Josef Newgarden continued his short oval domination at Gateway. (Photo: James Black | Penske Entertainment)
MADISON, Ill. – For the third consecutive year at the 1.25-mile short oval in the Midwest, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden conquered the competition and held off rookie David Malukas to win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Newgarden picked up his fifth NTT IndyCar Series victory of the 2022 season and fourth career win at Gateway.
“All I can say is that this 2 car crew has been very patient with me,” Newgarden said. “I’ve lost my cool probably a couple of time in closed doors just out of frustration for us. I feel like we’ve had small miscues timing-wise. That’s not really anybody’s fault. Sometimes you’re wrong time, wrong place. I feel like it’s been happening a lot this year. It kind of happened again tonight. I felt like we were in position and it was time to close.
“There was a barrier that got in front of us again, but fortunately we were able to get back out. I was so happy we could finish this race. Scott McLaughlin, he wanted to win too and I love that about us. We have a good relationship obviously. Each of us want to win but we he drove me super-fair there at the end, and we had a good fight.”
The Bus Bros kept it clean and brought the Captain another IndyCar victory. (Photo: James Black | Penske Entertainment)
With 43 laps remaining, the race stopped due to weather. Following a period of rain and a lightning delay, track drying efforts got underway. Some initially thought the race might be over, but Mother Nature’s interference with the 260-lap event didn’t end the night on a sour note.
There wasn’t another immediate weather threat on the radar after the summer shower that halted the action. Additionally, with Gateway having lights, this increased the chances of finishing the final 43 laps instead of calling the race early.
IndyCar was committed to resuming the action and got their wish when the race restarted with 36 laps to go.
Newgarden wasted no time making a move on the restart, taking the lead away from teammate Scott McLaughlin. The No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet led the rest of the way but he got an unexpected challenge in the final laps.
With the leaders entering lapped traffic, this allowed Malukas to close the gap to Newgarden and McLaughlin at the end.
Ultimately, Malukas completed the pass on McLaughlin but ran out of time to pull off an upset win over Newgarden. Nevertheless, the driver of the No. 18 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing Honda starred after scoring his first career NTT IndyCar Series podium.
“We ended up getting around (Pato) O’Ward and we ended up getting past a lapped car,” Malukas said. “And they said, ‘You see them in front,’ and I saw two Penskes, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re Penskes!’ They were tough.”
While Josef Newgarden might’ve won the race, it was rookie David Malukas who stole the show. (Photo: James Black | Penske Entertainment)
Malukas was elated by the drive of his life, showing the entire IndyCar paddock that he’s determined to be a part of the series for years to come.
“Unfortunately, two laps to go, that’s the one lap I decided to do the outside lane and it worked so well,” Malukas said. “If I would’ve done that a bit sooner, maybe we could’ve done something for (Josef) Newgarden. Overall, that’s a win for me, a win for the team, they deserve that so much.”
The only caution of the race for contact came out on Lap 144 when Jack Harvey’s No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda got up into the Turn 4 wall.
Championship points leader Will Power has little room for error with two races to go. (Photo: James Black | Penske Entertainment)
Now, looking at the championship picture with two races left in the 2022 season, 17 points separate the top-four drivers in the standings. Will Power led the most laps at Gateway, staying out front for a total of 128 laps but ended up finishing sixth.
Power’s result was good enough to maintain the championship lead by three points over Newgarden. Scott Dixon is third and 14 points back, while Marcus Ericsson sits 17 points behind in fourth.
Last year’s IndyCar champion Alex Palou’s chances of going back-to-back is beginning to slip away in fifth, facing a 43-point deficit.
The penultimate round of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season will take place on Labor Day weekend, in a return to the Pacific Northwest for the Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 4 (3 p.m. ET, NBC) at Portland International Raceway.
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Top-10 Results: Newgarden, Malukas, McLaughlin, O’Ward, Sato, Power, Ericsson, Dixon, Palou, Rahal.
