IndyCar held a Saturday afternoon race around World Wide Technology Raceway, and by the end there were many different situations for the drivers and teams to navigate.
Fuel strategies diverged in the middle of the race, then appeared to come back together as those that were saving fuel matched up with those that took an extra pit stop.
A late spin by Josef Newgarden split them again, however, as the 61 laps remaining was just a hair outside the optimal fuel window.
READ MORE: IndyCar Gateway – Full Race Results
Some drivers planned to take one more stop later in the race, some tried to make it to the end from lap 199, and others still abandoned the fuel save strategy with only 30 laps remaining and had to come in for a splash of fuel.
It appeared that everything had sorted itself out when a late caution mixed up the situation once again.
Newgarden and his team-mate Scott McLaughlin were able to pit with virtually no consequence, so they took tires as well as a splash of fuel for the final 10 laps.
A late red flag for another incident on the restart pushed the number of green flag laps down to six.
Once racing, Newgarden was able to fend off McLaughlin with relative ease and motored his way to victory.
The win was Newgarden’s second of the season following his disqualification at St. Pete and win at the Indy 500.
McLaughlin crossed the line in second and appreciated the fact that his car got better and better as the temperatures dropped late in the evening.
Linus Lundqvist battled side by side with Colton Herta in the final laps and ended up claiming the second podium of his young IndyCar career.
David Malukas looked set to continue his streak of finishing on the podium at Gateway, but a late battle with Will Power ended in tears.
Power squeezed Malukas low in Turn 1, the two touched, and the younger driver ended up spinning into the wall. Power continued, but then was fully involved in the late crash that brought out the red flag.
Alexander Rossi ran over the back of Power when those in front did not accelerate as quickly as expected, and Rossi was launched into the air.
Power felt that his team-mate Newgarden was mostly responsible for not smoothly taking the green flag, and even flipped him the bird after he climbed from his stricken car.
The end of the race was eventful to say the least, and the start was as well.
It only took until the ninth lap for the first caution to come out. Ed Carpenter was racing with Katherine Legge when he chopped down on her and made contact.
Legge was forced to retire on the spot, and Carpenter was able to continue after making repairs and ended his day 17th.
The second caution came just a few laps after they went back green, with Conor Daly spinning down the backstretch and making contact with his Juncos Hollinger team-mate Romain Grosjean and Kyle Kirkwood.
All three were able to continue, but all three had their days effectively ruined.
There were a few other mechanical retirements as well, with Marcus Ericsson the most notable. He was making the fuel save strategy work well and figured to be in the mix for the win when he started receiving errors related to the MGU.
He initially came to the pits, but the crew did not have any remedy for the overheating hybrid component. He ran a couple more laps before retiring due to the issue.
Graham Rahal also retired with a mechanical issue, as did Pato O’Ward. To say it was a frustrating day for a majority of the field would be an understatement.
A long caution-free stretch in the middle of the race and a bevy of different fuel strategies led to only five cars finishing on the lead lap.
Drivers only have a couple days to digest the chaotic race and reassess their position in the points before the next race, which takes place across the country at Portland International Raceway.
