July 22, 2023 | By IndyCar

Newgarden Continues To Rule Ovals with Dominant Iowa Victory

Newton, IA —  In one of the most unpredictable, competitive motorsports series on Earth, perhaps the closest to a sure thing emerged again Saturday – Josef Newgarden winning on an oval.

Newgarden dominated the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart at Iowa Speedway, staying perfect in oval races in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this season in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden also won the PPG 375 in April at Texas Motor Speedway and the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Two-time series champion Newgarden also has won five of the six oval races in the last 12 months, including this race last year. The only race he didn’t win during that streak was the second race of the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend last year, as he crashed out while leading due to a mechanical failure.

“It’s a great day,” Newgarden said. “My team, they are unbelievable. They always give me a great car. I show up every weekend, and I feel like I’ve got the best of the best behind me. I love Iowa.”

This was Newgarden’s third victory of the season – all on ovals – and the 28th of his INDYCAR SERIES career. He will try to pull off the weekend doubleheader sweep and stay perfect this season on circle tracks in the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade on Sunday, with live coverage starting at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Team Penske finished 1-2 today, as Scott McLaughlin tied his career-best oval finish of second in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, 3.3755 seconds behind Newgarden. Pato O’Ward placed third in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Marcus Ericsson finished fourth in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing, and double NTT P1 Award winner Will Power rounded out the top five in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Just five cars finished on the lead lap, an indication of Newgarden’s command of this race. More proof of Newgarden’s dominance: He led a race-high 129 laps on the .894-mile oval, with Power leading 119 to put Team Penske out front for 248 of the 250 laps.

Power led 119 of the first 120 laps, losing the top spot to championship leader Alex Palou only during an early pit stop cycle. Newgarden, who started third, roared under Power exiting Turn 2 on Lap 121 to take the lead and paced the field the rest of the way except for one lap during a pit stop on Lap 126.

Newgarden stretched his lead to nearly four seconds when the field was bunched for the only caution period of the fast, frantic race when Graham Rahal’s No. 15 Blue Compass RV Honda hit the SAFER Barrier exiting Turn 4 on Lap 152. Rahal was unhurt.

That hope for the other drivers was fleeting as Newgarden rocketed away on the restart on Lap 166. He built a 5.3-second lead over McLaughlin by Lap 200 and appeared to be on cruise control to the checkered before he was snagged in a thicket of end-of-lead lap and lapped traffic on the “Fastest Short Track on the Planet.”

“It’s always tough in INDYCAR; these guys that are about to go a lap down, they always run the leader really hard,” Newgarden said. “That’s the name of the game. It’s legal, but man, it’s a little frustrating at times. I’m going to study the tape. I’m going to be better tomorrow.”

McLaughlin pulled to within 1.6 seconds with five laps remaining due to the traffic jam, but he could get no closer as Newgarden threaded through slower cars and powered to the finish.

“I badly want to beat that guy, and I’m going to be trying everything I can to beat him,” McLaughlin said of close friend and “Bus Bros” video series co-host Newgarden. “But he’s the epitome of a great teammate, and I appreciate the help he’s given me.”

Newgarden will split $10,000 with Team Penske and his chosen charities, SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville, for his victory as part of the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge.

Palou finished eighth – tied for his season low – in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda. His lead in the championship shrank from 117 to 98 points over Newgarden, who took second in the standings from Scott Dixon with his win.

Despite Team Penske’s dominance up front, the race was a competitive affair throughout the 28-car field. There were 1,502 on-track passes, an INDYCAR SERIES record at Iowa Speedway.

HY-VEE HOMETOWN 250 PRESENTED BY INSTACART RESULTS

NEWTON, Iowa - Results Saturday of the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 0.894 mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 250, Running
2. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 250, Running
3. (5) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 250, Running
4. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 250, Running
5. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 250, Running
6. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 249, Running
7. (17) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 249, Running
8. (7) Alex Palou, Honda, 249, Running
9. (11) Takuma Sato, Honda, 249, Running
10. (20) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 249, Running
11. (8) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 249, Running
12. (9) David Malukas, Honda, 248, Running
13. (21) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 248, Running
14. (14) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 248, Running
15. (23) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 247, Running
16. (24) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 247, Running
17. (15) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 247, Running
18. (26) Jack Harvey, Honda, 247, Running
19. (6) Colton Herta, Honda, 246, Running
20. (19) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 246, Running
21. (22) Conor Daly, Honda, 245, Running
22. (12) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 245, Running
23. (16) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 244, Running
24. (18) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 243, Running
25. (27) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 242, Running
26. (25) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 241, Running
27. (28) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 235, Running
28. (13) Graham Rahal, Honda, 149, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 143.155
Time of race: 01:33:40.4758
Margin of victory: 3.3755
Cautions: 1 for 14 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Power, Will 1 - 62
Palou, Alex 63
Power, Will 64 - 120
Newgarden, Josef 121 - 125
Sato, Takuma 126
Newgarden, Josef 127 - 250

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Palou 442, Newgarden 344, Dixon 328, O'Ward 309, Ericsson 307, McLaughlin 298, Power 274, Lundgaard 258, Rossi 250, Herta 250, Kirkwood 218, Rosenqvist 200, Grosjean 194, Rahal 172, VeeKay 171, Ilott 169, Armstrong 156, Malukas 152, Ferrucci 143, Castroneves 129, Canapino 127, DeFrancesco 119, Harvey 113, Daly 107, Pagenaud 88, Robb 87, Pedersen 85, Sato 60, Hunter-Reay 56, Carpenter 33, Kanaan 18, Andretti 13, Blomqvist 5, Enerson 5, Legge 5

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RASSMUSSEN TAKES INDY NXT SERIES LEAD WITH CLOSE IOWA VICTORY

BY IndyCar (Newton, IA) -- Christian Rasmussen earned his second victory of the INDY NXT by Firestone season and took a big stride toward the ultimate prize Saturday at Iowa Speedway.

Danish driver Rasmussen guided his No. 6 HMD Motorsports with DCR car to victory by just .1227 of a second over fast-closing pole sitter Jacob Abel in the No. 51 Abel Motorsports machine. It was the closest INDY NXT by Firestone finish ever on the .894-mile oval.

Rasmussen earned his fourth career win in INDYCAR’s development series after starting second. Perhaps just as important, he took the championship lead by 22 points over Nolan Siegel after entering this event trailing the rookie by 16, a swing of 38 points.

“We had good pace today,” Rasmussen said. “HMD has given me a great car. We’ve been fastest from the test (in June). Didn’t get the pole position but dominated the race.”

Rasmus Lindh earned his first podium finish by placing a career-best third in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing machine. Matthew Brabham, called in this week as a replacement driver for this event, finished fourth in the No. 75 Juncos Hollinger car.

Hunter McElrea rounded out the top five in the No. 27 Smart Motors car fielded by Andretti Autosport, the last driver on the lead lap.

Rasmussen wasted little time powering to the lead after the green flag. He drove under pole sitter Abel in Turn 4 on Lap 2 and never trailed thereafter, leading 74 of the 75 laps.

The Dane inexorably extended his lead lap after lap, pulling a gap of 8.5 seconds over Siegel by Lap 33. While Rasmussen was in cruise control out front, Siegel, McElrea and Abel engaged in a spirited joust for second through fourth place.

That close racing produced the only caution period of the race, on Lap 60, evaporating Rasmussen’s lead, which had narrowed to about five seconds. The right front wheel of McElrea’s car and the left rear of Siegel’s No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR car touched as they raced side by side for second in Turn 2, forcing Siegel into a spin with no contact.

The incident damaged the left rear suspension of Siegel’s car, and he retired with his second consecutive 15th-place finish of the season.

Rasmussen got a big jump on the restart on Lap 65 and started to pull away. Meanwhile, Abel passed McElrea for second and set sail for Rasmussen. Abel gained huge swaths of asphalt on the final lap but fell just short of earning his first career victory.

“I think I used up a little too much tire there at the start,” Rasmussen said. “We were super, super quick at the start, and then the caution came, and then everybody caught back up.”

The next race is the INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Aug. 6 on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee.