Josef Newgarden spun, and he won. But that was far from the only dose of excitement the Indianapolis 500 winner experienced Saturday night in capturing the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway.
While Newgarden’s half-spin in traffic without contact in Turn 2 will be one for the ages, a late restart likely will play a role in determining the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, and Newgarden was figuratively in the middle of it.
Actually, the Team Penske driver was leading the pack coming to the green flag. The pace was relatively slow, and there was contact behind Newgarden and second-place Scott McLaughlin.
SEE: Race Results
Team Penske’s Will Power appeared to bump third-place Colton Herta, and then he checked up enough to have Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi run into the back of him. Both cars smacked the inside wall, a crushing blow for Power, who entered the 260-lap race second in the standings with a shot as his third series title.
The benefactor was series leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. At the sight of the green, the reigning series champion dove to the inside lane in a bid to advance from seventh place. That decision kept him out of the fray that became a four-car accident, and after the red flag period for cleanup, the Spaniard turned the opportunity into a championship moment. He finished fourth to add more points to his series lead.
The driver of the No. 10 Samaritan Purse Chip Ganassi Racing Honda will take a 59-point lead into the season’s final four races.
“The worst part (of the victory) is (Power) not making it home,” Newgarden said. "I hate that that happened at the very end. I watched it on the TV and it kind of looked like the green went (on) before I went – just momentarily – and it caused a big accordion (effect).
“So, I hate that that happened. That’s the last thing you want to happen with 10 (laps) to go is to create a mess.”
Power wasn’t pleased, and it cost him more than a chance to win. He ended up losing 17 points to Palou and dropped to fourth in the standings behind Herta and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon. The driver of the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet led a race-high 117 laps.
“Where are you supposed to go?” said Power, who is now 66 points out of the series lead. “In between (Turns) 3 and 4 (the leader) he just waited, then he went. He went, he stopped. I knew that was going to happen. As soon as I checked up because (others) checked up, I knew I was going to get pounded (from behind).
“Man, disappointing. We had such a good car.”
Newgarden had a good car, too, as evident by his ability to recover from the spin while trying to pass Palou on the outside on Lap 196. But Newgarden’s pit crew also contributed mightily to his second win of the season. It changed four tires on the final stop in just over 5 seconds to get their driver out of the pits ahead of McLaughlin, who had been the leader.
“It was 1-on-1 with the teams on the pit stop,” said McLaughlin, who led 67 laps. “We lost track position.”
Newgarden had to hold off McLaughlin for one final restart, but this time he got away cleanly as McLaughlin said his No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet bogged down briefly.
Newgarden’s win wasn’t a surprise based on recent trips to this 1.25-mile oval. He won his first race in 2017 in his first season with Team Penske, and then he added three in succession in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Do the math: That’s five in nine tries (there were two races in 2020).
The win also became the 31st of his career, tying Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves for 10th place on the sport’s all-time list.
“I think the team needed (the win),” said Newgarden after leading 17 laps and won by 1.7260 seconds. “They’ve done a great job … on the 2 car specifically. They’ve given me race-winning cars throughout the year – even past Indy – and they haven’t materialized (into wins). So, it’s nice to get another one on the board.”
Rookie Linus Lundqvist charged through the lead group in the waning laps to grab his second top-three finish in the series. The leader in the Rookie of the Year standings passed Palou and Herta to grab the final spot on the podium. The driver of the No. 8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda also finished third at Barber Motorsports Park in April.
Herta had the fourth car across the finish line, but his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian was later penalized one position for a blocking attempt on Lundqvist. That gave fourth place to Palou with Herta fifth. Still, Herta moved into second place in the standings.
There was action all throughout the race, with an event-record 21 passes for the lead, a figure that smashed the previous mark of 13. Eleven drivers held the top spot as a multitude of pit strategies were in play, including a different one by each of the three Team Penske drivers.
Herta, who started 25th in the 27-car field due to a crash in qualifying, got things going in a hurry. He sliced his way through a four-wide rush to the opening green flag, part of him grabbing six positions on the first lap.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter and Dale Coyne Racing’s Katherine Legge had early contact in Turn 1 on Lap 8, and a few laps later, on Lap 17, there was contact aplenty on the back straight.
A bobble by Carpenter’s teammate, Rinus VeeKay, started a chain reaction that saw Conor Daly and his Juncos Holling Racing Chevrolet get turned from behind by Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. Daly’s teammate, Romain Grosjean, also was collected. Grosjean and Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey also became part of the Power-Rossi trouble with eight laps to go.
Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas, who led 11 laps, was contending for the win when he took contact from Power with 21 laps remaining. The two were battling for the effective lead of the race in Turn 1. Malukas was in the bottom lane.
There won’t be much time to sort through the replays. The action resumes in six days for practice for the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.