As the NTT IndyCar Series heads into the St. Louis area for Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, team owner Dale Coyne has one of the hottest oval drivers in the series.

It’s Santino Ferrucci.

As the dark, thick clouds with brilliant streaks of lightning hovered over Pocono Raceway Sunday evening, the announcement was made that the race was officially over after 128 laps. Instantly, the No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing crew erupted in celebration, hugging the 21-year-old driver from Woodbury, Conn.

Ferrucci’s fourth-place finish in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway tied the highest finish of his career in the NTT IndyCar Series. But the rookie driver has excelled on the ovals this year.

He was seventh in the 103rd Indianapolis 500 in May and fourth at the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway in June. In his only other oval race this season, Ferrucci finished 12th in the Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway.

Next up is the final oval race of the season.

“He’s an oval-meister,” Coyne told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “You see guys that come here and are very good on ovals. He’s fantastic on ovals.

“The kid is doing a fantastic job. If you only counted oval points this season, he’s up to third and fourth.”

Actually, Ferrucci is fifth.

What is the reason for Ferrucci’s success on the high-speed races courses?

“He’s a rookie, and he doesn’t know any better,” Coyne said. “I thought he had a good chance at Pocono and a has a good chance at Gateway.

“He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and because of that, he doesn’t know that rookies aren’t supposed to be this good, this soon.”

Ferrucci’s weekend was memorable for many reasons. A large contingent of friends and family participated in a car rally to benefit charity from Connecticut to Pennsylvania to watch him race.

With qualifications rained out, the lineup was based on points and he started 13th. Ferrucci drove a fierce, yet clean race and was in fourth place when the red flag came out for the incoming severe weather.

“This weekend has been pretty amazing to have over 120 people here from family and friends to sponsors and to race in front of such a large crowd,” Ferrucci said after the race. “Hats off to the whole team. We rolled the car off the trailer and it was fast. I’d say that’s a job well done and homework well researched.

“The No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda was on rails. I think we definitely had a top three in us and we were fighting for a chance to win the race at one point. Obviously with the conditions and everything, I’m still happy to bring home a top five. It makes a huge difference in the rookie championship and moves us up to 12th overall. With three races to go and one more oval, we’ll see how much further we can move up.”

With his fourth-place finish, Ferrucci has closed the gap to within 13 points in the Rookie of the Year standings and sits 12th overall with 291 points, only nine points behind veteran teammate Sebastien Bourdais, a four-time Champ Car World Series champion.

Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series is Saturday's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, a 1.25-mile oval track in Madison, Ill. The television broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN with the green flag set for 8:45 p.m. Live radio broadcasts will be available on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and Sirius Satellite Radio (XM 209, Sirius 98, Internet/App 970).