In the land of the arch, things go full circle at a track commonly known as Gateway.
The 1.25-mile asphalt oval, which carries the name of World Wide Technology Raceway — thanks to a naming rights deal — will play host to a 260-lap INDYCAR affair (325 miles) under the lights on Sunday night.
It’s part of a big, live-sports afternoon and evening on FOX, starting with the NHRA event at New England (Epping) Dragway at 3 p.m. ET, followed by a pair of events in the St. Louis area — the United Football League semifinal where Louisville visits. St. Louis at 6 p.m. ET. The night cap will be the INDYCAR race at 9 p.m. ET.
The track, formerly named Gateway Motorsports Park, is located in Illinois just across the river from St. Louis.
Here’s what to know about this weekend’s event:
Are All The INDYCAR Drivers Healthy To Race?
Well … there are at least three who are not totally healthy but all are expected to race.
The latest driver to be injured was Romain Grosjean, who posted on Instagram that he had a pin inserted in the index finger of his right hand this week.
The Dale Coyne Racing driver showed the X-ray and also showed himself on the sim, proving he can still work the steering wheel and paddles.
“Detroit wasn’t kind to my right hand,” Grosjean wrote in the post. “Surgery on Monday in Indianapolis, recovery, simulator … and cleared for St. Louis race.”
Two drivers are still healing from injuries suffered in crashes at Indianapolis.
Josef Newgarden, who has five career wins at Gateway, wouldn’t specify just how much pain he was in. But the Team Penske driver indicated it was difficult to race at Detroit last week with an injured left foot.
Alexander Rossi is nearly two weeks into his recovery from having surgery on a small bone in his right ankle and the middle finger in his left hand.
Will Alex Palou Win?
Gateway is not Alex Palou’s best track.
Oh man, this question again. Figured we’d get it out of the way early. Let’s just put it this way: Palou has seven career starts at Gateway and has never finished on the podium. He has just one top-five finish at the track.
There’s always a chance Palou wins; never count it out. But this isn’t one to count on him winning.
Who Are The Favorites?
David Malukas opened as the favorite to win at St. Louis.
Well, Newgarden is one to watch but I would feel better about his chances if he was feeling 100 percent. He left this track last year after a hard accident where he hit a sliding Louis Foster and ended up skidding down the frontstretch upside-down in a shower of sparks.
Still, Newgarden won the most recent race at the most similar track and that was at the 1-mile Phoenix oval in March.
Scott Dixon has won here a couple of times, and Pato O’Ward won at the 0.875-mile Iowa oval last year.
Three drivers who are still looking for their first career INDYCAR win have shown much promise on ovals — David Malukas, Santino Ferrucci and Christian Rasmussen. For what it’s worth, Malukas opened as the actual favorite to win this weekend.
Is Rasmussen Racing For His Job?
Christian Rasmussen’s job is safe for now.
Rasmussen is having a frustrating year at 24th in the standings but he’s not racing for his job. ECR announced this week that it had signed Rasmussen for a multiyear contract extension that will keep him with the team through at least 2028.
Maybe the most frustrating thing for Rasmussen this year was the fact he was dominating and leading at Phoenix when he got taken out when Will Power tried to pass him.
I Heard Something About Somebody Not Being Back?
Kevin “Rocket” Blanch made the “difficult” decision to retire.
You might have heard that the INDYCAR technical director, Kevin “Rocket” Blanch had retired.
Blanch had worked for INDYCAR for more than 20 years and was a well-respected official who oversaw all the technical inspection and determined what violated the rules.
According to a news release, Blanch had thought about retiring prior to the start of the season but was convinced by the new Independent Officiating Board to stay at least through May.
“I have been a part of INDYCAR for 36 years and have been involved in 555 straight races,” he said in a news release. “I have simply poured my heart and soul into the sport I love and am very proud of the team I have worked alongside for over two decades.
“This is a very difficult decision, but I feel like now is the right time to take a step back.”
Nick Allen, a former crew chief at Andretti Global, joined INDYCAR prior to the season to assist Blanch and will now take over the role.
What Is This IOB?
The Independent Officiating Board was started this year to oversee officiating. It hires a managing director (Scot Elkins) to oversee all officiating, who hires the technical director and the race director. The board was appointed by INDYCAR but INDYCAR has no oversight over those making the officiating decisions, a structure designed to alleviate any conflicts of interest with Penske Corporation owning the series and fielding teams in the series.
“We certainly were brought in because of a perception of conflict of interest that’s no secret,” said Raj Nair, head of the three-member board, in a briefing with some of the INDYCAR beat writers. “In the time that I’ve been here, I’ve seen none of that.
“There’s nothing broken here, and the changes that we’ve been talking about have been what I would call evolution versus revolution.”
Part of that evolution will be in the week following each race, INDYCAR officiating will publish a report of its decisions on penalties (or race incidents reviewed) from the race weekend as well as other technical inspection aspects from the weekend.
And Someone Said Something About Explosions?
Pyrotechnics go off as cars make their way through the backstretch on the pace laps at Gateway.
Oh, yes. So cool. On the pace laps, Gateway is known for setting off huge fireballs from the backstretch. It is cool but also can be nerve-rattling.
And it potentially can leave some ash on the track, which can increase the number of pace laps.
Did we mention it is cool?
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