NEWTON, Iowa – Josef Newgarden felt he had the car to win on Friday night, but he finished fifth in the Iowa INDYCAR 250s Race 1 after being caught by a mid-race warning.
It will also be among the cars that will win in Race 2 tonight.
CLICK IT: Practice results | Combined results | Race 2 starting line-up
Newgarden’s No. 1 team, Hitachi Penske Chevrolet, led the final hour-long practice before the green flag falls in Race 2 (8:30 pm ET tonight, NBCSN). Newgarden, who will start the race from pole position, drove the 7/8 mile oval at 170,199 mph.
The top two finalists in Race 1 were just behind Newgarden as Race 1 winner Simon Pagenaud was second fastest in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet with 168,515 and the leader in NTT INDYCAR points. SERIES Scott Dixon was the fastest Honda with 168,156 at No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
However, they both addressed the drama in the session.
Pagenaud missed the first 15 minutes of the session as his team tackled some minor technical issues, while Dixon brushed the wall of Turn 2 with the right rear of his car.
Colton Herta, Rinus VeeKay, and Will Power also returned to the track after their cars were damaged in separate incidents in Race 1’s only caution period.
The Power and Herta teams repaired their cars overnight, while VeeKay’s Ed Carpenter Racing team opted to switch to a backup car. All three will start Race 2 from their original starting positions.
