IndyCar
Josef Newgarden Completes Team Penske Sweep Of INDYCAR Races At Iowa Speedway
NEWTON, IA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Josef Newgarden started on the pole and led 214-of-250-laps to dominate race two of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader Saturday night at Iowa Speedway.
Newgarden, the two-time and defending series Champion, beat his Team Penske teammate Will Power by 2.7869-seconds to pick up his first win of 2020 and 15th of his career.
“It feels really good,” said Newgarden, who was leading Friday night’s race when he made a pit stop, only to have the caution flag fly trapping the No. 1 Hitachi Chevrolet a lap down. “I don’t know what we have to do to keep the bad luck off of us, but hopefully this is the start.”
“It feels good,” said Power. “We just had a solid day. I would have loved to have the win, of course.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Hy-Vee Honda to pick up his second podium finish of the year.
“I think we actually had the best car on track tonight,” said Rahal, who started 19th. “We passed a ton of cars. It was just hard at the end when Will (Power) was driving on the same line as me. It was difficult up high to get the grip to go by.”
Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, who picked up the victory in race one, finished fourth in the No. 22 Menards Chevrolet.
“It was a tough, dramatic weekend, but we prevailed,” said Pagenaud. “We weren’t quite as hooked up today. Maybe we didn’t have the outright pace, but overall first and fourth is pretty good when we started last in both races. I’m pretty pleased with our results.”
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing‘s Scott Dixon, who was the runner-up to Pagenaud on Friday night, rounded out the Top 5 in the No. 9 Honda after starting 18th in the 23-car field.
“I think we knew this weekend was going to be one of our biggest challenges in terms of race weekends,” said Dixon, a 5-time series Champion. “We haven’t been as strong at Iowa as we’ve been at other tracks. We worked on it and tried some things and learned a lot, and we were able to work our way up and get a good result for the PNC Bank car.”
One of the strongest cars late in the race was the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Pato O’Ward. O’Ward was chasing down Newgarden but disaster struck on the last pit stop when the crew dropped the car before the wheel nut was tight on the left rear. The crew had to jack the car back up and tighten the wheel costing O’Ward a lap in the process.
“The best way to sum it up is ‘what could have been’,” said O’Ward the 2018 Indy Lights Champion. “We had the pace; we were strong. I made up positions to be fighting at the front. In the end, it was not meant to be for us, but we’re going to continue pushing to finish strong at Mid-Ohio.”
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES next race is as close to Pittsburgh as the Series comes as they visit the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. For tickets and information visit www.midohio.com.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Fox Sports, the new television partner for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, is aggressively getting the word out that INDYCAR has a new home for 2025.
Sunday Fox Sports debuted the first promotional ad during the network’s NFL coverage, featuring two-time Series Champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden.
This is the first of three promotional ads that Fox Sports will be rolling out between now and the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2, 2025. The remaining two spots will feature three-time and reigning series Champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing and the series most-popular driver Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren.
PLAINFIELD, IL (January 13, 2025) – Dale Coyne Racing is adding INDY NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion Jacob Abel to it’s 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES roster.
Abel will drive the No. 51 DCR Honda for the entire 2025 season beginning in March with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
“We are excited about running another Indy NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing,” said team owner Dale Coyne.
Abel, a Louisville Kentucky native, won three races in 2024 and finished on the podium in 10-of-14-races, which placed him second in the final standings – a steady progression from his 5th and 8th place Championship finishes the previous two seasons.
“It’s a lifelong dream come true… I can’t thank everyone who’s helped out along the way enough,” said Abel, who impressed in an evaluation day at Sebring last fall.
“We have watched Jacob over the years and did an evaluation test with him at the end of the 2023 season, where he showed great promise in these cars,” said Coyne. “It will be good to run one driver in the #51 car for the whole season, so that we can work on the consistency needed in the highly competitive NTT IndyCar Series.”
“I’ve had a great relationship with Dale for the last couple of years, and I’m very thankful for the confidence he has in me,” said Abel. “The team has some very experienced personnel joining and returning to the program, and I have full confidence they will deliver a great race car and help me learn the ropes of the NTT IndyCar Series. It’s going to be a fun but challenging journey, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Coyne said talks are progressing to fill the other vacant seat in the DCR stable.
“Our plans for our second driver are coming along quite nicely, and we will have more news on that in approximately three weeks.”
The 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season kicks off February 28 – March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
LEBANON, TN (September 15, 2024) – Andretti Global’s Colton Herta passed Pato O’Ward with four laps to go in the Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix to claim his first oval NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory of his career.
“I’m so happy,” said Herta, whose No. 26 Gainbridge Honda crossed the finish line 1.8206-seconds ahead of O’Ward. “We knew we were going to have a hot rod in the race. It’s been an amazing year.”
The victory also vaulted Herta a couple of spots up in the final standings of the year.
“I just saw I finished second in the championship, which is awesome,” said Herta. “Hoping to do a little bit better next year.”
The second place finish was the sixth of the year for O’Ward and the twenty-sixth of his career and said afterwards he was lucky to finish there.
“Yeah, I wish I could have done it a little bit harder on him,” said O’Ward. “Those reds (Firestone alternate tires) at the end, I couldn’t see straight with so much vibrations. Could barely talk to the team with just how much was going on in the car. I think one more lap, Josef would have gotten me for sure. I was dying.”
Josef Newgarden finished third in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevy. The Tennessee native was not in the Championship hunt after being stripped of a season-opening win at St. Petersburg after he and teammate Scott McLaughlin were found to have illegal software that allowed them to use push-to-pass when others couldn’t.
“Team did a great job today,” said Newgarden. “They put a good car on the track, a great car. We’re going to come back next year and hopefully have a little different cadence would be nice. I’m going to be happy to leave all this in 2024.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished 11th and claimed his second straight Championship and third overall in four years. Dario Franchitti was the last driver to win three championships in four year, winning three straight for CGR from 2009-2011.
Sye Lynch to run Kubota High Limit Racing Series full-time in 2025
Brooks Bags Tuesday Prelim Victory
Late Race Restart Propels Larson to Victory
Bell Best in Race of Champions
Racing Notebook: Larson, Bell shine in Tulsa; Fox names INDYCAR booth; Mid-Ohio tickets on sale and more
Sye Lynch to run Kubota High Limit Racing Series full-time in 2025
Fox Sports drops the accelerator on INDYCAR promotion
Late Race Restart Propels Larson to Victory
Bell Best in Race of Champions