Josef Newgarden continues to pile up big numbers on oval tracks.
Saturday evening's victory in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway was his 10th on an oval track in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ past 15 races over three years. No other driver has more than one such win in that stretch.
SEE: Race Results
Newgarden has won those races at four different oval tracks: the past two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one at Texas Motor Speedway, four at Iowa Speedway and now three at World Wide Technology Raceway.
This win gave the Team Penske driver five trips to victory lane at this track since 2017.
Newgarden has pushed his career total to 31 race wins, tying Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves for 10th place on the sport’s all-time list. Seventeen of Newgarden’s wins have come on ovals, including his past eight race wins.
Only Scott Dixon, with 22 oval wins, has had more success on such tracks among the drivers who competed in Saturday’s race.
Newgarden is quick to credit his team, and it’s important to note that the crew of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet changed four tires on the final pit stop in about 5 seconds to help him overtake teammate Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet) for the lead. That proved to be the difference in this victory.
“The secret to our success on the ovals has been our cars,” Newgarden said after the race. “You can’t 'will' everything on an oval. I mean, you certainly can make a difference as a driver – you have to drive the car, get the most of out of it.
“(But) when you have the best cars in the field, it makes your job a lot easier, a lot easier.”
Team Penske drivers combined to lead 201 of Saturday’s 260 laps (77.3 percent), with Will Power leading 117 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet, McLaughlin 67 and Newgarden 17. McLaughlin finished second. All three Team Penske drivers were on different pit strategies in the second half of the race. Power might have won if not for the controversial restart with 10 laps to go that saw Alexander Rossi (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) drive over the back of his car, ending both of their races.
The competitiveness of others in the series, including Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation/Artic Wolf Honda) and Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian’s Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), is why Newgarden doesn’t consider himself a shoo-in to keep winning oval races. Three of the remaining four races this season are on such tracks.
“If I’m a king, (the) king gets knocked off (his) perch pretty often in this world,” he said. “I would never title myself that. This is the truth.”
Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) and Dixon are among the other drivers who figure to challenge Newgarden in the upcoming doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 31 and Sept. 1) and the season-ending race at Nashville Superspeedway (Sept. 15). Dixon, who won last year’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway and is a three-time race winner at the Nashville oval, finished two laps off the pace in 11th place in this race while trying a different fuel strategy. O’Ward had early equipment failure, completed only 42 laps and finished 26th in the 27-car field.
Malukas’ strong run ended against the Turn 2 wall after contact with Power in a late side-by-side battle. Herta, who started 25th due to a crash in qualifying, fought back to finish fifth, which vaulted him to second in the standings heading to next weekend’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who remains winless on oval tracks in his career, finished fourth in the No. 10 Samaritan Purse Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and stretched his series lead to 59 points. Palou is driving toward his second consecutive series title and third in four years.
But on ovals, they’re all chasing Newgarden.