The 2019 ABC Supply 500 was the 14th round of the 2019 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on August 18 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Approaching rain and lightning caused the race to be shortened to only 128 of the scheduled 200 laps allowing Will Power to capture victory. It was Power's third Pocono 500 win, tying him with Rick Mears for second most all-time. As of 2025, this was the last time that IndyCar has visited Pocono.
Background Entrants
KeyMeaningRookiePast winner DriverTeamEngine2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet4 Matheus Leist A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet5 James Hinchcliffe Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda7 Marcus Ericsson Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Tony Kanaan A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 Sébastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda19 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing Honda20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet23 Charlie Kimball Carlin Chevrolet26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Honda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda59 Conor Daly Carlin Chevrolet88 Colton Herta Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda98 Marco AndrettiAndretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-AgajanianHonda
Pre-Race Activities
Practice Practice was scheduled for 9:30 AM ET on August 17, 2019. Practice was cancelled due to weather in the area that would have prevented the medical helicopter from being able to take off.
Qualifying No qualifying session took place for the race, as officials were forced to cancel the session due to rain. As a result, qualifying results and the starting lineup for the race were determined based on the driver standings after the previous race, the Honda Indy 200. As the points leader, Josef Newgarden was awarded pole position.
Qualifying classification Driver Team Engine 1 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 2 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 3 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 4 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 5 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 6 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 7 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 8 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 9 10 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 10 5 James Hinchcliffe Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 11 18 Sébastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 12 21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 13 19 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing Honda 14 88 Colton Herta Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda 15 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 16 7 Marcus Ericsson Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 17 98 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian Honda 18 26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Honda 19 14 Tony Kanaan A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 20 4 Matheus Leist A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 21 23 Charlie Kimball Carlin Chevrolet 22 59 Conor Daly Carlin Chevrolet Source:
Final Practice The only practice session took place at 1:50 PM ET on August 17, 2019.
+Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeamEngineLap Time114 Tony Kanaan A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet00:41.5984 29 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda00:41.7128319 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing Honda00:41.7872 Source:
Race
The race started at 2:30 PM ET on August 18, 2019.
The field came off Turn Three for the start slow and tightly bunched. Unlike during the previous year, no accident occurred before the field reached the starting line, however, some cars were five abreast upon receiving the green flag. Simon Pagenaud moved to the inside of Josef Newgarden to take the lead, as the field made their way safely through Turn One."2019 RACE REWIND // ABC SUPPLY 500 AT POCONO RACEWAY"
Heading down the Long Pond Straight into Turn Two, Takuma Sato moved to the outside, while Ryan Hunter-Reay to the inside, alongside of Alexander Rossi for the fifth position. The three cars collided and spun into the inside wall, glancing off and sliding up the track, collecting Felix Rosenqvist and James Hinchcliffe.
After impacting Sato, Rosenqvist's car turned on its right side and spun across the racing surface. As Rosenqvist hit the wall his car rose upwards, his left-front wheel snagging the catch-fence, tearing off the wheel and damaging the fence before his car landed back on the racing surface. Sato's car was pinned against the wall by Hunter-Reay, the force of which turned Sato's car upside-down and landed in an inverted state. All drivers walked away from the accident. Rosenqvist was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for further evaluation but was released after just a few hours. Later that night, Rosenqvist said he felt "just a little back pain and a headache".
Sato was heavily criticized by drivers involved in the crash who thought he was at fault. Defending Pocono 500 champion, Alexander Rossi told NBCSN, "I can't even begin to understand after last year how Takuma thinks any sort of driving like that is acceptable. To turn across two cars at that speed at that corner, in a 500-mile race, is disgraceful and upsetting."
Ryan Hunter-Reay said, "My view is that it was ridiculous. I thank God everyone is alright. I thought we learned our lesson from last year. Lap one of a 500-mile race."
While some said the crash was caused by Sato coming across the track, his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team issued a statement with video and telemetry data defending their driver. "The data and video clearly shows that Takuma did not turn down the track into Alexander in this incident and in fact the first steering wheel movement made by Takuma was to the right, as he tried to correct his car after the initial contact."
Journalist and author John Oreovicz, after viewing the footage, said it "clearly showed that [Sato] held his line and did not steer into or instigate his car's sudden movement to the left." Oreovicz criticized as "disgraceful and upsetting" what he viewed as a "Twitter witch hunt" focused on Sato.
The race was stopped for 45 minutes to repair the catchfence. The teams of Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe continued to repair their cars under the red flag, against rules, for which they were penalized 10 laps.
When the race restarted on lap 8, Simon Pagenaud extended his lead over Scott Dixon. Dixon remained within two seconds of the lead until Pagenaud pitted under green for fuel and tires on lap 38.
On lap 40, Spencer Pigot hit the turn one wall with the right side of his car when a suspension piece broke. Will Power chose to pit later than the leaders and entered pit road as the caution flag came out. The timing allowed Power to make his stop as cars were slowing down which cycled him from 10th before stops to 2nd after them.
Shortly after the restart, Power passed Pagenaud for the lead entering turn one on lap 48. Pagenaud retook the lead three laps later. On lap 70, Pagenaud was slowed by the damaged car of James Hinchcliffe in turn three which allowed Power to take the lead. Pagenaud pitted under green a lap later.
On lap 73, Colton Herta lost control of his car in turn two. The car slid and impacted the outside wall with the right-rear suspension, which put the rookie out of the race. While some contenders pitted before the caution came out, Power pitted under caution, strategy that dropped him to seventh in the running order. Scott Dixon cycled to the lead.
Dixon continued to lead for the next 28 laps until he made his next pit stop on lap 106. By pitting later, Power was able to remain on track for several more laps. Power made a pit stop on lap 112, giving the lead back to Dixon. Power's fast pit stop put him in striking distance of Dixon, and three laps later, he passed Dixon to retake the lead.
Power continued to lead for the next 14 laps until the race was stopped after 128 laps with lightning in the nearby area. Heavy rains followed and the race was called official with Will Power winning his third Pocono 500 in four years.
It was Power's first win of 2019 and extended his streak of consecutive seasons with at least one victory to 13.
Race classification
Driver Team Engine Laps Time/RetiredRace ended under caution PitStops Grid LapsLed 1 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 128 1:53:45.8296 5 5 31 51 2 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 128 +5.4688 4 4 32 41 3 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 128 +7.0950 4 3 64 38 4 19 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing Honda 128 +9.4697 4 13 32 5 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 128 +10.1771 4 1 1 31 6 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 128 +15.4239 4 15 28 7 18 Sébastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 128 +19.1641 4 11 26 8 14 Tony Kanaan A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 128 +23.3941 5 19 24 9 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 128 +25.2060 5 8 22 10 23 Charlie Kimball Carlin Chevrolet 128 +27.4361 5 21 20 11 59 Conor Daly Carlin Chevrolet 128 +29.2835 5 22 19 12 7 Marcus Ericsson Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 128 +32.6051 5 16 18 13 26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Honda 127 +1 Lap 5 18 17 14 4 Matheus Leist A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 127 +1 Lap 7 20 16 15 98 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian Honda 126 +2 Laps 6 17 15 16 88 Colton Herta Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda 72 Contact 3 14 14 17 21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 39 Contact 2 12 13 18 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 39 +89 Laps 1 2 12 19 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 25 Contact 4 6 11 20 5 James Hinchcliffe Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 19 Contact 3 10 10 21 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 0 Contact 0 7 9 22 10 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 0 Contact 0 9 8Fastest lap: Will Power (Team Penske) – 00:41.7287 (lap 113) Source:
Aftermath As Pocono was in the last year of their contract with IndyCar, there were doubts over whether the event would continue in 2020. Those concerns were compounded by 2019 being the final year of the race's title sponsorship with ABC Supply.
Race winner Will Power passionately wished Pocono would remain on the schedule. "I really hope it’s not the last Pocono race for IndyCar. I really, really hope it’s not the last one. I really hope we come back. Obviously, it’s something pretty cool that Roger Penske won the first and last race here at Pocono. Even if we took a year off, I can’t see us not racing at Pocono.” Fellow drivers Tony Kanaan, Alexander Rossi, and Graham Rahal also voiced support for a return.
It was reported that Pocono CEO Brandon Igdalsky and track president Ben May enthusiastically wanted the track to remain on the IndyCar schedule. Pocono saw an increase in spectators and sponsorship in 2019. Should the series not return in 2020, it was reported that Pocono offered to host an IndyCar race once every three years. This would serve as part of a rotation of three east-coast tracks, with Pocono, Richmond, and Watkins Glen each hosting a race once every three years.
Driver opinions were mixed. During the red flag during the race, Robert Wickens tweeted, "How many times do we have to go through the same situation before we can all accept that an IndyCar should not race at Pocono. It’s just a toxic relationship and maybe it’s time to consider a divorce. I’m very relieved (to my knowledge) that everyone is okay from that scary crash."