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.
MOORESVILLE, NC (May 7, 2024) Team Penske has suspended four members involved in the push-to-pass cheating scandal including team President Tim Cindric.
Managing Director Ron Ruzewski, No. 2 Race Engineer Luke Mason and Senior Data Engineer Robbie Atkinson join Cindric on the sidelines for the next two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, this weekend’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES discovered that Team Penske installed software that bypassed the push-to-pass system at the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and stripped race-winner Josef Newgarden of the victory and third-place winner Scott McLaughlin of his podium finish. The Series said the software was discovered prior to the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
INDYCAR’s subsequent investigation and penalties were announced prior to last week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park and the series said it was over and done with, but not for Penske.
Team Owner Roger Penske, who also owns the series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, met with several team owners and team principals at Barber but apparently felt he needed to take further action.
“After a full and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske has determined that there were significant failures in our processes and internal communications,” Team Penske said in a statement.
“I recognize the magnitude of whaat occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades,” said Team Owner Roger Penske in the same statement. “Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologize for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”
LEEDS, AL (April 28, 2024) Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin put an emotional week in the rear-view mirror by winning Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix presented by AmFirst.
McLaughlin employed a three-stop, flat-out pedal to the floor strategy while several others attempted a two-stop strategy. McLaughlin’s move paid off with the victory, his second in-a-row at Barber.
McLaughlin, who led 58 of the 90 laps after earning the NTT P1 Award in qualifying Saturday, took the lead for the final time on Lap 76 after his final pit stop.
“Definitely one of my best drives in terms of execution and just knocking out the laps,” said McLaughlin, who had his third-place finish at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding stripped earlier in the week for illegal push-to-pass software and using it. “Very happy we could advance to the checkered flag there and bring home a W for Team Penske and for Roger (Penske).”
Will Power made it Team Penske 1-2 by finishing second in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, 1.3194 seconds behind McLaughlin.
“It was a hard-fought 1-2 for Penske,” Power said. “We were certainly fast, but obviously a lot of strategy played into that. We were able to use our speed to come out in front again.”
Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist rounded out the podium by finishing third in the No. 8 American Legion Honda, the best finish of his young career.
“Man, it was amazing,” said Lundqvist of his sixth career start. “I think for the first time ever I was not on the save fuel strategy. I was not the one being passed, which was nice.”
The next race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 11 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which kicks off the Month of May activities at IMS culminating in the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26 on the IMS oval.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 24, 2024) Scott Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing team are leading the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship standings after Team Penske was penalized for violating the series ‘push-to-pass’ parameters.
INDYCAR disqualified Josef Newgarden’s win and Scott McLaughlin’s third place finish in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and docked Will Power 10-Championship points for the infractions.
Dixon’s epic win in this past Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach vaulted him into second position in the Championship standings, 12-points behind Newgarden. That changed following Wednesday’s penalties.
Dixon now holds a 2-point lead over Andretti Global’s Colton Herta and a 12-point lead over teammate and reigning INDYCAR Champion Alex Palou.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward sits in fourth position, 15-points back, following his elevation to winner at St. Pete. Power sits in fifth position, 20-points behind Dixon despite the 10-point reduction.
Dixon heads into this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park having never won at the picturesque 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course in Birmingham Alabama.
“Barber has been interesting,” said Dixon, a six-time series Champion. “Second six times. Never won there. The goal was always to try and step on the top step again.”
Dixon is hoping a recent test will help him park the No. 9 Honda in victory lane.
“We had a really good test at Barber,” added Dixon. “Only probably half of the grid did, so it will be interesting to see how that applies.”
The first 75-minute practice session gets underway on Friday from 2:40 p.m. to 3:55 p.m. and will be live-streamed on Peacock.
McLaughlin is the defending race winner.
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