Team Penske just had one of the most disastrous laps in IndyCar history
By Asher Fair
![Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, IndyCar Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, IndyCar](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4377,h_2462,x_0,y_261/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/243/01j3c44rwv37716kf5c0.jpg)
Andretti Global's Colton Herta put on the most dominant display over the course of a full race weekend that IndyCar had seen in a very long time, topping the time sheets in all three practice sessions, qualifying, and the race.
The driver of the No. 26 Honda never relinquished the race lead except during pit stops, marking four straight races during the hybrid era during which there wasn't a single pass for the lead on the race track. Herta, however, became the first driver to win from pole since the new technology was introduced.
In securing his eighth career victory and first in over two years, Herta ended his 41-race win drought and led a 1-2 finish for Michael Andretti's team, with Kyle Kirkwood finishing in second place.
The team have not gone winless over an entire season since 2009, and the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto was viewed as their best chance to keep that streak intact this year.
On the flip side, there was Team Penske.
Though at no point did Team Penske look close to Andretti Global this weekend, the weekend was not a total write-off. At one point, it looked like their trio could round out the top five behind Herta and Kirkwood.
In hindsight, wouldn't that have been nice?
It all started to go south when Josef Newgarden, who was running in third place, had a slow pit stop due to the fact that one of the wheels was still loose when he tried to leave his pit stall.
He had still managed to work his way back up to seventh place, with teammates Scott McLaughlin and Will Power running in fourth and fifth, respectively.
But on the restart after the massive collision involving Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward, Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Pietro Fittipaldi, A.J. Foyt Enterprises' Santino Ferrucci, and Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel, any hope of a good finish for Team Penske went out the window.
Lap 77 Penske problems
After the lap 77 restart with nine laps remaining in the race, Power made a late lunge on McLaughlin in turn five of the 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporary street circuit in an attempt to take fourth place, but his No. 12 Chevrolet made contact with McLaughlin's No. 3 Chevrolet.
The contact sent McLaughlin into the wall, ending his day, and resulted in a drive-through penalty being issued to Power.
Now the Penske teammates collide in the closing laps!@smclaughlin93 is out of the race!
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 21, 2024
📺: #IndyTO on Peacock pic.twitter.com/NsoXIjcmNN
Behind them, Meyer Shank Racing's David Malukas had attempted to get around Newgarden for seventh place, but Newgarden fought back with an aggressive defensive maneuver to maintain the spot.
It was at that moment, however, when he approached the scene of the accident and needed to check up, leading to contact from Malukas from behind. Newgarden had to pit again with a flat tire.
After the ensuing restart, Newgarden was making up positions and still looked poised for a top 10 finish, given how few drivers were left on the lead lap. But he locked up on an overtake attempt and overshot turn three, leading to a loss of quite a few positions.
On a day when they looked positioned to "out-Palou" championship leader Alex Palou by simply capitalizing on what was in front of them and making up points, they failed miserably and instead allowed Chip Ganassi Racing's two-time and reigning series champion to extend his championship lead over all three of their drivers.
Palou was running in sixth place at the time of the incident and ended up fourth. Power now sits 49 points behind the Spaniard after entering the day 35 back, and McLaughlin finds himself 83 points behind after entering 65 back.
Thanks to the fact that 11 drivers were already out of the race when the chaos unfolded, McLaughlin was scored with a 16th place DNF. That DNF is oddly his top result in four street course races this season.
Newgarden and Power finished in 11th and 12th place, respectively. They were the lowest of the lead lap finishers.
Honda swept the top seven, with Chevrolet ultimately being led by Ed Carpenter Racing's Rinus VeeKay in eighth place. VeeKay is quietly one of just two drivers – Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon is the other – who has recorded three consecutive top 10 finishes.
IndyCar is scheduled to have the next three weekends off, due to NBC's commitment to the Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The next race on the calendar is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
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That race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 17 and is set to kick off a stretch of four races in 16 days. It is set to be shown live on USA Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!
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