Josef Newgarden put on a clinic at Iowa Speedway for over 200 laps, at one point lapping up to fourth on the field.
However, disaster struck for the Team Penske No. 2 car, and the reign that Penske had on Iowa Speedway took a seat for the 300-lap NTT IndyCar Series race. Pato O’Ward made the trip to victory lane for the fourth time in his career.
It’s O’Ward’s second win of the season and puts him back into the points race as things start to heat up towards the end of the season.
Will Power and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the podium at Iowa ahead of a fourth-place Scott Dixon.
Jimmie Johnson recorded his first-ever top 5 finish with the series, bringing home a P5 in the Iowa finale.
“I’m continuing to make gains and just keep learning how to drive these rocket ships around,” Johnson said. “I enjoy driving these cars and I’m amazed every time I get out of one.”
Johnson shared his love of the facility over the weekend, as well as the promotion for the event that came along with it.
He compared Iowa to two staples of the NASCAR calendar, following career day.
“New tires in an IndyCar around here reminds me of Bristol,” Johnson said. “You just drive, as well as a car can drive with new tires. With old tires, it drives like Darlington.”
For Newgarden, though, what would have been the points lead becomes a bigger gap take down.
He was disappointed, but in typical Josef-fashion, he knows his team can regroup.
“It was a bit of shock,” Newgarden said on the NBC broadcast. “Man, I want to cry. It’s so sad for my team. I don’t know what happened. It was a good run, but it was just one race. The guys did a great job – I don’t know, something went wrong there. We’ll regroup.”
The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the track in a week, with the series rolling into the Indianapolis Road Course on Saturday. The July 30 race is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. CT on NBC.
NTT IndyCar Series results
Hy-Vee Salute To Farmers 300
Iowa Speedway
Sun. July 24, 2022
1. Pato O’Ward
2. Will Power
3. Scott McLaughlin
4. Scott Dixon
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Marcus Ericsson
7. Felix Rosenqvist
8. David Malukas
9. Romain Grosjean
10. Takuma Sato
11. Callum Ilott
12. Colton Herta
13. Alex Palou
14. Graham Rahal
15. Devlin DeFrancesco
16. Conor Daly
17. Ed Carpenter
18. Alexander Rossi
19. Rinus VeeKay
20. Jack Harvey
21. Helio Castroneves
22. Dalton Kellett
23. Simon Pagenaud
24. Josef Newgarden
25. Kyle Kirkwood
26. Christian Lundgaard
Updated NTT IndyCar Series Points
After Iowa 2 (12/17 races)
1. Marcus Ericsson 403
2. Will Power -8
3. Scott Dixon -34
3. Josef Newgarden -34
5. Pato O’Ward -36
6. Alex Palou -44
7. Scott McLaughlin -86
8. Colton Herta -125
9. Felix Rosenqvist -128
10. Alexander Rossi -146
