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Newgarden wins eventful IndyCar Gateway thriller despite spin

Josef Newgarden recovered from a mid-race spin to win a thrilling Gateway race after being charged with a slow restart that knocked his championship-contending teammate Will Power out of the race.

An attempt by Scott Dixon to implement one of his crazy fuel-saving strategies, the end of David Malukas' winning streak after he had powered his way to the win, Scott McLaughlin losing yet again in a head-to-head battle with Newgarden on an oval track, and a rookie making the podium for the second time this year all showed just how wild this race was.

Alex Palou, as always, followed his usual strategy of staying out of trouble and sneaking into the top five, extending his championship lead to 59 points as his rivals failed to take another significant lead from him.

The pre-event test suggested that overtaking in this race would be difficult and probably boring, but it was anything but.

How Newgarden won it

The entire race was turned on its head when Team Penske teammates McLaughlin and Newgarden battled for the lead in traffic. Newgarden had to avoid Palou and spun, resulting in a caution period on lap 197/260.

McLaughlin – who dominated the race for most of the time – and Newgarden pitted and only fell to third and fourth because drivers in eighth and below were a lap down and traffic in the field was so split that they were able to stop and get back out without losing too many places.

Power and Malukas initially stayed out and the race was restarted with 55 laps to go. But after just over 10 laps, both Power and Malukas got out and went into the pits. They dropped back to seventh and ninth place respectively. This at least gave them a chance to fight their way back to the front.

Further drama ensued between the Penske drivers when McLaughlin and Newgarden realized they also needed a stop to finish the race, and Power and Malukas were so fast after their stops that they had a chance to make up their deficit on the track.

But with 20 laps to go, Malukas and Power collided in Turn 1 – Power appeared to push Malukas, causing him to spin into the wall – and that led to a caution. Malukas had finished on the podium in both of his Gateway starts and was fighting back tears after the incident.

Newgarden's team made a brilliant stop in 5.1 seconds to take the lead ahead of McLaughlin at the yellow flag. However, on the restart, an accordion effect caused Alexander Rossi to hit Power from behind, knocking them both out of the race. Power was the second-placed rider in the championship before this race.

Colton Herta and Power appeared to blame Newgarden for the slow start, although IndyCar did not believe it was a rule violation.

Only a miraculous decision to step out of line at the green flag saved Palou from being involved in this incident.

After a lengthy red flag, racing resumed with six laps to go and Newgarden pulled off a fantastic restart, including a sweeping snaking line from one side of the track to the other to break free of his teammate's wake and race up the road.

Two-time Indy 500 winner Newgarden has won seven oval races since his last victory on road and street courses in 2022. His reputation as the best oval driver in the series is undeniable, and this win puts him at 10th place in series history.

McLaughlin scores good points toward his championship but misses his second oval win after Iowa, saying his hybrid device didn't work on the last restart.

Completing the podium for the second time this year was rookie Linus Lundqvist, who will likely lose his spot next year when Ganassi reduces the number of cars, but given his achievements, which include his Barber podium and a pole position at Road America earlier this year, he certainly shouldn't.

He overtook Palou and overtook the combative Herta in five laps, crowning a brilliant ride.

Herta was judged to have blocked Lundqvist and so he was demoted one place, allowing the ever-lucky Palou to move up another place to fourth!

Not this time, Dixon!

Scott Dixon has earned the awe and respect of his rivals many times throughout his career by executing seemingly impossible fuel-saving strategies – he even did it here at Gateway last year!

He attempted something similar from 19th on the grid, stopping to refuel during early cautions in an effort to make one fewer stop than the leaders later in the race.

However, Dixon lost so much time-saving fuel that a pit stop was unavoidable, and his race was completely ruined when he was stuck two laps down after pitting on lap 195 and coming out with a caution period almost immediately afterward.

The 11th place finish is a crucial setback for Dixon's championship hopes as he drops to third place, 65 points behind Palou.

O'Ward Misery, Strong Seal

Pato O'Ward had qualified eleventh but was forced to start eighth after grid penalties and was almost immediately battling for the top five, as one would expect from a driver of his form at Gateway.

However, on lap 42/260, O'Ward had to pit with an engine problem. He was fifth in the championship and 71 points behind Alex Palou, but is now sixth, 98 points behind. This, combined with his spin in Toronto, has led to a nightmare in the last two races.

Nolan Siegel, the rookie chosen to replace Theo Pourchaire at McLaren, had his best run yet at McLaren. He initially ran the Dixon strategy but managed to secure a good position on the track. The difference was his run on the final restart, where he made a good restart and overtook two other cars on the way to the chequered flag.

He had earlier picked up a pit lane speeding penalty in the race, which forced him to take a drive-through penalty, but in terms of race pace, this was his most impressive race to date.

Robb's Top 10 crucial for Leaders' Circle

In what appeared to be his most dominant performance in the IndyCar League, Sting Ray Robb achieved his best result of ninth place, which is crucial to maintaining the team's position in the top 22 that will receive a $1 million prize from the IndyCar League at the end of the year.

The closest car to catching Robb was the No. 78 car of Juncos Hollinger, which started ninth but was involved in an early crash. Only Daly was able to fight back and take advantage of the caution to finish 13th, thus mitigating the setback.

Score

1 Alex Palou 443
2 Colton Herta -59
3. Scott Dixon -65
4 Willpower -56
5 Scott McLaughlin -73
6 Pato O’Ward -98

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