IndyCar: 2018 Bommarito 500 starting grid set by entrant points

Due to inclement weather, the starting grid for the 15th race of the 2018 IndyCar season, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, at Gateway Motorsports Park has been set by entrant points.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon is set to start from the pole position for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, which is the 15th race of the 17-race 2018 IndyCar season, at Gateway Motorsports Park.

This qualifying session was initially scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. ET. Because of rain, it was rescheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. ET, but it was ultimately canceled because of more rain.

IndyCar announced the news on Twitter.

As a result, the starting grid for tomorrow night’s race has been set by entrant points, meaning Dixon, who leads the championship standings, is set to lead the field to the green flag to start the 248-lap race around the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) Gateway Motorsports Park oval in Madison, Illinois.

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Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi is set to start alongside Dixon on the front row in second place in his #27 Honda. Team Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Will Power are set to be the highest starting Chevrolet drivers of the race in third and fourth in their #1 Chevrolet and #12 Chevrolet, respectively.

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay is set to round out the top five on the grid on the inside of the third row in fifth place in his #28 Honda. Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe, Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais and Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti are set to round out the top 10 in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in their #22 Chevrolet, #15 Honda, #5 Honda, #18 Honda and #98 Honda, respectively.

The top 11 drivers in the championship standings, excluding injured Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Robert Wickens, who sits in sixth place in the standings, are all set to line up in the order of their respective positions in the standings. However, the driver starting in 11th is set to do so despite the fact that he sits in 20th in the standings.

This driver, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter, is driving the #20 Chevrolet, which he drives in the oval races only. In doing so, he has racked up 169 points so far this season. Jordan King, the driver of the #20 Chevrolet in the road and street course races, has racked up 126 points so far this season, giving the #20 Chevrolet a total of 295 entry points, which is good enough for 12th place in the championship standings. With Wickens out, Carpenter is set to start the race in 11th.

The entry points of the #88 Harding Racing Chevrolet, which is set to be driven by Gabby Chaves in this Saturday night’s race, and the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, which is set to be driven by rookie Pietro Fittipaldi, have also been split up among multiple drivers through the first 14 races of the season. Chaves and Fittipaldi, who currently sit in 21st and 33rd place in the championship standings, are set to start the race in 19th and 21st, respectively.

While it was initially scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. ET this evening, the final practice session for the race has been extended by 30 minutes and is now scheduled to start this evening at 8:30 p.m. ET. It is set to be broadcast live on IndyCar RaceControl, the IndyCar mobile app, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

NBC Sports Network is set to broadcast the race live beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET tomorrow evening. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Here is the full starting grid for the 2018 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Be sure to tune into the live broadcast of the final practice session for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 this evening, and be sure to tune in to the live broadcast of the race itself tomorrow evening.