CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Bommarito Automotive Group 500
World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway
Madison, Illinois
Race Report
June 15, 2025
TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS CAPTURE FOUR OF TOP-SIX FINISHING POSITIONS AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY AT GATEWAY
PATO O’WARD LEADS THE WAY FOR CHEVROLET WITH RUNNER-UP FINISH AS CHRISTIAN RASMUUSSEN SCORES CAREER FIRST PODIUM FINISH
- Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, led the way for Team Chevy tonight at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (WWTR) with a runner-up finish in the 260-lap race on the 1.25-mile oval
- It is O’Ward’s 4th podium of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR Series season
- His fifth podium at WWTR
- O’Ward is second in points, 73 points behind the leader
- Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, finished third to score his career-first INDYCAR podium after starting 25th in the 27-car field
- It is the second podium for Ed Carpenter Racing at WWTR
- Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, finished fifth
- Tonight’s finish is the third consecutive top-five finish of the season
- Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, made a dramatic charge through the field from his 15th starting position to finish sixth
- Daly led 36 laps on the way to his best finish of the season
- Rookie Robert Shwartzman, pole sitter for the 109th Indianapolis 500 in May, drove from the 24th starting position to finish 10th in only his second career oval race
- Will Power, who started from the pole for a series-best 71st time in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, brought out a yellow flag on Lap 46, making contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 after an issue with the right front tire
- Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, a five-time winner on the 1.25-mile oval, took the lead on the race on Lap 104 and received the crossed flags at the halfway point of the 260-lap race with a 1.4-second lead. His race came to an end on the next lap when Newgarden was unable to miss the spinning car of Louis Foster, ending upside down against the inside wall on the front straight. Both Foster and Newgarden were seen and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit
- Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet, after leading 51-laps, suffered a mechanical failure that forced his retirement from the race on lap 216
- After leading a race high 67 laps, taking the lead from the fourth starting spot on lap one, David Malukas had to settle for the 12th finishing position after a brush with the wall on lap 195
- Up next for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is a trip to the iconic Road America road course, also known as “America’s National Park of Speed.” Chevrolet-powered drivers have 11 wins, 13 poles, and 32 podiums on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn Road America road course, including locking out the podium in 2024. Mario Andretti won the first race for Team Chevy in 1987, with Will Power winning three times since the series returned to the Kettle Moraine region of Wisconsin in 2016.
BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 RESULTS
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes):
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 2nd:
I hope it was an amazing show for the fans. It’s fantastic to be racing under the lights again. I was really happy with my car. All in all a very good points day for the Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. I would love to have gotten that for Team Chevy.
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet finished 3rd:
It’s huge with how this weekend has gone for us. We were really slow in Practice #1. We didn’t get it done in qually. We started 25th in the race. Way to turn it around for ECR here today. This is awesome. Definitely, the best race of my life so far. As soon as I found out that the high line was so effective. My Team Chevy car was so good up there, both in (Turn) 1 & 2 and 3 & 4. So, I just started running high and I could pass people. We got a bit unlucky on one of the cycles and we had to do emergency service, so we had to start at the tail of the field. I drove through, got sent to the back, and drove through again.
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 5th:
“Honestly, I think the team did a really good job. our car was really phenomenal. Starts and restarts were great, pit stops, everything was. We ran a very solid, very clean, very smart race. Taking fuel at the end instead of four tires and fuel and pitting earlier, I think was the right call, and we were able to jump a car. Overall, really happy with the performance and excited to have three top-fives in a row!”
Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet finished 6th:
It was a really fun night for us. I knew the car was fast and Chevrolet gave us great horsepower to get to the lead of the race. We drove our way to the lead of the race and that felt really good. Thankful for the team and everything needs to be perfect to win a race. We just have to lock in and figure out the small details and we’ll get one. It was really fun to race for the lead and represent for MannKind, and Chevrolet.
David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 12th:
”Had a good race, until the two mistakes, obviously a little bit ambitious on Kyle and then just messed up that race start, and kind of dominoed us backwards. Maybe could have survived from that point on, but really unfortunate. After that impact obviously took the car out of whack and was just surviving till the end just to bring her home. But lot of positives. I mean, it was a good first half of the race. Really fast car this weekend, we’re getting there. Just need to put everything together. And, yeah, just have a perfect race for my side eventually.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet finished 20th:
“Gateway. Man, that was a tough race. I don’t know what else to say. We probably had two good stints during the whole race, and the rest was really, really tough. Lot’s of learning to do. I think that we need to get a good look at what we need. Conor did a great job, coming home P6. Super proud of the team there. A solid effort. I know that he led some laps, which is really cool to see. Hopefully, I can do some learning and the team can do some learning and come back to a short oval soon. Road America coming up next. I love that track. It seems to be a place where I’ve done well in the past and I love going fast there.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet finished 24th:
Something broke. I don’t know. Something in the left rear. Lucky it happened in Turn 2. Coming down the straight, I felt like someone hit me, but the spotter said I was clear. Really bummed for the everybody on the DEX Imaging Chevy. We had a fast car, but not a clean night. Some questionable stuff a couple of times. Malukas pulling out in front and us getting the penalty for that. Have to look back on it. Very disappointed because he had a decent car and a good run going.
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 27th:
“It was right front tire failure. Man, I felt last night while we were running, we were pretty much flat through Turn 3 and 4 every lap. I thought that was a lot of load. When I had a failure at Iowa it felt the same. That actually happened. It was unfortunate for us. Blew the front. You’re literally flat every lap through (Turn) 3 and 4 here. (watches the video) – nothing I could do there. Unfortunate, I feel bad for everybody on the Verizon crew. We had a good car, sitting there saving fuel, trying to get a big number to make it a four stop. I know Malukas was just taking off. I figured he just catch traffic and get to him and probably knock a stop off the race. Nothing was going to stop a tire failure, but that’s the way it is. We’ll go to the next one and see if we can get a win. We’re knocking on the door, but not today.”
Pato O’Ward
Christian Rasmussen
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up what was a thrilling Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline.
It is great to be joined by Pato O’Ward, who led eight laps tonight, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet with his third runner-up finish of the season, fourth here at Worldwide Technology Raceway.
Pato, congratulations. Congratulations. Kind of a crazy night, to be sure. Just your thoughts about another podium for you here in 2025.
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think it was a fantastic race. Hopefully everybody that was watching was well entertained. I was very happy with my car. We were just going through the motions and happy with what our strategy looked like, and I think we positioned ourselves well to have that shot to win.
Happy with this podium, and yeah, another great points day for us.
Q. Off an oval, then you go to a big rolling road course. What kind of momentum do you guys have? Obviously the championship looks a little bit different, perhaps. Talk about the championship a little bit as it’s tightened up a tad?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think Road America is halfway for the championship. There’s plenty of racing to go. So much has happened already, so I expect the same for the next half of the championship.
All we need to do is just keep on our wagon and keep pushing forward, and yeah, we’ll see if we’re sitting pretty in Nashville.
Q. Christian, driver of the No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet, first-ever podium, from 25th to third. I love the smile you have on your face. I’m not sure you would have thought about a podium. Did you think you had a podium car?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: No, not really. Not really.
Just way to turn this weekend around. I think we really, really struggled in practice 1 as well as qualifying, but knew what we needed out of the car, and obviously hit some good changes for the race.
Yeah, as soon as I kind of found out how well my car worked on the high side, it was just game on. I was able to pass cars — we even got hosed one time with having to take emergency service because we were out of fuel, so I had to restart at the tail end, and that was kind of right at the point where I had kind of driven through most of the field and was up front but had to go to the back, drove through again, and man, we were just coming.
It was awesome. I haven’t done one of these in a while, so it’s good.
Q. Pato, you had a moment up here where you were coming out of 2 where you kind of swerved a little bit. It seemed a lot of drivers had trouble with marbles tonight. How bad were they?
PATO O’WARD: I don’t think they were so bad. The high line was working. I just think that was me getting greedy on the pedal and just trying to get by McLaughlin. Felt quite stronger than him so I just wanted to do that, but it seemed like he just gave it to us in the pits.
Q. Christian, a lot of people saw how good you were in the Indianapolis 500. To be able to back it up this soon two races later, how important is that for your career?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: It’s definitely important, but I think it’s been coming. I’ve been good around ovals most of my career, or really all my career since I’ve started doing ovals. It just comes very natural to me.
For a first podium, I’m not surprised it’s on an oval.
Q. Christian, you had to go to the back countless times and make your way through the field. How did you not get frustrated with yourself and just keep yourself in the race throughout the whole night?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: I wouldn’t say I got frustrated with myself. I definitely got a little frustrated with just having to do it all over again.
But on the flipside of that, I knew that I could do it. I knew that I had been moving forward and I was the car probably in the field that was moving the most forward.
I just kept my head down and kept passing cars. There was no other way around it.
Q. Pato, with a performance like this and Alex Palou having, for lack of a better word, non-factor night, what confidence does this give you for what once looked like a foregone conclusion?
PATO O’WARD: The guy has been on a run. He has five wins or something. I’ve got zero wins. I’ve just got a handful of podiums. We need to start racking up some wins, and that’ll make that points count come down a lot faster than what you’re seeing now.
I feel like we’re just sitting at bay right there just waiting for our run to come, so hopefully that does come to life, and yeah, I think it’s going to be a tight end to the championship.
Q. Christian, were you aware that you were literally on fire at one point during this race?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: I wasn’t, but they kind of were yelling in my ear, you’re on fire, you’re on fire, but I was looking at the fuel probe, I didn’t see anything, so I don’t know how bad it was. But I guess I’ll have to rewatch it.
Q. Christian, they said you passed something like 70-some people out there tonight, and the next closest was 30-some. Did you know you were passing that many people, and just exactly how does that feel?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: Yeah, I had a good feeling. Obviously I was around a lot of other cars and I could see how they were moving around. There was a couple cars that were making passes, but I don’t think there was anyone that was passing as much as I did. Not as I could see on the track. And obviously that supports it.
But yeah, my car worked better on the high side than it did on the low side, so I was just going to use it. Then just full commitment and definitely passed a lot of cars tonight, so that was pretty cool.
Q. For both of you, with it being on primetime on FOX, a nationwide network, the opportunity that exists for INDYCAR with a race like this — earlier today we had a NASCAR race in Mexico City where the guy won by 16 seconds. Tonight we had a race where we didn’t know who the winner was going to be until checkered flag. If you’re a TV viewer tuning into INDYCAR for the first time, do you think you won some new fans tonight?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: I would hope so. I would hope so. I think it’s awesome. I think it’s an awesome opportunity for INDYCAR to showcase ourselves in primetime Sunday night.
So yeah, I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us drivers as well as us as a series to showcase ourselves.
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think it was a great opportunity to do it in a place like this because I think it’s produced some of the best INDYCAR races on the schedule, and I think it’s important for that first opportunity to be somewhere where it is nail biting, I would say.
We were definitely — didn’t really know how things were shaping out in the car, so it was very entertaining for us, as well.
Q. Christian, you sort of have this very distinctive, aggressive style of racing on ovals. Is that something which you’ve had your entire career, and do you ever feel slightly on the edge when you are racing so aggressively all the time?
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN: Yeah, I would say so. I would say it’s calculated aggression, but I think on an oval, decisive moves definitely propel you forward, and I think that was a good showcase of that for me tonight, having to be aggressive to move forward.
Q. For Pato, how much of the NASCAR did you see in México this weekend, and do you think INDYCAR could replicate an event and go to Mexico City?
PATO O’WARD: I saw none of it. I saw a tweet that Daniel won in Xfinity, which I was super happy for him. I grew up with him in the same hometown, at the same track I think is where we started both.
I think it’s fantastic for him, and yeah, we would love to go there. I think it would be fantastic to have INDYCAR there, and yeah, we’re sure as hell going to try and pack the whole place up.
Chevrolet and General Motors at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway (after the 2025 race)
WINS
General Motors Wins: 8
Chevrolet Wins: 7
2024 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2022 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2020 Race #2 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2018 – Will Power – Team Penske
2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2002 – Gil de Ferran – Team Penske
Oldsmobile Wins: 1
2001 – Al Unser, Jr. – Galles Racing
POLES
General Motors Poles: 10
Chevrolet Poles: 9
2025 – Will Power – Team Penske
2024 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
2023 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
2022 – Will Power – Team Penske
2021 – Will Power – Team Penske
2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske
2019 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2017 – Will Power – Team Penske
2002 – Gil de Ferran – Team Penske
Oldsmobile Poles: 1
2001 – Sam Hornish – Panther Racing
PODIUMS
General Motors Podiums: 23
Chevrolet Podiums 20
Chevrolet driver podiums at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway: Josef Newgarden (5), Pato O’Ward (4), Scott McLaughlin (3), Will Power (2), Alex Barron (1), Ed Carpenter (1), Helio Castroneves (1), Gil de Ferran (1), Tony Kanaan (1) and Simon Pagenaud (1)
Chevrolet team podiums at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway: Team Penske (13), Arrow McLaren (4) A.J. Foyt Racing (1), Blair Racing (1), and Ed Carpenter Racing (1).
Oldsmobile Podiums: 3
Oldsmobile driver podiums at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway: Mark Dismore (1), Sam Hornish (1) and Al Unser, Jr. (1).
Oldsmobile team podiums at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway: Galles Racing (1), Kelley Racing (1), and Panther Racing (1)
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Manufacturer history at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway
Wins – 17
7 – Chevrolet (2024, 2022, 2021, 2020 R2, 2018, 2017, 2002)
5 – Honda (2023, 2020 R1, 2019, 1998)
2 – Toyota (2003, 2000)
1 – Oldsmobile (2001)
1 – Ford (1999)
1 – Mercedes (1997)
Earned Poles – 16 (in 2018, the field was set by championship points due to weather)
9 – Chevrolet – (2025, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 R1, 2019, 2017, 2003)
2 – Honda (2020 R2, 1999)
2 – Toyota (2003, 2000)
1 – Oldsmobile (2001)
1 – Mercedes (1998)
1 – Ford (1997)
INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturer Championships (since 1979)
21 – General Motors (Chevrolet and Oldsmobile combined)
16 – Chevrolet (6 Championship Auto Racing Teams & 10 INDYCAR)
10 – Honda (4 Championship Auto Racing Teams & 6 INDYCAR)
9 – Cosworth (9 Championship Auto Racing Teams)
5 – Oldsmobile (5 INDYCAR)
2 – Ford (2 Championship Auto Racing Teams)
2 – Toyota (1 Championship Auto Racing Teams & 1 INDYCAR)
1 – Ilmor (1 Championship Auto Racing Teams)
1 – Mercedes Benz (1 Championship Auto Racing Teams)
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
