INDYCAR Previews

Preview – 2019 Bommarito Automotive Group 500

By Dylan Reynolds, The Open Wheel

The INDYCAR season continues this weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 and the Cooper Tires Indy Lights Oval Challenge of St. Louis at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois. The Open Wheel will be covering the action on site all weekend so stay tuned to this site and our Twitter page @openwh33l for all of the latest news.


2018 GATEWAY 6

Photo by Parker Hall/The Open Wheel

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Indy Lights Preview: Cooper Tires Indy Lights Oval Challenge of St. Louis (Entry List), Race – Saturday, August 24, 2019 4:25PM (ET) – The second and final Indy Lights oval race of the season will be a tough one to call with limited history to call on. Results from 2018 show Andretti Autosport dominated at Gateway last year as Ryan Norman grabbed the win over teammates Herta and O’Ward. Based on that and Norman’s strong showing in the Freedom 100, I think Norman is the favorite this weekend. Freedom 100 winner and championship leader Oliver Askew should be strong but Gateway is a difficult track for a rookie. Juncos Racing struggled here last year with Franzoni so VeeKay may just need to manage the deficit and give himself a chance at the next two circuits on the calendar. My pick to win: Ryan Norman

NTT IndyCar Series Preview: Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – Saturday, August 24, 2019 8:00PM (ET) NBCSN – Previous driver experience at WWT Raceway shows just the two winners in the field since the NTT IndyCar Series returned in 2017 (Josef Newgarden) and 2018 (Will Power). The Top 5 in laps led at Gateway are Scott Dixon (223), Newgarden (170), Power (98), Tony Kanaan (21), and Simon Pagenaud (13). Looking at the box scores from 2018 and 2017, only Dixon and Pagenaud have finished in the Top 5 in each of the last two years. If that’s expanded to the Top 10, those two are joined by Rossi and Newgarden. My pick to win: Will Power – When Power gets hot, he’s as good as anyone in the field and might be the best in the business at building a win streak. As the defending winner at Gateway and winner last time out at Pocono, I like Power’s chances this weekend.

My fantasy.indycar.com picks: Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sebastien Bourdais, & Colton Herta – You know my thoughts on Power. Hunter-Reay is due for some good luck on his side and has shown speed everywhere. Bourdais is a solid pick at $24, but keep an eye out for Ferrucci if he out qualifies his teammate. Herta has the pace and just needs to get to the end of the race. He drove well at Gateway last year in Lights.

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