NEWTON, Iowa (July 18, 2020) – Defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden demonstrated that Iowa Speedway could be his best race track on the calendar as he put on a dominant performance on Saturday night to Win Race 2 of the Iowa INDYCAR 250s Doubleheader.
Newgarden became the first INDYCAR driver to win at Iowa Speedway from pole, easily leading to his first win of the season and 15th of his career at No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. It is the first time Newgarden has won a race since he captured last year’s race in Iowa 363 days ago.
CLICK HERE: Iowa INDYCAR 250s Race 2 Results
The two-time series champion Newgarden beat teammate Will Power No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to the checkered flag by 2.7869 seconds. It averaged 135,900 mph.
Newgarden’s victory completed a double title sweep on 7/8thMile Oval by Team Penske, as Simon Pagenaud won on Friday night after starting last.
“It feels really good,” said Newgarden, who finished fifth in Race 1 the night before despite leading 68 laps. “I don’t know what we have to do to avoid bad luck, but I hope this is a good start.”
“Our boys did an amazing job yesterday. I was very disappointed in them. I was mad at them because I thought they had the winning car. They put the job in and couldn’t be rewarded for it. I was so determined to go back today. I think everyone was determined to go back and have a really good race, and we just ran hard. We ran hard all day. “
Newgarden is no stranger to success at Iowa Speedway. He earned his third Iowa win of his career, with his previous wins in 2016 and 2019. The track is now tied with Barber Motorsports Park as Newgarden’s most winning race track. He also solidified his position as the all-time lap leader in Iowa with 1,115, a padded total as he led 214 of 250 laps on Saturday night.
Rounding out the top three spots behind Newgarden and Power was Graham Rahal, scoring his second podium finish of the season at the No. 15 Hy-Vee Honda.
Pagenaud finished fourth at No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet after starting last, and five-time series champion Scott Dixon, runner-up the previous night, finished fifth at No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after start 18th in the field of 23 cars.
Newgarden’s determined journey to Victory Lane started from the fall of the green flag. He led the first 56 laps and only gave up the lead during a green flag pit stop cycle. He took the lead again on lap 63 and held on until the next round of green flag pit stops came on lap 106.
Two-time NTT champion INDYCAR SERIES Newgarden faced his strongest challenge from Pato O’Ward, the 2018 Indy Lights champion. O’Ward started race 12th and quickly charged ahead, establishing himself in second position on lap 67.
O’Ward kept his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in Newgarden’s rearview mirror for much of the night, closing the gap in half a second just after the midpoint of the race. But O’Ward had a slow pit stop on lap 172 that ruined his chances of challenging Newgarden for the win.
O’Ward and his team attempted to undermine Newgarden and brake early, hoping that new Firestone tires would put O’Ward ahead of Newgarden. During the stop, the car fell off the jack before the left rear tire could be secured. O’Ward walked away and stopped right next to his box. His team put him back in the pit box to secure the tire, but any chance he had of challenging Newgarden for the victory was over. Over 12th, the first pilot one turn down.
Shortly after O’Ward’s pit road mishap, the night’s second warning came on lap 180 when three-time Iowa winner Ryan Hunter-Reay lost control of his No. 28 DHL Honda leaving the pit lane. and hit the inside wall. The night of the 2012 series champion ended and ended 22North Dakota.
The Hunter-Reay incident did not deter Newgarden, as he easily left the field on the restart of lap 193 and never looked back.
The performance brought Newgarden to third place in the series standings, 53 points behind points leader Dixon and four points behind Pagenaud’s second place.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES leads to a two-week break after a grueling stretch of five races over three weekends. The series will return to action on Sunday, August 9 for the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
