He didn’t want to take credit for doing anything unique but Josef Newgarden’s dominating IndyCar race victory at Iowa Speedway on Sunday was indeed something special.
Still smarting from a horrific crash three weeks ago at Texas Speedway, the Tennessee native ended the Andretti Autosport run of success at the oval to claim his first win of the season, vaulting himself into second in the overall points standings.
Leading 282 of the 300-lap distance, it looked as if Newgarden could pull away at will from the rest of the field or drive with one hand on the wheel if he chose to. It would have been an especially remarkable accomplishment since he’s still healing from a broken clavicle and broken hand suffered in that Texas crash.
Newgarden’s domination began right from the start of the race when the 25-year-old took the lead from pole sitter Simon Pagenaud on the opening lap. The ECR driver then showed how strong his car was, weaving his way high and low through the never-ending traffic at Iowa Speedway. After 84 green flag laps to begin the race, Newgarden had lapped the entire race field except for second-place runner Pagenaud, who was with him on the lead lap.
With plenty of racing left however, others did step up their game to try and provide some competition, most notably Scott Dixon. The four-time champion moved methodically forward from his 10th starting spot to second and on the final restart late in the race, he looked for an opportunity to jump into the lead. Once again, however, Newgarden pulled away and when the checkers waved there were only five cars on the lead lap with him leading the way.
Will Power, who’d won the previous two races, passed Dixon in the late stages to finish second and Power continues to do all he can to get back into the championship hunt. He now sits third overall, just two points behind Newgarden.
While still 75 points behind Penske teammate Pagenaud, Power is serving notice that he’s keen to make a serious run at the incredible comeback and fight for his second series championship. There are enough races remaining and enough points on the table to make it happen, he does need at least one race where Power takes a big bite out of that lead to make it interesting.
It’s rare that a driver has a day that goes this well but when it happens you hope the momentum carries forward into the next event. Perhaps it will for Josef Newgarden who heads to Toronto as the defending race champion. A race he also won in convincing fashion a year ago.
While Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe had a dreadful start to this weekend in Iowa, he rebounded nicely during the race. After an issue with the car during qualifying, Hinch and the SPM team climbed all the way from 22nd at the start to finish 9th. A significant accomplishment and now hopes that it’ll provide that momentum boost for the Canadian heading into the 30th anniversary of his home race.