Indycar race review: wwtr wtf
Short oval racing in Indycar is rarely predictable, so round 13 of the 2024 NTT Indycar Series was always going to be substantial in this year’s title fight. St. Louis’ World Wide Technology Raceway may have been light on schedule but certainly wasn’t light on action. Some big changes came to a few teams in the break between Toronto and St. Louis, so let’s get into it.
Qualifying Woes
Friday’s qualifying session began to take shape on Thursday with another round of grid penalties for unapproved engine changes announced for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Nos. 9 and 10, Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 51, and Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60. Honda powerplant reliability continues to be a topic of discussion this season and may very well cost Honda a shot at this year’s manufacturer’s championship.
When the session officially started hybrid-related issues once again reared their head for Dale Coyne Racing’s returning Jack Harvey and Katherine Legge, which prevented either car from setting a qualifying time.
The first driver to complete a qualifying run was Conor Daly, making his return to Indycar competition piloting Juncos Hollinger’s No. 78 – yes, the very same car previously campaigned by Augustin Canapino. JHR and Canapino parted ways during the break, with Daly announced as a replacement for the remainder of the season just days before haulers loaded in to WWTR.
A hilariously slap-dash photoshop of Daly in a JHR fire suit notwithstanding, the Hoosier handled himself well in qualifying and, according to teammate Romain Grosjean, provided some valuable oval experience to the team: “[Daly] brings a great energy to the team, brings a lot of knowledge on ovals, and for sure we are trying to lean as much as we can on him”.
Meyer Shank’s duo of Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas both looked very strong, finishing the session in second and third respectively. Unfortunately Rosenqvist’s impressive run in the No. 60 would be negated by a drop to 10th as a result of an engine penalty.
By the end of the session Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin had taken the pole, with the team cars of Will Power and Josef Newgarden locking out the second row.
The only on-track incident came from Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who backed his car into the turn two wall during his second qualifying lap. Herta, who up until that moment was on pace to challenge for the pole, spun the car and obliterated the attenuator at the rear before finishing the qualifying attempt with a two-lap average of 110.46 miles per hour.
Racing Woah’s
The question of race-ability for the current Indycar weight/tire/downforce configuration at WWTR was quickly dismissed within the first few laps as cars had no problem utilizing the second higher line to both attack and defend. According to numbers released by Indycar, there were 676 on-track passes during the 260 lap race – 254 of those for position.
Following his mishap in qualifying, Colton Herta put on a clinic in recovery driving by converting a P25 start to a fourth place finish. Other big movers included Linus Lundqvist, who started P19 and came home third, and Sting Ray Robb, who started P24 and claimed his first top-10 result in Indycar with a ninth place finish.
Another Penske Predicament
Ultimately Josef Newgarden came away victorious by the time all was said and done, but that win didn’t come without a healthy amount of controversy.
During a restart with just ten laps to go, Newgarden was leading the field to green and for whatever reason chose to delay taking the restart until after the green flag had been displayed and he had passed the end of Indycar’s designated restart zone. The subsequent back up behind Newgarden caused heavy collisions between Alexander Rossi (P5) and Will Power (P4), and Nolan Siegel (P13) and Jack Harvey (P12) that ended the night for all but Siegel.
It’s also worth noting the caution that predated the lap 250 restart came when Will Power and David Malukas made contact while fighting for position. Malukas set up a pass into turn one and took the low line, drawing completely level with Power’s No. 12. Power then inexplicably drove his car down to the inside lane and made contact with the right front corner of Malukas’ car, which sent the No. 66 into a spin before making heavy contact with the outside wall. To make matters worse, Will Power sought out and verbally accosted David Malukas after both were out of the race. A visibly shaken and very emotional Malukas was interviewed shortly after the altercation, clearly confused as to what he could have done differently in an incident he did not cause.
Neither Penske driver was issued a warning or penalty for their respective incidents.
Winners…
Josef Newgarden: Solidly in his villain era, Newgarden takes another short-oval victory to add to his impressive win record in one of the most difficult racing disciplines Indycar has to offer.
The No. 2 Crew: Team Penske’s pit crews are no doubt some of the best in the business, but during the final round of pit stops Newgarden’s crew managed to change all four tires and issue a splash of fuel in an astonishing 5.1 seconds.
Colton Herta: Herta continues to show up on race day and put in the kind of heroic performances the team needs to close in on championship leader Alex Palou.
Alex Palou: Palou admits himself that oval racing isn’t his strongest skill set, and it’s hard to argue that he had a particularly fast car at WWTR, but by staying clean and driving smart Palou managed a top-5 finish and retained the championship lead heading into Portland.
Linus Lundqvist: The rookie driver and 2022 IndyNXT champ is fighting for his future in Indycar and by scoring his second podium finish of the year has proven he has the talent and deserves a seat.
…And Losers
Will Power: Look, we’re all here for the drama right? But causing a crash, being wrecked out and flipping off your teammate, then yelling at the driver you crashed out isn’t a good look for anyone – especially not when you drive for the team bearing the series owner’s name.
Pato O’Ward: After a difficult qualifying Pato topped the final practice session and looked set to fight his way up the field until an MGU failure ended his night early. O’Ward’s title hopes are all but dashed at this point, through absolutely no fault of his own.
Alexander Rossi: Returning to the No. 7 after successfully rehabbing a broken thumb is hard enough, but being caught out in a crash just ten laps from a solid and badly needed result might make Rossi the unluckiest driver in the paddock.
Scott Dixon: The No. 9 crew started their race on the backfoot and knew they had to make some magic happen in their race strategy if they were to have any hope at all of a good result. Things just didn’t come together for the team and Dixon languished mid-pack for most of the night before crossing the line in 11th.
Championship Updates
With the 2024 season winding down the final fight for the Astor Cup continues to take shape. Alex Palou continues to lead with 443 points and a healthy margin of 59 points to second place Colton Herta. Scott Dixon has dropped to third, just six points back from Herta, and Will Power sits in fourth.
While it might be easy to say that the championship is Palou’s to lose at this point, the Spaniard really does need to make hay at Portland, a track he’s historically done very well at, to offset the potential of losing points at two tracks that are brand new to him. Palou’s lead may exceed a full race weekend, but it still doesn’t afford much room for error or for bad luck.
Colton Herta has tenacity and momentum on his side but needs to be inch-perfect in every session if he wants to challenge Palou. Another qualifying mistake at a track like Portland all but ends those title hopes.
Mathematically, there is a maximum of 54 points on offer for each of the remaining races (50 for a race win, one for pole, one for leading a lap, and two for most laps led) but even with Palou’s lead the completely unpredictable nature of turn one at Portland means the landscape could change again quickly. Add to that the absolute unknowns of Milwaukee’s double header and the season finale at Nashville Super Speedway and it’s still wide open at the top.