last challenge from Marcus Ericsson in the final ten laps but Newgarden would prevail and win for the sixth time at World Wide Technology Raceway. He has won 5 of the last 7 races. “We have had some success here but our goal as a team is to win every week, which is our mindset.  We had a super car tonight and when we got in the lead, the clean air really gave us momentum,” added Newgarden. There were 268 passes for position. Ericsson led a race high of 114 laps.  This was Josef Newgarden’s 20 career oval victory, his second of the season and 34th career win. Ericsson finished second and Rasmussen finished third.

One of the most exciting races of the weekend was the NXT series race. Myles Rowe started last in the 24th position and came all the way to the front and won the race.  “We had an unbelievable run. I used the high line of the track and had enough tires to win,” said Rowe. In fact, his fastest lap was the final lap.

The USAC Silver Crown race was won by the pole setter, C. J. Leary. Leary led all 65 laps.  It was another fun weekend of racing and fun at the World Wide Technology Raceway.  The next race will be the Enjoy Illinois NACar Race on Sunday, September 13.