Race Report: NTT IndyCar Series

Another year of racing in the shadow the St. Louis arch has come to a close, and yellows were the name of the game for the 248-lap Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Pit strategies and yellow flags played a heavy hand in delivering IndyCar an unexpected podium cast while fans packed the stands for a reported sell-out crowd.

There’s no time to rest for the IndyCar field as the transporters roll west, directly to Portland International Raceway for the penultimate event of the 2019 fight for the Astor Cup. The Grand Prix of Portland airs Sunday, Sept. 1, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

No. 28 DHL HONDA

  • STARTED 9th // FINISHED 8th
  • CHAMPIONSHIP: 7th (368 pts.)
  • OF NOTE: Led his fuel strategy but was caught out by a yellow, settling the 28 car into the 8th position for the checkered flag // Reached as high as the second position during pit sequencing

“Unfortunately, luck didn’t go our way today. The DHL team had a really good fuel strategy going where we would have been P1 on our strategy. Which would have ended up panning out if that second-to-last yellow hadn’t come out. That was the one that really put us in. After saving fuel for so long, I think a top 10 – P8 – is about as good as we could hope for.”


No. 98 OBERTO SPECIALTY MEATS / CURB HONDA

  • STARTED 22nd // FINISHED 10th
  • CHAMPIONSHIP: 16th (254 pts.)
  • OF NOTE: Credited with leading four laps during pit sequence and a caution period // Ran consistently in the top 10 and was on track for a podium finish before the final yellow of the race was brought out // Jumped 15 positions, the second most of any driver in the field (Kanaan +17, Daly +15)

“We hung in there and gave ourselves a lot of opportunity on going long and fighting through the vibrations and staying out. We almost bailed a couple times, but just hung tough and got the yellows and put ourselves in a decent position. I felt weak on restarts, which is usually one of my fortes. Not a bad night but I think the potential was a lot better.”


No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS HONDA

  • STARTED 11th // FINISHED 13th
  • CHAMPIONSHIP: 3rd (517 pts.)
  • OF NOTE: Ran inside the top three during the second stint // Gambled on a fuel saving strategy following the last caution period but was unable to conserve the large number necessary, forcing the 27 to pit with 20 laps to go // Falls to third in the championship, 46 points behind the leader // Fought vibration on the tail end of each stint

“I think we had the car and we drove it up to P3 on pace. It’s just the way the Series works and the way the yellows fall sometimes. It can be frustrating. [Newgarden] spins and is unaffected; crashes in Toronto and is unaffected. It’s just the way it goes. I think the whole 27 NAPA Andretti Honda team did a really good job overnight, putting together a fast race car. We were able to get form 11th to 3rd and were content running up there and could run the same pace, if not quicker, than Josef. It’s unfortunate the way it goes down, the Series is really difficult. But we’ve got two more to go and we’ll just keep our head down and try to win races.”


No. 26 GAINBRIDGE HONDA

  • STARTED 15th // FINISHED 14th
  • CHAMPIONSHIP: 18th (239 pts.)
  • OF NOTE: Made impressive passes on the outside and inside of cars all race long // Ran as high as fourth place with pit sequences but ultimately was not able to gain track position due to timing of caution periods

“Honestly, we were on the wrong end of a bad yellow all night. You never want the yellow to come out after you pit, because then you get trapped a lap down. Literally we pitted three times and the yellow came out within three laps each time. We just kept getting trapped a lap down, which wasn’t our fault. We had a car that was good enough to be in the top 10, we paced the race leader, we ran away from the race leader at one point – but was a lap down while doing it. The pace was there, but lady luck wasn’t.”