It did not take Josef Newgarden very long at all to pass Simon Pagenaud for the race lead. In fact, he passed him on the first lap.
Indy Car: Josef Newgarden puts on Clinic in Iowa
Newgarden lead all but 282 laps on Sunday, an all-time Indy Car record, and aside from a cycle of green flag pit stops, literally lead from start to finish.
“What a great car! Fuzzy’s Vodka… they enable us to do what we are doing here. [I] have got a great team owner in Ed Carpenter,” Newgarden said. “[That was the] best car I have ever had.”
Newgarden and his Fuzzy’s Chevy were in a different league than any one else on the track. During the cycle of green flag pit stops, Newgarden came all the way around the 7/8th’s mile Iowa Speedway oval to lap everyone on the track except for Simon Pagenaud.
This coming just less than a month after Newgarden broke his hand and clavicle in a scary accident at Texas Motor Speedway.
“I don’t want people to think that I’m having a harder time because of the injuries. I hate having a cop-out,” Newgarden said. “I don’t want people to think I’m having a harder time because of the injuries.”
The win at Iowa was the third top-2 finish at Iowa in a row for the Hendersonville, Tennessee native, who was the runner-up in each of the past two races at the track.
“I think we had a car like last year,” Newgarden said.
Next week the series will return to the road course as they find their way to the Streets of Toronto. The race’s telecast starts at 3:00pm Eastern Time and will be broadcasted by CNBC.
The win leaps Newgarden from 5th to 2nd in the IndyCar Point Standings, and he trails leader Simon Pagenaud by 73 points with just six races left in the 2016 season.
Unofficial Verizon IndyCar Series Point Standings
1. Simon Pagenaud 409
2. Josef Newgarden 336
3. Will Power 334
4. Scott Dixon 321
5. Helio Castroneves 318
6. Tony Kanaan 306
7. Alexander Rossi 286
8. Carlos Munoz 280
9. Graham Rahal 275
10. Charlie Kimball 275
Unofficial Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings
1. Alexander Rossi 286
2. Conor Daly 195
3. Max Chilton 186
4. Spencer Pigot 97
5. Matt Brabham 37
6. Stefan Wilson 14
Main Photo Credit: Getty Images, Brian Cleary
