Oilpressure

Welcome to a first-time ever Saturday race preview. I figure if they can change up the schedule this weekend, so can I. Besides, it’s a two-day show – so depending on when you read this, there may or may not have been any track activity yet.

The Bommarito 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR), the track formerly known as Gateway,  has always been one of the races that Susan and I would go to. Last year was the first one we missed since the NTT IndyCar Series returned to the St. Louis area track in 2017. We loved it as a night race, or even a twilight race. But once it moved to a Sunday afternoon race in 2023 – it lost its allure to us. There is a lot of black asphalt inside the facility. Given the already hot Midwest temps in August – making this a day race made it seem like an event on the surface of the sun.

Last year, with the race scheduled to start at 5:00 pm local time, we made the decision to skip the event. It’s too bad because it was actually a good race – unlike what Iowa was in our first trip there last year. But with us going to Iowa and Milwaukee last year – Gateway in the daytime became expendable. But after watching the race that was won by Josef Newgarden, I regretted not going. I decided that we might consider going in 2025 if it showed back up on the schedule as a night race or even a twilight race. It didn’t. It was scheduled on Father’s Day Sunday as a mid-afternoon race – the weekend before Road America.

Since we always enjoy going to the refreshingly cool race at Road America, we decided that we would skip Gateway for the second year in a row. But by the time we had made plans and budgeted for our summer – they threw a curve ball and rescheduled it for a night race to start after coverage starts at 7:00 pm local time. The catch was that it would run on Sunday night. With me taking off work the following week for Road America, I couldn’t really justify taking that Monday for Gateway. So, we will watch Sunday night’s Bommarito 500 from our air-conditioned den.

From what I’ve heard and seen on social media – fans that had planned to go are not happy with the time change. St. Louis is a good three and a half hours from Indianapolis. Chances are, the race will not be over until at least 10:00 pm local time. After sitting in post-race traffic and losing an hour crossing into the Eastern Time Zone – fans in Indianapolis are looking at arriving home after 3:00 am. They can do that or stay another night in a hotel room and burn vacation time on Monday. That may explain why I’ve seen many fans trying to unload their tickets after the time change was announced. I’ve also seen ticket prices slashed by the track – making fans who paid higher prices furious.

I’m not sure about this, but I see this as a gamble by FOX, and I can’t blame them. In all honesty, fan attendance is not their problem. They are strictly concerned with ratings. They had been scheduled to go against F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix, and NASCAR in Mexico City. After watching international North American racing in the afternoon, racing fans can tune into a race run in the heartland of the US that night. As far as I know, this will be the first time ever that IndyCar has run a race in prime time on a Sunday. Sunday nights are usually big ratings nights, so there is a chance that many sets of eyeballs could be watching IndyCar on FOX on Sunday night. Conversely, there is also a chance that the non-racing fans in the household may get control of the remote on Sunday nights.

In my home, after a day of watching football or racing all Sunday afternoon – I tend to let Susan watch whatever she wants to watch on Sunday night. Watching Sunday Night Football on NBC is a rarity in my house – unless the Titans are playing. Given their recent lack of success, that hasn’t happened in a while.

Of course, I am assuming that fans are consuming content like people in their 60s, like us. I’m not taking into account that they can stream content on their phone or tablet in another room, as is done with younger generations. Regardless, I’ll be very interested to see the ratings for the Bommarito 500 Sunday night on FOX. A big number may dictate more Sunday night races in the future. The opposite will probably label this as a one-and-done failed experiment.

As far as the race goes, I see this as perhaps the last few opportunities for Team Penske to have a good weekend. In the nine races that have been run at WWTR since IndyCar’s return in 2017 (2020 was a double-header); six of those nine races have been won by Team Penske, with Josef Newgarden winning five of them. If they falter this weekend, I think they may be headed toward tumbling into the abyss. With the firing of three key people, including team president Tim Cindric, there were not three individuals of their caliber waiting in the wings to replace them. There is now a huge leadership void on a team that was already having a rough season before the Indianapolis 500. Based on what we have seen from Team Penske at Le Mans this week – it looks like things are getting worse and not better at the team that used to set the standard for success. If they cannot find their footing at a track they are used to dominating – Team Penske could be headed for another span similar to what they went through in the late-90s.

Fans that have been clamoring for ABP (anyone but Palou), finally got their wish at Detroit when David Malukas punted the points leader into the tire barrier. They also take solace in the fact that the three-time champion has not placed better than fourth at Gateway. Well, I hate to disappoint them, but Palou has improved his results in every race there since 2021. After finishing 20th in 2021; Palou’s last three finishes at WWTR are 9th, 7th and 4th. Given the fact that Detroit was Palou’s first DNF since Iowa last year, I wouldn’t be counting on two bad finishes in a row form the Spaniard. He may or may not win his second oval race of his career, but I’ll be surprised if he’s not on the podium.

Another driver with a brief but good track record at WWTR is David Malukas. In Indy Lights, the young driver from Chicago has two wins and a third-place finish. During his time in IndyCar, Malukas was second as a rookie, and third in his second year – both with dale Coyne Racing. Last year, he finished twenty-first while driving for Meyer Shank Racing. He was having a forgettable season this year, driving for AJ Foyt Racing until the Indianapolis 500, where he was credited with a second-place finish. He qualified well at Detroit before finishing fourteenth. I am expecting a very good showing from Malukas at Gateway.

Many are expecting a strong showing from Andretti Global, but I don’t think this has been one of their stronger tracks. I think a team many are overlooking is Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi. This team knows how to set up a car for WWTR, and Rossi has had decent finishes there. Last year, Rinus VeeKay finished tenth while Ed finished seventeenth, as he drove most of the ovals last year for Christian Rasmussen. This year Rasmussen will be in the car, with Rossi as his teammate. Call me crazy, but I think they will have a good day also.

I can’t say the same for Arrow McLaren…except for Pato O’Ward, who has collected four podiums in six races at Gateway. One of those two non-podiums was a fourth in 2022. Last year, Pato finished twenty-sixth, when a mechanical issue limited him to only forty-two laps.

The egg-shaped 1.25-mile oval has hosted some very exciting races, and a few snoozers. I don’t think much has changed since last year’s race, which was run after the hybrid made its debut at Mid-Ohio. I’m not sure if the tires have changed, but hopefully we can get a good race – not only for us die-hards who religiously follow the series, but for any casual fans tuning in on Sunday night.

So, who will win? I’m very tempted to pick Pato O’Ward due to his sustained success at WWTR. I’m also tempted to pick Alex Palou, just to see if my curse for picking winners continues from Detroit. But Sonsio Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 sort of dispelled that supposed myth. But instead of those proven winners, I am going to go with a first-time winner who is quickly making a name for himself – David Malukas.

Practice gets underway Saturday morning at 11:30 am EDT on FS1. Qualifying will also be shown on FS1, beginning Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm EDT. Then the High-Line and Final Practice will be shown on FS2 Saturday at 5:30 pm EDT. Sunday, there is no IndyCar track activity until the race broadcast begins on Big FOX at 8:00 pm EDT.

Please Note: Due to Sunday being Father’s Day and the late hour that the race will be getting over – I will not have any type of race recap on Monday. Like most of you, I will watch the race, turn it off when it’s over and go to bed. That’s what I get to do in my semi-retired status. But next week we will be traveling to Road America, so we will definitely be in the swing of things. I can’t promise anything for Wednesday, but starting Friday, I will definitely have a Road America Preview, as well as posting multiple times from the track, as usual.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on June 14, 2025 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.