For the third weekend in a row, its race week. INDYCAR takes to St. Louis for the first night race of the season. Álex Palou will hope to continue a strong run of form following Detroit, where he took his fourth victory of the season. Kyle Kirkwood heads into the weekend second in the championship as last year’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 race winner. Something the American will hope to repeat.
The format of the weekend differs to Detroit and the Indy 500. There will be no cars on track on Friday. A singular Practice and a qualifying will go ahead on Saturday, ahead of an exciting race on Sunday under the lights.
The Track
The track is a popular oval amongst the drivers and widely known as ‘Gateway’. The 1.25-mile oval was originally named Gateway International Raceway in 1997. The first race at the World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) was a part of CART’s calendar during the American open wheel civil war in the 1990s. It is an egg–shaped oval due to the different banking in corners. Drivers are fond of the track with turns one and two angled at a different degree to turns three and four.
WWTR made its appearance on the INDYCAR SERIES calendar in 2017 and has remained ever since. With 254 passes on track passes for position and 14 different drivers leading the race last year, we’re in for an exciting race.
Josef Newgarden’s Playground
Despite coming off the back of a challenging last couple of races, Newgarden is one to look out for around the short oval. The American suffered an injury to his left foot following a crash at the Indy 500. There was no time to rest following the injury with Detroit taking place the following weekend. The race appeared to be a tricky one on the bumpy tight street circuit, but he managed a solid P10 all things considered.
Newgarden has five wins in St Louis and five podium finishes. His track record around the 1.25-mile oval is the best on the grid and he will hope to show that once again. He has, however crashed out in two of the last three races with a terrifying upside down crash last year.
Other drivers who fair well around Gateway, and will hope to do so again, are the likes of Scott Dixon and Pato O’ward. Dixon has two wins at the Bommarito Automative 500 and the second highest number of podiums alongside O’ward. With a tough season in qualifying and several recovery drives, Dixon will hope to return to form at one of his stronger races.
The two Team Penske drivers of David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin also show previous decent results. After a challenging weekend last time out with a P18 and 19 respectively, the Penske duo will look to return to the top end of the field.
Palou Still Leads The Charge
As we hit the halfway point of the season, Palou seems to be another step closer to his fifth title. The Spaniard is 62 points clear of Kirkwood, who’s strong P2 finish in Detroit moved him ahead of Malukas. The Andretti Global driver showed early signs of a title charge with a victory in Arlington that put him P1 temporarily in the standings. Despite his best performances being on road and street courses, Kirkwood won the race last year. An advantage over title rival Palou who has never won round St Louis.
Third place David Malukas is a further 17 behind. The young driver is the lead Penske in the standings. The American lost out at the line at the Indy 500 to Felix Rosenqvist and then a week later suffered a crash in qualifying that put him at the back of the field. He now sits in third and with a first win in the near future, will want to return back to his start of the year form.
Schedule
The schedule for the weekend is as follows. Please note the times are in CEST.
As we head into the halfway point of the season, Can Palou truly be stopped or will the likes of Newgarden taking another victory stop him from running clear of the field completely?