Newgarden drove away from the field in the second half of the race, lapping all but four other drivers. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
The NTT IndyCar Series completed the first race of its Iowa Speedway double-header on Saturday afternoon, and it was Josef Newgarden who walked away with the victory.
The veteran started in the third position, and easily kept up with his Team Penske team-mate throughout the first half of the race.
Newgarden did not wait any longer than that, however, and easily took the lead on lap 121. He never looked back at that point and claimed his third win of the season.
All three of his wins have come on the oval rounds of the 2023 season, and indeed no other driver has lifted the trophy on an oval so far this season.
The victory is also Newgarden’s fourth consecutive oval win, and the fourth out of the last six held at the 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway.
Scott McLaughlin crossed the line in second place, over three seconds down the road from his team-mate.
Rounding out the podium was Pato O’Ward, who won the second race of the Iowa double-header last season.
Marcus Ericsson and Will Power finished fourth and fifth respectively, with the latter losing out a bit on a chaotic round of pit stops just past the halfway point.
That round of stops occurred during the only caution period of the 250-lap race, which was caused by Graham Rahal ruining his suspension on the outside wall in turn 4.
Rahal drifted across the track to the infield grass, and everyone else was able to avoid him as they cruised past.
Rahal brought out the only caution when he drifted too high in turn 4. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
As locked in as the Team Penske trio looked up front, some drivers simply could not find a setup that would allow them to attack the track properly.
The radio was filled with calls for adjustments that has already been pushed to their limits, and cries for assistance from the team on pit wall.
The poor performance of a bulk of the field, combined with the mostly green flag running, meant that only five drivers finished on the lead lap.
The slowest driver all afternoon was Benjamin Pedersen, who ended his day 15 laps off the lead and was forced to drive with his mirrors nearly constantly.
The AJ Foyt crew, as well as all the rest of the teams, will have just one night to try to find extra pace from their chassis before they have to contest an entire second race on Sunday.
Keyword: Oval savant Newgarden walks away with win in first Iowa race