Josef Newgarden didn’t let wet conditions, race delays or his competition prevent him from winning at World Wide Technology Raceway for a record sixth time on Sunday night in the IndyCar Series.
Newgarden captured the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 in his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet at the 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis. It was his second victory in 2026 and 34th of his career in the series, tying him for ninth all-time with Al Unser Jr.
“We had everything we needed tonight with Team Penske, so great job to the group,” Newgarden said in the post-race interview on Fox Sports. “Just a methodical night, I felt like. We had a good car to start. Needed to tweak — it wasn’t perfect. But it really came to us just as we needed. They called the race.”
A two-time IndyCar Series champion, Newgarden has won in six of 11 career starts at the track, and his mastery of ovals shorter that 1.5 miles is shown in 15 career wins. He also won in March at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval.
The Team Penske driver started in eighth and led for 53 of the 260 laps, racing at average of 134.070 mph to earn the victory and 51 points. He did this wearing a walking boot after injuring his left foot in a crash last month at the Indianapolis 500.
Newgarden led with 26 laps to go and held off Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson by 0.6613 seconds at the finish line. Racing for Andretti Global, Ericsson started in the 12th position and led a race-high 114 laps while earning 43 points.
“It was a track position day,” Newgarden said. “You have to give a lot of credit to Marcus (Ericsson). I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us. So it was a matter of who’s going to get positioning on each other, and that’s going to seal the deal. So he drove a great race and certainly could have won this as well. This team did the job tonight, so I think that’s why we’re here (in Victory Lane).”
Denmark’s Christian Rasmussen of ECR was third and led five laps while making a race-high 38 on-track passes after starting 19th.
“I don’t know what was going on there, but I was going back by him,” Newgarden said of Rasmussen’s late challenge.
Dutchman Rinus VeeKay of Juncos Hollinger Racing was fourth and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin of New Zealand was fifth.
Spain’s Alex Palou, who started on the pole for Chip Ganassi Racing, finished 17th after leading for 49 laps. Palou, who collected 15 points, has a series-leading five pole positions, including each of the last four races.
There were red flags for inclement weather on lap 137, lasting 38 minutes, and on lap 200, followed by a 14-minute delay.
–Field Level Media
