The 2021 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was an IndyCar motor race held on August 21, 2021, at the World Wide Technology Raceway. It was the 13th round of the 2021 IndyCar Series.
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske won his second race of the season, ahead of Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O'Ward in second and polesitter Will Power in third.
Background INDYCAR used only the Saturday of the two-day event, with NASCAR Truck Series racing on Friday and INDYCAR on Saturday, starting at noon and ending on the night of August 21, 2021. It was held one week after the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix at Indianapolis and three weeks before the Grand Prix of Portland. It was the last oval race of the 2021 season.
Josef Newgarden was the previous race winner, having won the second race in the 2020 double-header event.
Championship standings before the race Álex Palou remained top of the standings with a 21-point gap over Pato O'Ward, despite his dismal 27th-place finish at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. O'Ward, who finished fifth in that race, moved up to second, as Scott Dixon was demoted to third, sitting above Josef Newgarden in fourth and Marcus Ericsson in fifth.
Entrants 24 drivers entered the race. IndyCar rookie Jimmie Johnson was replaced by Tony Kanaan, who had signed with the team to race in the season's oval races in place of Johnson. Ed Carpenter returned to pilot the No. 20 in a similar deal, replacing Conor Daly, who went to drive the No. 59 Carlin.
Rookie Romain Grosjean participated in his first oval race, after initially only signing with Dale Coyne Racing to race in road and street courses. KeyMeaningRookiePast winner Driver Team Engine2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet5 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda48 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Honda51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda59 Conor Daly Carlin Chevrolet60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Practice Practice took place at 1:15 PM ET and ended with Josef Newgarden topping the charts, with a lap time of 00:25.1715. +Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeamEngineLap Time12 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet00:25.171523 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet00:25.3280328 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda00:25.3462 Source:
Qualifying Qualifying was held at 5:00 PM ET. Each driver set two laps in the session. Positions were then determined based on the total time of those two laps.
Will Power won pole position, with a total time of 00:49.8289.
Qualifying classification Driver Team Engine Lap 1 Lap 2 Total Time Finalgrid112 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet00:24.978100:24.850800:49.82891226 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda00:24.923100:24.930600:49.8537232 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet00:25.009000:24.849900:49.85893422 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet00:24.941700:24.956400:49.8981455 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet00:25.085500:24.944100:50.0296568 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda00:24.986000:25.058900:50.04496727 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda00:25.037400:25.077100:50.1145789 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda00:25.127400:25.015300:50.14278915 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda00:25.211800:25.067400:50.27929107 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet00:25.195000:25.104600:50.299610113 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet00:25.289400:25.014200:50.3036111210 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda00:25.182400:25.215600:50.3980211318 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda00:25.289600:25.164400:50.4540121428 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda00:25.201100:25.259400:50.4605131551 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda00:25.183700:25.315700:50.4994141660 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda00:25.260000:25.276300:50.5363151730 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda00:25.274000:25.323200:50.5972161848 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Honda00:25.368000:25.428200:50.7962171914 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet00:25.421800:25.460600:50.8824182029 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda00:25.463100:25.433800:50.8969192159 Conor Daly Carlin Chevrolet00:25.492600:25.485400:50.9780202220 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet00:25.565900:25.495100:51.0610222321 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet00:25.554400:25.518900:51.073323244 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet00:25.814000:25.672400:51.486424 Source: Notes – Álex Palou received a nine-place grid penalty due to an unapproved engine change. He would start the race 21st.
Race The race started at 8:00 PM ET. The start, led by Team Penske's Will Power, went underway with no incidents. On lap 2, Power was overtaken by Colton Herta, who assumed the lead of the race. The following lap saw a caution brought out, as Graham Rahal and Ed Jones made contact in Turn 2, sending both drivers into the wall. Both drivers would retire from the race, classifying second last and last respectively. The caution lasted 12 laps. As the race restarted after the caution on lap 15, teammates Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud made contact, damaging the right side of Pagenaud's front wing, which would detach and land on the track, causing another caution that lasted four laps. A light malfunction caused the third caution of the day to be triggered on lap 21, lasting four laps.
On lap 54, Ed Carpenter spun and crashed out of the race in Turn 4, causing the fourth caution of the race, which would last until lap 63. Sébastien Bourdais took the lead of the race, as the front three pitted. Herta lost the effective lead of the race to Newgarden, who exited the pit lane first. Another caution would be declared on lap 65, as Rinus VeeKay crashed into Álex Palou in Turn 1, who then hit the rear of teammate Scott Dixon's car, sending the three into the wall. The race restarted with Newgarden in the lead, after Bourdais made his pit stop.
On lap 139, Herta overtook Newgarden for the lead, but lost it as he pitted on lap 185. Herta would retire from the race as his driveshaft broke during pit exit. On lap 200, Alexander Rossi hit the wall in Turn 2 during his out lap after his final pit stop, ending his race and causing the sixth and final caution of the race, which lasted nine laps. Felix Rosenqvist had a mechanical failure on lap 211, which prompted him to retire from the race.
Josef Newgarden won the race, half a second over Arrow McLaren SP's Pato O'Ward in second. Polesitter Will Power finished third.
Race classification Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired PitStops Grid LapsLed 1 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 260 2:24:10.9404 3 3 138 53 2 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 260 +0.5397 3 5 1 41 3 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 260 +5.8660 3 1 1 37 4 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 260 +6.6620 3 11 32 5 14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 260 +8.9566 2 18 18 31 6 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 260 +8.2618 4 16 28 7 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 260 +14.0259 4 13 26 8 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 260 +15.5421 6 4 1 25 9 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 260 +18.7676 3 6 22 10 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 260 +20.1207 3 15 20 11 59 Conor Daly Carlin Chevrolet 260 +22.1036 4 20 19 12 4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 260 +24.5581 5 24 18 13 48 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 260 +26.8367 4 17 17 14 51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 259 +1 Lap 4 14 16 15 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 243 +17 Laps 7 19 15 16 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 211 Mechanical 4 10 14 17 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 200 Contact 3 7 13 18 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 185 Mechanical 3 2 101 13 19 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 Contact 2 8 11 20 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 64 Contact 1 21 10 21 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 64 Contact 1 23 9 22 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 54 Contact 2 22 8 23 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 4 Contact 1 9 7 24 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 2 Contact 0 12 6Fastest lap: Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) – 00:25.7998 (lap 195) Source:
Championship standings after the race Pato O'Ward took the championship lead after his second-place finish, with Álex Palou dropping down to second, above race winner Josef Newgarden, who rose to third over Scott Dixon, who was demoted to fourth.
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 11 Pato O'Ward435 12 Álex Palou425 13 Josef Newgarden413 14 Scott Dixon3925 Marcus Ericsson375 Source:
Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 1092 2 Chevrolet 1057 Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References