Indycar had the Bommarito 500 and it was, something else. Fans of Penske will be happy and mad. People that don't like Penske with be happy and mad. There was qualifying, but a number of cars had engine related penalties, Palou, Dixon, maybe Herta... he did some bodywork during qualifying and finished his run with an average 100+ mph on the oval, so maybe he wasn't penalyzed.
On the initial green flag, Herta entered a cheat code that allowed clipping and passed a few rows on the front stretch. Racing started a little squirrely with Legge and Carpenter choosing to get bad incidents out of the way early. Legge was out, and Carpenter would have the remainder of the race to ponder who should really be driving this car that he owns.
Veekay got into a wiggle, which slowed him down, which caused a crunch behind him and ruined Kirkwood's night.
Things settle down a bit and thanks to the yellows, there were a couple of pit strategies going. Getting late in the race David Malukas went for a move inside on Power, but could finish it because Kirkwood was in the way. Power tried to counter, but couldn't, because Kirkwood was in the way. Malukas's move was brave, but he held his line just above the apron. But that wasn't enough room for Power, who'd clip Malukas who would then subsequently spin into the wall. The Power, Malukas dynamic was important because racing it out to checkers would likely have meant they'd be fighting for the win as Newgarden and McLaughlin needed a splash and dash. But thanks to Power's maneuver, Malukas was out of the race. Funnily enough, an irate Power (you'll see shortly) would yell at Malukas for the incident. Power just... he just has to power. And Penske haters are mad at this point, as Power isn't penalized. I get that Kirkwood was in the way, so 'racing incident'. But for him to yell at Malukas afterward who made a brazen but maturely held pass, that isn't cool. Power owes him a drink.
The yellow allows the other two Penskes to pit and stay ahead and then low light of the night comes as the race goes green. I'm watching them round turn four and I flashback to 1982, where Rick Mears is parading the cars down the front stretch like it is a Sunday Drive. The cars are too tight, too close. I remark, there is going to be crash. Light turns green, Palou, swings out because he is the first driver in the line to realize the laws of physics prevent fermions from taking up the space of each other. Rossi, who must have slept through his physics course, runs up on Will Power, and pops a wheelie, making this unconformably the third race in a row where a car hasn't kept all of its wheels on the pavement. Herta, Power, etc... complained that the restart was awkward and Newgarden was brake checking, which isn't allowed. Newgarden said he wasn't, which maybe is accurate, but the accordion behind him presents a case of he was causing problems up front. Driver in front sets the pace, but he didn't get going at the green, as Palou was making up ground before Newgarden put space between himself and McLaughlin. Penske haters are fuming. The restart is reviewed, no penalty. Red flag, grab yourself a drink.
They restart one last time, Newgarden wins, Penske haters burn the track down (I presume). Palou finished fourth, Herta fifth. The actual cool thing was that Linus Lundquist was having a solid run and brazenly passed Herta and Palou and got himself on the podium, which was great, even if engulfed in presumed flames.
O'Ward's and Ericsson's cars went on protest and the drivers were not able to finish.
I'm uncertain about Veekay's strategy, being in sixth and then going for the alternative strategy. But they did. Had a couple hiccups in the pit, a bar on the car that was doing its own thing. Amazingly enough, Veekay found himself in sixth at the red, managing to get around the craziness. However, during the red, one of the warning lights was out in the back of Veekay's tail wing. Indycar forced them to fix it and sent them to the back of the line!
I'd get if it was a performance enhancing fix, but for *bleep* sakes! Veekay finishes in 10th, great overall for a night that sucked terribly for him. He is really showing he has the skill and maturity.
Sting Ray Robb managed to lead several laps Saturday Night, being on a different pit strategy and finished 9th. So that was rather unexpected. I'm stunned he still has a ride. He must get enough money coming in to pay for his ride via Pray.com (yes, please ignore the religious blind spot on using Jesus as a sponsor).
As silly season continues (all season long), Malukas announced going to AJ Foyt racing. Why? I have no idea. AJ Foyt racing sucks. They can only manage ovals. This also likely means that Sting Ray Robb is going to be gone. I can only imagine that Dale Coyne will call him up, but Dale Coyne is struggling terribly at the moment putting out a car that can finish a race.
Standings wise, Palou remains in front, and actually adds to his series lead. 14 races so far, and he has 11 top 5s. Guy is a machine. All of the action happening in front of him and his instincts get him through. After a while, you have to stop calling it luck.
