FORT WORTH, Texas – Pick a storyline from Sunday’s XPEL 375.
The choices are Josef Newgarden’s dramatic, last turn on the last lap race-winner pass over Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin.
Team Penske’s 600th career victory.
And the final choice is seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who raced his way into the top five late in the race when he passed six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon late in the closing laps of the race. Although Dixon regained the position before the checkered flag, Johnson’s first IndyCar oval race was by far the best of his NTT IndyCar Series career.
No matter which storyline that is chosen, there is a dramatic story behind each.
On the final lap of the race, Newgarden was able to get into the second lane and dramatically close in on McLaughlin’s Chevrolet. The driver of the lead car knew Newgarden had the momentum and chose to maintain his line.
Roger Penske and Josef Newgarden celebrate Team Penske’s 600th race win. (Photo: Al Steinberg)
Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet defeated McLaughlin’s No. 3 Chevrolet by just 0.0669-of-a-second.
“Scott didn’t do anything wrong,” Newgarden said. “I took a risk. I mean, I took a big risk there at the end. I just held it in 3-4 to see if it would work. If it didn’t work, it was going to be on me that I took a risk and I didn’t work out.
“I made that in a very split-second decision. I’m serious when I say I was pretty much conceding with a lap-and-a-half to go. It was going to be what it was going to be. I wasn’t in position correctly for the final stint.
“I just went for it. He didn’t do anything wrong, up on traffic, getting loose. I was a little stronger than him at the end for sure. It would be unwise; it actually shows his wisdom. It would have been very unwise for him to take a flyer and go high side without knowing what’s going to happen. He won the first race, leading the championship. That would have been silly for him to do that decision.
“For me it was a risk, but I think it was somewhat calculated. I saw people going up there toward the beginning and middle of the race. I took a calculated risk and it worked out.”
It was a dramatic ending to a surprisingly action-packed race; despite the fact the track surface still has grip issues from the application of PJ1 several years ago.
The victory was Team Penske’s 600th and team owner Roger Penske rewarded the winning driver with six $100 bills.
“The Captain is so true to his word,” Newgarden said of Penske. “He gave me $600 on pit lane in cold, hard cash.
“I came in 2017 and they ripped from 400 to 500 to 600. It’s amazing.”
McLaughlin was despondent at finishing second at Texas for the second year in a row. This was under much different circumstances than last year, however.
“I was battling already on the exit of (Turns) 3 and 4” McLaughlin explained. “It would have been risky for me, for both of us, if I had moved. I mean, when I got told that he’s in the second lane, I was like, Oh, here we go.
“Looking back at it, I was just too tentative. At the end of the day, I’ll learn from that. I just didn’t want to go out the last corner, hit the fence, not have either of us win, because I quite easily could have taken Josef out.
“It is what it is. At the end of the day, it’s one of those days when you look back at the end of the year, championship-wise it might work out very well.”
McLaughlin led 186 laps in the 248-lap race. Teammate Power was second with 20 laps led and Ericsson had 10.
The race winner led three laps.
There were four caution periods for 52 laps beginning with Alexander Rossi’s tow-in after his car stopped on Lap 12. Takuma Sato was involved in a crash when rookie Devlin De Francesco nudged him in Turn 1 on Lap 99.
Kyle Kirkwood had a major impact with the Turn 4 wall on Lap 114 after De Francesco hit him. The fourth and final caution also involved De Francesco, who went three wide in Turn 4. That forced Graham Rahal to spin into Helio Castroneves, with all three cars dropping out of the race.
As for Johnson, he started 18th in his first IndyCar Series oval race. Fortunately, it came on a track where he experienced more success than any driver in NASCAR history – the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval.
Johnson used the first 120 laps of the race to build confidence and develop a rhythm. Once he felt confident, he used his years of oval racing expertise and was able to adapt that to the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing.
On Lap 169, he passed defending NTT IndyCar Series champion and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou for 10th place. Three laps later, Johnson passed Santino Ferrucci for ninth.
After the final round of pit stops, Johnson really asserted himself. He passed both Dixon and Palou in a straight-up battle on the track. He was up to seventh on Lap 203. Johnson was up to sixth on Lap 226 and passed Dixon for fifth on Lap 236.
Dixon was able to pass him back for fifth place on Lap 246, two laps from the finish.
But Johnson’s sixth-place finish was by far the best effort of his brief IndyCar career.
Johnson passed 21 cars on track, 17 for position, seven of those passes were in the top 10 and two were in the top-five.
“Absolutely I’m happy,” Johnson said. “With a couple to go I was in fifth. We were worried about fuel. We had an issue with the telemetry, didn’t know how much fuel I’ve had to save. I got a panicked fuel number. I could tell by the seriousness in their voice it was serious. I couldn’t brace for Scott and try to hold onto fifth.
“What a two-day adventure this has been. To be able to get enough laps in the race, to feel the tires from start to finish, green flag stops, being in dirty air, just how uncomfortable and treacherous that is. All of those little mistakes and little moments gave me a sense of the car and helped me feel really how to drive this car, how to create speed.
“The second half of the race I started working my way forward in that final stint, had a very competitive car. Wished that I had maybe started the race a little further forward. I think I could have finished a little further forward.
“Another 50 would have been awesome. I would have really, really enjoyed that.
“Not only did I grow and improve, but through my growth I’ve been able to give better feedback to the team. Eric Cowdin (his engineer) made some amazing adjustments to the car, really put it into its window for that last stint. It really showed.”
Johnson’s experience on street and road course racing has been a bit of a struggle, but 82 of his 83 career NASCAR Cup Series wins came on an oval.
Now that Johnson has showed his oval prowess can translate to an Indy car, he can be considered a legitimate challenger in the Indianapolis 500.
Was this the start of “Jimmie Mania” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
“I’m not against that,” he said. “Let’s go.
“I think today just showed what the 48 car is capable of. We all know what the Chip Ganassi cars are capable of. I just haven’t been fast enough on the street and road courses to put the car in that window and get results.
“To be here on a track I know, an environment that I know, I was able to provide and do that for the team. I feel very excited about it, very encouraged about the remaining oval races that are on the books.
“I know I’m going to have a great car. We’ll see how it goes.”
Any of the aforementioned storylines would be stand on their own. That they happened in the same race made Sunday’s XPEL 375 another memorable moment in a long line of fantastic races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Unfortunately, the size of the crowd did not reflect how great of a race this was, which leads many to wonder if IndyCar’s long and historic run at TMS may be nearing an end.
IndyCar owner Roger Penske and Texas Motor Speedway vice president and general manager Rob Ramage are expected to talk about the future sometime this week. Both would like to see this race remain on the schedule, but the lack of a crowd is an issue that will have to be addressed.
Keyword: Newgarden Wins On Last-Lap Pass; Johnson Earns First IndyCar Top 10