Dixon, Rossi To Lead Starting Field at Gateway
- Qualifying canceled after recurring rain showers, starting field set on championship points
- Championship leaders Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi
- Saturday night contest starts at 8 p.m. EDT
Intermittent showers throughout the day Friday at Gateway Motorsports Park led Verizon IndyCar Series officials to cancel qualifying for Saturday's Bommarito Automotive Group 500. As a result, the starting field will be set by entrant championship points, led by Honda drivers Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.
Dixon, the current points leader, will start from the pole, with Rossi alongside in second. Ryan Hunter-Reay will start fifth for Honda. Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe will start seventh and eighth, respectively; with Sebastien Bourdais and Marco Andretti rounding out the top-10.
Between showers, the field completed a pair of practice sessions, with Rossi leading both the one-hour opening practice, and pacing the 90-minute evening session, with Dixon just behind, in second, in both sessions.
Television coverage of Saturday night's 248-lap race, the final oval event of 2018, starts at 8 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.
Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Championship points leader, will start first: "I think IndyCar made the right decision [to cancel qualifying] as far as trying to put a priority on getting some running tonight [in race conditions] that will benefit everybody. I'm sure there will be guys that are not happy about it. For us, it works out great because we're leading the points. But ultimately, I think our car is pretty good here. Would we have gotten the pole? Maybe, maybe not, but right now, we're just trying to focus on getting some changes for tonight's practice and obviously make the car a little bit better [for the race].
Bommarito Automotive Group 500
| Circuit: | Gateway Motorsports Park (1.25-mile oval) Madison, IL |
| 2017 Winner: | Josef Newgarden (Team Penske)139.465 mph average |
| Weather: | Overcast, intermittent showers, 71 degrees F |
Top-10 Starting Lineup:
| Ps. |
Driver |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Speed mph |
Notes |
|
1. |
Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
N/A |
Field set by |
|
2. |
Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
|
Championship |
|
3. |
Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
|
Points Standings |
|
4. |
Will Power |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
|
|
|
5. |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
|
|
|
6. |
Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
|
|
|
7. |
Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
|
|
|
8. |
James Hinchcliffe |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
Honda |
|
|
|
9. |
Sebastien Bourdais |
DCR with Vasser-Sullivan |
Honda |
|
|
|
10. |
Marco Andretti |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
|
|
Other Honda Results
| 12. |
Ed Jones |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
|
|
|
13. |
Takuma Sato |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
Honda |
|
|
|
16. |
Zach Veach-R |
Andretti Autosport |
Honda |
|
|
|
21. |
Pietro Fittipaldi-R |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
|
|
# # #
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
