IndyCar: Santino Ferrucci tops first 2019 Gateway practice

Santino Ferrucci topped the first practice session for the final oval race of the 2019 IndyCar season, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci topped the speed chart in the first of two practice sessions for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Word Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, the 15th of 17 races and the fifth and final oval race on the 2019 IndyCar schedule.

Ferrucci topped the speed chart in this practice session for this 248-lap race around the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway oval in Madison, Illinois by recording a top lap time of 24.3501 seconds (184.8042 miles per hour) in his #19 Honda.

Ferrucci led a top two rookie sweep and a top three Honda sweep of this practice session, as Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Marcus Ericsson finished in second place in his #7 Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon finished in third in his #9 Honda.

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Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of this practice session. He finished in fourth in his #2 Chevrolet. The only other Chevrolet driver who finished in the top 12 was Team Penske’s Will Power, who finished in seventh in his #12 Chevrolet.

Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Sebastien Bourdais and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi finished in fifth and sixth place in their #18 Honda and #27 Honda, respectively.

Behind Power, five Honda drivers rounded out the top 12. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta, Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist and Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach finished in eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th place in their #30 Honda, #28 Honda, #88 Honda, #10 Honda and #26 Honda, respectively.

Carlin’s Conor Daly was the fastest non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver of this practice session. He finished in 13th place in his #59 Chevrolet.

Here are the full practice results of the opening practice session for the 2019 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Practice Results
1st – Santino Ferrucci
2nd – Marcus Ericsson
3rd – Scott Dixon
4th – Josef Newgarden
5th – Sebastien Bourdais
6th – Alexander Rossi
7th – Will Power
8th – Takuma Sato
9th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
10th – Colton Herta
11th – Felix Rosenqvist
12th – Zach Veach
13th – Conor Daly
14th – Simon Pagenaud
15th – Spencer Pigot
16th – Graham Rahal
17th – Tony Kanaan
18th – Matheus Leist
19th – Charlie Kimball
20th – Ed Carpenter
21st – Marco Andretti
22nd – James Hinchcliffe

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The qualifying session for the 2019 IndyCar season’s 15th race is next on the weekend schedule, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. It is scheduled to begin shortly thereafter at 6:15 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Gold is then set to broadcast the second and final practice session for this race beginning at 9:15 p.m. ET.

The race itself, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, is scheduled to begin tomorrow evening at 8:45 p.m. ET, and is set to be broadcast live from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.