Unlike F1, the restart rules in IndyCar are a little ambiguous, especially when it comes to oval tracks. This loophole in the rulebook is what caused a heated argument between the Penske drivers at the World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend. The day was perfect for all three Roger Penske drivers to grab the win at Gateway. It was smooth sailing till 240 laps, but the restart that followed turned things around. And even the commentators were confused about whom to blame.

What happened at the Gateway that ended in multiple crashed cars?

The restart lap started with Josef Newgarden in the lead who was running the pace lap when Alexander Rossi suddenly bumped into and jumped up the tail of Will Power’s car, ending up in the air. The incident was so sudden that no one exactly realized what exactly happened before the incident. Instinctively, Power got out of his No. 12 Chevrolet after the red flag was brought out and blamed his teammate Newgarden for causing confusion that cost him badly.

Will Power’s take? Newgarden intentionally kept increasing and decreasing his speed to check the field. Now the debate is whether he actually did that or was he consistently slow and the trailing drivers just became impatient, triggering the jump start.

The rule book allows drivers in the lead to decide the pace of the restart lap and maintain constant speed until they either reach the specified area or decide to pace up arbitrarily on ovals. In the case of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, the arbitrary rule somehow ended up being the bone of contention. While Josef Newgarden insisted he maintained the pace, other drivers, including his teammate, thought otherwise.

Despite the commotion, Newgarden went on to win the race, without attracting any penalties for his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara/Chevrolet. On the other hand, Colton Herta received a penalty in the last lap for blocking Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist. Colton’s father, Bryan Herta, raised the concern of inequities in race officiations. And there was support for his claims, going by his words, as quoted by Adam Stern.

But there’s another angle to the restart. Ideally, the green flag is waved after the race leader picks up the pace. However, in the case at hand, Josef Newgarden did not start racing until after the green flag went down. So, the confusion might as well have been caused by the discrepancy of the track crew.

Moreover, IndyCar regulations are not standardized and are subject to change as per the pre-race competition meeting.

A push that ended Roger Penske’s No. 12 fourth in the points race

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The win at the St. Louis-area IndyCar race is his 5th on the track and 4th in 5 years. And, it didn’t come easy. Newgarden had a close call on Lap 196 of the 260-lap race when his No. 2 Chevrolet nearly spun out coming out of Turn 2. Somehow, he managed to keep the car out of the wall despite the sideways slide. “I pushed a little hard in that moment, made a mistake and then I was so thankful that we didn’t wreck because I knew we could gather this up and still win this race,” Newgarden also admitted.

Further clearing up any misconceptions about him causing a wreck, Newgarden pointed out that it might have been the race control that hit the green light a moment before he accelerated. He emphasized, “The last thing I’m trying to do is cause a wreck..Believe me, the last thing I want is for Will to get hit.”

Needless to mention, intentionally inducing a crash using maneuvering tactics should be penalized. For one Roger Penske driver, where it was another milestone, Colton Herta finished 4th, whereas for Will Power, it was an 18th place finish, and he fell to fourth in the points race.