This Saturday the NTT IndyCar Series competes at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Drivers face 260 laps of the 1.25 mile oval with the race underway at 7:45pm local time (12:45pm Sunday 22 August NZ time).
Alex Palou leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with four races to go for the first time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Palou has led the point standings after eight of the 12 races this season. Kiwi Scott Dixon holds third just 34-points behind Palou.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings:
Palou 415, O’Ward 394, Dixon 381, Newgarden 360, Ericsson 353, Rahal 312, Herta 311, Pagenaud 295, Power 278, VeeKay 269.
Fast Facts:
There have been nine different winners in 12 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park, Road America), Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500), Marcus Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1, Streets of Nashville), Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) and Will Power (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-2) have all won in 2021. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
There have been eight different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden and Will Power) The only repeat winners in that stretch are O’Ward (Texas-2 and Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2) and Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1 and Streets of Nashville)
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be the 13th INDYCAR SERIES race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden split the doubleheader races in 2020. Paul Tracy won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at WWTR in 1997. Dixon, Newgarden, Takuma Sato (2019) and Will Power (2018) are the former winners entered in this year’s race.
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be the fourth and final oval race of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. The previous oval races were won by Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2) and Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis Motor Speedway).
Three drivers have won at World Wide Technology Raceway from the pole – Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Gil de Ferran (2002) and Helio Castroneves (2003).
Team Penske has won six times at World Wide Technology Raceway. Penske’s winning drivers are Paul Tracy (1997), Gil de Ferran (2002), Helio Castroneves (2003), Josef Newgarden (2017, 2020-Race 2) and Will Power (2018). Chip Ganassi Racing has three wins at Gateway with Alex Zanardi (1998), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000) and Scott Dixon (2020-Race 1).
Twenty-one drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Tony Kanaan has nine starts, most among the entered drivers. Fourteen entered drivers have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 268, Scott Dixon 251, Will Power 200, Takuma Sato 145, Pato O’Ward 130, Kanaan 21, Colton Herta 20, James Hinchcliffe 20, Simon Pagenaud 13, Sebastien Bourdais 6, Alexander Rossi 4, Felix Rosenqvist 3, Marcus Ericsson 2 and Conor Daly 1).
Two rookies – Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin – are expected to compete. Both rookies along with Dalton Kellett will make their first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start at World Wide Technology Raceway. It will be Grosjean’s first race on an oval.
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