Josef Newgarden – Page 4 – Syndication Server

Newgarden hops to the top in Portland final practice

In an extremely busy warmup session for the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, Josef Newgarden emerged quickest for Team Penske ahead of Callum Ilott’s Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. There was little surprise that Felix Rosenqvist was quick to …

In an extremely busy warmup session for the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, Josef Newgarden emerged quickest for Team Penske ahead of Callum Ilott’s Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

There was little surprise that Felix Rosenqvist was quick to shine in this final warmup before the race, because only a car issue prevented him from contending for a top four in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session.

It was David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda who first got below 60s, with a 59.8615s lap on Firestone alternates. His time at the top lasted less than a minute as Marcus Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda moved to P1 with a 59.6256s, and he was soon backed up teammate and points leader Alex Palou. Ominously for the opposition, his best time was set on the Firestone primaries.

So too was the best time from his teammate Scott Dixon, the only man who can stop Palou from claiming a second crown, and who is starting a row ahead of Palou on the grid. Dixon was fifth, ahead of Rinus VeeKay, who, as in practices one and two, was shining in the Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

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With under 13 minutes to go, Newgarden, who crashed out of qualifying earlier in the afternoon, bounced to the top on Firestone alternates with a 59.4533s. Teammate Will Power then joined him in the top five, while Ericsson slid through the Turn 1/2/3 chicane without harm. VeeKay jumped to third (again on alternates), and Colton Herta entered the top five (again, alternates).

Tom Blomqvist, who has had his engine changed since qualifying last, looked strong in the Meyer Shank Racing Honda, running in the top dozen for much of the session.

With under five minutes to go, Palou — now on alternates — lowered his lap time to a 59.5716s, although this was very slightly shaded by Callum Ilott of Juncos Hollinger Racing who will start tomorrow’s race from eighth. His teammate Agustin Canapino grabbed sixth on his alternates, just a breath slower than Dixon and ahead of VeeKay.

Almost all drivers completed more than 20 laps, as teams judged the degradation over the course of a stint, with a maximum of 28 by Newgarden, Power and Pato O’Ward.

The race begins at 12:30 p.m. PT time, 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

RESULTS

Newgarden’s title hopes end against WWTR wall

Josef Newgarden’s chances of winning his third NTT IndyCar Series championship were slim, at best, entering Sunday’s 260-lap oval race at World Wide Technology Raceway. A blend of being out-foxed on race strategy by Chip Ganassi Racing and an error …

Josef Newgarden’s chances of winning his third NTT IndyCar Series championship were slim, at best, entering Sunday’s 260-lap oval race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

A blend of being out-foxed on race strategy by Chip Ganassi Racing and an error by the Tennessean who hit the Turn 2 wall on lap 210 ensured the quest for the title ended at WWTR, and afterwards, the Team Penske driver vowed to pursue more wins to add to the four he’s already claimed in the No. 2 Chevy.

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“Tough result today,” Newgarden said. “I was just trying to push and catch up to the guys that were on a different fuel strategy so we could try to make a run at the end and just got up too high and into the marbles. I give a lot of credit to the No. 2 crew for giving me a really fast car again this weekend and for trying to fix the car and get us back out there. It’s not the result we were hoping for, obviously, but we’ll look forward to Portland and Laguna Seca to try and finish the season strong.”

Newgarden was credited with 25th at WWTR, which matched the 25th-place finish he earned at the last race after being included in a first-lap crash that wasn’t of his making. Presently third in the championship, Newgarden heads into Sunday’s race at Portland with a 51-point deficit to WWTR race winner Scott Dixon and an 11-point lead over the surging Pato O’Ward from Arrow McLaren.

Firestone’s oval alternates making ripples, not waves at WWTR

Firestone’s first-time deployment of alternate tires on an oval was met with similar reactions from a range of NTT IndyCar Series drivers on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway. With drivers required to complete at least two laps on the …

Firestone’s first-time deployment of alternate tires on an oval was met with similar reactions from a range of NTT IndyCar Series drivers on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

With drivers required to complete at least two laps on the alternates during Sunday’s 260-lap race, the rubber was slightly faster than Firestone’s primary compound, but not enough to create an impression that they’ll deteriorate at an advanced rate.

“They didn’t seem wildly different,” said Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who was fastest in the No. 2 Chevy. “That’s my intuition. Hard to say until we do it for real. We’re all going to find out together in the race. But I think off the limited amount of data we have, I don’t know that there’s going to be a big difference between them. With that, it’s not going to give a lot of preference [towards either tire].”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Conor Daly was eighth overall and fastest of the RLL trio on his debut for the team. Like Newgarden, he didn’t find the alternates to be radically different from the primaries, but he did end the 60-minute session with a strong opinion on which compound he wants to spend the most time on in the race.

“I would say thankfully it wasn’t too big of a surprise,” Daly said. “For me, I was like, ‘Okay, not terrifying.’ It’s not all of a sudden you went out and had a ton of front grip and the thing was super loose.

“I saw a few other drivers; you might miss an apex here or there to try to figure out the entry security compared to how much grip it’s got at the center. For me, there was definitely a noticeable balance change and a noticeable wear. I guess that’s the goal. I prefer the primary tires, I tell you that. But that’s what’s supposed to make it exciting.”

Sunday’s race starts at 3:30 pm ET on NBC.

Newgarden paces Penske-dominated WWTR practice as Power crashes

Team Penske finished the rain-delayed opening session for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 with all three cars in the top four, led by Josef Newgarden, but Scott McLaughlin suffered a spin that sent teammate Will Power into the wall and into the …

Almost eight hours after it was originally scheduled to occur, IndyCar’s one-hour opening practice session at World Wide Technology Raceway commenced at 6:50 p.m. local time, with the rain finally gone for a while.

Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport was the first driver to break into the 178mph zone, with a 25.2607s lap of the 1.25-mile candy corn-shaped oval. Then Newgarden – chasing a remarkable record of winning all oval races in an IndyCar season – clocked a 180.040mph effort, ducking beneath 25s.

Alexander Rossi then moved to second for Arrow McLaren but then was the first driver to switch to the alternate tires, a new venture for Firestone and IndyCar this weekend. While he was testing the durability of this softer rubber, his top time was eclipsed by Scott McLaughlin – who will have to take a nine-place grid penalty for an early engine change – and Felix Rosenqvist in another McLaren. Rossi completed over 30 laps on the softer rubber, but felt the fronts going away from lap 24.

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Takuma Sato became the fastest of the Chip Ganassi Racing cars with a 179mph lap, moving into third, as last year’s WWTR polesitter Will Power ensured all three Penskes were in the top four.

With 10 minutes to go the yellows came out when Sato appeared to graze the wall through Turns 3 and 4, but the two-time Indy 500 winner kept the sidewalls of his reds paint-free. Colton Herta also survived an amazing fishtail moment when his car snapped every which way, but after pitting he continued unfazed.

With Sato not rubbing the wall, the session of course resumed swiftly, but the cars only had a couple of laps to get up to speed before there was a significant shunt. McLaughlin spun coming out of pitlane, firing across the grass onto the track. Edging high to ensure he avoided his stricken teammate, Power hit the Turn 2 wall hard enough to collapse his right-side suspension. He spun out of control and into the path of Marcus Ericsson, the Ganassi car impacting Power hard nose-to-nose. The pair was thus precluded from taking part in Saturday night’s high-line practice session.

Also abandoning his hopes of taking part in the high-line practice was Graham Rahal, who felt a major handling imbalance on his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda which could not be cured by the end of the session. He was 5.5mph off teammate Christian Lundgaard, and 7.5mph adrift of newest teammate Conor Daly, who did a fine job in his first session as replacement for Jack Harvey and wound up eighth.

RESULTS

Newgarden one round away from making IndyCar oval history

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden is chasing history this weekend on the outskirts of St. Louis. The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion could become the first driver in IndyCar’s 100-plus years of existence to win every oval race on the season-long …

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden is chasing history this weekend on the outskirts of St. Louis.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion could become the first driver in IndyCar’s 100-plus years of existence to win every oval race on the season-long calendar, which is made possible after claiming victories at Texas, the Indianapolis 500, and the doubleheader at Iowa.

With a win Sunday afternoon on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway oval, Newgarden would take his fifth of 2023 and add something special to a career that’s already filled with major accomplishments, and there’s more to acquire in Madison, Illinois. A win or second-place finish at WWTR would also keep Newgarden atop another impressive statistic where he presently leads the likes of Nigel Mansell and Scott Dixon on full-season average finishing position on ovals.

Thanks to the four wins to date, Newgarden’s average finish of 1.0 sits above Mansell’s 1.4 average from 1993 and Dixon’s 2008 run that generated an average oval finish of 2.0. In both cases, Mansell and Dixon went onto win championships those years, and while the odds are daunting, a win at WWTR would do wonders for Newgarden’s hopes of chasing down points leader Alex Palou and keeping the title fight alive entering the last two rounds. If he finishes third, he’ll be tied with Mansell at 1.4 and share the best oval average with the Formula 1 and CART IndyCar Series champion.

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Looking deeper, thanks to statistician Scott Richards, if Newgarden is triumphant this weekend, it would mark his sixth consecutive oval win dating back to WWTR in 2022 and place him among another legendary group of drivers.

If he can accomplish this six-straight feat, he’d become the third driver in IndyCar history to do so, and the first in 59 years. By winning at WWTR, Newgarden would join Ralph DePalma, who earned six straight oval wins in 1918 starting at the Chicago Speedway Park board track through the Sheepshead Bay board track, and the leader in this category, A.J. Foyt, who captured seven straight oval victories from Phoenix through Springfield in 1964.

Finally, in another nod to Newgarden’s generational oval prowess, he’s won at least one oval race for the last eight seasons, which is second to Johnny Rutherford who won on ovals for nine straight years (1973-1981) and Bobby Unser, who matched Lone Star JR with nine as well (1968-1976).

Newgarden, Vanthoor join expanded Porsche lineup for Petit Le Mans

Two-time IndyCar champion and 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will make his GTP debut at Petit Le Mans on October 11-14 driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport. Newgarden, who raced in the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year, …

Two-time IndyCar champion and 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will make his GTP debut at Petit Le Mans on October 11-14 driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Newgarden, who raced in the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year, will race alongside Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche 963 at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, a month after the conclusion of this year’s IndyCar campaign.

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“I have a lot of respect and admiration for both the Penske and Porsche brands, and the combination between the two through Porsche Penske Motorsport is a dream scenario for any racing car driver and is an absolute honor to be a part of,” Newgarden said.

“Watching the dedicated teams build this program from the ground up over the last couple of years has been exciting to watch, and seeing both Porsche 963s get wins this year and compete for championships shows that all the hard work has paid off.

“My goal is to add to the program and help support the tremendous efforts that Porsche Penske Motorsport has put in place. With some good fortune, I’m sure we can turn effort into results together.”

Newgarden won’t be the only driver joining the Porsche Penske fold at Road Atlanta, with two-time IMSA GT champion and long-time Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor joining Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche 963. Unlike Newgarden, he’s no stranger to the 963, having raced it the FIA World Endurance Championship this season alongside Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer.

Vanthoor, along with Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer took third in the 6 Hours of Portimao in April. Motorsport Images

“I’m really excited to compete with the team’s IMSA program and help them wrap up their season, as they try and attain both the team and manufacturer championships,” said Vanthoor. “I feel like my experience at the track will help, and working closely with Nick, Mathieu and the entire team will help myself gain even more perspective of the overall organization as we wrap up the WEC season in Bahrain at the beginning of October.”

Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid is confident that both drivers will be valuable additions to the team as it looks to end its first season with the Porsche 963 on a high.

“Laurens has raced at Road Atlanta in the Porsche 911 RSR and he will be able to add his experience from racing in the WEC for PPM,” he said. “Josef brings a different dynamic as this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner; it will be something very exciting for the team as well as himself.

“Josef has increased his exposure to sports car racing already in 2023 with a test in the Team Penske LMP2, as well as raced in Daytona in 2023. In addition, he got his first exposure to the 963 in early June at Road America.

“With several testing days for the team at Road Atlanta, we are confident that both Laurens and Josef will be fully prepared to deliver for the team and have a positive result in the final race of the season.”

Newgarden gets Indy GP grid penalty

It’s been a challenging Gallagher Grand Prix weekend for Josef Newgarden thus far, and got even tougher Saturday morning with the announcement by IndyCar that the Team Penske driver’s No. 2 Chevrolet has been assessed a six-place grid penalty for an …

Newgarden, who had qualified a disappointing 19th on Friday, will now start 25th in the 27-car field for today’s race after his and the three previously announced grid penalties for similarly unapproved engine changes are applied.

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Officially, the team was in violation of Rule 16.2.3.2 which states that a fifth engine is eligible to earn engine manufacturer points if a full season entrant has completed the full season entrant engine mileage with its first four engines. Otherwise, a fifth or more engine does not earn engine manufacturer points and will be considered an unapproved engine change-out.

REVISED STARTING LINEUP

Indy launches sprint to the checkers in IndyCar title race

The IndyCar season is in its final sprint to the checkered flag as 13 races are in the books and the last four will be settled in a rapid-fire manner, starting this Saturday during the series’ second road course visit to Indianapolis. Championship …

Championship leader Alex Palou was unable to win his fifth race of the year at Nashville’s Music City Grand Prix, but it didn’t matter. His immense luck produced the next-best outcome when Kyle Kirkwood earned 53 of the maximum 54 points that Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon — Palou’s closest challengers — so desperately needed. If Palou can’t win, having a non-title contender come out on top is a cause for joy for the Spaniard.

Palou also managed to finish ahead of Newgarden and Dixon in Nashville, extending his lead at a moment in the championship where they could ill afford to lose ground. The losses, though, were minimal. Where Newgarden entered his home race with 80 points to draw down, he limited the damage by placing fifth to Palou’s third on Sunday, but the gap has slightly widened to 84.

It’s a similar story for Dixon who went from a deficit of 120 points before Nashville to 126, and if you consider how only 216 points are left to capture this season, the light is fading from his hope to reel in Palou.

The fact that Palou won the Indy GP in May and the two road courses that followed is another foreboding item to consider. He and the No. 10 Ganassi crew have been IndyCar’s best road racing team of 2023, and from the four closing races, three are on road courses…

Palou can’t depart Indy with the championship in hand, but he can certainly move it to a place where only crashes or blown engines with the No. 10 car would bring it back into reach for others over the next month.

For Dixon, Saturday is all about finishing ahead of Palou, and if that doesn’t happen, we’re in game-over territory for the six-time champion.

For Newgarden, staying close is his objective; if he can shadow or finish ahead Palou, the one big salvo he’s waiting to fire is on August 27 at the 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Illinois. With three wins at World Wide Technology Raceway, the Team Penske driver owns the place and the odds are entirely in his favor to sweep all four ovals this year. Getting to WWTR with 84 points or fewer to carve into is his make-or-break mission in Indy.

Newgarden has one more oval race opportunity up his sleeve to close the gap, but he’ll need to stay ahead of Palou at Indy first. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images

For those who prefer to have their racing championships go down to the wire, misfortune will need to introduce itself to Palou on Saturday afternoon and steer clear of Penske’s lone contender.

Elsewhere in the field, Romain Grosjean’s gotten his season back on track with a couple of clean and solid runs at Iowa and a quality sixth-place result at Nashville. It appears the close-to-winning version of the Swiss-born Frenchman is making a welcome return. He’s still chasing that first victory, and if he can hold onto the good momentum he’s built, there’s no reason to count him, or teammates Kirkwood and Colton Herta out from standing in victory lane at the Brickyard.

David Malukas has been just as impressive, if not more, since Mid-Ohio where he finished sixth, then added a 12th and an eighth at Iowa, and started fifth last weekend. The fire and resulting rear wing failure weren’t of his making, so if we take his overall output into account, the sophomore IndyCar driver is doing all the right things to attract interest from the teams he wants to join.

It’s also getting down to desperation time for some of the teams and drivers who’ve been everything from mildly dissatisfied to stunned by how their seasons have gone.

After 13 races, Arrow McLaren remains winless, and the last time that happened, it was 2020 — the first year of McLaren’s involvement — where Pato O’Ward took four podiums and earned fourth in the championship, all without tasting victory. In 2021, Arrow McLaren was a winner by Round 4 with O’Ward, and did it again at Round 4 in 2022 with the Mexican.

He’s taken five podiums in 2023, but wins for O’Ward — along with teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi — have proven elusive. They’d love to have some of the bullet-proof luck that Palou has enjoyed, but we’ve also seen a strange trend where stellar qualifying performances and impressive output in the early stages of a few recent events have been undermined by crashes, misfortune, or fades in the second half of the races.

The same strange dynamic remains where Dixon, Will Power and Herta are winless as well. For Dixon, Saturday will mark 391 days since his last victory. For Power, the defending IndyCar champion, the number is 433, and for Herta, an unfathomable 455 sleeps will have been had since he was celebrated as an IndyCar race winner.

Together, they accounted for nearly 25 percent of all wins in 2022. To reach the twilight of the current season with that percentage at zero is yet another shocking development that defies every prediction.

Newgarden in a class of his own once again in Iowa

Death, taxes, and Josef Newgarden winning IndyCar races at Iowa Speedway. These are three of life’s inescapable truths after the Team Penske driver took his fourth consecutive oval win of 2023, fifth straight since claiming the World Wide Technology …

Newgarden entered the Hy-Vee IndyCar Weekend doubleheader down 126 points to championship leader Alex Palou, who finished third for Chip Ganassi Racing, and carved a healthy chunk off the advantage to 80 points heading into the next race at Nashville.

“We knew we had a great car, and then the pressure was there,” Newgarden said. “We wanted to execute on it and make sure it was a great weekend. I’m happy now. When you finish the first race, it’s great to have a doubleheader but you just feel incomplete until you get through today. And you know, to be able to come back and do it again and make our car a little bit better, I’m so proud of the team.”

Newgarden led 212 laps which, when added to his 129 from Saturday, made for 341 tours in the lead from the 500 completed in Iowa. The two-time champion’s extraordinary oval dominance places him in illustrious company: He’s the first since Al Unser in 1970 to earn five consecutive oval races, and is only surpassed by Ralph DePalma’s six consecutive in 1918 and A.J. Foyt’s seven in 1964. He also joins Foyt as one of only two drivers to win the first four ovals in a season; Foyt’s achievement came in that record 1964 year.

WHAT CAN'T @JOSEFNEWGARDEN DO!?

He passes for second, then the LEAD at @IowaSpeedway!

TV: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/DncKathzSV

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 23, 2023

A late restart added some spice to an otherwise processional day, and in that three-lap sprint to the checkered flag, Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist began the run in second but slid up onto the marbles and watched as Penske’s Will Power and Palou motored by to clinch the final podium spots.

“I didn’t really expect to be on the podium,” Palou said. “And honestly, it’s a place where we struggle. We don’t really have the package that we would like, and that I struggle with, but I got a lot of confidence today. But there’s still a lot to improve.”

Despite falling to fourth, Rosenqvist made immense progress after starting 16th and secured his second-best result of the season. Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who spent most of the day running in a 1-2-3 with his teammates, settled for fifth and Ganassi’s Scott Dixon was embroiled in major battles for most of the race and completed the top six as the first driver who was a lap down to the winner.

Of the other finishers, Colton Herta was the best Andretti Autosport driver in seventh, and behind him, young oval ace David Malukas was competitive all afternoon and took eighth for Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports.

Toronto winner Christian Lundgaard was the top performer for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 13th, and he was one position ahead of Callum Ilott in 14th, who started 24th for Juncos Hollinger Racing and played among the bigger teams with one of the series’ newest programs.

The doubleheader was remarkably clean with no heavy crashes recorded from Friday through Sunday. The Ganassi team, as one might anticipate, improved their form overnight, but it was nowhere near what was needed to interrupt Penske’s Iowa domination.

Palou did a great job to limit the points loss with the best short-oval performance of his career, and IndyCar’s two weeks away from a huge roll of the dice in Nashville where the cartoon anvil can strike any driver at any time.

Thanks to Newgarden, the quest for the 2023 championship is on again, and after giving up 37 points, Palou’s gone from seemingly untouchable to more than catchable.

AS IT HAPPENED

Will Power charged into the lead and Marcus Ericsson motored up to P3 by Lap 4 and Pato O’Ward also made a nice improvement to P6. By lap 10, Callum Ilott was up from P24 to P17 as Power led Scott McLaughlin, Ericsson, David Malukas and Josef Newgarden.

Strong Ray Robb, running P28 and last, is lapped on the 15th tour. Lap 21 and Alex Palou takes P9 from Colton Herta and P8 from Ed Carpenter the next time around.

Lap 26 and Newgarden takes P3 from Ericsson and McLaughlin is challenging Power for the lead. Traffic is the issue. Lap 29 and McLaughlin goes to P1 but the fight isn’t over and he reclaims the lead on lap 31 but Newgarden blows by both exiting Turn 2 and is the new leader.

Ericsson’s fallen to P7 as Malukas targets P3 McLaughlin who passes Power and demotes him to P3. Lap 35 and Malukas is by Power for P3. O’Ward is next and then Scott Dixon who pushed Power to P6. O’Ward takes P3 from Malukas on lap 37. This is wild.

Ed Carpenter started P4 and has been lapped in P26. Dixon’s up to P4 after passing Malukas.

Lap 52 and Newgarden is 3.4s up on McLaughlin as Power pits, first of the lead pack. Malukas is next, but the team is slow to change the left-rear tire. Newgarden’s lapped up to 10th and is pitting on lap 55 along with Dixon and McLaughlin.

First caution of the day on lap 87 as Agustin Canapino, while running an impressive P15, briefly rides the wall between Turns 1 and 2. He didn’t crash so much as skip the right-front tire off the SAFER barrier, but that was enough slow the field, apparently.

Lap 94 and the leaders pit under yellow. An extended effort to re-order the field meant the green didn’t wave until lap 107, and when it did, McLaughlin went after Newgarden for the lead but was unsuccessful. At 110 laps it was Newgarden, McLaughlin, Power, Ericsson, Dixon, and O’Ward. Championship leader Palou was P12. Callum Ilott is a strong P11.

Lap 115 and Dixon demotes Ericsson from P4. Lap 122 and O’Ward demoted Ericsson from P5. Lap 136 and O’Ward’s struggling, down to P7 on pace. Kyle Kirkwood’s up to P6. Malukas is next to pass O’Ward and then Herta goes by, leaving him down in an oversteering P10 by lap 142 as Takuma Sato pits after hitting the right-rear corner on the Turn 2 wall.

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Lap 145 and O’Ward’s in. Lap 148 and the leaders pit. Lap 157 and the left-rear wheel falls off of Robb’s car and was somehow avoided by half the field as the race returns to yellow. Robb did an excellent job to keep the car under control. McLaughlin and O’Ward and Kirkwood and Palou are among those to take the option to pit on lap 164 and try to jump Newgarden later in the race.

Running order for the restart is Newgarden, Power, Dixon, Herta, Felix Rosenqvist, Ericsson, Malukas, Alexander Rossi, McLaughlin, and O’Ward, Palou, and Kirkwood.

The Lap 169 restart is a thriller that sees Herta take P3 and Dixon drop to P5. Lap 172 and McLaughlin flies past Ericsson for P6. Lap 179 and Rosenqvist takes P3 from Herta and Dixon is next to take P4 and McLaughlin goes by to leave Herta in P6. Lap 182 and McLaughlin claims P4 from Dixon.

Lap 196 and Newgarden and Power Ericsson and O’Ward are in for their final stops. McLaughlin and Dixon are in the next lap. Rosenqvist, who stopped one lap before Newgarden, is up to P2 and chasing the leader, down 0.2s on Lap 203.

Dixon and O’Ward have been wearing each other out over P7 with the two chasing Herta in P6. Lap 226 and Newgarden is 4.7s clear of Rosenqvist and 11.8 ahead of Power.

Newgarden holds on and goes four-for-four this season on ovals and five straight since WWTR in 2022.

RESULTS

Newgarden frustrated by lapped drivers en route to Iowa win

Josef Newgarden might have seemed to have it all his own way in the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 at Iowa Speedway, once he got past teammate Will Power for the lead, but the race winner still was left steaming over what has become a recurring topic after IndyCar races: the behavior of drivers being lapped. Rather than single out anyone in particular, Newgarden decried what he sees as a widespread trend.

“There’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of people,” he said when asked who he meant. “It’s one thing if you’re leading the race. If you’re leading the race, you’re really within your right. If you’re fighting with people around you, seventh, eighth, ninth place, you’re all fighting. You’re within your right to fight as hard as possible.

“I think, the way the rule was written, it’s also legal for them to fight to the death to stay on the lead lap in front of the leader. It is legal. I’m just telling you you’re not making any friends when you do it. There’s 20 laps to go in the race, and I was getting driven like it was literally to the death for the end of the Indy 500. It was just crazy. I couldn’t believe the way people were mirror-driving.

“I’ve never seen it that bad here. Normally if you’re the leader, you’re not getting a handout, but you’re at least getting the courtesy that you are the leader and you’re about to get lapped. You don’t have to pull over, but just don’t be aggressive and weave in front of the leader, block the leader, chop the leader.”

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Newgarden made clear that he’s keeping track, and that paybacks could be coming.

“There’s just a point where you’ve got to understand that that comes back around,” he said. “If you do that to someone, I’m going to fence you the next time I see you. If you’re the leader the next time, I am going to do you so dirty if you did that to me.

“It’s common sense. Everybody in the paddock knows it, and they’re just — for whatever reason, there’s people who just can’t get it. You know what, if they can’t learn it by now, they’ll probably never learn. I guess where I’m going with this — you can tell I’m frustrated by it, which a lot of people are. I can’t change people’s behavior. If they’re going to continue to do that, I have to study and figure out how to counteract it, because that’s how they’re going to play. I’m going to assume they’re going to play like that (Sunday, in the second race of the Iowa doubleheader), and I’ve got to be in a better position and better equipped handle it.”

After teammate Scott McLaughlin said he intended to speak with some drivers about the issue prior to Sunday’s race, Newgarden said, “I’ll go talk to some people too. They need to know.

“Look, it’s not cool. It’s not cool. If you want to play that game, that’s fine, but you should be thinking long term.”