Newgarden spins and wins but angers rivals as restart tactics trigger crash

Josef Newgarden recovered from a spin while trying to pass Scott McLaughlin to beat his team mate to victory at Gateway.

But the race winner drew the ire of several of his rivals, including team mate Will Power, who blamed his driving at a late-race restart for triggering a multi-car crash.

Newgarden led the field out of the final corner with eight laps to go at an unusually slow pace, so much so McLaughlin nudged the back of his car. Behind them Colton Herta slowed, Power backed off even more and was clouted by Alexander Rossi.

Other drivers piled in and the red flags flew in order to ensure the race did not end under caution. Power, who came into the race as the closest challenger to points leader Alex Palou, was livid, and laid the blame at the feet of his race-leading team mate. “He went, he stopped, he went, he stopped,” said Power.

Drivers from rival teams were even more blunt. “That’s dirty from Newgarden,” Herta told his Andretti crew. “That’s really dirty.”

After a lengthy stoppage, Newgarden led the field away for the final half-dozen laps with a much more conventional and effective restart. McLaughlin, who led much of the race, never had a look-in.

Newgarden took the lead in dramatic circumstances shortly before the race-stopping restart. He stalked McLaughlin at the front of the field, but slewed sideways as he came out of turn two, triggering a caution period.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

The two leading Penskes took that opportunity to pit but Power stayed out. He came in 13 laps after the next restart, which left him well-placed for the final stint. As Newgarden closed on McLaughlin once more, the pair new their final stop would likely leave them back behind Power.

Then Power came under attack from David Malukas, the only driver from outside the Penske camp who had seriously challenged their drivers all night. Power left the Meyer Shank driver with little room on the inside and Malukas spun into the barrier.

That triggered another caution period, under which McLaughlin and Newgarden pitted. Newgarden’s crew produced a remarkably quick tyre change of little more than five seconds (F1’s two-second stop are out of reach as IndyCar permits just one crew member per wheel, instead of three) which jumped him ahead.

That ultimately won him the race ahead of McLaughlin. Linus Lundqvist raced into third after passing Palou and Herta after the final restart. The latter was achieved despite a firm defensive move from Herta, who was eager to cling to his podium place having climbed from 25th on the grid.

The stewards took a dim view of his Herta’s driving, however, and issued a penalty which dropped him to fifth behind Palou. Newgarden’s restart tactics passed without censure, ensuring his second victory of the year to go with his Indianapolis 500 triumph, having been stripped of his victory in the season opener for a push-to-pass infringement.

Felix Rosenqvist took sixth ahead of Nolan Siegel, who reaped the dividends of an aggressive strategy by McLaren to be their first driver home. That honour might well have gone to Pato O’Ward, however, as he was running fifth when he suffered an apparent engine failure.

Marcus Armstrong, Sting Ray Robb and Rinus Veekay completed the top 10. Scott Dixon failed to finish among them after losing time when the race went yellow shortly after one of his pit stops. This meant that while Newgarden ended the day victorious, points leader Palou left Gateway knowing he had outscored his four closest rivals.

Race result

Full classification to follow.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

IndyCar

• How to watch the IndyCar and WEC season-openers this weekend
• “No doubt” Herta is quick enough for Formula 1 – Ericsson
• 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

Browse all IndyCar articles