News

Track:  Iowa Speedway
Race:   Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300
Date:   July 24, 2022

No. 2 Hitachi Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden
Start: 2nd
Finish: 24th
Laps Led: 148
Point Standings: 3rd (-34)

Race Rundown: Josef Newgarden was well on his way to another dominant performance at Iowa Speedway in Sunday’s Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 before a hard crash on lap 236 ended his day early, resulting in a 24th-place finish. In similar fashion to Saturday’s race, Newgarden started second behind teammate Will Power. He took the lead on lap 85 and controlled the race with a No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet that only required a small front-wing adjustment on the first pit stop of the day. Under very little pressure from his competitors, Newgarden led 148 laps until the late-race incident knocked him out of the race following a mechanical program.  Over the course of the two days, Newgarden led a total of 356 laps.

Newgarden’s Thoughts: "I'm not sure (if something broke). Everything felt fine to me up to that point. I did have a vibration at the start of the stint, which isn't abnormal. Tire balances are always shifting. It's very possible that we had a mismatched set or something. It wasn't diabolical whatsoever. Actually everything felt just fine. It was totally unexpected when it happened. It caught me by surprise. I didn't know what happened until I was in the wall. It definitely was a bit of a shot. I don't know what happened. It was a good run. It's just one race but I feel terrible for us. Team Chevy and Hitachi guys did a great job. Something went wrong there."

No. 3 Freightliner Dallara/Chevrolet – Scott McLaughlin
Start: 5th
Finish: 3rd                                                
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: 7th (-86)

Race Rundown: Driving the No. 3 Freightliner Chevrolet to a third-place finish on Sunday, Scott McLaughlin quickly took to Iowa Speedway on day two of the Hy-Vee Race Weekend. McLaughlin qualified sixth on Saturday morning, just one spot behind his starting position on Saturday. He cracked the top-five in the early going of the race and fought oversteer through the end of the first stint. Just past the century mark of the race, the first set of yellow flag pit stops resulted in a wing adjustment and the No. 3 team exited the pits in the fifth position. Pushing toward lap 200, McLaughlin fought both ends of the spectrum with oversteer and understeer, fading to the bottom half of the top-10. A quick pitstop under green, cycled the New Zealander up to the fourth position. After a late-race caution and a great restart, McLaughlin drove to a podium finish and his second top-three finish on an oval this season.

McLaughlin’s Thoughts: “On that last restart, I had to get it going and throw it around the outside of (Scott) Dixon, who’s a pretty hard guy to throw around the outside on. I had a lot of fun and have a lot of respect for him. It was good times. The Freightliner Chevy was fast. It looked awesome all weekend, and I’m proud of all the guys to bounce back.”

No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara/Chevrolet – Will Power
Start: 1st – 66th career NTT P1 Award
Finish: 2nd
Laps Led: 80
Point Standings: 2nd (-8)

Race Rundown: Will Power inched closer to the career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position record held by Mario Andretti with his second NTT P1 Award of the Hy-Vee Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway. With 66 career top starting positions, Power is now just one away from tying the record held by Andretti for decades. Power took control of the race from the drop of the green flag and led the first 84 circuits before teammate Josef Newgarden got past him. The Team Penske duo set a blistering pace at the front of the field, eventually lapping the competition into the top 10 of the running order. The No. 5 of Pato O’Ward passed Power during the third pit cycle of the day and the two moved to the front of the field following Newgarden’s incident from the race lead on lap 236. Try as he might, Power could not muster enough to challenge O’Ward, but ended with his second podium of the weekend.

Power’s Thoughts: “I just sat there thinking to save tires. The last stint I overdrove it yesterday but the track really came on (today). It’s crazy how grippy and fast it was. It’s a really good day. You’d love to get the win. We led some laps and were really fast. It’s really cool to get the Verizon Chevy on the podium again and close up the points lead. We’ll get one of these wins here soon. We’re there and we’ll get qualifying sorted. I’m loving the racing and loving this track.”