There is a common phrase that perception is reality, and right now the reality is the IndyCar Series has a perception problem. While last Saturday’s round on the 1.25-mile oval in St. Louis featured incredible racing for the majority of the contest, it was quickly marred with multiple controversial decisions by Race Control.
When Josef Newgarden led the field to the green flag with nine laps to go, it was at a dramatically slower pace than any other restart that night. The field arrived at the start stacked on top of each other to the point that even pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin, running second, tapped the gearbox of his Team Penske teammate as they exited Turn 4 as the green flag waved. A chain reaction was set in motion as another teammate, Will Power, who led a race-high 117 of 260 laps, anticipated the restart slightly before Newgarden took off and was forced to crack the throttle. Power subsequently was run over from behind by Alexander Rossi’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, which caught air before both cars settled at the inside wall separating the racetrack from pit lane. Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean and Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey also received damage from the incident—the resulting debris field caused Race Control to issue a red flag.
