IndyCars - St. Louis: Nighttime racing in sight of the great Gateway Arch

[MarkyS]

This weekend the IndyCars will hold their third race in as many weekends. This one will be quickly executed, in and out in two days, as they do…

The Bommarito Automotive Group 500

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The venue is World Wide Technology Raceway, also known as Gateway - so named because though the track is in Madison, Illinois, the famous and fabulous St. Louis Gateway Arch on the shore of the Mississippi River is in sight of the folks sitting on the top row of the grandstands.

Gateway is a uniquely-shaped oval with the two ends of different size and banking degree from each other. Turns 1 & 2 have characteristics similar to New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Turns 3 & 4 are similar to ISM Raceway in Phoenix. The resulting egg shape is remeniscent of Japan’s Twin Ring Motegi track.

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Race fans this weekend will get their money’s worth, with a kid’s zone on the midway, with a post-IndyCar race concert and with a great display of more than 35 vintage IndyCars from the 1930s to the 1990s at the Vintage Indy Registry’s exhibit near the main grandstand. The vintage IndyCars will also be on track for exhibition runs on Friday and on Saturday, supporting the 5 races that will be run. Those races include:

• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, with 1 race on Friday
• Indy Pro 2000, with 1 race on Saturday
• Indy Lights, with 2 races on Friday and Saturday

And, of course, the IndyCars will do the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Saturday night.

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Let’s look at that support racing:

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The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a fan favorite, featuring modified-production pickup trucks, racing almost exclusively on ovals. As there are no IndyCar drivers here, we will wish them safe and happy racing and concentrate on the open-wheel guys.

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Continued…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Support racing…

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The Road to Indy is the ladder system that trains drivers to be ready to drive IndyCars. It is made up of three series of increasing complexity and capability - USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights. Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 will be at Gateway, this weekend.

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Indy Pro 2000 is the middle rung of the ladder. The car is the Tatuus PM-18 which is essentially a stouter version of the first-tier USF-17. The chassis is the same, so teams who compete in USF2000 can easily convert their car to run in Indy Pro 2000 without a huge upcharge for a new car. The MZR-PM18A engine is a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder that puts out 275 hp and almost 200 pounds of torque. The wings and the tires are all bigger, so the downforce, braking and grip are all better than in the USF-17. The drivers in “IP2K” are usually experienced junior formula drivers from all over the world. As a result, the level of competition is very high, with many drivers capable of podiums and WINS. It is rare for a driver to run away with the title. The fields are smaller than USF2000 but the team commitment is higher.

After 12 rounds of racing, the current points leader is rookie Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development. The Dane was the 2020 Champion of USF2000. This year he already has 8 podiums including 6 WINS. Christian’s closest pursuer 39 points back is sophomore Braden Eves for Exclusive Autosport with 10 TOP FIVEs and 5 podiums including 2 WINS.

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Christian Rasmussen in his Tatuus PM-18 for Jay Howard Driver Development

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Indy Lights is the top rung of the ladder and a fitting series to prepare to drive an IndyCar in battle. The car is the all-carbon composite Dallara IL-15. It has a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engine, like the other 2 cars, but it is turbo-charged, like the big cars, and produces 450 hp with additional power available with Push-to-Pass, again, just like the big cars. It has more wing and tires than the other two cars and so more downforce, braking and grip. It also has much more downloadable information available for engineers to use, and as such is an important training tool for them, too. The drivers come from all over the world to compete and are usually among the highest level of junior formula drivers anywhere. The value of Indy Lights is evident when looking at the roster in IndyCars, where so many of the drivers are former Lights pilots, including many former champions.

After 12 rounds of racing, the current points leader is rookie Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport with 6 WINS, including 5 of the last 6 events. Kyle is on a roll. Eleven points back in 2nd place is David Malukas for HMD Motorsports due to getting 9 podiums, including 4 WINS.

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Kyle Kirkwood in his Dallara IL-15 for Andretti Autosport

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Friday will be a day of practice and qualifying for both IP2K and the Lights, with the Lights also holding Race 1 of the weekend, in the early evening. Let’s GO!!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at St. Louis - the Indy Lights practice and qualify…

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The Lights were the first guys to get the track rubbered up today, as they held a 45 minute practice just after Noon, in anticipation of qualifying, later in the day. The TOP FIVE from that practice were, in order:

1 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports
2 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports
3 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports
4 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport
5 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport

Those five guys were within 0.19 seconds of each other, with the HMD drivers on top of the Andretti gang. Later in the day, the Indy Lights qualified for both races to be held this weekend - Race 1 tonight and Race 2 on Saturday. The format was simple: each driver went out alone to put down a warm-up lap followed by two hot laps. The first lap qualified the driver for Race 1 while the second lap qualified the driver for Race 2.

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Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 13, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 28.2327s for a speed of 159.390mph

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P2 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 28.2639s for a speed of 159.214mph

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Row 2

P3 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 28.3495s for a speed of 158.733mph

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P4 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 28.3576s for a speed of 158.688mph

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Row 3

P5 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 28.4369s for a speed of 158.245mph

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P6 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport - time of 28.5386s for a speed of 157.681mph

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Row 4

P7 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
P8 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 5

P9 - Alex Peroni [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development
P10 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 6

P11 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development
P12 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

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Notable:

• The biggest change from practice to qualifying is that Kyle Kirkwood improved. He took P2 for Race 1 and pole for Race 2.

• This is David’s 4th pole of the season. He translated the previous 3 poles into WINS.

• Not at the track is Nikita Lastochkin for HMD Motorsports. Not sure why not.

Nikita Lastochkin

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The race is scheduled for a 6:30pm EASTERN time start, this evening, and will be broadcast on Peacock.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at St. Louis - The Indy Lights qualify for Race 2 of the weekend…

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As mentioned in the previous post, the Lights qualified for Race 2 of the weekend using their Lap 2 from their qualifying session, so we have the grid for Race 2 here.

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Here is the way the Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 14, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:28.1809s for a speed of 159.682mph

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P2 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 00:28.2771s for a speed of 159.314mph

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Row 2

P3 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:28.3204s for a speed of 158.895mph

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P4 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 00:28.3553s for a speed of 158.707mph

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Row 3

P5 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 00:28.3680s for a speed of 158.630mph

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P6 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 00:28.5864s for a speed of 157.413mph

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Row 4

P7 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
P8 - Alex Peroni [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 5

P9 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
P10 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

Row 6

P11 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development
P12 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport

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Notable:

• How wonderful that the TOP TWO guys going for the 2021 championship should be trading poles on a race weekend. With oval points on the line - 1.5 times the number for road and street course points - it is good that both of them have a decent shot at coming away well, this weekend, and not running away with the title.

• The guys who are impressing us are Benjamin Pedersen and Linus Lundqvist who are doing their first-ever oval races, this weekend. They shouldn’t be this fast but they need to be circumspect. Fast is good - as long as you keep the car off the wall - and they don’t have the experience to know how to do both, without some luck.

• Rob Megennis had a great 1st lap and slotted in P6 for Race 1, but he hit the wall on his 2nd lap and ended up dead last for Race 2. The car should be repaired by race time, this evening.

Rob Megennis - bumps

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This race is scheduled for 6:30pm EASTERN time on Saturday - right before the IndyCar race. Next up, the Indy Pro 2000 gang practice and qualify…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday at St. Louis - Indy Pro 2000 holds practice and qualifying…

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Like the Lights, the IP2K gang held a midday practice in anticipation of qualifying later in the day. The TOP FIVE from that practice were:

1 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing
2 - James Roe [R], Turn 3 Motorsport
3 - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport
4 - Nolan Siegel [R], DEForce Racing
5 - Jack William Miller [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

Readers of the Off-Season thread will not be surprised. These guys were fast in Thursday’s testing at Gateway, as well. But note - This is 16-year-old Nolan Siegel’s first weekend of Indy Pro 2000 in 2021 and this is Irish driver James Roe’s second oval race weekend, ever. Both are punching WAY over their weight, given the excellent Indy Pro 2000 field.

After practice, the IP2K guys qualified for Saturday’s race, and we have that result. The qualifying protocol was for each driver to go out alone for a warm-up lap, followed by two hot laps. Those two laps were added together and then averaged. The fastest average lap gets pole, and the field is gridded based on their average.

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Here is the way Indy Pro 2000 will grid for Season Round 13, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; time is for two laps, while speed is the average of those two laps

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Row 1

Pole - James Roe [R], Turn 3 Motorsport - time of 01:04.7105s for a speed of 139.081mph

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P2 - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:04.8174s for a speed of 138.852mph

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Row 2

P3 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 01:05.1687s for a speed of 138.103mph

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P4 - Artem Petrov, Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:05.1907s for a speed of 138.057mph

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Row 3

P5 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing - time of 01:05.2071s for a speed of 138.022mph

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P6 - Jack William Miller [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports - time of 01:05.2635s for a speed of 137.903mph

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Row 4

P7 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
P8 - Nolan Siegel [R], DEForce Racing

Row 5

P9 - Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Hollinger Racing
P10 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Kory Enders, DEForce Racing
P12 - Kyffin Simpson [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 7

P13 - Wyatt Brichacek [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

• How does a nice, Irish lad from Dublin end up being so good at oval racing in the United States? Some drivers just have an instant facility with the oval racing discipline and James Roe is one of them. This is his first Road to Indy pole and he was the only guy to crack 139 miles per hour.

• The other bit of a surprise is Jack William Miller. Miller has always had decent oval runs but he has really stepped it up this year. This is a great qually for JWM.

• We are conversely a bit surprised that points leader Christian Rasmussen is lingering midfield. He’s better on ovals than that. Kory Enders should also be doing better. Kory owns the track race lap record, from 2019, and with the same team. When do they turn it on?

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Christian Rasmussen (left) and Kory Enders - what’s up?

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The race is scheduled for 3:45pm EASTERN time on Saturday and can be seen on Youtube or on the Indy Pro 2000 website. Next up, Indy Lights Race 1. The grid for this is in post # 3…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday evening at St. Louis - The Indy Lights hold Race 1…

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The Lights were the first out the gate with their Race 1 and the first WINNER of the weekend was David Malukas for HMD Motorsports, from pole. Taking P2 from his P2 start was Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport while P3 went to oval-racing rookie Benjamin Pedersen for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports, from his P3 start.

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From the sound of the starts and finish one might think nothing happened to change the running order in the race, but that was not the case. On the opening lap David was under pressure from Kyle Kirkwood immediately. However, an attempted outside pass from Kyle saw him fish-tailing around Turn 2, which allowed David to open a small gap and also allowed Linus Lundqvist for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports to pass the Floridian and take over P2. By lap 18 there was a 1-second gap separating the TOP THREE when Sting Ray Robb for Juncos Hollinger Racing pulled into the pits with a shifting problem. (He would rejoin several laps down).

On lap 26 Antonio Serravalle for Pserra Racing pulled off track with a flat right front tire. Two laps later Juncos Hollinger’s woes continued as Toby Sowery pulled off track with a broken front left suspension, bringing out a Full-Course Caution. On the lap 35 restart David got away cleanly but as Kirkwood pounced, Linus jinked to the right in defense, causing Kirkwood to tap the rear of Lundqvist’s car, which sawed back and fourth, luridly. Linus was able to gather it up and save it but a hole developed in Kyle’s nose.

On lap 56 Rob Megennis pulled into the pits with a delaminated tire. Three laps later Linus was into the wall, heavily damaging his Dallara and bringing out another Full-Course Caution. The cause was another delaminated tire, which wrapped around his right front suspension. Before the race could be restarted the time ran out and David took the WIN, with Kyle and Ben in tow under caution.

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Notable:

• The WIN - his 5th this season - puts David only two points behind Kyle in the series points chase, but the DNF hurt Linus, who is now 45 points out - not insurmountable, but if Malukas and Kirkwood keep trading WINS no one else will stand a chance of stepping in.

• The delaminating tires will be examined to see if there is a problem with the tires or a problem with the drivers over-driving the tires.

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Your happy podium - That’s Kyle Kirkwood in P2 on the left, David Malukas in P1 in the middle and Benjamin Pedersen in P3 on the right:

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This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at St. Louis - The IndyCars come out for practice…

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…for the first and only time today, before qualifying later in the day. The track temps were high, which makes it difficult for the teams to read how their cars will do in qualifying, but more importantly in the race, later this evening when the Sun goes down.

This is a one-day, Parc Ferme event, which means the cars will have to qualify on their race set-up, as cars will not be allowed to be adjusted, once they are qualified.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-1 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:25.1715s for a speed of 178.774mph

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2 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske - time of 00:25.3280s for a speed of 177.669mph

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3 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:25.3462s for a speed of 177.541mph

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4 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 00:25.3560s for a speed of 177.473mph

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5 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:25.3574s for a speed of 177.463mph

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6 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
8 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
9 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
10 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

11 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
12 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
13 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
14 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
15 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
16 - Will Power, Team Penske
17 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Conor Daly, Carlin
19 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
20 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
22 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
23 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
24 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing

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Notable:

• A nice mix of teams in the TOP TEN, including two Team Penske cars, three Andretti Autosport cars, two Chip Ganassi Racing cars, two Arrow McLaren SP cars and Graham Rahal for RLL. That’s 6 Hondas and 4 Chevys.

• Not anywhere near the TOP TEN is points-leader Alex Palou, even though his teammates are doing well.

• This is rookie Romain Grosjean’s first oval race and rookie Scott McLaughlin’s first Gateway race, though both guys have tested here.

• Conor Daly is driving for Max Chilton at Carlin, as Max won’t do any ovals except Indy. Tony Kanaan is subbing for Jimmie Johnson who is also not doing ovals this year.

SuperSubs Daly (left) and Kanaan

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Josef Newgarden

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The IndyCars will qualify for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 later tonight, at 5:00pm EASTERN time, on Peacock. Next up, Indy Pro 2000 holds their race. The grid for this is in post # 5…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at St. Louis - Indy Pro 2000 holds their race…

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This was the 2nd oval race of the season for the middle series on the Road to Indy and the WINNER was Braden Eves for Exclusive Autosport from his P2 start. Coming in P2 was points-leader Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development from his P7 start, while P3 went to Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing from a P5 start.

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The opening lap almost set the podium as Braden Eves jumped past pole-sitter James Roe for Turn 3 Motorsports, Hunter McElrea jumped into P4 past Artem Petrov for Exclusive Autosport and remarkably, Christian Rasmussen jumped from P7 to P3 past Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri, Hunter and Artem and Reece Gold for Juncos Hollinger Racing. On lap 6 Jack and Artem were battling for the P5 spot when they hooked up and both hit the wall hard. Both guys walked away but the damage was big, necessitating a lengthy caution.

On the lap 20 restart both Christian and Hunter passed James to take over P2 and P3 respectively. Nolan Siegel, in his first IP2K race for DEForce Racing, passed Reece Gold to take P5. On lap 21 Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports took P7 from Manuel Sulaiman for Juncos Hollinger. One lap later Jacob was past Reece Gold for P6. Manuel followed into P7 after another lap. Finally, on lap 25 Manuel passed Jacob and was P6. Christian put in the Fastest Lap in an attempt to hunt down Braden.

Braden reset Fastest Lap on Lap 28 to keep Christian at bay, but a lap later the Dane retook Fastest Lap, and closed to within 0.3 seconds of Eves, but it was all for naught, as Eves spent the rest of the 55-lap event opening up the gap, ever so slowly, until he crossed the finish line 0.73 seconds to the better, with Hunter coming in 2.4 seconds behind Ras. Jacob Abel made the last pass of the race, retaking the P6 spot from Manuel Sulaiman as Braden crossed the finish line.

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Notable:

• Braden took WINNING points plus a point for most laps led. That helps him close the gap on Rasmussen’s lead in points, which is still substantial, with 5 races left to run.

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Your happy podium - That’s Christian Rasmussen in P2 on the left, Braden Eves in P1 in the middle and Hunter McElrea in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP THREE in points leaving St. Louis:

1 - Christian Rasmussen, 345
2 - Braden Eves, 313
3 - Reece Gold, 274

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Next up for Indy Pro 2000 is the triple-header at New Jesrsey Motorsports Park, next weekend, as they share the venue with USF2000. Next, the IndyCars qualify for tonight’s race…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at St. Louis - The IndyCars are qualified…

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The format is simple: Each car goes out one at a time and puts down a warm-up lap followed by two hot laps. Those two laps are added together and averaged and the fastest car is on pole, with everyone else lineing up based on speed.

The cars are then held in Parc Ferme without any changes made before the race, so the qually set-up is the race set-up…or, at least the set-up for the first stint of the race.

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Here is the way the IndyCar qualified for Season Round 13, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie; times are for both laps, while speed is the average of those two laps.

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Row 1

Pole - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:49.8289s for a speed of 180.618mph

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P2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:49.8537s for a speed of 180.528mph

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Row 2

P3 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:49.8589s for a speed of 180.509mph

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P4 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 00:49.8981s for a speed of 180.368mph

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Row 3

P5 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 00:50.0296s for a speed of 179.894mph

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P6 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:50.0449s for a speed of 179.839mph

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Row 4

P7 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P8 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 5

P9 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P10 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 6

P11 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
P12 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 7

P13 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P14 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P16 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

Row 9

P17 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P18 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 10

P19 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P20 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport

Row 11

P21 - Conor Daly, Carlin
P22 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 12

P23 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
P24 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• Team Penske put 3 cars in the first two rows. That’s domination. Team rookie Scott McLaughlin slotted in a very credible P11, too.

• The TOP FIVE title contenders are all in the first four rows, except for points leader Alex Palou who is back in Row 6. But Alex is also getting a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after the race on the Indy Road Course, so he will actually start even worse, in P21.

• Ed Carpenter Racing usually has this races in the bag, but they have been hopeless since they arrived and both cars are tail end Charlies.

Alex Palou - in the Outback

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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC-SN starting at 8:00pm EASTERN time. Next up, the Indy Lights close out their weekend with Race 2. The grid for this is in post # 4…
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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday evening at St. Louis - The Indy Lights close out their weekend…

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…with a strange format, brought about by a mystery. The WINNER of the contest was David Malukas for HMD Motorsports, from his P2 start, as he sweeps the weekend. P2 was Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport from his pole position, while P3 went again to Benjamin Pedersen for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports from his P4 start.

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New photo…same story, as David SWEEPS

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During Race 1 it became apparent that the right side tires of a number of cars were suffering a strange delamination. Other cars had no strange wear at all, but as Linus Lundqvist for GRG w/ HMD ended up hard in a wall due to probable tire delamination, the series decided to have a mandatory pit stop in the middle of Race 2, to change right-side tires and refill the cars, as they were to start the race half empty of fuel, to lessen the weight.

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On the first lap Danial Frost for Andretti Autosport lost two positions, slipping out of P3 to P5, while teammate Rob Megennis made great moves to go from P12 to P7 by the end of lap 2. For the next several laps nothing changed in the running order. On lap 18 Antonio Serravalle for Pserra Racing pulled into the pits with a mechanical problem that ended his race. On lap 23 Alex Pironi for Carlin passed Toby Sowery for Juncos Hollinger Racing to take over P8.

On lap 32 the race went full-course caution for debris on the track. That triggered the mandatory caution and all cars headed to the pits. The race was restarted on lap 36 with Kirkwood trying to break away, but by lap 39 David Malukas was right beside the Andretti car and for two full laps the two Lights cars ran side by side, inches apart, until Malukas finally just edged into the lead in front of Kyle.

On lap 52 Sting Ray Robb for Juncos Hollinger pulled into the pits with tire problems. He got a new right rear and left the pits on lap 54, but at the same time Danial Frost was pitting for his own tire problems. On lap 56 Alex got by Rob Megennis to take over P6 and that was the last pass of the race, as another caution came out, with the tire failures obviously coming back. In an abundance of caution, the race ended soon under the Full-Course Caution with David followed by Kyle followed by Benjamin - the same podium as yesterday.

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Notable:

• Indy Lights had a test at Gateway a few weeks ago that included full race runs in the heat of the day by several cars and no tire problems were evident with anyone, which is why this is all a mystery. Cooper is already hacking tires apart to try and figure out what went wrong.

• With the sweep the WIN tally is now 6 for Malukas and 6 for Kirkwood, with 6 races left to run - 3 double headers.

• Benjamin Pedersen had easily his best weekend of the season. Perhaps he has found his niche as a ovalist.

• Linus Lundqvist was unhurt from his Race 1 shunt and was lucky that teammate Nikita Lastochkin elected not to run at Gateway, which gave him a car to drive, as his own car was a mess. Nikita is expected to return for the remaining races of the season.

Benjamin Pedersen

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Your happy podium - That’s Kyle Kirkwood in P2 on the left, David Malukas in P1 in the middle and Benjamin Pedersen in P3 on the right:

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With these results, here are the TOP THREE in points leaving St. Louis:

1 - David Malukas, 371
2 - Kyle Kirkwood, 368
3 - Linus Lundqvist, 312

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The next outings for the Indy Lights will be a double-header at Portland, in support of the IndyCars, September 9-12. Next up, the IndyCar race…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday night at St. Louis - The IndyCar race…

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The word for tonight’s race was “attrition.” 9 of the 24 starters failed to finish, either by contact or by mechanicals. One of those taken out was the points leader Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing and also taken out was teammate Scott Dixon, another title contender. That left the WIN to Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, P2 to Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP and P3 to pole-sitter Will Power for Team Penske.

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Leading early was Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport, after taking the lead from Power on lap 2. Newgarden took over next and held the lead for about 70 laps. Herta regained the lead for another 45 laps but then fell victim to a broken half-shaft. Newgarden was then again in the lead and held it to the end, save laps in the pit exchanges.

Much of the race was dedicated to fuel saving for the leaders while all the action was taking place behind them, and boy there was a lot of action - lots of great passes but also that attrition. Coming together early were Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Ed Jones for Dale Coyne Racing, blaming each other. It was a hard-charging Rinus VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing who took out Palou, Dixon and himself when he went for a slot that wasn’t there. Ed Carpenter for Ed Carpenter Racing showed his rust by nailing Dalton Kellett for AJ Foyt from behind, but the young Canadian recovered and actually had a great race, getting into the TOP TEN at one point and finishing P12. Taking themselves out were Alexander Rossi for Andretti and Ed Carpenter, when both hit the walls on their own. Felix Rosenqvist for Arrow McLaren SP went out on a mechanical.

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Race highlights:

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RACE HIGHLIGHTS // BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500

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Notable:

• This is Josef’s 3rd victory at Gateway. The WIN puts Newgarden well into contention for a third championship with now three races to go. Josef becomes the fourth driver to get two WINS on this hard-fought season, joining Pato O’Ward, Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson. Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Will Power have 1 WIN each.

• Pato’s P2 puts him back into the points lead, with Alex Palou falling to 2nd in points, but the race is very tight.

• Rookie Scott McLaughlin ended the day in P4. With his P2 at Texas early in the season, it’s clear Scotty likes the ovals. Rookie Romain Grosjean ended the day in P14, due to bad luck with the timing of a caution, but Grosjean was a revelation, seemingly able to pass anywhere and anytime he wanted. He scared himself a few times with lurid slides on cold or dirty tires, but it didn’t stop him from trying…and learning.

• The car with the most on-track passes was Conor Daly in the # 59 Chevrolet for Carlin, subbing for Max Chilton. Conor went from a P20 start to P11 at the end.

Conor Daly - passing machine

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Your happy podium - That’s Pato O’Ward on the left in P2, Josef Newgarden in the middle in P1 and Will Power in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving St. Louis:

1 - Pato O’Ward, 435
2 - Alex Palou, 425
3 - Josef Newgarden, 413
4 - Scott Dixon, 392
5 - Marcus Ericsson, 375

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Next up for the IndyCars is the Western state swing to close out the season, with the first of the last three races at Portland, September 12th.

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