2019 ABC Supply 500: Will Power Wins a Rain-Shortened Pocono Race

Held on August 18, 2019 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, this race was round 14 of the 2019 IndyCar Series calendar. Rain and lightning cut it to 128 of its scheduled 200 laps, and Will Power took the win. The victory was his third Pocono 500, which tied him with Rick Mears for second place on the all-time list.

What was the 2019 ABC Supply 500?

It was the 14th race of the 2019 IndyCar season and the last IndyCar race held at Pocono as of 2025. Scheduled for 200 laps, it was shortened by storms, and the result stood once heavy rain arrived. 2019 was also the final year of the ABC Supply title sponsorship.

The track was in the final year of its contract with the series, so its future was already in doubt before the cars rolled out. Weather shaped almost every decision the teams made that weekend.

A rain-shortened Pocono race that became IndyCar's last visit to the track, as of 2025.

How did practice and qualifying go?

Weather decided the weekend before the race started. Practice on August 17 was cancelled because conditions would have kept the medical helicopter grounded, and qualifying was rained off. The grid was set by standings after the Honda Indy 200, and Josef Newgarden started from pole as the points leader.

The morning session was lost entirely. The lone practice began at 1:50 PM ET that afternoon. The teams therefore had one short session to learn the track, and the starting order reflected results from an earlier event rather than the speed shown at Pocono that weekend.

What caused the early crash?

Three cars came together in Turn Two early in the race. Takuma Sato moved toward the outside while Ryan Hunter-Reay went to the inside, alongside Alexander Rossi, and the three collided and slid into the inside wall. Felix Rosenqvist and James Hinchcliffe were also caught up, and every driver walked away.

Rosenqvist's car turned onto its side and slid across the track. As it hit the wall it rose, and its left-front wheel snagged the catch fence, tore away and damaged the fence before the car came back down on the racing surface. Hunter-Reay trapped Sato's car against the barrier, and it flipped and came to rest inverted. Rosenqvist was taken to hospital for checks and released after a few hours.

Blame came quickly. Rossi, the defending Pocono 500 champion, said that a move across two cars at that speed was disgraceful. Hunter-Reay called the crash ridiculous and said he thought the drivers had learned their lesson from the previous year. Sato's team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, released video and telemetry showing that his first steering input was to the right as he corrected after contact. Journalist John Oreovicz said the footage showed Sato holding his line, and he criticised what he saw as an online pile-on.

How did the race unfold after the stoppage?

The catch fence took 45 minutes to repair. Rossi and Hinchcliffe kept working on their cars under the red flag, which was against the rules, and both were penalised 10 laps. Racing resumed on lap 8, with Simon Pagenaud extending his lead over Scott Dixon. Dixon stayed within two seconds until Pagenaud pitted under green on lap 38.

The middle stint brought more trouble. A broken suspension part caused Spencer Pigot to strike the Turn One wall on lap 40. Power had pitted later than the leaders as the caution came out, and he moved from tenth before the stops to second after them. He passed Pagenaud for the lead on lap 48, but Pagenaud retook it three laps later.

Lap 70 brought a change at the front, as Hinchcliffe's damaged car slowed Pagenaud in Turn Three and handed Power the lead. Pagenaud made his stop under green the following lap. On lap 73 Colton Herta lost control in Turn Two, and his right-rear suspension struck the outside wall, which ended the rookie's afternoon.

Power then pitted under the caution, a decision that dropped him to seventh. Dixon moved to the front and led for the next 28 laps until he stopped on lap 106. Power made a quick stop on lap 112, and he moved back ahead of Dixon three laps afterwards. Power then held the lead until lightning forced a halt after 128 laps.

Who won the race and why did it matter?

Will Power won, taking his first victory of 2019. It was his third Pocono 500 in four years, and it extended his run of seasons with at least one win to 13. The result also tied him with Rick Mears for second on the all-time list of Pocono 500 winners.

Heavy rain followed the stoppage, and officials called the race official, so the 128 completed laps became the result. Power said afterwards that he hoped Pocono would not be IndyCar's last visit. He noted that Roger Penske had won the first and last races held at the track, and he said he could not imagine the series never racing there again.

Other drivers backed a return. Tony Kanaan, Alexander Rossi and Graham Rahal all spoke in favour of keeping Pocono on the calendar. Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud spoke up for the track's safety record, and Dixon said drivers could have handled some of the incidents better. Robert Wickens took a harder line on social media, calling the relationship toxic and suggesting the series should stop racing at the track.

Why was Pocono left off the 2020 schedule?

The 2020 IndyCar schedule, released on September 1, 2019, dropped Pocono. Richmond Raceway was added in its place, and Mid-Ohio took the August 16 date that Pocono had held. Pocono's management and several drivers had wanted the race to continue.

Pocono's chief executive, Brandon Igdalsky, and track president Ben May reportedly wanted the race to stay on the calendar. Attendance and sponsorship had risen in 2019, and the track proposed hosting a race every third year, rotating with Richmond and Watkins Glen.

Mario Andretti said he was livid and blamed both sides. In his account, the series and the track had agreed the business terms, including the sanctioning fee, before the series asked Pocono to spend $1 million on improvements before the following year. Andretti said Pocono could not absorb that cost for a one-year deal, and he read the demand as proof that the series had already decided not to return.

Ownership changed the picture later. On November 3, 2019, Roger Penske bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the IndyCar Series itself. Andretti believed the race would never have been lost had Penske owned the series a few months earlier. Even then, NBC's coverage of the 2020 Olympics rearranged the broadcast schedule, which made a reinstatement harder to fit in.

How did the race perform on television?

NBCSN carried the race, with Leigh Diffey, Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell in the booth. It drew a TV rating of 0.36 and 549,000 US viewers, the most-watched IndyCar race on the network in 2019. Robin Miller, Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch covered pit road.

The network also carried the Saturday practice session, which ran for two hours. The broadcast arrived while the track itself was drawing more spectators and sponsorship, a trend that strengthened the case for keeping the race on the calendar.

Race summary at a glance