Hurt feelings, heated tempers, intense drama and a thrilling finish resulted in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline delivering one of the best races of the season.
The 676 on-track passes in the 260-lap race were the most since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned to World Wide Technology Raceway in 2017. Of those passes, 254 were for positioning, including 115 in the top 10 and 44 in the top 5.
The 21 lead changes were also the most in 16 races on the 1.25-mile track.
“It was good,” said sixth-place Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda) of the action. “I think everyone was kind of surprised at how good the racing was. The mix, where not everyone was saving fuel, created a split that offered a lot of overtaking opportunities. I was impressed with the show we put on. It was fun to play with the hybrid. I think it helped me overtake a lot of cars.”
Rookie Marcus Armstrong thought his No. 11 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda could pass in the second lane all night.
“It was pretty damn cool,” he said. “When you can do the High Line, it’s awesome. Restarts, there’s all the grip in the world up there, it’s fun. Tonight was much better than expected. I thought the Firestone Racing tire was very good.”
One of the reasons his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was able to fight its way through the field from 25th place and finish fourth before receiving a locking penalty and dropping back to fifth was minimal tire wear, according to Colton Herta.
“I think it just goes to show that this whole conspiracy to severely impair the performance of the race cars is going to improve the racing and I think it can, but we just proved it today,” he said. It was absolutely zero degrees and we had incredible battles all over the field. We had two lanes for some guys and it really came down more to whether you could maneuver your car properly and if the car was better you could get high. That’s how it should be. It takes so much skill and you’re still working on getting past people. It was awesome and a lot of fun. It was definitely the best one or two oval races for me in my career.”
Malukas competes with Penskes, the day ends disappointingly
Two years ago, David Malukas joked on WWTR, “Oh my God, those are Penskes. I’m for Penskes now. This is crazy.”
Malukas finished second this year behind Josef Newgarden of Team Penske and ahead of another Penske driver, Scott McLaughlin.
Two years later, Malukas was in the mix with the three Team Penske drivers throughout the race. Starting second alongside NTT P1 Award winner McLaughlin, Malukas passed his No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet on lap 15 to take the lead.
Malukas was in a head-to-head battle with Newgarden’s No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and Will Power’s No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet for most of the race.
Unfortunately, the exciting race with the Penske drivers ended in disappointment. Malukas and Power collided in turn 1 on lap 240 and were battling for the possible race win.
Leader McLaughlin and second-placed Newgarden were running low on fuel and would likely have to pit for some Shell 100% renewable race fuel.
Power and Malukas had already pitted and were engaged in an intense battle for the top positions that would have been possible had the cars pitted before them.
Malukas lost control after contact between the two and spun his No. 66 AutoNation Arctic Wolf Honda for Meyer Shank Racing into the Turn 1 SAFER barrier.
“I went down the inside,” Malukas said of the incident. “We were side by side. He just didn’t give me enough room. He hit me. I mean, there’s no room. I’m right on the white line.”
Power continued to race but was eliminated from the race after an accident on the ensuing restart. He drove past the infield care center and shouted his displeasure at Malukas about the incident.
“He calls me an idiot. I mean, dude, I’m down inside,” Malukas said. “You have a second lead. I don’t understand how I can be an idiot when you’re pushing me down. I wouldn’t have done anything differently. It was a good move. I had the time for the run.”
Malukas said he knew Power well and generally got on well with him. He said he would speak to him when he had calmed down and try to better understand the incident.
Siegel has a new engineer
Brian Campe replaced Robert Gue as race strategist and engineer for rookie driver Nolan Siegel. The move was announced before the race, with Gue leaving his position at Arrow McLaren to “explore other options”.
The move paid off, as Siegel drove his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to a career-best seventh place finish. Siegel had high praise for Campe for helping him gain 13 places in the race.
Campe won the 2015 Indianapolis 500 with Team Penske as an engineer for Juan Pablo Montoya. Campe stayed with the No. 2 Chevrolet when Newgarden joined the team in 2017. Newgarden won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in his first season with Campe.
Campe later moved to NASCAR, joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2022. When HMS driver Kyle Larson attempted to win the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in May, Campe came along and became his race strategist.
Seeing an opportunity, Campe decided to leave HMS and return to Arrow McLaren alongside Siegel for the final five races of the 2024 season.
Armstrong on his first visit to WWTR
“I’m learning something new every lap here,” Armstrong said after finishing 10th in his No. 11 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Valvoline and Axalta.
Although Armstrong was named Rookie of the Year last season, he only competed on road and street circuits. Ovals like the World Wide Technology Raceway were new to him this season. The New Zealand native has no experience on circuits; his first start on an oval was the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
That race lasted a full six laps, and a mechanical failure ended his race early. His only other oval experience was the Iowa Speedway doubleheader on July 13 and 14, when he finished 10th and 19th, respectively.
The fact that he managed to finish eighth on the 1.25-mile track this weekend is simply incredible.
“I’m doing something different and trying to figure out how to do it,” he said. “You just have to do what you want the car to do. You don’t know until you try it on these ovals. Even the way the car handles is not quite normal compared to what I’m used to.”
Odds and ends
· Alex Zanardi (1998), Josef Newgarden (2017) and Scott Dixon (2020 Race 1) are the only World Wide Technology Raceway winners to win the INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season. Newgarden is unlikely to win the title this year.
· McLaughlin’s second-place finish on Saturday night was the first second-place finish for Team Penske at this track since Helio Castroneves in 2002.
· Mikala McGhee, Saturday’s Fastest Seat in Sports nominee, is the daughter of Doug McGhee, a football teammate of NTT INDYCAR SERIES President Jay Frye on the Missouri Tigers.
Next year’s WWTR race will be rescheduled to a new date: June 15th.
