A 260-lap, 500-kilometre oval challenge awaits Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin in this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois. Both remain in championship contention, although just three races remain for them to bridge the gap to runaway leader Alex Palou.
Palou can become just the fourth IndyCar champion crowned with two or more races to run should results fall his way. A maximum of 54 points are up for grabs for the winner of each remaining race, with 50 points awarded for a race win, a bonus point awarded for leading a lap, a point awarded for claiming pole, and an extra two for leading the most laps.
Dixon finished eighth in last year’s race but brings momentum into this year’s round following his victory in the Music City Grand Prix two weeks ago. The win took him to second in the standings, 101 points behind Palou. He needs to remain within 107 points of his teammate following this round to maintain a mathematical chance of his seventh IndyCar crown.
The Kiwi great has experienced success on the egg-shaped oval before, winning in 2020 by just 0.1404 seconds over now-teammate Takuma Sato. Sato will again compete for Chip Ganassi Racing in place of Marcus Armstrong, with the Kiwi only competing on road and street courses in 2023.
“St. Louis is a fun track and it is very challenging to get turns one, two, three and four right,” said Dixon. “Last year’s race was really cool with how the high line came in. I think they focused a fair bit on using that practice session to get it to come in, and then for the last couple of restarts, that definitely played true.
“I’m looking forward to it and hope that we can have even better cars this year.”
McLaughlin, meanwhile, is fourth in the championship, 144 points off the lead. He must out-score Palou by 37 points to remain alive in the title hunt. Should McLaughlin not win, all Palou needs to do is score eight points or more to eliminate the Kiwi from contention.
The Team Penske driver finished third in last year’s race at the same venue.
The IndyCar series is being supported by Indy NXT, which brings Hunter McElrea to action following his Nashville success. McElrea is second in the championship, 33 points behind leader Christian Rasmussen.
Qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 6:00 am on Sunday, with the race starting at 7:30 am on Monday.
Indy NXT qualifying is at 5.45 am on Sunday and is followed by the race at 8:25 am.
Header Image: Penske Entertainment: James Black
We truly enjoy your posts, Scott.
Fingers crossed for a great finish at the Bommarito 500, this weekend.
Cheers,
Diane and Gavin