Josef Newgarden put his pole position to good use in the second round of the double-header from Iowa Speedway, leading the most laps and taking a dominating victory. The reigning IndyCar series champion had started from the front in two of the previous races this season, but this is the first win he has been able to bring home.
Newgarden was highly disappointed in his fifth-place finish on Friday, saying that he thought he had the best car in the field. Tonight he proved that he did indeed have the car to beat, and nobody was able to keep up all night.
Fellow Team Penske driver Will Power finished second, recovering from a disappointing race the night before that saw him crash out due to a loose wheel. Power still has a long ways to go to catch the points leader Scott Dixon, who finished fifth tonight and gained a good amount of points to pad his lead.
Graham Rahal also recovered from a rough race on Friday, finishing on the podium from a 19th place starting position. Simon Pagenaud, race one’s victor who came from last to take the win, started from the back again and finished in fourth position with another solid drive.
Oliver Askew was looking to follow up his podium finish with another good result, and looked like he would be able to do so halfway through the race. But some poorly-timed cautions led to the rookie finishing sixth, a respectable finish regardless.
There was not a repeat of the wild crashes that were seen the night before, much to the relief of everyone involved, but Rinus VeeKay had another bad night nonetheless. The rookie finished in 17th position, continuing his record of poor finishes at ovals, but at least was able to finish an oval race for the first time.
Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay spun while trying to get up to speed coming out of pit lane, bringing out the night’s last caution. The 2012 series champion spun in exactly the same place last night, but was able to save the car. A broken steering linkage was the result tonight, bringing out the caution.
Last night’s polesitter Conor Daly put in a solid drive all night, but ended up finishing 13th after having to make a late race pit stop for tires and fuel.
Ed Carpenter had another disappointing night from the short oval, running high and touching the wall. The contact broke the owner/driver’s suspension linkage and ensured he would finish last in the final standings.
After two consecutive double-headers, drivers and teams finally get some time off. The next IndyCar race will be from Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course and will take place August 9.
| # | Driver | Gap | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josef Newgarden | 01:38:40.5189 | 214 |
| 2 | Will Power | -2.7869 | 2 |
| 3 | Graham Rahal | -3.5649 | 13 |
| 4 | Simon Pagenaud | -6.1241 | – |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | -6.5753 | 2 |
| 6 | Oliver Askew | -16.0009 | 10 |
| 7 | Jack Harvey | -16.6183 | – |
| 8 | Alexander Rossi | -17.8869 | – |
| 9 | Marcus Ericsson | -18.5207 | – |
| 10 | Marco Andretti | -20.0176 | – |
| 11 | Tony Kanaan | -20.7422 | – |
| 12 | Pato O’Ward | -1 lap | 1 |
| 13 | Conor Daly | -1 lap | 4 |
| 14 | Alex Palou | -1 lap | – |
| 15 | Felix Rosenqvist | -2 laps | – |
| 16 | Charlie Kimball | -2 laps | – |
| 17 | Rinus VeeKay | -2 laps | – |
| 18 | Santino Ferrucci | -3 laps | – |
| 19 | Colton Herta | -3 laps | – |
| 20 | Zach Veach | -3 laps | – |
| 21 | Takuma Sato | -3 laps | – |
| 22 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | -72 laps | 4 |
| 23 | Ed Carpenter | -138 laps | – |
