MADISON, Illinois – Teammate Scott McLaughlin is one of Josef Newgarden’s closest friends, affectionately referred to as his “Bus Bro” on the racetrack, and the driver he trusts to compete honourably when a victory is at stake.
That made it much simpler for Newgarden to overtake McLaughlin on the restart at World Wide Technology Raceway after a rain delay, secure his fifth victory of the season—an IndyCar record—and tighten the championship battle.
In the case of Scott, Newgarden stated, “It’s a little bittersweet because we just have a terrific bond.” He is a fierce competitor. Scott is among the top drivers in the world, not just in this country. He is top-notch and incredibly challenging to defeat. We get along wonderfully, he’s a terrific teammate and a hard worker, but our friendship isn’t the simplest to maintain because, at the end of the day, we’re in it to win it.
“He and I both want victory in the competition. But in the end, our working relationship is fantastic, and nights like tonight are enjoyable. We want to see it happening rather frequently if we’re fighting together.
Despite having more wins than any of his competitors combined, Newgarden is currently mired in the centre of the championship picture.
He started the race on the little oval outside of St. Louis in fourth place overall, 22 points behind leader and teammate Will Power of Penske. With two races left, Newgarden is currently sitting in second place and is only three points behind Power. For the third year in a row and fourth time overall, Newgarden triumphed at WWTR.
The race was preserved for Newgarden by the weather delay.
With 43 laps left in the race, McLaughlin had passed him for the lead thanks to a successful pit stop just before the race was called due to rain and lightning. The race began after a delay of little over two hours with 36 laps remaining, and Newgarden just needed one to pass his teammate for the race-winning manoeuvre.
Newgarden radioed his troops, “Excellent work, great team.” “Wow, what an effort. perfect vehicle
Following the last restart, Dale Coyne Racing rookie David Malukas put on an impressive performance of dodging traffic. In order to prevent a Penske 1-2 finish, he passed McLaughlin on the last lap. Had there been one more lap, Malukas might have had a chance to beat Newgarden for the victory.
Malukas lost to Newgarden in a Chevrolet by 0.4708 seconds.
“Do you see them up front?” they asked. and I just happen to spot two Penskes and I’m like, “Oh my God, they’re Penskes,” the 20-year-old remarked. They were hardy. Even the smallest suck had a hard time approaching them.
Malukas finally entered the top line of the circuit with two laps remaining and discovered it to be racy enough to pass McLaughlin. He immediately regretted not giving the lane a try sooner.
Malukas remarked, “Maybe we might have done something for Newgarden if I had done that a little earlier.” “That is a win for the team and a win for me. This season got off to a difficult start, but since May, we’ve been improving steadily. We could see the podium coming.
For Penske, McLaughlin came in third, and Pato O’Ward of the Arrow McLaren SP came in fourth. Seven drivers were separated by 59 points at the start of the race, while seven drivers were separated by 58 points at the finish, with O’Ward gaining a point.
Following Power, who had a nearly flawless first half of the race and was leading the pack until a split Penske strategy forced him back into traffic, Takuma Sato finished fifth for Coyne.
The three Chip Ganassi Racing championship candidates had a dismal race; they all dropped positions in the standings. Alex Palou, the current IndyCar champion, finished ninth, Scott Dixon was eighth, and Marcus Ericsson was seventh overall. Dixon went from second place in the rankings to third place, which is 14 points behind.
Even so, in one of the most exciting title races in recent memory, only 17 points separate the top four finishers from Power to Ericsson. The 520 total passes at Gateway were the highest since IndyCar made a comeback to the track in 2017, and a record 179 of those passes were for position.
FIRES & LIGHTS
By winning the junior series race earlier on Saturday, Matthew Brabham briefly halted Linus Lundqvist’s dominance in Indy Lights. The driver for Andretti Autosport, who is the grandson of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham, achieved his second victory of the year.
Brabham gave the championship to Lundqvist after his second-place result since he has won five of the 10 races thus far this year. With three races left, Brabham’s victory propelled him into second place overall, more than 100 points behind Lundqvist.
“For myself, I’m only concerned with winning races. Though I sincerely doubt it, anything is possible, Brabham added.
Meanwhile, Lundqvist’s promotion to IndyCar for the upcoming season has been a difficult negotiation. He competes for a Dale Coyne Racing affiliate team, which is negotiating a new contract with Takuma Sato for the 2019 season.
“I’m dialling numbers. Not the other way around, regrettably,” stated Lundqvist, noting that his success rate in getting a team on the phone was “around 50% ratio.”
“I’ve only given them ten calls. They will eventually pick up, he added.
Salvador de Alba, the current NASCAR Mexico champion, started on the pole and won the Indy Pro 2000 contest. De Alba had had one other victory in his career prior to this one, which came last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after his teammate failed the post-race inspection.
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