By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
IndyCar heads to primetime on Sunday night for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway) for the second oval race and eighth round of the 2025 season.
WWTR is one of the quickest tracks on the calendar despite only being 1.25 miles in length and the 260 lap contest will see drivers peak at over 190 mph while running on the limit. Over the last six seasons, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden are the only two drivers to win at the Madison, Illinois oval, with Newgarden winning four-out-of-the-last-six. The 2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was the last win for Newgarden.
Heading into Sunday’s race, all three Team Penske cars look strong as Will Power (180.329 mph) will lead the field to green in the No.12 Verizon Chevrolet. Power was the only driver to break into the 180-mph bracket as teammate Scott McLaughlin was only half-a-mph slower at 179.783 mph in the No.3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet.
Power claims the 71st pole of his long IndyCar career and Team Penske’s 700th pole across all of its racing disciplines. Power’s last pole came at the second race of the Iowa doubleheader in 2023, ending a 693-day drought.
“I sent it. A lot. I knew you would have to,” Power told FOX Sports’ Georgia Henneberry after qualifying. “You’d have to drive flat through Turns 3 and 4 and it wasn’t quite flat but very, very close. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a pole. Really excited for the Verizon No.12 car and Chevy did a great job, good power. Hopefully we can execute in the race. It would be awesome to get a win here.”
SEE: Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Starting Grid
The other Team Penske driver of Josef Newgarden, driving the No.2 PPG Chevrolet, set the pace in opening practice at 178.243 mph and started fifth (178.910 mph) as the team is looking towards their best weekend of the season.
A Team Penske affiliate in David Malukas, driving the No.4 Clarience Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing,is continuing his good form as he was third in the opening practice (177.856 mph) and will start fourth on Sunday (179.079 mph).
Malukas is coming off of a second place at the Indianapolis 500 and a second place start at the Detroit GP. WWTR is the track where Malukas has had the most success during his young IndyCar career with two podiums in 2022 and 2023. Malukas was in contention for the win in 2024 when contact with Power ended his race.
Another driver hoping for a good result is Conor Daly. A frontrunner at all ovals on which Daly excels, the Noblesville, Indiana native will hope to put the No.76 Mankind Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet on the podium once again. Daly ended the opening practice in eighth (176.939 mph) and will start 15th (176.807 mph) on Sunday night.
Sunday will be the first time the series has returned to a track with the hybrid power for the second time. Last year’s race had 21 lead changes with 254 passes for position throughout the race, which was also held at night. With the combination of the hybrid and racing at night, passing will be plentiful on race day.
Chevrolet takes the first five spots in qualifying with the Meyer Shank Racing duo of Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist starting sixth and seventh, respectively, flying the flag for Honda as they take the latter half of the top 10.
Alex Palou, the only driver to win on an oval this season and the championship points leader, will start ninth at 178.381 mph. Palou claimed his long awaited, first oval win at the Indy 500 and looks to bounce back from a DNF at Detroit two weeks ago.
The stage is set for an exciting race tomorrow with coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.