Josef Newgarden won the IndyCar race at World Wide Technology Raceway for the fifth time on Saturday night. He took the lead after a late pit stop and managed to hold off his teammate Scott McLaughlin during two restarts.
Newgarden had a close call on Lap 196 of the 260-lap race when he nearly spun out, but he managed to keep his No. 2 Chevrolet from hitting the wall as he slid sideways coming out of Turn 2.
“I pushed a little hard in that moment, made a mistake and then I was so thankful that we didn’t wreck because I knew we could gather this up and still win this race,” Newgarden said.
His near-spin was compared to Danny Sullivan’s famous “spin and win” from the 1985 Indianapolis 500. “Certainly not as beautiful as Danny’s,” Newgarden said. “I mean, he pirouetted.”
Newgarden has been very successful at this track, winning for the fourth time in the past five years. His streak was interrupted last year when he crashed with 49 laps remaining.
The win was part of a sweep for Team Penske’s No. 2 cars at the track, following Austin Cindric’s victory in the NASCAR Cup race this year. The crowd was smaller for the IndyCar race, with many empty seats in the main grandstand.
Cindric’s father, Tim, the Penske president, was present in the team box to see Newgarden’s win.
“You can’t ignore that final pit stop was a big deal for us,” Newgarden said. “It’s hard to say if it works out if we don’t get that done, but it certainly was a key ingredient to us winning the race.”
Newgarden now has 31 career wins and also won the Indianapolis 500 this year.
Defending series champion Alex Palou increased his points lead after his closest competitor, Will Power, was involved in a late crash while leading more laps than anyone else.
Power was in fourth place with nine laps remaining when Alexander Rossi collided with him from behind. Power blamed teammate Newgarden for adjusting his speed while preparing for the restart.
“I don’t know why — I do not know why — he would just keep backing up and going, not going,” said Power, who finished 18th and dropped to fourth in the points standings. “I do not understand it.”
Newgarden admitted he “was trying to go as late as I could” but said it was within the rules and similar to other restarts in his career.
“The last thing I’m trying to do is cause a wreck,” Newgarden said, suggesting race control might have given the green light just before he actually sped up. “Believe me, the last thing I want is for Will to get hit.”
Palou started with a 49-point lead over Power and now has a 59-point lead over Colton Herta with four races remaining. Herta finished fourth but was penalized for blocking and dropped to fifth.
After a red flag to clean up the track, Newgarden took the lead on the restart and was unchallenged for the rest of the race.
“Personally, I think he restarted very late. That was probably more the problem,” said McLaughlin, noting it might have cost the team a podium sweep. “It’s not up to me to judge that. From my perspective, it just didn’t need to happen.”
Newgarden hadn’t led until a crash with 18 laps to go by David Malukas, who had been on the podium the last two years at the track previously known as Gateway Motorsports Park.
The race turned into a battle between the pit crews of Newgarden and McLaughlin, the pole-sitter, who were the only drivers on the lead lap at that time.
Last year’s race was decided mainly by fuel strategy, with Scott Dixon finishing nearly a full lap ahead of the rest.
