Josef Newgarden put on an Iowa Speedway master class as he secured his third career Verizon IndyCar Series victory at the circuit on Sunday.
The Ed Carpenter Racing driver led for the majority of the race, surviving three caution periods, and at one point had lapped everyone up to second place in an astonishing show of speed and precision driving.
More drivers finished on the lead lap than just two after taking advantage of the caution periods to reclaim their lost laps, but Newgarden did not put a foot wrong all evening long, and despite still in recovery with a broken hand and fractured clavicle from his Texas crash, was untouchable throughout.
Will Power made some late race moves to claim second for Team Penske, but even he did not have an answer for Newgarden, while Scott Dixon completed the podium for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Power’s moves included passing Dixon but also his team-mate Simon Pagenaud, who was the only driver all afternoon not to be lapped by Newgarden, but the championship leading Frenchman was ultimately forced to settle for fourth at the chequered flag.
Mikhail Aleshin took advantage of the timing of the caution periods to move into fifth and secure a career’s best finish on an oval, with the Schmidt Peterson Motorsport driver the final driver to end up on the lead lap.
Alexander Rossi was another to capitalise, the Andretti Herta Autosport driver finding his way to sixth at the flag despite some often aggressive defensive manoeuvres and a sometimes loose-looking car.
Tony Kanaan was in contention for a podium finish before being one of the unfortunate ones to pit just before the caution period, with the Chip Ganassi Racing driver losing a lap to the leaders due to the short nature of the Iowa Speedway, and ultimately finishing seventh, ahead of Sebastien Bourdais of KVSH Racing, who stalled during his final stop and also lost a lap in the process.
James Hinchcliffe recovered from starting at the back of the field to finish ninth in the second of the Schmidt Peterson Motorsport entries, while Charlie Kimball completed the top ten for Chip Ganassi Racing.
There were three caution periods throughout the race, two of which were for engine failures for Ryan Hunter-Reay and Juan Pablo Montoya, while Max Chilton was the only driver to cause a caution for an incident, spinning exiting turn two but avoiding the wall. The Briton had qualified fourth but despite being able to return to the race finished twenty-six laps off the pace in nineteenth.
Iowa Speedway Race Result
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