Oilpressure

Other than the COVID year of 2020, this will be the first time that Susan and I will miss the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 since the NTT IndyCar Series returned to World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) at Gateway in 2017. We have never been to the Milwaukee Mile, and when it appeared on this year’s schedule – I wanted to make sure we were there. Our budget won’t allow us to do both, so Gateway was somewhat expendable – at least for this year.

That doesn’t mean we have not enjoyed all of the times we have attended IndyCar races at the 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, in Madisonville, Illinois.

The racing has been better in some years than others, but the atmosphere at Gateway has always been fantastic. There is no shortage of on-track activity. Not only will IndyCar and Indy NXT be at Gateway this weekend, but Silver Crown will be practicing and qualifying on Friday afternoon, and racing on Friday night. I stayed for the Silver Crown race two years ago, and it was something to behold. On Saturday, Vintage Indy will have two on-track sessions. Being a fan of the past, I love seeing the vintage cars of yesteryear run. There are roadsters, rear-engine cars from the 60s as well as cars from the early 20s and 80s. My favorite car they bring is the Joe Leonard 1968 pole-sitter – the turbine-powered Lotus 56.

Of course, the highlight of the weekend will be the IndyCar race on late Saturday afternoon. With a 5:15 CDT green-flag, I don’t anticipate finishing in the dark. It may not even be dusk at that point. To call this a night race is a bit of a stretch, but at least it will not be run in the heat of the day. The St. Louis area can get pretty steamy in mid-August.

In the past, there have been only a couple of races left after Gateway. It was the last remaining oval, so there were significant championship implications. This year there will be four races remaining, with three of them being ovals. But that doesn’t mean there is less importance on this race than in years past.

Alex Palou leads the championship, as the series comes out of the Olympic break and hits the final stretch run. He leads second-place Will Power by 49 points, Scott Dixon by 53 and Colton Herta by 57. Realistically, the championship is between those four. Pato O’Ward is in fifth place, but he is 14 points behind Herta, meaning he trails Palou by 71 entering the weekend. I know there are still five races remaining, but a lot of things would need to happen to put O’Ward back into the championship conversation. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but it is unlikely at this point.

Even though Palou has a comfortable lead, he has never won on an oval. Until he does, that stat will continue to be brought. Not only has Will Power won on an oval, he won at gateway in 2018. he also has four poles there to his credit. Of the Top-Four in the running at WWTR, Power and Dixon are the only two that have won there. Dixon has two wins and one pole at Gateway.

When we were at the last oval race in Iowa, we were hearing a couple of hours prior to the race to expect nothing more than a parade for both of the races. As we know now, that turned out to be very true for a variety of reasons. I’m hearing from afar that we can expect the same at Gateway.

I’m not saying to not attend or not to watch, because anything can happen that can turn the points race upside down. But based on the track and the tire compound I think a premium will be placed on qualifying. Track position will be very important in this race, especially if there are no ill-timed yellows that throw a curveball to half the field.

Don’t forget that Saturday night’s twilight race will be seen on USA Network, and not Big NBC. Friday’s Practice One gets underway at 12:45 pm EDT, and will go for one hour. Qualifying will take place at 4:20 pm EDT on Friday, with a high-line practice scheduled for 7:45 pm EDT Friday and a final full practice at 8:30 pm EDT. Saturday’s race broadcast on USA will begin at 6:00 pm EDT, with a green-flag approximately 6:15 pm EDT.

Who do I think will win? It won’t be Alex Palou. I think he is going to be conservative and just try to score as many points, without getting into trouble. I also don’t think it will be the other three title contenders. Instead, it will be someone just outside of the Top-Four, who has four podiums in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway. I predict that Pato O’Ward will finally break through at Gateway and win his first race there. We’ll see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 16, 2024 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.