IndyCar Notes: Rasmussen Is A Passing Machine
MADISON, Ill. — Christian Rasmussen turned a dismal weekend into his first podium finish of the season during Sunday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The Ed Carpenter Racing driver started 25th and steadily worked his way forward to finish third.
“It was a good way to turn this weekend around,” Rasmussen said. “I think we really, really struggled in practice 1 as well as qualifying, but knew what we needed out of the car, and obviously hit some good changes for the race.
“As soon as I kind of found out how well my car worked on the high side, it was just game on,” he continued. “I was able to pass cars — we even got hosed one time with having to take emergency service because we were out of fuel, so I had to restart at the tail end, and that was kind of right at the point where I had kind of driven through most of the field and was up front but had to go to the back, drove through again, and man, we were just coming.
“It was awesome. I haven’t done one of these in a while, so it’s good.”
• It was a disappointing night for Team Penske with all three cars failing to finish.
Will Power, who won Team Penske’s 700th pole on Saturday, cut a tire and hit the wall 47 laps into the race and finished 27th.
Josef Newgarden led 25 laps, but was unable to avoid the spinning car of rookie Louis Foster and went for a wild ride that saw his No. 2 machine flip upside down. Newgarden finished 25th.
“Feel so bad for my PPG team and Chevrolet. Felt like we had the car to beat,” Newgarden said. “Feel fortunate with all the safety processes that IndyCar has and look forward to getting back on track next week in Road America.”
Finally, Scott McLaughlin led 51 laps, but finished 24th after a mechanical failure.
• Santino Ferrucci finished fifth, giving his A.J. Foyt Racing team its third consecutive top-five finish.
“Honestly, I think the team did a really good job. Our car was really phenomenal,” Ferrucci said. “Starts and restarts were great, pit stops, everything was. We ran a very solid, very clean, very smart race. Taking fuel at the end instead of four tires and fuel and pitting earlier, I think was the right call, and we were able to jump a car.
“Overall, really happy with the performance and excited to have three top fives in a row.”
• Conor Daly started 15th in the No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing and led 36 laps before finishing sixth.
“It was a really fun night for us,” Daly said. “I knew the car was fast and Chevrolet gave us great horsepower to get to the lead of the race. We drove our way to the lead of the race and that felt really good. Thankful for the team and everything needs to be perfect to win a race. We just have to lock in and figure out the small details and we’ll get one.
“It was really fun to race for the lead and represent for MannKind, and Chevrolet.”
• Rinus VeeKay drove from 18th starting position and brought his Dale Coyne Racing entry home seventh.
“Fantastic race! Great work by this team, that was real teamwork,” VeeKay said. “It was a chaotic race with a splash and dash at the end. I think we had a good race car and the car really came to us throughout the race.
“When it got colder it got better and better, we saved the best for last for sure. I was really happy with the handling and then the way we progressed as a team this weekend. It almost race over when I get hit on the left rear. But we survived, saved the car, and even passed a few cars afterwards. So, that was pretty good. I’m just really happy, especially after two DNFs, this is a great result to bounce back to.”
• Using fuel strategy to his advantage, six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon led 43 laps and finished fourth in his Chip Ganassi Racing ride.
“Yeah, we were trying to repeat 2023 there. Kudos to everybody at Honda and HRC,” Dixon said. “We got the mileage and that enabled us to catch that yellow. We just didn’t have the pace of the 27. I was kind of bummed, we got into the mix, I think maybe with the No. 83 on the out lap and it just killed our next three laps and then that allowed the No. 5 and No. 21 to get by. A bit of a rough one there, but I think fourth is still a decent day for us.”
• Fourteen of Sunday’s 27 starters led at least one lap of the 1.25-mile track, with A.J. Foyt Racing’s David Malukas leading the most laps (67).
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