Kirkwood Wins Bombshell Bommarito 500 Amidst Crashes, Fire and Pit Lane Chaos

Madison, Illinois: Kyle Kirkwood stormed to his first win of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, showcasing both strategy and late-race pace to seal the victory under the lights at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway Motorsports Park).

Starting from 10th position, Kirkwood and his No. 27 Dallara-Honda methodically worked through the field across the 260-lap event. In the closing stages, Kirkwood made the decisive move, fending off strong challenges to cross the line just 0.5398 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward, with Christian Rasmussen a mere 0.8896 seconds adrift of the leader in third place — the top three separated by less than a second in a nail-biting finish.

“This win means everything to us,” said Kirkwood after the race. “The car was hooked up in the final stint, and the team executed perfectly on pit road. We stayed clean and took advantage when it mattered most.”

For Rasmussen, it marked a standout performance, charging from 25th on the grid to the podium — a career-best result for the rookie, and all the more impressive given how closely contested the final laps were.

Scott Dixon came home fourth, with Santino Ferrucci rounding out the top five. Meanwhile, Alex Palou maintained his lead in the championship despite finishing eighth, holding 335 points to O’Ward’s 262 and Kirkwood’s 260.

Pit Lane Drama

The race was not without its drama in pit lane. During the first round of stops on lap 51, Christian Rasmussen’s car briefly caught fire due to excess fuel igniting as the car pulled away from the pit box. The flames were quickly self-extinguished and Rasmussen continued without any lasting damage, ultimately salvaging an impressive podium.

Meanwhile, Christian Lundgaard ran into trouble when he overshot his assigned pit box and reversed in pit lane to correct the error — a prohibited manoeuvre under IndyCar regulations. Race control subsequently issued Lundgaard a drive-through penalty, which he served on lap 61, costing him valuable track position.

Incidents and Cautions

The race featured a number of major incidents that brought out four caution periods:

Lap 4: Car 30 (Devlin DeFrancesco) made contact with the wall in Turn 1, bringing out the first caution.

Lap 47: Car 12 (Will Power), who had started from pole, crashed into the wall in Turn 4 after suffering a right-front tyre deflation. His car sustained heavy damage, ending his race and prompting the second caution.

Lap 130: The most dramatic incident of the race occurred when Car 45 (Louis Foster) struck the wall at Turn 4 and suffered right-rear suspension damage. As he lost control along the front straight, Foster’s car veered into the path of Car 2 (Josef Newgarden), who had no time to react. The impact launched Newgarden’s car into the air, which then slid upside down along the pit lane wall before coming to rest on the front straight. Miraculously, both drivers emerged from their vehicles unscathed and were later cleared by the medical team.

Lap 195: Car 4 (David Malukas), who had led a race-high 67 laps, crashed into the Turn 4 wall after losing control while closely following Kyle Kirkwood. Malukas had been taking the slipstream as Kirkwood exited pit lane but ran high entering Turn 3. Running wide into the marbles, Malukas lost grip and slid into the wall, ending what had been a very strong run.

Scott McLaughlin (Car 3) retired on lap 216 due to a mechanical failure.

Fastest on the Day

Alex Palou set the fastest lap of the race on lap 225, clocking 174.843 mph, while Scott McLaughlin posted the fastest leader lap earlier at 174.277 mph on lap 60.

The race featured 20 lead changes among 13 different drivers, with intense strategy calls and caution timing keeping the field tightly packed throughout.

Top 5 Finishers:

1. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27, Dallara/Honda) – 260 laps
2. Pato O’Ward (No. 5, Dallara/Chevy) – +0.5398s
3. Christian Rasmussen (No. 21, Dallara/Chevy) – +0.8896s
4. Scott Dixon (No. 9, Dallara/Honda) – +4.2065s
5. Santino Ferrucci (No. 14, Dallara/Chevy) – +8.9459s

Championship Standings (Top 3):

1. Alex Palou – 335 pts
2. Pato O’Ward – 262 pts
3. Kyle Kirkwood – 260 pts

As the series heads to Road America for Round 9, the title battle remains tightly contested, with momentum swinging among several top contenders. With just 75 points separating the top three, the 2025 season is shaping up to be one of the most fiercely fought in recent years.

Source: INDYCAR

Image Credit: 
Penske Entertainment: Karl Zemlin
Penske Entertainment: James Black
Penske Entertainment: Matt Fraver