Josef Newgarden goes back-to-back at World Wide Technology Raceway

On Saturday night, the NTT IndyCar Series held its final oval race of the season at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Josef Newgarden was the defending winner of the race.

Will Power started the race on the pole. On Friday, he tied Mario Andretti by winning his 67^th career pole. Starting next to Power was Josef Newgarden. IndyCar officials moved up the start of the race by 30-minutes due to rain heading their way.

On the opening lap, Rinus VeeKay got loose, avoiding a slower car, and hit the wall. He ran 53 laps before an electrical issue put him out of the race, and he finished in 26^th place. Six laps into the race, Felix Rosenqvist, who started in last place, made his way to 13^th place. Meanwhile, Will Power dominated the opening 58 laps before making his first pit stop.

Will Power resumed the lead four laps later. As the rain approached, many teams gambled, anticipating the race ending early. On lap 91, Pato O’Ward tried to get second place from Scott McLaughlin but got loose and lost several positions.

Will Power led an additional 60 laps before making his second scheduled stop. During pit stops, Alexander Rossi’s car shut off, and the team could not get refired. Once they got the car refired, Rossi was several laps down.

The race was caution free for the first 144 laps before Jack Harvey hit the wall at turn four, bringing out the first caution. Takuma Sato had led 22 laps and pitted during the caution, and Will Power was back in the lead.

On the restart, Pato O’Ward passed Will Power from the outside of turn two to take the lead. Then, Josef Newgarden passed Will Power for second place. He eventually took the lead on lap 165 from Pato O’Ward and had an eight-second lead before pitting on lap 206.

As the rain drew closer, many teams took a gamble and pitted for track position, while others stayed out. Scott McLaughlin, who pitted on lap 206, was the new leader as the caution came out for rain. The race was under a red flag for nearly two hours.

Once the rain stopped, and the track was dry, racing resumed. Josef Newgarden didn’t waste any time getting by Scott McLaughlin from the inside of turn three and never looked back. Meanwhile, rookie driver David Malukas, who started in 12^th place, passed McLaughlin for second place in the closing laps.

He was on Newgarden’s tail but ran out of time as Newgarden won his fifth race of the season by .4708 seconds. Newgarden led 78 laps, while Will Power led the most laps at 128.

In addition, Newgarden has now won four races at Wide World Technology Raceway and is the first driver to win back-to-back races at the track since IndyCar came back in 2017. It was also Team Penske’s eighth win of the 2022 season.

The rest of the top ten drivers were Scott McLaughlin third, Pato O’Ward fourth, Takuma Sato fifth, Will Power sixth, Marcus Ericsson seventh, Scott Dixon eighth, Alex Palou ninth, and Graham Rahal tenth. There were 13 lead changes and two cautions for 22 laps.

“I think this two-car crew was very patient with me. I’ve lost my cool probably a couple of times behind closed doors out of frustration for us. We’ve had small miscues timing-wise…that’s not really anybody’s fault. Sometimes, you’re at the wrong time, wrong place. I feel like that’s been happening a lot this year,” said Newgarden. “I was so happy we could finish this race. Scott McLaughlin, he wanted to win, too. I love that about us. We have a good relationship. He drove me super fair there at the end.”

“We ended up getting around O’Ward, and we ended up getting past a lapped car, and they (pit box) said, ‘You see them in front,’ and I saw two Penske’s, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re Penske’s!’ They were tough, said David Malukas. “Unfortunately, two laps to go, that’s the one lap I decided to do the outside lane, and it worked so well. If I would’ve done that a bit sooner, maybe we could’ve done something for Newgarden. Overall, that’s a win for me and a win for the team. They deserve it so much.”

Josef Newgarden is now two-points behind Will Power for the championship lead. Seven drivers are still alive, with two races left in the season.

The NTT IndyCar Series will be at Portland International Raceway on Sunday, September 3^rd, at 3 pm on NBC.

Finishing Order: