Newgarden leads McLaughlin in dominant form at Indycar Iowa opener

Josef Newgarden extended his dominance on oval tracks as he dominated the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 to open the Indycar double-header in Iowa.

The two-time series champion has won five of the last six oval races, taking the lead from Will Power on lap 121 to take the lead and power ahead of the field.

His lead only challenged when he pitted on lap 126, and later cut down when the field came under caution after Graham Rahal went into the barriers on lap 152.

Newgarden built a lead of more than five seconds after the restart to gap McLaughlin and dominate the final stage of the Iowa opener.

“It’s a great day,” said Newgarden.

“My team, they are unbelievable. They always give me a great car. I show up every weekend, and I feel like I’ve got the best of the best behind me. I love Iowa.”

Kiwi Scott McLaughlin was able to come within 1.6 seconds of Newgarden in the final stages as the leader was caught in lapped traffic, but was unable to challenge for the lead.

“I badly want to beat that guy, and I’m going to be trying everything I can to beat him,” said McLaughlin.

“But he’s the epitome of a great teammate, and I appreciate the help he’s given me.”

The Indycar field returns 4.00am Monday for the second leg of the doubleheader in Iowa.

2023 Indycar Series - Round 11 Hy-Vee HomeFront 250 Iowa Result

1. Josef Newgarden
2. Scott McLaughlin (NZ)
3. Pato O’Ward
4. Marcus Ericsson
5. Will Power (AUS)
6. Scott Dixon (NZ)
7. Kyle Kirkwood
8. Alex Palou
9. Takuma Sato
10. Alexander Rossi
11. Romain Grosjean
12. David Malukas
13. Felix Rosenqvist
14. Helio Castroneves
15. Callum Ilott
16. Agustin Canapino
17. Rinus VeeKay
18. Jack Harvey
19. Colton Herta
20. Devlin DeFrancesco
21. Ryan Hunter-Reay
22. Ed Carpenter
23. Sting Ray Robb
24. Santino Ferruci
25. Benjamin Pedersen
26. Graham Rahal - DNF