IndyCar: Newgarden wins PPG 375 as caution ruins exciting finish

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward were side-by-side for the lead with two laps to go, but Andretti Autosport driver Romain Grosjean crashed bringing out the yellow and ruining the finish for the fans.

IndyCar does not guarantee a green flag finish for fans like NASCAR does.

Newgarden motored across the S/F line at low speed to take the checkered flag, with Pato O’Ward helpless in settling for 2nd despite having the faster car. See the fastest speeds below to see that O’Ward definitely had the best car.

“It’s been a hell of a start to the year,” said a dejected O’Ward.

“The team gave me an absolute rocket ship. Everybody that was watching the race midway through saw that. It was an absolute joy to drive this No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet today. We’ve had two second-place finishes, so we’re still waiting for that win this year, but that’s a great start to the championship year and that’s what we need. We’re going to keep chipping at it to get that first win and then try to rack some more up.”

“I am just so happy to be here for PPG and Team Penske and it was a group effort this weekend,” said an elated Newgarden.

“Pato gave me all the respect in the world when he was racing next to me and it was hard, it was hard to race those guys. I think (Alex) Palou was super strong too and there were no gimmies, it was just packed up today. It was very difficult to get away. There were parts where we were really good, parts where we were weaker and when we needed to be good, the car was there at the end. So proud of this team.

“After St. Pete I was kind of rethinking everything and thinking, ‘can we do this again’.  But I am so happy to be here and want to thank Team Chevy for all their support and to PPG obviously. Given the title here, its just a big day for everybody.”

When Pato O’Ward took and there were just two cars on the lead lap, Newgarden was dropping back fast.

“I knew I needed something to catch back up. Because that stint where he got by me, and ripped a gap, that was my worst stint.  I think we went the wrong way with our adjustments, which was my decision.

“I was the one asking for it, and then I wanted to reverse it. But like I said, when we needed the car at the end, it was absolutely there. So, I was worried if we didn’t get help to catch back up that he may run away with it, and we lost our chance. But they gave us another chance again and we took it. ”

Alex Palou was third for Chip Ganassi Racing, while David Malukas and Scott Dixon rounded out the top-5.

Newgarden won here in Texas last year with a last lap pass over his Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin.

Newgarden, who led a race-high 123 laps, averaged 169.917 mph for his 26th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory. Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, also extended his streak to nine consecutive seasons with at least one victory.

O’Ward and Newgarden swapped the lead five times in the last eight laps before Grosjean’s race-ending incident while he was dicing and slicing with the lead pack, too, in his most impressive oval race performance yet.

“We had a good race with the No. 28 DHL Honda fighting up there at the front, so that’s very positive,” said Grosjean. “Obviously, the end result is difficult to digest, but the positive takeaway is that we were up there all race fighting for the lead. We’ll just refocus and make finishing races our target as we head to Long Beach.”

Newgarden grabbed the front on Lap 242, with O’Ward reclaiming the top spot one lap later. Then it was Newgarden’s turn to take the point one trip later on Lap 244, with O’Ward nosing ahead on Lap 247.

Then Newgarden finally got in front just in time on Lap 249, just a few exhilarating breaths before the yellow flag flew for the last time. In total, the race featured 26 lead changes among eight drivers.

Takuma Sato, piloting Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 11 Niterra Honda, was unfortunately forced to retire from the race on lap 49 after spinning in turn two and making contact with the wall. The entire field then came in to pit while under under a yellow flag, which continued through lap 61.

A second yellow flag came out with 71 laps remaining after the No. 6 got into the marbles and spun in turn four.

A third yellow flag came was displayed with 40 laps to go after the No. 51 made contact with the inside wall.

The field went green with 30 laps remaining, but a two-car incident between the No. 15 and the No. 29 brought out another yellow just three laps later.

With 13 laps to go, the field returned under green conditions where exhilarating back-and-forth racing took place before a final yellow flag came out to finalize the final positions with two laps to go.

Race Results

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 169.917 mph
Time of Race: 2:07:07.2653
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 5 for 52 laps
Lead changes: 26 among 8 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Dixon, Scott 1 – 2
Newgarden, Josef 3
Dixon, Scott 4
Newgarden, Josef 5 – 65
Palou, Alex 66 – 67
Newgarden, Josef 68 – 108
O’Ward, Pato 109 – 114
Rosenqvist, Felix 115
Robb, Sting Ray 116
Newgarden, Josef 117 – 128
O’Ward, Pato 129 – 169
Rosenqvist, Felix 170 – 172
O’Ward, Pato 173 – 194
Palou, Alex 195 – 198
Newgarden, Josef 199 – 200
Palou, Alex 201 – 202
Herta, Colton 203 – 206
O’Ward, Pato 207 – 208
Palou, Alex 209 – 219
Grosjean, Romain 220 – 221
O’Ward, Pato 222 – 238
Palou, Alex 239 – 241
Newgarden, Josef 242
O’Ward, Pato 243
Newgarden, Josef 244 – 246
O’Ward, Pato 247 – 248
Newgarden, Josef 249 – 250

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: O’Ward 82, Ericsson 75, Dixon 67, Newgarden 66, Palou 60, Malukas 53, Ilott 52, McLaughlin 48, Power 40, Rossi 40, Herta 37, Canapino 36, Rahal 34, Lundgaard 33, Grosjean 31, VeeKay 28, Castroneves 27, Daly 26, Harvey 20, Kirkwood 20, Robb 20, Pedersen 20, Marcus Armstrong 19, Pagenaud 18, Rosenqvist 18, Carpenter 17, Ferrucci 15, DeFrancesco 12, Sato 5