McLaughlin and Power in Team Penske triple DNF

Power started from pole position but bowed out on Lap 47 after the #12 suffered a right front puncture, which pushed him into the outside wall.

McLaughlin, who started second, retired the #3 on Lap 216 when he suffered a left rear suspension issue.

“Something broke,” McLaughlin reported.

“I don’t know. Left rear. Lucky it happened out of [Turn] 2 because coming down the straight it went ‘bang’.

“It was like somebody hit me. I thought somebody was beside me but my spotter said I was clear.

“Really bummed for everyone on the Dex Imaging Chevy. I had a fast car, just not a clean night.”

Those incidents bookended the biggest of all for the #2 car of Josef Newgarden, who collided with the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car of Louis Foster.

That sent the two-time champion into the air and upside down in a shower of sparks.

Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood claimed his second straight win of the season and his third victory after triumphs on the streets of Long Beach and Detroit.

Explosions trackside, cars on fire in the pit lane, and a cameraman splayed out on the ground were just some of the bizarre scenes at Gateway.

AJ Foyt Racing’s David Malukas led the early laps. He wound up with 72 laps led to his name, the most of any driver. However, he faded on the final pit stop sequence to 12th.

There was drama on Lap 4 when Devlin DeFrancesco spun at Turn 1 and backed his car into the outside wall.

After his incident, he was captured by a camera operator running through the pit lane before stopping abruptly, which caught the trailing cameraman off guard.

He ran into the back of DeFrancesco and fell to the ground.

Power’s incident on Lap 46 brought out the second caution, which triggered a flurry of action in the pit lane.

Will Power gets into the wall. pic.twitter.com/2MZGHAXWNS

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 16, 2025

Christian Rasmussen’s Ed Carpenter Racing car lit up in flames after fuel was spilled down the side of the #21 car.

At the same time, McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard missed his pit stall and put his car in reverse. That drew the ire of officials, who gave him a drive-through finish. He wound up finishing 14th.

The middle of the race saw Malukas, McLaughlin, and Newgarden take turns leading the race.

Newgarden pitted on Lap 101 and undercut McLaughlin to take the lead after the Kiwi pitted on Lap 102. In fact, McLaughlin dropped back to third behind Malukas.

Then Newgarden had his crash on Lap 129 and brought proceedings to a grinding halt.

Louis Foster talks with @KevinLee23 after his wreck at WWT Raceway. pic.twitter.com/gu7cxgfGY6

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 16, 2025

That brought the field back to pit lane where there was more chaos. Malukas and McLaughlin were both pinged for unsafe releases and were forced to drop three positions each.

McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was gifted the race lead and restarted ahead of surprise packet Conor Daly for Juncos Hollinger Racing, who was the standout of the first half of the race. Kirkwood was third ahead of Malukas and McLaughlin.

Daly gave O’Ward something to think about and engaged in an epic battle for the lead. By Lap 154, he took the top spot.

Daly led 36 laps before pitting on Lap 190. The overcut proved stronger and he lost out in that sequence to Kirkwood and Malukas.

Conor Daly vs. Pato O’Ward for P1! pic.twitter.com/BUpQ4IGGPF

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 16, 2025

On Lap 196, the yellow was called when Malukas slid up into the outside wall.

The timing of the yellow created an unusual situation whereby Scott Dixon had run longest of all and had lapped everyone.

That effectively gave him a free pit stop. He pitted and returned to the lead of the race before the whole field was allowed to unlap itself.

Dixon led Kirkwood and O’Ward, but his time at the front was ultimately short-lived. He lasted 43 laps at the front of the field before the final pit stops shook up the order.

A mix of strategies meant some cars ran long into the race, hoping for a yellow that never came. The likes of Kirkwood and O’Ward stayed the course and pitted with less than 30 laps to go.

Santino Ferrucci and Callum Ilott stayed out for as long as they could until they were forced to pit on Lap 246 and Lap 256 respectively.

KYLE KIRKWOOD WINS AT WWT RACEWAY! pic.twitter.com/9CwP6oQ5Cf

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 16, 2025

Kirkwood was gifted the lead when Ilott pitted. Ultimately, he held sway and was able to beat O’Ward by half a second.

Rasmussen was the standout in third from 25th on the grid while Dixon put in a solid innings to finish fourth ahead of Ferrucci.

Series leader Alex Palou was eighth behind Daly and quiet achiever Rinus VeeKay. Former Prema teammates Marcus Armstrong and Robert Shwartzman completed the top 10.

IndyCar continues its season Road America on June 23.

Results: IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500