IndyCar has moved the start time of its Gateway race forward by almost half an hour due to the threat of adverse weather.

Instead of an 18:30 ET/08:30 AEST green flag time, action will now get underway at 18:01 ET/08:01 AEST.

“During careful monitoring of likely weather conditions in the St Louis area, IndyCar officials have decided to move up the start time of today’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway to 6:01 p.m. ET, ensuring fans see the most NTT IndyCar Series action,” read an announcement from the series, in part.

Team Penske’s Will Power is set to start from first position after equalling Mario Andretti’s record of 67 career poles.

The point for pole also saw the Queenslander increase his series lead, albeit to just seven points over Scott Dixon and 34 points over fifth-placed Alex Palou.

With 53 points on offer today, Power is taking the approach that he, Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, and Palou are all equal heading into the third-last race of the year.

The 41-year-old is going for his second IndyCar title after picking up his first in 2014, while Dixon is eyeing off a seventh which would tie him as most prolific of all-time with the legendary AJ Foyt.

The schedule change at Gateway Motorsports Park comes after both qualifying and the race itself last time out on the streets of Nashville were delayed due to lightning strikes in the area.

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