Series of cautions and bad weather; Newgarden emerges as winner at Gateway

Racing under the lights, in a mix of rain, several cautions, and an injured foot, Josef Newgarden stands victorious at the Gateway 500. Marcus Ericsson and Christian Rasmussen completed the top three, both their first podium finishes of the season. 

Credit: James Black

Newgarden secures win, Ericsson comes up short

His sixth win at the oval, Newgarden fought his way through the field, keeping Ericsson behind him over the final 35 laps. Newgarden started the race in eighth and made his way forward on the opening laps, moving up five positions before Lap 30.

Ericsson, who started in 12th, dominated the lead of the race and additionally brought the field back to green after the first caution flag, after Nolan Siegel hit the wall. After the red flag for the rain delay, Newgarden and Ericsson battled for the lead, starting with Newgarden overtaking Caio Collet for second position. The Andretti driver led 114 laps over the course of the race, moving past Rasmussen on the inside, but was not able to catch Newgarden ahead. 

The second-place podium finish for Ericsson marked all three Andretti drivers having finished on the podium at least once so far this season.

Rasmussen fights at the front

Moving forward after a difficult set of weekends for the Ed Carpenter Racing team, Rasmussen showed his speed on the ovals and made his way from 19th to third, a back-to-back third-place finish at Gateway. He inched his way forward, going wheel to wheel with Kyle Kirkwood for fifth place, to doing his best to keep Will Power behind him for fourth. 

A pit stop under the third caution for track and weather conditions saw Newgarden leave pit lane just ahead of Rasmussen, followed by Ericsson. With 47 laps to go, Rasmussen and Newgarden go side by side, switching between first and second; Rasmussen ultimately loses position to Newgarden and keeps an eye on defending from Ericsson behind. 

Rasmussen currently sits in 22nd in the Championship standings, 4 points behind Nolan Siegel. 

First post-500 oval

With the closest Indy 500 finish, David Malukas and Felix Rosenqvist took on their first oval after the end of May. Both drivers looked to stay towards the front of the field, with Malukas finishing ahead of Rosenqvist this weekend. The Penske driver, having come in second in previous seasons, crossed the line in seventh, while the Meyer Shank driver finished 14th.

The duo raced on different strategies, with Malukas doing enough to stay in the top 10. The Gateway finish puts Malukas in third in the standings (274 points), and Rosenqvist in eighth (221 points) - a difference of 53 points ahead of Road America.

Credit: James Black

A race of ups and downs

Despite starting on pole and leading laps during the race, Alex Palou struggled to stay afloat, running out of fuel in pit lane and finishing two laps down. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished out of the top ten for the first time since the 2021 season, when he was out due to contact. Palou still stands first in Championship points, with Kirkwood and Malukas behind.

On the other hand, a strong weekend for Rinus VeeKay put the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver just behind Rasmussen in fourth. A side-by-side fight with Kirkwood on Lap 167 goes in favour of VeeKay, and a few laps later, he puts another overtake on Power for fifth. 

DNFS

Caio Collet - Mechanical issue

Graham Rahal - Contact with the wall

Nolan Siegel - Contact with the wall

Dennis Hauger - Mechanical issue

A push for Newgarden and Team Penske sees the return of the oval king, with Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti looking ahead to continue to keep on top of the championship.