LEXINGTON, Ohio. — The run of bad luck for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden finally came to an end on Sunday at Mid-Ohio.
He led all but a handful of laps at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course en route to his 19th career IndyCar win and Team Penske’s first win since Newgarden’s win in the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg.
“At the start of each stint, I felt like I had everything under control.” Newgarden said “This team has been doing the job. These people at Team Penske couldn’t have done anything differently. It’s great to see a win here.”
Newgarden started on the pole alongside Colton Herta and jumped out to a huge lead despite a couple of early cautions that saw Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, and Ed Jones retire early from the race.
While Newgarden cruised to the win, the real race was further back as Chip Ganassi’s three cars finished second, third, and fourth. Scott Dixon overcame a mediocre starting spot to finish fourth. Marcus Ericsson scored his highest finish since his win at Detroit three weeks ago.
“We had a great day,” said Ericsson. “We were pushing really hard at the end to catch Josef. I think we could have gotten him, but it was a good result.”
Ericsson was close to catching Newgarden in the closing laps for the lead, but Newgarden was able to hold him off.
Alex Palou was able to extend his points lead over Pato O’Ward.
Palou finished third while O’Ward, who had to battle up the field from a 20th starting spot, could only muster a seventh-place finish.
Though Colton Herta started second, rough pitstops hampered his chances of battling Newgarden for the win and he would finish ninth.
“We’re gonna need to see a few more of these if we want a chance to win the championship,” said Newgarden. “I feel like we can make it all happen. Nashville would be a dream to have a good result for. We’ve got six races to go, let’s make it happen.”
The NTT IndyCar Series will have a layoff until August 8, which is the date of the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.
