Pato O’Ward took his second win of the season in the second, 300-lap race at Iowa Speedway after Josef Newgarden crashed out of the lead.
After leading 148 laps, Newgarden looked on course to claim a clean sweep of both wins at the short oval. But his race came to an abrupt end when his car suddenly snapped away from him at the exit of turn four on lap 236, sending him into the wall.Newgarden was unhurt, but was distraught after his unexpected accident which cost him the opportunity to take the lead in the championship standings. He was credited with 24th place.
But one driver’s misfortune became another’s potential season-saver. O’Ward took the top spot, held his lead after the final restart, and began pulling away from second placed Will Power gradually as the laps ticked down. He went on to win the race by over four seconds.
And after a win and a second place finish in this weekend’s Iowa double-header, O’Ward’s championship chances – which looked remote after consecutive retirements at Road America and Mid-Ohio – have been refired. With five races left, O’Ward is now within 36 points of points leader Marcus Ericsson, who had another strong day and finished sixth.
Power, who led 80 of the first 83 laps from pole position, finished in second and he gained ground in the standings after two podiums in one weekend. The 2014 series champion is now just eight points behind Ericsson, second in the table.
Before the first caution of the race, when Kyle Kirkwood hit the wall at turn two, Power and Newgarden were running first and second at a searing pace, at one point all bar the two drivers closest to them a lap down.
Scott McLaughlin bounced back from yesterday’s misfortune with a loose wheel, to finish in third place behind his senior Penske team mate.
Following them were a trio of Chip Ganassi Racing cars: Scott Dixon in fourth and Jimmie Johnson with a career-best fifth place after overtaking Ericsson, who came in sixth. Alex Palou finished just outside the top ten, in 11th.
Felix Rosenqvist was seventh, rookie David Malukas recorded his best career finish in eighth. Ninth-placed Romain Grosjean was the first of the Andretti drivers, followed by Takuma Sato in tenth.
The top six in the IndyCar standings are now covered by 44 points with five races remaining: Ericsson, Power, Newgarden, Dixon, O’Ward, and Palou.
It’ll be a quick turnaround for the next race, the season’s second race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which is part of a joint weekend with the NASCAR Cup Series. Colton Herta won the spring race around the Indy road course earlier this year.
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Iowa 300 results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 3 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi | Honda |
| 5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Ganassi | Honda |
| 6 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Ganassi | Honda |
| 7 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 8 | 18 | David Malukas | Coyne/HMD | Honda |
| 9 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti | Honda |
| 10 | 51 | Takuma Sato | Coyne/RWR | Honda |
| 11 | 77 | Callum Ilott | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 12 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti | Honda |
| 13 | 10 | Alex Palou | Ganassi | Honda |
| 14 | 15 | Graham Rahal | RLL | Honda |
| 15 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Andretti Steinbrenner | Honda |
| 16 | 20 | Conor Daly | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 17 | 33 | Ed Carpenter | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 18 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti | Honda |
| 19 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 20 | 45 | Jack Harvey | RLL | Honda |
| 21 | 6 | Helio Castroneves | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 22 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 23 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 24 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 25 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 26 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard | RLL | Honda |
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IndyCar
- Andretti confirms he’s stepping down in charge of racing team
- Ilott gets first seat in Prema’s new IndyCar team
- Palou clinches third IndyCar title as Herta passes O’Ward to win finale
- Kirkwood takes pole for finale, Palou only 24th after penalty
- Ferrucci secures second Foyt IndyCar seat for 2025 alongside Malukas
oweng (@oweng)
24th July 2022, 23:13
Shame for Newgarden as he was so dominant.
Such a difference in how team mates deal with each other again compared to F1 after Andretti the other week – Johnson overtaking Ericsson and taking 2 points off him with Ericsson leading the championship was hard to understand!
Bruno Verrari
24th July 2022, 23:31
Agree…and additionally: Dixon!
Feels…unprofessional.
Steve K
25th July 2022, 1:57
Obviously you are not an American with those opinions on Jimmie. You should hear me yell at the TV every time I hear about a F1 driver whine over the radio for a free pass on a teammate. You earn everything over here. Props to Jimmie today.
Prayers for Newgarden who was air lifted to a hospital for a head injury after his accident. I hope it was nothing more than a bit of dehydration.
MacLeod (@macleod)
25th July 2022, 8:01
I didn’t know F1 driver got a free pass from their teammate’s but reading you comment means the title isn’t much worth for the team it’s only the driver who is important. So they rent a car from the team that is new to me….
oweng (@oweng)
25th July 2022, 12:10
I didn’t think I gave any “opinions on Jimmie”. He drove a great race and was 5th on merit. I was just pointing out a big difference between indycar and F1. Johnson is nowhere near the front of the championship so him taking points off Ericsson doesn’t make much sense to me if the team wanted to maximise their chances of winning the drivers title. Dixon is still in title contention so wouldn’t expect the team to force a decision there.
I’m not American, no. Maybe if I was I would understand why Jimmie Johnson gets such a free ride from the commentators given his performance over the last 2 seasons. Especially as you earn everything over there ;)