Nolan Siegel performed admirably during the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway with a drive to seventh place.
The Arrow McLaren driver scored the best result of his IndyCar career and first top-10 finish of his debut campaign.
Siegel has bounced back from a difficult start to his time racing on ovals, failing to qualify for the 108th Running of the Indy 500 earlier this year.
The American has been ice-cool throughout the season and looked at home at Arrow McLaren since making his debut for the team at Laguna Seca.
Nolan Siegel believes ‘it’s good to be disappointed with a seventh-place’
Siegel drove well at Gateway, which was the first circuit he raced at in IndyCar that he had already tested at before driving competitively.
Alongside competing in a test at Gateway, the 19-year-old also drove at the oval in his junior career, taking second place in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship and P6 last year in Indy NXT.
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This experience proved valuable throughout the two-day weekend in Illinois, and he picked his way through the field to finish in the top 10, as Seigel admits he got a slice of luck in the closing stages.
Despite taking his best result in IndyCar, Siegel left the circuit not being fully satisfied with the result after taking a penalty for speeding in the pit lane 147 laps into the race.
He told motorsport.com: “It was my best result in the NTT IndyCar Series so far with a top-10. The car was awesome all day, but unfortunately, I made a mistake speeding on pit lane and that cost us a podium — or even more. I’m a bit disappointed, but it’s good to be disappointed with a seventh-place result.”
Team principal Gavin Ward is adamant Arrow McLaren had the capability to score a top-five finish
Arrow McLaren suffered a lacklustre day last time out by their lofty standards with Siegel missing the chance to finish even higher than P7.
Their two more experienced drivers, Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward, failed to finish inside the top 10 as the Mexican retired with an engine issue.
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O’Ward’s slim title hopes suffered a dent as the season nears its conclusion as the championship leader Alex Palou drove to fourth place on a tricky day for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.
Ward said that all three of his cars had chances to leave Gateway with a top-five finish: “Felt like we had three cars capable of finishing in the top five today, but it didn’t go our way.”