McLaughlin fights back to fifth, Power eighth at Gateway

Newgarden duelled with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen for the lead, making the defining pass for the lead with 40 laps to go.

Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson led a good chunk of the race – 114 of the 260-lap race distance – and moved into second with 35 laps remaining before the final caution came out with 34 laps remaining.

Newgarden survived the final stanza of the race, keeping Ericsson at bay to clinch his second win of the season after his earlier triumph at Phoenix.

Despite coming up short of the win, Rasmussen was an impressive third – up 16 positions from where he began.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay was the surprise packet in fourth from 13th on the grid.

Scott McLaughlin started fifth and finished fifth for Team Penske after pitting under the final caution for tyres to improve one place.

The opening stanza of the race was controlled by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou. Behind him, Andretti’s Ericsson made massive headway from 12th to sit second before the pit stops.

When Palou got stuck behind traffic, that only aided Ericsson’s quest – and by Lap 47, the Swede got by the Spaniard after he was baulked by lapper Sting Ray Robb.

Nolan Siegel into the wall after contact with Alex Palou. pic.twitter.com/kp63NtrzMW

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 8, 2026

Pit stops began in earnest on Lap 49. There was drama on Lap 55 when Palou tried to lap Nolan Siegel and clipped the left front wheel of the McLaren. That speared the American into the outside wall and out of the race.

At that moment, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon pitted from the lead having run longest of all and left the lane in fourth.

Just before the race resumed, Will Power pitted out of 18th to top up his fuel and go off-strategy.

Ericsson led the Lap 63 restart ahead of Newgarden, Palou, Dixon, and Kyle Kirkwood while McLaughlin was seventh.

The top two edged away from Palou to the tune of six seconds by Lap 100.

Graham Rahal goes around and into the wall. pic.twitter.com/JXiN3Yjtly

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 8, 2026

The second round of pit stops began on Lap 106. Towards the end of the pit stop cycle, Rahal crashed on Lap 114 to bring out the yellow.

Ericsson led standout performer Caio Collett, who had been sixth before the pit stops began.

Dixon, who ran longest of all, rose to third as a result of the well-timed yellow.

Newgarden slipped back to fourth while Power also benefitted after his earlier call to go off-strategy paid dividends to sit fifth.

Rasmussen was sixth, Palou seventh after a slow pit stop ahead of Kirkwood, Veekey, and Malukas.

Amid inclement conditions, the yellow was extended and then red-flagged. After a lengthy delay, the race resumed under yellow. Dixon led a bunch of cars into the pits, including Palou, Malukas, O’Ward, and McLaughlin to go off-strategy and make it on one more pit stop.

Ericsson led the field to green with Collet and Newgarden in tow with Power fourth and Rasmussen fifth.

The next sequence of pit stops juggled the order with such a big disparity between the front-runners and those deeper in the field who ran longer having pitted under caution.

Ericsson pitted on Lap 177 from the lead and Newgarden followed a lap later and switched places through that sequence.

Dixon, Palou, and Malukas all ran long at the front of the field until Lap 192 when the Team Penske pilot came to the lane.

The yellow flew on Lap 197 for inclement conditions and the red was thrown on Lap 200, which drew the field to the pits.

When the race resumed, Dixon returned to the pits for emergency service, which took him out of the lead. The penalty for taking emergency service dropped him to 15th.

Alex Palou runs out of gas on pit road and Josef Newgarden goes to P1! pic.twitter.com/WyJ1MSHaee

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) June 8, 2026

Those on the lead lap pitted, including Palou who ran out of fuel halfway down the pit lane and crawled to his bay.

Palou was stranded in the pits as his fuel tank ran dry and the team struggled to get the car running. The ordeal cost him two laps and he would finish 17th.

Once the field was cleansed, Newgarden led Rasmussen, Ericsson, VeeKay, and Collett. Kirkwood was sixth ahead of Power, Malukas, McLaughlin, and Christian Lundgaard.

Newgarden led the Lap 213 restart and on Lap 214, Rasmussen tried to go around the outside of Newgarden to no avail, but a lap later got the inside at the first turn to take the lead.

They traded places back and forth and with 40 laps remaining Newgarden made his race-winning move at Turn 3.

Ericsson cleared Rasmussen shortly thereafter, and only moments later Caio Collet’s hopes of a top 10 were dashed when his engine blew up and sent smoke pouring out the back.

That brought the yellow out and prompted some to pit. Sixth-placed McLaughlin was the first of those as well as ninth-placed Power.

Unfortunately, a slow tyre change cost Power three positions in the pit stops, though he recovered to eighth.

McLaughlin restarted the race with 26 laps to go in ninth and fought his way through to fifth. Power, meanwhile, restarted in 14th and put in a barnstorming recovery to eighth.

Newgarden led the field to green for the final time and never looked like losing the lead. He ultimately cruised to the chequered flag six tenths of a second ahead of Ericsson and Rasmussen.

Palou’s lowly finish cut the gap between him and Kirkwood to 49 points in the championship standings.

IndyCar returns on June 22 at Road America.

Results: IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500, World Wide Technology Raceway