Indycar: O’Ward wins in Iowa after Newgarden late crash
24th July 2022Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward secured the final win in Iowa, after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden crashed out when his car seemingly broke late on in the race.
How the second race of the weekend unfolded…
When the race went green, race two pole sitter, Team Penske’s Will Power got a great getaway from the pack. However, Power’s teammate, Newgarden, tried to undertake the leader as he ventured towards the low line, but the Penske driver was forced to filter back in behind his teammate.
The race quickly entered its 22nd lap, as the Iowa Speedway was less than a mile long, and it seemed fairly well behaved at the head of the field. Power remained out in front ahead of Newgarden, O’Ward (P3) and Dale Coyne Racing’s Takuma Sato (P4).
But, further down the field, any battles raged on between the likes of McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist and Rahal Letterman’s Jack Harvey, while Andretti Autosport’s Colten Herta failed to defend his position from Chip Ganassi’s Jimmy Johnson.
By lap 40, Power and Newgarden already started to make their way through the backmarkers.
Johnson nearly ended his race early on in the race, on lap 54, as the American driver temporarily lost control of his rear tyres when he ventured around the high line of turn two. Fortunately, the Chip Ganassi driver managed to keep his car in a straight line to avoid a full course caution.
O’Ward was the first driver of the top five who finally dived into the pit lane to complete his first stop of the race, on lap 64.
Three laps later, Power and Newgarden pitted together. Both drivers had a good stop and found themselves in a wheel-to-wheel battle as they drove towards the pit exit. But, Newgarden had to yield position as Power squeezed his teammate towards the barrier when they returned to the track.
Power tried to maintain his lead, ahead of his teammate, Newgarden, as he worked his way through the backmarkers. However, he was blocked by Andretti’s Romain Grosjean on lap 86. Due to the dirty air from Grosjean’s car, Power washed out towards the high line which allowed Newgarden, with free air, to pass the French driver and take the race lead.
Although the race went through its first 100 laps without a caution, on lap 120, the first full course caution was flown. Newgarden looked to overtake Kyle Kirkwood, for a fourth time, and forced the A.J. Foyt driver onto the high line. Due to his high position on the circuit, the American drifted wide and smashed into the barrier at the first corner.
The race finally went back to green-flag conditions at the end of lap 132. Newgarden managed to clear a half-a-second gap between himself and Power, in P2. The former race leader, Power quickly found himself under pressure by O’Ward – on the restart – who tried to slip by the Penske driver but the Australian driver managed to hold off the McLaren’s advance.
As the race embarked on its second half, on lap 150, Newgarden remained out in the lead, one-second ahead of his second-placed teammate, Power. O’Ward, Chip Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson and Penske’s Scott McLaughlin closed out the top five respectively.
Newgarden nearly lost the lead of the race as he washed wide into the final corner, as he tried to pass the backmarker of Dale Coyne’s David Malukas. This allowed Power to close down the gap to his teammate. However, the 12# Penske driver wasn’t able to find a way passed Newgarden to regain the lead.
At the end of lap 195, Newgarden and Power ventured back down into the pit lane to complete their second green-flag stop after they stopped previously under the full course caution. However, the race leader managed to complete his stop and return to the track ahead of Power.
At the same time, O’Ward finally found a way past Power to take P2, through the pit stops, to split the top two Penske drivers.
By lap 222, O’Ward sat nearly two-seconds behind Newgarden, who sliced his way through the backmarkers. On the other hand, the former race leader: Power, found himself four seconds adrift of his teammate.
Heartbreak struck Newgarden late on in the race as he collided with the barrier on lap 226. As the Penske driver raced around the final corner, something seemed to break on the American’s car which forced him into a high speed spin before he collided, backwards, with the barrier.
Fortunately, the American was okay and was able to get out his car. However, the stranded Penske meant another caution was brought out.
The race finally went back to green-flag conditions, with 51 laps left to go, with O’Ward out in front. Despite Power’s best efforts, he couldn’t find a way past the McLaren driver on the restart. In the handful of laps which followed the restart, Power remained in P2 but he had fallen back from O’Ward by nearly a second.
Podium:
- Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren
- Will Power, Team Penske
- Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
That’s it for the article: Indycar: O’Ward wins in Iowa after Newgarden late crash! What did you enjoy about the race? Let us know in the comments!
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