MADISON, Ill. – Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden won Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, but it was a crash during a restart on lap 65 that may serve as the pivot point of the NTT IndyCar Series season.
Two of the three drivers involved in the crash were championship leader Alex Palou, driver of the No. 10 American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, and Scott Dixon, driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Ganassi.
The crash came as the field charged into turn one during a restart. It appeared that Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Honda slowed, stacking up the field. Rinus VeeKay, in the No. 21 Sonax Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, hit Palou’s Honda first and then Palou’s broken front wing spun Dixon.
Palou’s Honda was too badly damaged to continue in the race and he finished 20th. VeeKay was also out of the race and finished 21st. Dixon was able to get his Honda repaired and back on track, but he eventually dropped out of the race after completing his 100th lap, 79 laps down.
Palou entered the race with a 21-point lead over Pato O’Ward. With the crash and O’Ward finishing second to Newgarden, Palou fell to 10 points behind O’Ward in second. It was a 31-point swing for O’Ward. Dixon, meanwhile, dropped to fourth in points with three races remaining.
“It was a really solid points day for us,” O’Ward said. “We maximized our points today. It was a great race. Great crowd. Really solid day for us.”
Newgarden moved up to third and is 22 points out of the championship lead.
“We wanted to get back into this championship fight,” Newgarden said in victory lane. “I was super pumped with our fuel mileage today. I couldn’t ask for much more. I know these last three races will be a grind, but we are ready for it.
“It’s a big win. Any win is important at this time of the year. I always have faith that we can win the race. I wanted to put this car on pole, so a little redemption comes with winning the race.”
“It’s painful and it’s painful for The American Legion and for all of the sponsors,” Palou said after the crash. “Nothing we could have done differently. We did our job from 21st to P10 at that moment. We did our jobs. We were good mentally. We were strong. We did the same at Indy road course and it didn’t pay off. With three races to go, we can still win this thing.
“I thought I was on the outside and clear of him.”
VeeKay owned up to causing the crash and was visibly distraught that his incident led to a dramatic turn in the NTT IndyCar Series championship race.
“I was definitely the one starting the accident,” VeeKay said. “I was really focusing on Scott Dixon. He got behind I think Rosenqvist (actually Hunter-Reay), and he had to really slow down himself. I got on the brakes, tried to get it slowed down and I couldn’t get it slowed down as much as I wanted to.
“I feel bad for those two guys that I took out. There were in a good place in the championship. I don’t know if I should blame myself for the accident. I tried my best, but it was really hard to stay out of trouble in the position I was in.”
VeeKay referred to the fact that Saturday night’s race at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway was just the fourth oval race all season and the first since the 105th Indianapolis 500 on May 30. He complained that on many of the restarts, then-race leader Colton Herta brought the field to the green too slow.
“It’s been a long time since everyone has run on an oval,” VeeKay said. “Everyone was aggressive. Everyone was backing up, even on the pace lap. If it keeps going like this, Iowa 2.0 is going to happen (referring to last year’s airborne crash on a slow restart when he landed on top of Herta’s aeroscreen). We have to fix thing. On that start, I couldn’t avoid anything. I was in a really good spot. I could not afford something like this happening to me. It’s a really bad feeling.
“I’m not really blaming anyone for this accident, not even myself.”
Palou has had a relatively consistent season until the past two races. His engine failed last Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Saturday he crashed at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The 24-year-old driver from Spain gave his side of the incident.
“I just saw the replay once,” Palou said. “I didn’t analyze it 100 percent, but in my opinion, I was on the outside because I saw there were so many cars on the inside and I didn’t want to get checked up. I was clean with Scott. We were side-by-side and then I got checked up by another car and hit.
“It’s a shame.”
Prior to the crash Palou battled back from a nine-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after his engine failure last Saturday.
“It doesn’t help if you are running your position and doing your race, but if you have to make up some spots it’s harder,” Palou explained. “I thought we did a really good job. On lap 60, we were at P10 starting P21. We had a really good car; some really good pit stops and did our job today. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish it.
“We overtook cars on the track. We overtook cars on pit lane. We were off to a good night. We knew qualifying was a really bad run compared to what we could have done and knew our race pace was better than our starting position, even without the grid penalty.
“I was angry because it was something I couldn’t do different. If I make a mistake, I’m angry, but it was my fault. If it were the last lap of the race, I understand. But it was still early. We were in a good position. It was hard work getting from P21 to P10. It was frustrating because of that.
“It’s over now. We have to focus on Portland.”
Palou spoke with VeeKay in the infield care center after the crash and asked him what he was thinking.
“I didn‘t see a video before, but I asked, what was that?’” Palou asked. “He was starting 23rd and he was doing a good job as well. I told him, ‘Man, we did all that hard work together. Why do we have to crash together? It was time to just have a good race and pace ourselves.’ It didn’t work out.”
Palou is not intimidated by his rivals or his challenge for the championship, with three races remaining.
“It’s nothing that scares me,” Palou said. “We were going to be in a really good position at Indy Road Course. We were fast there. We were going to be in a really good position today. We were fast here. It’s not like we are slow and don’t know how to get there. We are here and have had some issues that presented us some problems.
“We will have some weekends that will be really good for the 10 car.
“I think we are lucky. I’m driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in IndyCar, leading the championship at the moment. The race is not done yet. I think I’m quite lucky.”
Alex Palou (10) battles Conor Daly Saturday t World Wide Technology Raceway. (Al Steinberg Photo)