Newgarden wins Iowa Indy Lights race
Newgarden, earning his third victory of the season, improved his championship points lead from 13 to 46 over Guerrieri, who retired midway through the race with a mechanical issue (steering) and was credited with 12th place.
Gustavo Yacaman, driving the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, recorded a Firestone Indy Lights-best runner-up finish. Clauson, competing in his third Firestone Indy Lights oval race, was 5.8 seconds back but also finished a season-high third.
QUOTES:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 11 Copart/Score Big/RoboPong/SSM, winner Sukup 100): "I think it was really exciting for everyone at the beginning. Unfortunately, I think it got a bit processional throughout the race. We put a really good, strong car together for that race. It felt so good I could go anywhere on the track, and that's just a tribute to the team. I was so disappointed that we didn't qualify a little bit better. At least we didn't put ourselves too far back. So starting from fourth, we just came in with a conservative approach but still aggressive enough to get in the lead early on and just hold it all the way through. Great job by the Sam Schmidt Motorsports guys and everyone else that supports us."
GUSTAVO YACAMAN (No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling, finished second): ""For the restart, I just didn't have the pace to keep up with Esteban (Guerrieri) and (Josef) Newgarden was attacking me so he was able to get by. I stuck with Newgarden when he overtook Esteban, and he pulled me through. Then it basically was a battle for second with Bryan (Clauson). We've worked so hard and we've had a good car so many times, so it's good to capitalize on the equipment Mark Moore has given me."
BRYAN CLAUSON (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/CURB Records, finished third): "We didn't give each other an inch and it was just good, hard racing. We just didn't have quite a good enough car to slip underneath him. We were a little bit tight. We just didn't have enough to finish the corner on the outside. It was a lot of fun. I threw everything I had at him, and I just didn't have quite enough. I spent the last 40 laps trying to get a run and doing something. I tried high, I tried low, I tried diving under. I tried throwing everything I could at him but just never got quite the run I needed to beat him off the corner and take the spot."
VICTOR GARCIA (No. 22 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling, finished fourth): "It was a very good race because we started 12th and we knew we had a car capable of being at the top but yesterday we had a fuel pump problem. My team was telling me to relax and go faster and faster each lap. At the end I was catching people and overtaking. I'm really happy for the team after they worked so late yesterday. I have to thank everyone for all the hard work they did. I'm really happy because we are third in the championship now."
DUARTE FERREIRA (No. 28 Bryan Herta Autosport, finished fifth): "It's was a very hard work. It was difficult because in the beginning, the car was very loose and in the middle it started to understeer. It was a good race. I lost two spots at the start, but after I got up to P4. Then after I passed Chase (Austin) on the inside, the car slid and the 22 car was able to get by me. This was a good job for me and Bryan Herta Autosport team."
Results
1. (4) Josef Newgarden, 115, Running
2. (2) Gustavo Yacaman, 115, Running
3. (3) Bryan Clauson, 115, Running
4. (12) Victor Garcia, 115, Running
5. (5) Duarte Ferreira, 115, Running
6. (11) Jorge Goncalvez, 115, Running
7. (6) Victor Carbone, 114, Running
8. (7) Stefan Wilson, 114, Running
9. (10) David Ostella, 113, Running
10. (13) Chase Austin, 95, Mechanical
11. (9) Anders Krohn, 50, Handling
12. (1) Esteban Guerrieri, 32, Mechanical
13. (8) Brandon Wagner, 0, DNS
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 152.478
Time of Race: 00:40:27.3417
Margin of victory: 5.4724 seconds
Cautions: 1 for 4 laps
Lead changes: 1 among 2 drivers
Lap Leaders: Guerrieri 1-25, Newgarden 26-115
Point Standings: Newgarden 243, Guerrieri 197, V. Garcia 173, Wilson 169, Goncalvez 153, Yacaman 151, Ostella 143, Krohn 135, Carbone 132, Ferreira 131.