Scott Dixon revered to the top en route to winning the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway for his 55th career NTT IndyCar Series victory. On a weather-impacted weekend, competitors were greeted with the novel challenge of being able to use alternate Firestone tires on an oval for the first time.

Dixon started 16th but charged towards the front and led for 123 of the 260 laps, claiming two extra championship points for most laps lead. Dixon’s team only conducted three pit stops, unlike the majority of the competitors, resulting in the Kiwi’s 22.2256s margin of victory. Dixon took home his second win of the 2023 season and his second win at the Gateway circuit. His 55th career win now reduces A.J. Foyt’s all-time race win margin by 12.

Pato O’Ward finished second, and led 18 laps in the process after starting a solid third. O’Ward pitted five times, like the the vast majority of the field. O’Ward’s efforts put him back up to P4 in the championship standings, with a top 3 spot on the line with two races to go. Arrow McLaren teammate Alexander Rossi was also a front runner, as he finished P4.

David Malukas repeated his success at Gateway from last year once again, by rounding out the podium in third place. Malukas scored his second career podium after starting P6 in his Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda. Malukas was the third and final car to finish on the lead lap.

Rounding out the top 5 was Scott McLaughlin. On Sunday morning, hours before the race, McLaughlin clocked a two-lap qualifying total time of 49.1936, scoring his fifth career NTT IndyCar Series Pole Position. Unfortunately this accomplishment was marred by a series of unfortunate incidents in Saturday Night Practice when the Kiwi was involved in a multi-car crash. As a result of an engine change, McLaughlin faced a nine place grid penalty.

Other contending drivers included Colton Herta, who led 13 laps, Will Power who led four laps, and most notably Josef Newgarden, who led 98 laps from the front row. Newgarden, the winningest driver at Gateway, was a sure favorite to win Sunday’s race. It was not a question of “can he win again?” rather, a it was question of “by how far will his winning margin be?”. That’s how dominant Josef Newgarden is on oval tracks in 2023. Unfortunately, his quest for a historic perfect season on ovals fell apart when on lap 210, Newgarden’s car went off-line in the entry of the turn, and his car met the turn two outside SAFER barrier. It was game over for the American, not only for another Gateway win, nor the perfect oval season, but also for the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series Championship.

Álex Palou now has one driver left standing to stop his bid for the 2023 title: Scott Dixon. Regardless, Chip Ganassi Racing has secured their 15th IndyCar Championship. Palou has a decent shot to exit next Sunday’s Portland Grand Prix with his second Astor Cup. Still, contractual decisions for the hotshot Spaniard are undetermined. All what matters for now is that Palou holds a steady 74 point gap over his teammate.

Speaking of silly season, it was revealed just a handful of days ago that Marcus Ericsson will move on from Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for Andretti Autosport beginning in 2024. Andretti Autosport has spent most of the 2020’s cleaning house within their IndyCar programme. Romain Grosjean’s future remains undecided, although he’s tapped to drive for the factory supported Lamborghini LMDh team in 2024. On top of that, lackluster performances by the French driver has drawn criticism and questionability of his competitive IndyCar future. Devlin DeFrancesco has even greater struggles during his three seasons driving for Andretti Autosport. Rumors of the Andretti team downsizing are talk of the town for IndyCar heading into the offseason.

Regardless of the off-track stir, what’s for certain were the events of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500. For the final two races, the IndyCar tour heads back west. Coverage of the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland goes live Sunday, September 3rd at 3:00pm ET/12:00n PT on NBC and Peacock.